Sports Day

Simon's school had Sports Day this week. The parents were told to make sure they saw the opening ceremony at 9:00 a.m. I had an appointment at 10, so I told Simon that we could see the opening ceremony or some sports later. He told us he wanted us to see some sports later, so that's what we did.

After my off-compound appointment I drove my work car back to work and got in our personal car with Johnathan. When we got to the school we had to park on someone's yard because there were cars everywhere.

When we got into the school we found Simon in his blue team shirt with blue paint in his hair and a 2nd place ribbon on his shirt. He told us he got it for playing football (soccer). He almost immediately started asking for us to take him home. It was a really hot day and he was obviously tired. We told him we weren't going home.

The school really went all out for Sports Day. There was a snacks vendor with cakes, cupcakes, and snow cones! We had a cherry snow cone, and it was horrible. Johnathan loved it, though we ate less than half of one. I resisted the very strong urge to have a cake or cupcake. That was not easy at all.

Simon found a shell and wanted to wash it and go to the bathroom. At the end of this long ordeal, I heard the head-teacher calling out for Simon so we rushed outside and he entered a potato sack race. The poor guy was so tired. He did get third place, but I feel like he would have done better if he wasn't so hot and tired.

After that there was a long time that Simon didn't do anything. Johnathan and I decided to go to lunch. I'm not a huge fan of being really hot, or super loud crowds of people. So to have those two things at the same time made me eager to get out of dodge. Simon repeated his desires to leave, and we had to tell him we weren't going home. As we were walking out of the school he was walking to the playground, so I think he ended up being fine.  I wish I had a picture of Simon at Sports Day. I thought I took one with my phone and can't find it.

Then we went and had sushi at Roe, a nice-ish Jamaican restaurant. We need to go again because they have rice-less sushi. It's wrapped in thinly sliced cucumber. We're gonna have to check that out.

The big 5!

Last month Simon turned 5!

Johnathan and I agree that 5 is a big year. We wanted him to have a great time, and we asked him what he would want to do. After Malachi's birthday in November, Simon really wanted a Lego Movie party. We told him that he had to do something else. After some consideration he decided that he wanted an Alien birthday. Some friends of ours asked us what movie to show their daughter because she didn't know what an alien was. 

Keeping that in mind, and the fact that some five year old's parents wouldn't even say the word "dead" in front of their kids, we made a kid friendly party. Johnathan designed the party around the idea that the kids were the aliens and they crash landed on Earth. They made eye scanners and then they had to go to our yard and find the parts of their ship that fell from the engine. Then they had to rebuild the engine. The kids had a great time at the party and just like his brother's friends, Simon's friends were disappointed when the games were done. 

Simon's last year was pretty great for him. He finished out his time in the Philippines and enjoyed his summer break in the  U.S. Then in the fall of last year something major happened. He started pre-school! He's really enjoying it too! He's made some close friends, and is enjoying learning. It's amazing what he's learning. He has brought some homework home lately and one of the (hand made) pages that the teacher sent had multiplication on it. 

He's enjoying Jamaica. He loves going to school, and can't wait to go to the big school with his brother in a few months. 

Lame title

So, we have been busy. We're a busy bunch (too busy to think of a good title)!

We've been here for five months now. Five months, you say?! That's right! We've now been here a week over five months. It's hard to believe that it's been that long already. In one month, we'll already be done with one-sixth of our time in Jamaica. The other five-sixths have potential to go by very quickly.

So, in case you're wondering what's up...

Out of the six of us, there are only two at home during the day.

Johnathan has been busy managing in the Consular section. He enjoys his job, his co-workers, and his local staff quite a bit. He's continually making me jealous of them because he cooks for his team meetings. His current team isn't very big, and he wonders what he's going to do when he moves to a bigger unit in the section next year. He has an amazing garden growing in our backyard. We're constantly using tomatoes, lettuce, dill, and other things from our garden.

Sara (yeah...I do third person sometimes) has been busy with her Housing Assistant job. For a month, her coworker was on a well-deserved vacation, and she handled the job of two people. Sometimes she did it like a rock-star, but there were times where she wanted to just give up. She's learning that being in the GSO section is hard work. She's learning that she prefers to not work in Management section jobs, but is going to make the best of her situation. She's been playing Dungeons and Dragons on a monthly basis with some friends.

