Country Roads....

We had a great weekend with the boys and I have so much I could write about but I'm pooped. I know I haven't posted in a while so I'll explain what we did with pictures. We were out at the farm both days working our butts off and the boys were SO good! My lumberjack of a husband (and quite the cute one) cut down some limbs that were blocking our driveway. We cleaned out the garage (nearly empty), primed the exterior trim (some post and around the door), primed the well-house, the door to the basement and Nater pulled weeds. Our neighbor mowed and weed-whacked the lawn and it is absolutely beautiful! Needless to say we are so sad about having to sell the house. It's so darn pretty out there and so very peaceful.

Biruk is such a charmer. We are having a blast with him and you can tell he's attaching more and more every day. I love how his eyes dart around the room from mom, dad and big brother. It's like he's taking it all in and thinking "ahhh.... this is my family". He's TOO precious. His hair is getting so long and crazy. I'm not sure what I'll do with it.

Conner is great! He told Nathan to slow down today when he was driving on the interstate. Nathan responded by telling him he had to go the speed limit (with agitation) and Conner's words were "easy Dad, take it easy". The kid doesn't skip a beat. He is loving his little brother and has been wonderful.

As for me, I'm still pregnant. 31 weeks and 3 days to be exact. And surprisingly doing well! I am getting a handle on having two kids and in some ways feel so much better with two then I ever did with just one. I guess I've become more patience and more wise at handling things. Hubby has been quite the help and I think that makes a difference too. I love watching him with Biruk and Conner. I'm feeling better everyday and definitely more confident that I'm going to be able to handle three. Thank goodness. I'm not going to lie, the first couple weeks home I was sure I was in over my head. So for any struggling mama's out there - I can relate!

I'll leave you with some pics from our weekend.
C

True Story

I was getting Conner dressed after his bath tonight when I looked at his wall and found two boogers looking up at me. I guess my childhood is coming back to haunt me. I used to wipe them on the mirror in our bedroom and years later I found out my mom thought it was my sister Keely.

Ramblings....

We had a great weekend here and I was sad to see my sister leave. It was so much fun and hopefully we can do it again soon! She took a picture of the four of us so we have our first family picture with Biruk. It's nothing to get too excited about b/c we did nothing special for it and some of us were in our pj's. However, it has the four of us and I'm thankful for that.

Yesterday we went to KC for Biruk's appointment at the International Adoption Clinic. Everything went well until they had to draw blood. Poor little guy. He was NOT happy when they had do that. Nor was I; apparently Biruk's veins aren't real obvious so they had a hard time getting a blood draw.

We tried taking Conner swimming at the hotel pool but he wanted nothing to do with it. So I guess I need to get the little man signed up for swim lessons. The night went fairly well considering we had two little ones.

Today is laundry and cleaning. Isn't it always? Thankfully I have not encountered anymore scary turds in my laundry. The boys are being great with the exception of some attitude from Conner.

Lastly, I'm in the search for a new digital camera. I'd love any recommendations you have...

I'll leave you with some pics from my sisters visit.

Edited - I can not get the pics downloaded for some reason. Will try again later,
gotta run.
C

Lovin' Life

These boys are cracking me up. Biruk has done so wonderful these past couple days. It's been great and I'm hoping the little guy is finally adjusting and getting used to his surroundings. He is VERY alert and maybe that was some of his problem. He was just afraid he was going to miss something. As far as the nights went maybe he was having a growth spurt. He's put on 3 lbs in the past 3 weeks and he's went from 0-3 month clothing to filling out 6 month sleepers. Yeah Biruk!! He's still as giggly as ever and gives you a big grin every time you look at him.

Big brother is doing awesome! He's been so great with him and wanted to feed him his bottle this morning. He got through the whole thing with no spills. I was super impressed and needed the extra hand because I was scurrying around getting ready to leave to meet the realtor at our old place. Conner is quite the little helper these days getting diapers, putting laundry in the dryer and entertaining Biruk. He's been cracking us up with his choice of words lately, "this is delicous mom", "whatev" (yes whatev has recently replaced, whatever), "I'm just teasing you mom", "maybe later", and several other funny phrases. He's also been asking Nathan and I if we are going to take him to Ethilopia.

I'm happy to report that my bladder problems are under control since I've gotten rid of this awful cough and I am now sleeping again. What a relief! Biruk is doing so much better in the sleeping department and routine has been established. We are going to have beautiful weather this weekend and my sister from Texas will be arriving in the next half hour for a quick visit. She's bringing her youngest child (she has five) and I am looking forward to seeing her over the weekend.

