I know I've been pretty sucky about keeping up with this blog - with Dan and I both having Facebook accounts, that has taken precedence over this blog...but I guess I should update it. About a month or so after my last post (see below) regarding the loss of a very close friend of ours - my dear grandmother, Meme, passed away quietly in her hospital bed. It was a blow to all of us, but especially to our poor little Andrew. He was very close to her. She is missed by all of us so much...and especially to my mother who has been taking care of her in her (Mom's) home for the pas
t few years since my grandfather's death. About two weeks prior to Meme's hospitalization and her death, my mother (seen in the picture with Meme) wanted me to come over and take some pictures of her, me, and the kids with Meme. Mom's timing was impeccable - as we would've never had another chance to take th
ose pics again...On other matters - I'm only working at Duke in the Pediatric Oncology clinics one 12 hour shift per week - yet again. The rest of the week is spent shuttling kids to school and preschool, as well as working as a medical transcriptionist from home. The upside - I'm home for the kids and Dan more - the down
side - trying to listen to a doctor mumbling at light speed while I try to type word for word what he's saying, while also listening to Nathanael ask me for a movie, snack, or juice - or even better yet, tell me what the dog is doing - yea, you tell me how much work you would get done from home...it can make for a challenging day at times....Nathan is in preschool three half days per week, Cody is in 5th grade and has been nominated to be in the AG (academically gifted) classes in his school, Andrew is in kindergarten and having a much better time with it this year.
They had a great time for Halloween. Cody was Storm Shadow from GI JOE, Nathan was Wolverine from X-Men, and Andrew was Iron Man. My in-laws were gracious enough to let us go to their large neighborhood to do our damage...and the kids definitely did damage in the candy collecting department. For every house they collected a piece of candy from though, they gave a present...a piece of paper with a scripture from the Bible - so we went "tract or treating" instead of complete "trick or treating." The kids enjoyed the experience and a few of the houses' occupants seemed to take to it well...others, well....were still handing out the candy...
Cody is growing up so fast and looks more and more like my clone, Andrew has always been D
an's clone, and Nathanael appears to be a mix of Dan and I both (see above close up of kids pics). Each kiddo has their own personality, as all kids do...Cody is our scientific loving kid - but hates math (go figure). He would rather study biology (his fav program on tv was "House" until we stopped him from watching it b/c it can get raunchy at times) and how things work, but not care HOW they work. He's our doer in that aspect. He will build stuff with instructions, but he loves learning about human/animal bodies and how they work (again, go figure, Mommy is a nurse). Him and I have sat and had discussions about different disease processes and treatments, and I almost feel like I'm talking to a peer a week or more later. He retains it. He has learned an appreciation for reading as well, (much like his mother - just not as fast reading as Mommy yet), but he prefers visualizations. I frequently work with sickle cell kids at work and I brought home slides to show him the cells that are different and then had to have a science lesson with him in my living room on a white erase board b/c he wanted to truly know what the cells did....talk about challenging Mommy's knowledge.... He is also our smart alec in the family...see the pic...he built the figure....he is quick witted and has begun to pick up on things a lot quicker in the terms of going, "Huh? What did you mean by that?" Or...worse yet, he comes with quick witted comments to things that we say around him....we gotta watch him.
Andrew is the "heart," as he has much of it. He loves everyone and doesn't know a stranger. You know of the tv program "Everyone Loves Raymond?" Well, in our lives, the tv show of our family life would be "Everyone Loves Andrew" - well except for his brothers at times, so it seems.
When we went to NJ in August, he laid with Aunty Pinky and they ended up falling asleep together(sorry, Aunt Pinky if you don't think its a flattering pic of you - I thought it was cute)...although, he DID wake up for the picture -barely. He can be tempermental, and he's so hard to shop for during birthdays and Christmas - He wants to be a big boy and have big boy stuff like Cody for Christmas, but he also likes the stuff that Nathan gets....makes Christmas this year tough. He hasn't developed his own likings...he just follows the crowd - always wanting to please and put his heart into everything and everyone that he meets.Nathanael - he has become our challenge. He is defiant at times, argumentative, whiny when he doesn't get his way, and questioning EVERYTHING...but he also knows t
hat he's cute and adored because he is the baby of the family and Cody dotes on him hand and foot...and so have we at times. He thinks he can get away with "murder." Dan and I have recently been trying to correct this attitude and are finding that it's better to raise kids(so all you to be parents know this) the same way (to some extent b/c each child is different). Wow, it took us to get to number three child to realize this???Dan is doing well. He lost his job just as my hours cut down at work(which was our choice about how much time I worked outside the home). He had the opportunity immediately after losing his job to work for a family owned business that he had actually worked for a year before - this boss(the one he works for now) wanted him back. So we are blessed that Dan is in a good place with his job mentally. And regardless of what everyone says - "If Mommy ain't happy, no one is..." I lengthen this statement.... "If Mommy ain't happy, no one is... If Daddy ain't happy, no one is, BUT if they are both happy...then everyone is."
For more pics and such, you can look Dan and I up on Facebook. I will try to be better and update here at least once per month...
Thank you family and friends for loving us, even though we don't always stay in touch....