Malachi's second semester is going very well. He's been enjoying school more, has more friends, and is even enjoying math this semester (this kid really gets fractions!). This semester his after-school activities include Lego-Yuh Mind Robotics, and he's continuing his private drum lessons. He's been rocking the Skylanders game on the Xbox, as well as the Lego Movie game.

Simon is killing it in pre-school this semester. He brought home some homework last week and was so excited to do it. In fact, on Monday he asked Johnathan to make him some homework (I think he wants to be like his brother - we'll see how long this lasts). His birthday is coming up soon and he'll be five - yes, five! As crazy as that sounds, it's true. He's asked for an alien-themed birthday party. So we're trying to trying to figure out an alien-themed birthday party for kids who may not know what aliens are.

Coen stays home with Lucy and chills out with her. He plays on his own, as well as helps her in the yard, or in the house. He loves to help anyone with their task. Last night he wanted to help me with dinner, but I was dealing with a very hot pot of food, that was splattering. The answer was no. Poor Coen. He's so excited to go to school this fall. I had been worried about him and going to school. He has introvert tendencies, and at someone's birthday party wouldn't sit at the table to eat with all the other kids. I thought - how is he going to go to school?! But I think he'll do well. He's been wanting to go for so long, that I think he'll jump right in.

Lucy is doing well. She has a church community that she likes, and she has two close friends. On Sundays sometimes she goes to the mall with her friends for lunch and shopping. She's also often on the phone with friends in the Philippines. She seems to be happy, and I really hope she continues to be.

Everyone has been struggling with allergies and colds to some degree. I hope that as the rainy season ends we'll have fewer sicknesses (and fewer mosquitos!).

We're liking it in Jamaica and are looking forward to the next five-sixths of our time here (sorry for the lack of photos - we're too busy living life to take them!).

He came out screaming

and he barely stopped for the first hour.

He was my most difficult pregnancy and delivery. And he’s possibly been the most challenging to rear so far. 

But the effort has been worth it. These last four years with Simon have been so full of joy.

Simon has proven himself to be creative, intelligent, energetic, violent (for a bit of balance and humility), and loves his family.

He's already great at building Lego's, playing with play-doh, coloring, and cutting paper, among other things.

We’ve celebrated a birth in Virginia, two birthdays in Costa Rica and another two in the Philippines.

He’s held a steady favorite color of green for quite a while.

As well as a love for airplanes. Luckily John made this years cake, and it turned out much better.

We’re so happy that Simon is in our lives and we look forward to many, many more birthdays to come.

Regrets

I tend to not have too many regrets in life.

I have a “my choices have made me who I am” view of life.

I do, however, often regret not recording down the hilarious things my children say. Mom’s have devoted whole blogs to the hilarity that comes out of their kid’s mouths. I’ve considered doing that.

I usually just forget the things quickly.

For instance, tonight Malachi said something funny and then about 20 seconds later Simon said something funny. Both of them would’ve gotten their shares of “likes” on facebook, and I wanted to put them up. But I was busy, and I forgot what they were about 30 seconds after they were said.

Maybe I just need to carry around a digital recording device that’s on all the time – maybe one with a neck strap on each kid.

Evolution of a Chocolate Smile

 

 

 

Cleaning and not Letting the Toddlers Kill Themselves

I hate housework! I hate trying to do housework when there are toddlers running around putting themselves in danger ever 35 seconds. It’s very difficult to get anything done. Somehow I was able to work for about an hour yesterday afternoon before John got home so he didn’t come home to a complete wreck. I even got two of three kids to help out.

Today is Holy Thursday and a Federal holiday which means that at 6:30 a.m. my husband is sleeping in instead of eating breakfast. So I plan on making him take care of children while I clean floors and bathrooms. I should think about changing sheets and washing them all. Who doesn’t love clean sheets?! [edit: I’ve already stripped the beds and started washing sheets. There’s been a break in writing due to people getting up.]

This week without helpers has had its ups and downs. I feel that I’ve grown closer to Coen, but I wonder if it’s too close. Last night at dinner, he wasn’t happy (read: crying) when John sat next to him, but when he got up and left the room, and I sat down he was fine. I understand that he was tired and hungry, but his daddy’s a better parent than I am, it was surprising.