Sorry for the misunderstanding on the last post, I will still be blogging I was just pointing out that there will be NO exciting, crazy, news to post (aka - new homes, pregnancies, adoptions, etc). From here out my blog will include details of my daily life as a mama. For example, while sorting laundry yesterday a turd fell out of my 2 years olds pants. And I picked it up, threw it in the toilet, washed my hands and went about my business. Keep in mind, it was a small turd, but the fact that it didn't phase me is very disturbing. When I asked hubby how he missed this when changing Conner his response was "I didn't see it". Hopefully there are no more turds lingering in my clothes hamper.

Cha cha cha chaaanges...

Here's what's happened to my body the last 30 weeks...

Are you sick of seeing my face? I don't blame you. I'm pretty sure there are more pics of me in this post then all my other post total. So do you need another hint?

If this doesn't explain the raging hormones, desperation, exhaustion and frustration the past 2 weeks I don't know what would. I'm 30 weeks pregnant and we will soon be welcoming baby NO.3 to the family. Are we crazy? Probably.

There are several pics from Ethiopia (which I hadn't been able to share until now) and I was 6 months preggo while traveling. And I made it through the whole week without one. single. illness. Then I came home and got ran over by a train. But good news my friends, I nearly feel 100% with the exception of third trimester sleepiness.

Well there you have it, more exciting adventures ahead! This will be the last bit of news from us for a very. very. LONG. time. Three houses, an adoption and pregnancy within one year is plenty of excitement to last us a lifetime.

Time to get some shut eye,

Chatter

I'm turning over a new leaf!

That's right. No more talk about Biruk's sleeping habits. I mean seriously, how boring it must be for all of you. I will tell you that the rest of the night went well. But that's it - NO MORE. I'm going to leave my whiny mode behind me and move forward. The sun is shining, it's going to be a beautiful week and I have a ton of things to do (including sell a house). With that, good bye cranky chatter and helllllooooooooo Chirpy Chatter! You all will hopefully find my happiness super annoying. Or my plan will backfire and I'll be back to my old self in no time. You never know with me!

What's on the agenda for the day? Eating LOTS of yummy food because I am feeling better and have 2 weeks of eating to catch up with. I have quite a bit in stock so I should be good to go! Also I plan on overhauling my room including moving all my winter clothes down to the basement. Nothing makes me happier than a clutter free, clean house. So I will keep my goal small today and start with that. Hopefully I will accomplish much more. One more FUN thing on my list for today is to order a double stroller online for the boys.

Attached are a couple pics from yesterday afternoon and this morning. I tell you what, Conner is quite the handsome fella but Biruk is just so pretty! He's constantly being called a little girl. I could eat him up! When we got our referral I was in love with Biruk, when picking him up in Ethiopia I knew how much I loved him, BUT these past 2 weeks home he's stole my heart. I've fallen quite hard for the sweet, smiley babe. And I hope the boys have too! He's become such a great fit for our family and is such a pleasure to be around. I just assumed I would love him just like Conner when we picked him up. But it was different. But every day I can't get over how much more I am in love with him. I'd better go now so I can scoop him up and give him lots of love! Thanks for being a part of our journey and for all your support these past couple weeks. I hope to return to my sarcastic self very shortly!

He's been down for less than an hour...

and up five times. Seriously. I love this guy to bits and pieces and I can't believe how much I've attached to him but five times? I'm so scared of what lies ahead tonight. I know, I know "wah, wah, wah". But any moms out there that know what it's like to run on no sleep on Monday morning can sympathize. Please send some serious "sleep" vibes Biruk's way and some patience my way. Nater is feeling lousy so he gets to take the night off. It's me and the little man tonight and I'm not gonna lie, I'm scared.

Rachael, enjoy your sleeping beauty and peaceful nights sleep. I'm not gonna lie, I'm a little jealous.

I'd better catch some zzzz's while I can. Peace out and good night!

And the reason....

for the screaming... definitely stomach issues. I will spare you all the details but I will tell you one
thing. Nater woke me at 3:30 to tell me he needed help with Biruk. We had to use scissors (ever so carefully) to cut off his onesie because of his "blow-out". He must have felt tons better because the little guy slept until 9:30. Yeah for mom and dad and boys getting some rest and thanks to everyone for your support. I know things will be normal again, I just know it.

