He still loves his Mommy

Yesterday I was sitting on the couch & Jason came up to me and was all huggy/kissy. The conversation then went something like this...
Brad: Jason, do you love your Mommy?
Jason: Love Mommy, love Mommy.
Brad: Jason, do you love Daddy?
Jason: (pause, shakes head emphatically)...Sydney loves Daddy. Jason loves Baby Ella (translation. Baby Elephant.)

Had to write about it...it still makes me laugh. :)

For the love of cousins...

Photo ops with little ones is usually precious, often trying & many times end with tears.

Sleepover

Miss Regan spent the night with us & although her awake time in our home was probably less than 2 hours before she had to go to bed, we managed to sneak in some games.

Seems a long time ago...

This picture was taken less than a month ago on a warm weekend afternoon that provided the opportunity to wash & vacuum the van without getting cold hands. Sydney passed the time colouring in the back of the van.

Little Funnies

This weekend is a system change at work & has taken a great deal of my time & especially Brad's time. As I type this I am at work in a holding pattern & the kids are with me & they have been here for almost 4 hours. Remarkably they are doing really well. I came with the trunk full of stuff. They have done Play-doh, colouring, driving another baby's stroller around, running around, and "activities". They are both completely wound & having fun, but the crash is coming.

I am writing this with the plan that when I go home I am going to take a picture of Sydney's door. She posted a sign on her door yesterday that she advises us says "No boys allowed". It really is quite cute. She now says however that Daddy is allowed to go in. Yesterday morning she wanted us to do a "show" which Jason translated that be watching t.v. and started to whine when the t.v. wasn't turning on. We told Sydney that we needed to know what our lines were so that we would say the right thing. She immediately went off & came back and gave us each a piece of paper that had lines (literally) written on it. Too funny.

October in Review

My Aunt Sue scolded me last week for getting behind on my posts, so here is one for October in review. I started doing this on my lunch for any of those noting the time of my post! Work right now is a little hairy, so taking a few moments to think about things that generally calm me & make me smile seems like a good idea.

Thanksgiving again this year was beautiful weather & we enjoyed the time with our families. Since the Robinson event was a week early this year we were available to watch the twins & Max while Michele & Robb had other things to attend to- like Michele prepping their house for us all to show up the next day. I am amazed at how much more I can get done without Sydney & Jason underfoot, I can only imagine how much easier that is without a 5 year old & two 6 month olds.

I met with a surgeon & my heart surgery is a go for next March or April. It is my aorta valve that needs replaced & I have known for about 10 years that this day would eventually come, but was hoping that the kids would be older. But having those kids is probably the reason I need it sooner. I will be having the Ross Procedure which means that they will take my pulmonary valve out & use it to replace my aorta & will graft in a donor valve for my pulmonary valve. The surgery is a little more intensive, but it means that I won't need to take blood thinners afterwards or have the same risk of infection as I would have with a mechanical valve. So, next year will involve a lot of strategic planning. Right now, that is in the back of my mind & I am trying not to worry any more about it until at least the new year.

October was also busy with starting my classes for learning how to help Jason with his speech & it is pretty interesting. Part of the course if having sessions with the SLP & she records me playing with him & then we watch it together. Hopefully by the end of this we are really seeing marked improvement with him. He seems to be getting better, but he definitely is not where we would like him to be yet.

Halloween this year with Sydney seemed like a week long event. She wore her costume to skating (where more kids than Liam's group also wore costumes), she wore it to school on Thursday (but we made her wear her doctor's outfit to ensure the child could still go to the bathroom), and of course she wore it on Halloween night. I am posting the video from Sydney's skating to show you that although she can stand up & move- she's not going anywhere too fast. We are working on that. If you can't make it through the whole video, I can't say that I blame you.

In regards to Halloween itself, I must say I did a terrible job of taking pictures this year- it all seemed a little hairy. Grandma, Papa, & Nana came in to see the kids & we all went around the block trick or treating. Sydney definitely had the routine down pat this year & she "performed" her Five Little Pumpkins poem when requested for a trick. However at the house that requested a performance, they gave a car to Jason in addition to the candy because I am sure they thought the little boy would love a car- which of course he did. Sydney however looked sad that she didn't get a car, but what was I to do? Ask them to give her a car too???

That's all I can think of right now that was of any interest. Here is a picture of how the kids tried to help out around the house.