Simon’s modeling session went really well. Coen went to a friend’s house and was unhappy about it and crying for mommy. Simon was a total ham, though, and ate up all the attention and gave the photographer a lot of good photos. The marketing manager from the department store was very pleased with him. That was great to see. She was the one he needed to impress the most. Filipinos love my kids and their blonde hair. Now, we’ve finally put it to work.

About an hour in a half into the shoot when they were doing another wardrobe change, Simon started to become difficult. They had a coach though, and after wardrobe got him changed, she got him to do the work. I left the room for a while to sit and rest because just watching him work was exhausting for me.

I can’t wait to see what comes out of the session. I imagine seeing him on a big billboard (there are some very large ones here). It would be awesome if it would happen while some guests are here, but I don’t think it will happen that fast.

Speaking of someone being here. We have four days left until our first guests arrive. We’re getting very excited about their arrival, and hope their travel is “quick” and safe.

I’m off to clean! Have a good holiday weekend, all!

Rambling

We have the house to ourselves for a week. We’ll probably have a gardner here tomorrow(he’ll need to make sure he gets paid). Oh, and our pool man will come on Monday and Wednesday morning for an hour.

Other than that…no helpers (It’s a good thing I don’t work yet. otherwise, what would I do with two little kids?!). No guests. No body but us. But that doesn’t last for long. Starting next weekend we’ll have guests for almost a month straight. And after a brief respite another guest for three weeks.

I’m quite excited for guests. We’ll have been here for eight months by the time our first guests arrive. I can’t remember the last time I went eight months without seeing someone from the States (from my past, mind you. of course I see plenty of people at the Embassy). It must be years.

But without helpers until after our first guests arrive, it means we’ll be cleaning. If you know me even a little bit, you’ll know that there isn’t much I hate more than cleaning. Strangely enough, I don’t mind going to a friends to help out if they’re unable to do it themselves. And I don’t mind the floors actually (I’ve liked doing floors since I got my Oreck vacuum as a wedding present.), but this is a large house full of toilets and showers and so many things that collect dust. Luckily I have two other able bodied people in the house to clean with me. I’m sure the guests will just be happy to be done with their 30-ish hours of travel, and to see their son and grand children.

Tomorrow, Simon has his first photo shoot. Oh, have we not told you? Simon’s doing a photo shoot tomorrow for the biggest retailer in the Philippines. He and Coen were scouted at Burger King on Simon’s birthday. Now Simon’s with a talent agency and will get paid and possibly be on billboards or something.

Then in October Malachi and Simon will be in a runway show. Coen isn’t being pursued yet. We think it’s because he doesn’t have much hair. It’s really too bad because he’s so cute.

Simon’s 3!

In February Simon turned 3. We had a few of his friends (and their siblings) over to play with balloons and eat a (poorly made) airplane cake.

Someone asked if it was an alligator (whatever, I’m not the artistic one. he’s lucky he got an airplane cake)

Simon had a great time, and the next day asked about his next birthday.

Showing off a bit of jelly bean in the teeth and his phat lewt on Easter morning ‘12

Simon’s 3rd year of life proved challenging for us parents. Simon is strong willed and outspoken. He’s been potty training and refuses to poop on the potty (still), in fact he holds the poop in for days at a time. His record is 12 days without pooping. He throws multiple fits daily, however, a threat of a time out usually calms him down.

He loves playing on the tablets. Seen here with his Costa Rican nanny.

Simon’s full of awesomeness, too. He’s very loving. He loves his family members and will show them. He’s very neat! He can make a big mess, but he likes to clean it up. Recently I caught him putting clothes in a hamper without prompt. Once when I told Malachi to put his dirty clothes away Simon said, “I’ll put his dirty clothes away!!”

His love might even hurt a little.

Simon loves to watch videos online, especially Pocoyo, TuTiTu, and Minecraft songs. He also loves Disney Junior. He has a few good friends, Pablo, Shane, Luke, Hanna, and Reed. He loves seeing them. When we drive by Shane’s house, Simon will point and yell that it’s Shane’s house. He’ll ask to go there, and when I say no, he’ll ask if we can get Shane to go where we’re going. When I say no, he’s very displeased.

