One Week Home (and one day more)

Here it is.  We've been home for one week.  All in all, things have been going ok.  Ken went back to work on Tuesday.  He had been planning on taking one more week off to help us get settled in.  I told him that I would actually prefer he go in for short days to get me used to it before he goes back to full days.  He's such a good man.  I don't know if he actually wanted to go to work or not but he did.  I'm sure it's much quieter there.  He would stay home in the morning long enough for me to get showered and get the kids together and be ready for the day (it takes longer than you might think).  Then he would go in and most days be home by 6:30 or so.  It worked out well.

So here's what's up with the kids:

Connor is as awesome and mature as ever.  He sees what needs to be done and does it.  He helps out with the little ones as much as he can.  I don't think he'd admit it if you asked him but he seems to really like having a two year old to take care of.  He's really great with them and obviously got his patience from his father, definitely didn't get that from me.  He started back to guitar on Monday and it's good for him to be playing Christmas music.

Rylan went back to gymnastics on Tuesday, also good for him.  He needs a break to be with friends and enjoy time away from the craziness.  He started having breathing problems that night so we broke out the nebulizer.  It's been quite a while since he's needed it.  At first we thought it was that he had lost his tolerance for chalk dust.  Then we thought he'd picked up the cough that Ken, John, and I had all been through.  After three days of needing the nebulizer and it not helping much, Ken took him to the doctor Friday.  He's got bronchitis.  Yay.  Why him?  He's got a meet in two weeks.  I know one thing for sure, he won't let it slow him down and he won't miss competition season.  I just pray that he can get over it and have a good season.

Cody is... well... Cody is... Cody.  Is there any other way to describe him?  He waffles between being mature and helpful to behaving like a three year old.  I don't guess that's any different than it was before.  He has been fabulous in the roll of seat belt police officer.  Yuli hates her car seat.  I have had to forcefully insert her into it more times than not.  Luckily, her petite little fingers aren't strong enough to actually open the latch but she's trying.  Cody is excellent at waffling between orders of 'No toca' (don't touch) and entertainment by teaching her to count in English.  She skips numbers when she counts in Spanish so we've given up on correcting that and are going straight for the English.  He likes to teach and help them.  Anyway he is very good at being silly and engaging the little ones to buy us some more time. 

Diana is adjusting well.  She like us.  She likes being here.  She still doesn't like being told what to do and I think at times she views things as being unfair.  I hate that she sees it that way and at times I am without the words in Spanish to explain it to her.  However, for the most part, she's a whole lot of fun.  She has an energy that just doesn't quit and it seems that all the kids enjoy playing with her at different times. She seems to be coping well to the transitions.  She did try to test Ken earlier this week to see if he would be consistent.  She actually seemed surprised when he was.  All in all, she is adjusting much easier than we expected.

Yuli is not.  She is still having a difficult time.  I dont' know what to do for the poor baby.  She goes from one extreme to the next.  She's either fighting mad and screaming, deliriously happy and giggling/squealing like a crazy person, or catatonic.  She is never anything in between and switches from one to the other like she has a light switch.  I'm praying that with time she will realize that we are it and she will be ok with that.  I hope that you all will continue to keep her in your prayers as she is really, really hurting.  Also, the mood swings are really, really exhausting for Ken and I.  We (Yuli included) have a moment of peace yesterday.  She found the storybook reader and thoroughly enjoyed listening to it read "The Lion King" to her.  It was in English.  I won't be at all surprised if she is the first one to fully embrace English.

John is also adjusting well.  He likes me now.  He likes me a lot.  It was easier when he liked Ken and Yuli liked me.  Now, frequently, I have one kid in each arm.  Luckily, they are only five lbs different so I'm not unbalanced (at least when it comes to my muscle strength, I can't say much for my mental state here).  He has settled into life here and is a typical two year old into everything.  He is mostly happy and is good to have around but we are currently in a power struggle.  He likes to throw food and dump drinks on the floor.  Now he has a sippy cup.  He doesn't like it.  I do.  When he throws it, I don't have to clean up milk.  I think he's smart so he will learn fast that if he wants a drink, he needs to get it from the sippy cup because he ain't getting it from anywhere else.

As a matter of interest, if you have been reading their names in your head, you probably have been pronouncing them incorrectly and when you are introduced, you will be surprised.  Well, ok.  John is John. Yuli is pronounced Julie.  We will probably have her name changed legally to Juli to save her the headache of explaining it as she gets older.  I actually really like her name pronouced as it's spelled.  I've heard her pronounce it that way several times.  I frequently ask her which she likes better.  When I ask, she tells me, 'Juli'... The other day after I asked her, she looked at me and asked, "Which do you like better-Mami or Mami?"   Diana is pronounced like Deaunna or go with the guys' name Dion and add an 'uh' at the end.We aren't quite sure how to explain that to Diana.  I've tried many times but my Spanish is lacking.  She's old enough to have the choice as to whether or not to change the spelling so that people will pronounce it correctly or keep the spelling and have to correct people that say it like, well Diana.  Anyway, that's all for today.  Tomorrow I have to figure out Thanksgiving.