Here's a couple pics of us starting our day. Biruk is LOVING the jumparoo. He can bounce in that thing forever. His little legs are getting strong every day. Dad and Conner are watching some presentation on plastic bottles (boring).

Hope everyone has a relaxing Sunday. I started going to church again while waiting to travel to pick up Biruk so we all ventured out to mass last night. We ended up in the front pew and Conner was the best he's ever been. And of course Biruk had no complaints. His big eyes just stared around at all the people. We were so proud of them! And it felt good to be at church again. I think they must have had plenty of distractions being up front so maybe that is the secret to them behaving. More later,
Chatter

Sweet baby Biruk....

I had a super long post and now it doesn't seem at all significant. Poor Biruk just woke up after only an hour and a half of sleeping and he was hysterical. We finally calmed him by turning on the water in the tub (an old trick from when Conner was a baby). We gave him gas drops because he kept farting but I felt so bad for the little fella. He seemed so traumatized by whatever was going on and talking to him or looking at us was not helping. I really hope the little guy gets a good night sleep and is more relaxed in the morning. I have definitely decided the hardest part of this adoption is not understanding what Biruk needs. With Conner I understood most of it. It was stressful, overwhelming and crazy at times but I could figure most things out. He had colic and screamed from 5-10 every night. That was predictable. We figured out what helped to calm him and I also figured out what foods to not eat (breastfeeding). He slept through the nights, only to get up to eat (sometimes 3-5 times but he always snuggled up and went right back to sleep). With Biruk it's different. Instead I wonder if he's missing his nannies, his old language, smells, his crib, everything. It worries me. Definitely during the day he's our little champ. He loves to laugh and smile and I'm falling in love with him more and more every day. Conner has really taken a shine to him and I love listening to him talk to Biruk. Tonight at dinner he said "Hi Biruk, my little chunk". Then he told Nathan he was chunky. But, back to Biruk, he's such a little ham during the day and seems so peaceful. Then at night he seems to be struggling. Maybe he's teething, maybe it's gas, but maybe he's just sad. I've really been trying to take all of this into consideration because it does help with my patience and reminds me of how much I thought and prayed about this little guy before I even met him or knew he was ours. I hope the next week brings improvements and peace for Biruk.

I know after that story I shouldn't follow with something like this but I will. Today Nater had made us a big plate of nacho's and it looked so scrumptious. Well 2 bites into it and I have another one of my coughing fits (yes, it's gotten worse). I sprint to the bathroom (bladder control issues, more about that later) and next thing I know I puke all over the damn bathroom. I called for Nater and he is standing at the doorway looking at me with pity and all of the sudden I just start laughing. It must have been such a sight. Please let this god awful cough pass soon. It's been 2 weeks in the making and from what I've heard it may linger for a while. YUCK.

I'd better get some rest while I can. Happy Saturday to everyone. I promise this blog will become upbeat and humorous again. It just may take some time.
Sincerely,
Chatter

It's FRIDAY!!!!

I love Fridays!! Mainly because hubby will call it a day by 5:00 and we will have him through the weekend. Woohoo!! And I'm super happy today because this is the best I've felt in 2 weeks. I still can't believe the fact that I made it through 9 days of travel, including 7 days in Ethiopia without getting sick and then I come home to America and catch a nasty virus. What the ????
But aside from a yucky cough and sore throat I feel tons better. I don't know if it's the amoxicillin (spell?) or the Wellness Formula hubby picked up at the health food store. Regardless, I'm thankful for both.

Conner has really made great strides. He ate jelly toast and yogurt for breakfast and had half a grill cheese and veggie soup for lunch. Yeah!! And we are working on the liquids again. One sippy of liquids down so far, hopefully another by bed time.

Biruk is still doing pretty good. Last night he had us up from 3:30-5:30 after Nathan finally got him to pass out for good. He's such a stinker. We'll get up, get him to sleep and lay him back down and within 5-10 minutes he wakes up crying again. So we do it all over again. So please let this phase pass quickly. If anyone has any sleeping tips for a 6 month old I'd greatly appreciate them.

Today is laundry/cleaning day and hopefully we can get some R&R this weekend although I have a feeling instead our time will be spent at the farmhouse get it ready to list on the market. I called 3 surveyors who were going to "call me back" on Wednesday and yet again SW Missouri has not failed me - no one called back. It's amazing what kind of work ethic exist down here. I'm usually so thankful for someone that actually answers there phone and calls me back on the same day that we'll hire them on the spot. So for any SW Missouri employers out there - CALL ME BACK. Grrr....