Simon’s stuck in a bag! This is one of our favorite photos of him in ‘12

Simon is very athletic. He runs all over the house, and the street out front. He jumps off of furniture, onto furniture, on the bed, on the floor...lots of jumping.  He loves to play with his dad. He especially likes to sit on his dad’s leg (if dad is laying on the bed with his right ankle on his left knee or vice versa) and fall backwards. His legs are a little bowed in, but the pediatrician said that that makes for a more athletic person. It’s not something we need to fix.

He wasn’t a big fan of Halloween. Seen here with his Filipino nanny.

His health has been fairly good. He’s had plenty of colds and a bit of allergies here, but not as bad as Costa Rica.

Playing with his cousin on home leave. He LOVED his cousin!

He stopped napping. He’ll go down if he’s not feeling well, but he doesn’t require a nap anymore. That was a sad day for me. He’s very much not a little boy anymore.

Making his own stuffed animal. He chose a purple dog and named it Purple. This is a tradition in our house, to be done before 3 years.

He climbs out of his crib now (this actually happened very recently but oh well). We looked for a toddler bed here, but anything that’s good is going to be too expensive. We tried shipping a bed, but it was too big. So…we’re going to have one made. But we’re being lazy about it. The first day he climbed out was weird. My bathroom door opened, and there he stood. I asked who let him out and he said he did. Coen was still asleep and his door was closed. He was ready to go potty and start his day. It was funny, and a bit weird.

Super Simon!!

We love Simon very much. We’re so happy that he’s a part of our family and can’t wait to see the person he turns out to be.

Two of his favorite things rolled into one!!

The Kids are Great

I’ve been quiet. I feel like there isn’t much to blog about. But that’s not true. There’s plenty to blog about. But I haven’t been very happy lately. Things at Post are different than expected. Harder than expected. Life is not bad, it’s in fact quite good. However, the fact that it’s taking me a lot longer to start work than I thought it would is holding up some kind of ability to be happy.

I realize that I shouldn’t rely on working outside of the house to be happy. But it’s provided happiness for me for the last five years. I like being a part of providing finances, and I like going out and doing something I think is meaningful (finger scanning (like printing but with scans) might not sound meaningful, but scanners help keep out terrorists, too).

Anyway, I realized that writing has been therapeutic in the past. So, I thought I would begin writing again. Also, it helps keep the family members informed. Especially the family members that aren’t on facebook.

So. What can I write about? Well, as I said…lots.

***Warning: Not Sexy (read: gross) Potty Training Talk***

Simon is potty training! We started this what feels like ages ago. He’s mastered peeing in the potty, and he’s doing really well going out in public which took a bit longer. But #2 has been more of an issue. We feel so bad for him that he’s scared to do it. He wouldn’t go in the toilet. He wouldn’t go in his special nighttime underwear (pull-ups). He goes for days (read: four to six days) holding it in and then it’s just painful for him. Then when he could hold it no longer he would go in his regular underwear. Today he finally did it in the nighttime underwear while he was playing in his room with Coen. I wondered if there was something about his being around us that made it scary. Maybe it’s embarrassing and he just doesn’t know the difference between the two feelings yet. Anyway. I hope we figure out a way to help him go more regularly. I hope we figure it out soon because this is no fun!

 

***Potty Training Talk Done***

Other than potty training he’s doing well. Simon’s in the 3T clothes now, which our nanny and I dug out of the closet. He’s working on saying those L’s in his words and improving! No more hearing “sweeping” when he means sleeping, please! He’s so jealous of Malachi going to school. We’ve heard good things about AmeriKids (daycare/preschool at the Embassy). So we’re going to look into putting him in once I get settled at work. He’ll love going to school with a backpack just like Malachi. If only he got to ride a bus, then he would be in toddler heaven.

Malachi is doing well. His after school activities this semester were Cartooning and Chinese. He’s decided he’s not much a fan of either and wants to do something else. So we signed up for Tae Kwon Do and Aquatics for the next semester. We’ll find out on Monday if we got in. I hope so, because he loves these activities (he did Tae Kwon Do in Costa Rica). His swimming has improved a ton since we started living in a house with a pool. Nonetheless, he wants to do swimming at school. Since they call it Aquatics instead of swimming (there’s no swimming alternative), I wonder what it will look like. 

