Hi all,

So, hmmmm, I bet you’ve all been wondering what we’ve been up to.  The short answer is life.  Lots going on.  I haven’t forgotten the need to post our Halloween pictures.  Thanksgiving was great with the short exception that even with tons of planning, the boys happened to wake up from their nap just as my mom called out dinner.  Thus, once again, Joel & I had a cold dinner.  The boys did very well throughout the day.  We missed seeing cousins Gina and Brigitte and hope that they will once again, be able to join us for a future Thanksgiving.  Also missing was my Uncle Dick.  He’s been in the hospital and we missed him sorely.

What else.  Well, some of you already know this but Joel and I have decided to expand our family by adopting a foster child.  To put it bluntly, I’m not blessed in the fertility department and all other efforts have failed.  More on that later.  Hopefully in the next year or two, we’ll have a little sister for Nicholas and Dexter.  We have more than enough love and support to give someone who, through no fault of their own, has been put through the ringer.  The last hurdle we need to pass is the home inspection, when our home is assessed as being State safe or not.  This process should be complete by the end of the year and then we wait………  Good thing the boys will keep us plenty busy.  Needless to say, this process has taken up some of our free time.

After many visits to the physical therapist, massage therapist, numerous doctors, etc…. for his arm issues, Joel is scheduled for surgery in early January.  I’ve been told that it is a relatively uncomplicated procedure and one that he will quickly recover from.  Thus, you can expect more blogs next year!!!!!!  In the meantime, between the pain and the fact that our laptop died again, our blog productivity is still a little low.

Ok, now for the funny story of the day.  Yesterday, I took the boys to the Everett Children’s Museum all by myself.  Joel stayed home to move furniture.  As we pulled into a parking space I said “Now, it’s just Mommy with you today so we all need to stick together.”  Nicholas responds with a tinge of worry “I don’t want to be taped to you and Dexter.”  You try explaining how the English language works to a 3 1/2 year old.  “Yes Nicky, stuck can mean using tape on something but I just wanted us to stay together.”  Nicky – “No, I don’t want to be taped up.”  Nicholas, I love you.

So, God really does have a sense of humor.  One day after we had declared victory over the diaper war, Nicholas came down with his first case of diarrhea.  I came home from work and the first thing Malina said to me was “it’s not his fault.”  The event had just happened and luckily, the underwear held it all in place long enough for Malina to get him to the utility sink.   You see, Nicholas had just started a round of antibiotics for a sinus infection and for the first time, he experience a fun side effect of the drug.  Back in diapers he went.  It’s all good now – Nicky’s back in underwear and doing well.   Malina also learned from the experience.  How do you clean underwear that is soaked in poop?  Why, you wash it out in the toilet.  Thank you to my Mom, who shared how you cleaned out diapers back in the day stories with me so I knew what to do when the time came.

Saying Goodbye.  Yes, it is another poop story.  Whenever Dexter or Nicholas are successful at pooping in the toilet, they get to flush their stuff.  Every time, as the poop circles the bowl, Nicholas will stand there, waving, and say “Bye Bye!  See you later!  Have a good time!” and yesterday he added “Have a safe trip.”

That’s my boy!

WE ARE DIAPER FREE!!!

OK, so Nicky still wears a diaper at night but who cares – the boys are potty trained.  Malina, Joel and I finally got on the same page and the past weekend was a pants off weekend.  Naked Thursday, naked & underwear Friday, underwear Saturday, underwear Sunday and pants on Monday!!!!!  The boys clearly proved they were up for the challenge.  Sure, we remind them to go potty and yesterday, Dexter had a small accident but stopped it in process to tell me and then finished up on the toilet.

I am so proud of my boys.  Keep up the good work!  As a reward, we took them to Toys R Us and they were allowed to pick out a toy.  Joel and I were so ready to spend ~$30 per child.  Nicky picked a yellow Match Box car at the cost of $1.09 and Dexter picked up a talking Francesco Cars 2 car for $10.  We were actually encouraging Nicholas to buy something bigger when he turned towards Joel and said “Daddy, if you want it, why don’t you buy it.”

We love our kids.