Happy weekend to all!
Chatter

Noooooooooooo.....

Well I woke up today with an achy neck, nasty sore throat, head pressure and fever. I honestly don't know how much longer I can deal with all of this. I was able to get a prescription called in and hopefully that will get me feeling better. Nater came home at lunch to help and then went down to his office to try and make some phone calls. When I put Biruk down for his afternoon nap I passed out in Conner's bed and this is what I woke up to (my little mama's boy). Thankfully Nater snapped some pics because this just cracks me up.


Biruk is doing well, especially during the day. At night he is still getting up about 3 times and is sometimes not really keen on laying back down so it'll take me three or four attempts. It's all a little overwhelming but we are doing our best. I hope I can get feeling better and actually get some of my energy back. Hubby is out with the boys right now running a couple errands so I've had a quiet house the last couple hours. I should be sleeping but I'm enjoying the peace.

Hopefully my next post will be more upbeat and full of good news. More later,
Chatter

Finally, we have answers!

Today started with another sick day for Conner (fever in the 102's/103's) so we decided to call the doctor since 6-7 days had passed and still no progress. They gave us an apt for 2:00. As a mother of two and home by myself I was hoping the time would pass quickly before we had to leave since I had two demanding boys. Well at 10:45 I started getting ready and we barely made it out the door by 12:15 and I still hadn't eaten lunch. Wheww....

But we made it to the doctor and after doing the basic checkover she told us one ear was really red and the other a nasty ear infection. Why didn't we find this out at our last visit? She said usually after being sick that long the ear infection will show up on day 6 or 7 and that is what has caused his fevers to stay high. She then had a prescription called in for him and we were on our way. Biruk wasn't digging the carseat on the way home so we had to pull over twice for some play time. He's such a fun little guy so we just smiled, laughed and talked. Then we'd try again and finally he fell asleep the last half hour. Success.

The evening went quickly as usual. I'm going to finish cleaning the kitchen and call it a night. Hopefully my cough cooperates and does not keep me awake. Hopefully Conner's health will start to improve and by next week we will be a healthy family again.

G'night.

One day at a time...

I had posted earlier today and realized it was a tad whiney so I deleted it. I'll try again. Conner and I are getting are butts kicked by a nasty virus so that's the reason for the negativity. But this afternoon we set out in the sun for a little bit so that lifted my spirits. But not Little Man's. He's currently on day 8 of the fevers, cough and runny nose. We feel so bad for him. Hopefully this wicked virus will be gone soon. I don't have the fever, but a constant wheeze in my chest and throat that leads to ridiculous coughing spasms. I realized today that if I stay busy it seems to distract me enough to take away from the coughing. So I've done some laundry, swiftered the floors, vacuumed and changed our bedding. The house is now nice and tidy. Biruk is taking a really long nap right now so that is how I've managed to get all of this done. Conner has been glued to the tube (we are making exceptions since he's sick) and he's dozed in and out a couple times. Hubby is out working at the old house finishing the last of the trim. We hope to put a for sale sign in the yard this week or next. Most likely we'll need a realtor but we'll try by owner first.

Good news, I just took Conner's temp and it's 98 degrees. It hasn't been this low in a long time and usually around five o'clock (right now) is when he peaks and really takes a turn for the worse. I don't want to jinx anything but I hope this is a good sign. And he keeps complaining that he doesn't feel good. So maybe the fact that he has energy to complain is a good sign. Yeah!

Biruk has been great. The first few days were pretty rough. He wasn't sleeping much and would get upset when I layed him down. Then a couple days ago he started trusting that I wasn't going anywhere and began to relax a little bit. He's sleeping through the night a little better. He still gets up 2-3 times to eat but he'll let us put him back in the crib at least. All around we are making great improvements. He still spits out his rice cereal when we try to feed him so we are strictly on bottles. Maybe we will try introducing baby food in a little while. He is very ticklish and in certain spots we can get him laughing. It's pretty funny. He gives us big grins a lot and is overall a very happy baby. I'm happy we made it through the past week and I look forward to what lies ahead. Hopefully we can kick these cooties and be on the road to recovery soon.

Here are a few pics of the past couple days - enjoy!

I