I went to Malachi’s first ever choir concert. It was so fun to go and brought back memories of having my own choir concerts when I was young. He played his part very well, and I have a video to prove he can walk in circles acting like an elephant. It’s one I might use to embarrass him later in life. He’ll be on winter break soon. I have no idea what to do with him for a month. We’ll have to figure out how to fill the time.

Coen is doing quite well. They all are, I guess. He’s growing so big and practically skipped the 18 mo. clothing stage and wears the 24 month clothes that Simon was just in (or at least it feels that way). His vocabulary is huge, like Malachi at this age. We’ve been compiling a list of his words. They include (but are not limited to): shoes, moon, fox (his favorite animal, a stuffed one from Great Aunt Janice), bye bye, mommy, daddy, hot, bite, oh oh (“yes” in Tagalog, which he’s possibly saying other words in and we just don’t know it), please, and apple juice.

He’s starting to run and is doing ok at keeping up with his brothers. He especially likes to pillow fight with the other boys. Today he even picked up a pillow and hit his daddy. It was awesome. He loves to be outside. Anytime a door going out is open he runs for it. If he doesn’t get to stay out, or has to come in before he’s ready, then he lets you know he’s not happy.

So, as the title says, the kids are all great. We all are really. If only I could start working…like…now!

Space Traveler

Simon: Where am I going today?

Me: I don’t know, maybe no where. Should we go somewhere?

Simon: Yes.

Me: Where should we go?

Simon: Space!

Life with Three

Right now, life with three is easier than expected. Of course Coen isn't doing much, but I truly expected it to be much harder right away.

The last few days have been filled with feedings and diapers for me, and cooking and taking care of the older two for John. Coen is eating tons still, and is spacing out his feedings. Our bosses (my supervisor is married to John's boss) came today to see him.

I'm recovering pretty well. I've been able to even help around the house a little bit. Getting sleep is the hardest thing, although with him spacing out his feedings I got a bit more last night and should get more tonight - I hope.

Malachi is sick. This is horrible for him, but I feel bad because I can't just cuddle up with him. It also means he has to stay away from Coen. That's sad because he loves Coen. Simon may also have the same cold, we're not sure if he's sick or just teething.

Life with three should get very exciting in a few months though.

Apple Jacks

Simon easts the green ones first. The rest of the family is less choosy.

Diving boards and fork usage

Malachi proved how awesome he is by wowing his swim coach today with his improvements. Not only did he jump in the pool without help, he actually jumped from the diving board (don't think crazy - I just mean the short one that's always there, does anyone know a different name for it?). And he swam a lot more than before, and he put his face in the water all the time. In fact....he probably put his face in the water too much.

He would get easily distracted and wouldn't obey the coach's orders - even the ones he understood. I'm considering putting him in an English course anyway. We'll see.

Simon is eating with a fork and a spoon now. In fact once he's set his mind to it, he's probably not going to take it from somebody else. He's also walking a ton. He's figured out it's faster. When he gets really excited he walks fast, and then realizes he can't do that quite yet. But I don't think we're far from a runner. It's amazing how mobile he is, and is always is. He doesn't like to stop. He's awesome too.

A Moment

I have a moment, so I'll blog a moments worth.

Malachi's 4th ever swim lesson went really well today. They decided to put him with the beginner beginners. This was a good move. He did really well compared to the rest of the class, and I think that was very encouraging for him. He even jumped into the pool (holding onto the coaches hands) with a lot less reluctance than before. He didn't cry once, and there was very little choking on water. This was a very, very good lesson for him. Hopefully his next lesson will be good. Unfortunately that's not until Thursday the 28th because of the holiday/vacation.

Seizures update: no seizures in a while. I'm reluctant to say that, because every time I say that he has a seizure. However, after some blood work the Dr. increased his dosage of Valpakine to 250 mg 3x/day. We started that on Wednesday night, but even before that he'd been seizure free (partial and tonic clonic). I don't know if I'm comfortable yet, but I'm getting there. The medicine seems to have a very good side effect: he sleeps! He hasn't slept more than 8 or 9 hours a night in a long, long time. Keppra is said to cause light sleeping in children, apparently Valpakine works the other way and is stronger than the Keppra because he's now sleeping about 11 hours a night!

Simon is teething molars. I got a call at work the other day from P who said that Simon had been crying a lot that day and he felt really hot. Turns out he had a temperature of 100.6. His fever was gone later that night, and he seemed to be in a bit of a better mood. I knew he'd been getting ready to cut a molar or two, or four, so I checked and sure enough, he cut his lower left molar. I could tell that the second one was very, very close. He cut that one that night or early the next morning.

Teething with Simon is a bit weird. He's usually fine until the actual day of cutting. That day and for a while afterwards - about four days with a normal tooth, who knows with a molar - he's got the crankiness, lack of appetite, snotty nose, etc. So that's what we've been dealing with this week. Today, it seemed to be the worst for him because he wouldn't take his afternoon nap, so by 5:30 he was stupid tired and stupider hungry because he'd eaten very little. After a very rough dinner time, daddy took him to play in his room, which seemed to make him pretty happy. Once bed time came, he was really mad again. It didn't take long for him to go to sleep though!

John got lettuce plants today at EPA (think: Lowes or Home Depot) and planted them in our gardens. We now have approximately 16 heads of lettuce growing in our garden. Our dill, spinach, and zucchini are going to overtake other plants soon if we don't give a ton away/use it all. In fact...

Today a photographer came over to do some maternity shots. She's a friend from work and has this as a side business. She took pictures of the kids and grandkids on John's side last November and we really liked what came out of that. In fact...Simon's not had one year photos, so we might want to get in on that since he's already over 14 months.

She showed me some of the shots on her camera, and I'm anxiously awaiting some samples from her. I'm trying very hard to not bug her...especially since it's only been 81/2 hours since she left. Speaking of leaving...she left with a gallon size ziplock stuffed full of spinach and a spicy pepper. This might become a tradition, anyone who leaves, leaves with food.

The pregnancy is getting difficult. It's becoming increasingly difficult to do anything. Thank god for my maternity belt, which I'll get good use out of tomorrow at our Easter Egg Hunt. This is a work event, and I've been voluntold for crafts. I hate doing crafts...of all the things I could do that's what I hate the most. However, I like doing crafts at this event because it's the first thing on the schedule. I'll be able to enjoy the rest of the time half working half hanging/out with the kids. Also, this is my first time going to the DCM's (Deputy Cheif of Mission) residence, so that should be fun for me.

John and I are looking forward to our family vacation for Semana Santa (Holy Week). We leave mid-week and get home in time to be visited by the Easter Bunny - yay! This will be Simon's first conscious Easter, it should be fun.

And now my moment is over. John has requested I pick a movie, and so I shall.

Test Results and a 1 Year Well Check!

Malachi's test results came back normal for an epileptic. We have digital and hard copies of both of the tests for the future if we ever need them. The neurologist didn't add a second medicine or increase the dosage more than what he already did last week. He's still hopeful that Malachi will grow out of the seizures. 

Simon's well check went really well. He's 22 lbs and 24 inches long with a 19 inch head. He's just over 90% for length and just over 50% for weight, which is common at this age because of how much he's moving around now. He of course has the big Emery (my mom's side of my side) head, I've blessed both my kids with that. He passed his exam with flying colors. The scar from the growth removal is healing really well as well.

So...to recap - both kids are doing great, and I've had Dr's verify that today.

Breakdown

Today I had a breakdown. Not that I haven't had a few in the last eleven days,  but this was like a real breakdown. First came the stress cry that I got under control after only about five minutes (that's a really long time to cry), and then my body and especially my brain only did what was necessary. During the kids' naps I went to my "happy place." I was somewhat blissfully happy for a little bit because my brain wouldn't allow anything else. Then I returned to reality and fell into some crying, although this time instead of being in the "privacy" of the car with John and Malachi, I was at Malachi's school with all of his friends and their parents for the Valentine's Party/Presentation. It was very hard for me to control myself there. I almost wasn't able to do it a few times. My husband was gracious enough to make dinner (well he usually does, but I think he could sense my utter lack of willingness to do it) and after the kids went to bed I drew a bath, lit some candles, and read a book (my "happy place"). I've made it known that sometime soon I need dinner and a movie out with a girlfriend. I'm sure I'll get that with no contest.

Just for a quick update: Malachi's EEG went well. The Dr. will got the results to both tests tonight. We're apparently meeting with him on Thursday at 2:00 but were only informed of this through the Embassy nurse who was informed by our neurologist. I was supposed to bring him the previous test results (the ones done 19 months ago) but when I went to their office today it was closed...at 10:00 a.m. They don't hold normal office hours here...anyway, I digress. So he has nothing to compare them with because I have to work the next two days. Oh well. He'll tell us that there was nothing on the MRI and the EEG and we'll tell him that's what happened last time.

Simon's still teething the 8th tooth, which came in one day last week, but other than that, he's great. Thank God. #3 is moving a ton and I can even now feel him punch and kick at the same time. He's strong too, it's starting to get a bit...uncomfortable. Less than half way to go!

Simon

On Friday night, February 11, 2010, John and I headed to the hospital to begin the process of bringing our son into the world. We had been eagerly awaiting his arrival and we were so excited to know we'd be meeting him the very next day.

I had a few prayers to God about Simon's birth and every one of them was answered. My epidural wasn't as good as with Malachi's labor and delivery, but it did help a bit. The labor started on Saturday the 12th and he was born at 1:54 p.m. (EST) and weight 8 lbs. 4 oz. and was 21 inches long. He passed all of the newborn tests and was cleared to be with us.  He cried a lot that first day, but was amazing to us. His blood work and eventually his skin showed that he was jaundiced. The doctors said it was because our blood types conflicted. So he spent the remainder of our time in the hospital in the UV bed getting his tan on. Unfortunately we didn't get a picture of this. He was pretty cute laying in the bed with his eye protectors on.

We were released on Sunday afternoon and went home to introduce Simon to his big brother. Our good friend Sam had watched Malachi the whole weekend and welcomed us home with a clean apartment and welcome home signs and cards for Simon.

The first few days we were definitely in our honeymoon phase. We loved our new life with our two boys. Simon didn't wake up every two hours because of the jaundice - and he had a big appetite, I couldn't keep up with it and had to supplement. I was also supplementing because the jaundice wasn't going away the way we'd hoped it would.

Finally the jaundice was gone, and so were we. Simon handled our travel to TX like a champ, sleeping the whole way on the flight from D.C. He met our friends in Dallas, and then after a couple of days in Houston for Daddy's work, he slept through another flight to Costa Rica.

He adjusted the best out of the family to our move, only showing a little bit of stress here and there when the parents were stressed out. Simon adjusted to having a nanny and a mommy who works part time (although sometimes the mommy has a hard time leaving in the morning).

He's grown and developed at a rate completely new to John and I , and was wearing his brother's 18 month clothing at 10 months (partly because he was huge, partly because of clothing shrinkage). Before that, his development (laughing, smiling, cooing, talking, rolling, sitting, etc.) seemed a bit early if not right on time. His first tooth came in at 5 months, 3 weeks, and his next tooth came in a few days later. His next two teeth didn't come in until he was eight months old, and he's slowly been teething since then. He now has eight teeth and it seems his first molar is forming and going to come in.  Learning to crawl was difficult for him because of our tile and wood flooring that offered no traction. He did the army crawl for a long time and finally mastered crawling at about ten months old. Shortly after that he started to "cruise" around our furniture and now will take a couple of steps between pieces with confidence, but no more than that.

In January of 2011 Simon enjoyed his first ever vacation in Minnesota. The cold didn't seem to bother him nearly as much as it did his mother. He met his Grandpa on his mommy's side for the first time as well as many extended family members and some friends that mommy's had for many years (one friend mommy has had for almost 27 years). He really enjoyed flying and was just like his brother was at that age.

He prefers to crawl than practice walking. He's talking up a storm now, saying a ton of words in both Spanish and English: Mama, Papa, and Hola in Spanish, Hello, Hi, Mama (the difference is in the accent), Dada, Ow, Uh-oh, and possibly more.

He's had two colds and one infection (throat and ear) but otherwise has been healthy over the last year. He's a bit of an attention hog, and cries even if he's fallen just a little bit. He's certainly the baby of the family. But he's amazing, and we're so happy he's in our lives.

Simon, we love you so much. Happy Birthday (a day late).

Keeping a 5 year old awake...

...is easy until about three hours after their bedtime. Malachi started crying he was so sad that his dad's video game wasn't over and he wasn't playing with him yet. After he calmed down and finished wiping snot all over his face he looks at me with all seriousness and says, "I'm not tired yet." It took a lot of energy not to laugh pretty hard at that.

Here's the goal for tonight, keep him up until 11:00 p.m. and wake up him at 5:00 a.m. I'm not that excited about getting up with him at 5:00 but John's taken over on the keeping him up part so I'll get to go to sleep soon.

Our activities tonight to keep him awake have been, watching The Phantom Menace, playing a game, baking cookies, and now he and John are watching Wipeout that was recorded last night. Tomorrow morning, I think cartoons will be sufficient in keeping him awake. He has to fast though so I'm going to have to sneak a breakfast in there somewhere so I don't eat in front of him. We'll leave for the hospital at about 7:30 and begin our morning of testing.

The test is two hours long, so John and I plan on looking for some wi-fi and working on our bid list. So far what I've seen is pretty encouraging. Unfortunately we can't go to Algiers though because no kids over 5 are allowed because of inadequate schooling. That surprises me though, I would think they would have great schooling. It's possible that Americans aren't allowed at their schools though.

We're deciding what our priorities are for our next post, and mine is a good school for Malachi. I've decided that while house help and working would be great, I can do without for a couple of years. If I'm not working I'm much more likely to work on finishing my bachelors in who knows what after the kids have gone to bed.

Simon's rash is 100% gone and he seems to be taking the Zithromax really well. I hear laughter downstairs which is the best sound ever.

Good night people.

Seizure Free Today

Today I was on edge, but Malachi had a good day - no seizures.

When we woke up today we just chilled, Malachi woke John up at about 5:30 and I woke up at about 6:15. Simon slept in until 8:00 and we decided we should start moving for the day. John got Simon out of bed and I was taking care of Malachi. I was doing makeup in Malachi's bathroom when he was showering (it's hard for me to be too far from him right now) and I heard John say I should come look at the pattern on Simon's face. Here I thought that he laid on a stuffed animal for a long time, but when I got into our bedroom where they were I noticed the rash that was on Simon's torso last night had spread all the way up his head and his eyes were a bit puffy. We assumed that it was a reaction to the medicine he was taking for the infections.

I finished my makeup and called the Embassy nurse to inform her that the whole Roy family was coming to her office this morning because of Simon's rash and because we needed her to confirm with the neurologist what was going on today. I fed Simon a bottle, got Malachi's backpack with a snack and some homework together (felt like I was so prepared), and we left for the Embassy.

Once there the kids and I went to the Health Unit and John went to the Front Office (Ambassador, Deputy Chief of Mission and their admins), to inform the admin of the Ambassador that he might not make it on the trip this weekend that he was supposed to be control officer for. It turns out the Ambassador and DCM were in a meeting, so John went to talk to them and they were very supportive and understanding.

He joined us at the Health Unit where the nurse had agreed with what we thought about Simon and was trying to get a hold of the Pediatrician to see what he wanted to do about it. She took a look in his ears and confirmed that both of them were red and a bit swollen. The Dr. decided on Zithromax for three days - good. One problem solved.

While we were sitting in the reception area of the Health Unit, the Imaging center at CIMA called John's cell phone to make an appointment for Malachi's MRI, with contrast. We made it for Saturday morning. Throughout the day there were emails and phone calls and much confusion about what was going on. Finally John got a call from the neurologist mid-afternoon who said that we could do an EEG on Friday morning or Monday morning. They decided on Monday morning because the night before both tests he needs to stay up a couple of hours late and get up a couple of hours early. With this setup he gets to rest on Sunday.

So, in conclusion. No blood tests are going to be ordered right now, an MRI is scheduled for Saturday, and an EEG is scheduled for Monday. I need to bring Malachi's records from all of his other tests that were done a year and a half ago. I may do that tomorrow, or I just may wait until Monday since I'll need to pass the time during the EEG. Simon is doing much better, the rash is almost completely gone. Dad is sleeping happily next to me, and I'm going to turn in pretty soon.

What a crazy life we live.