Tax relief

Hi everyone!

I just got back from a weekend trip to North Carolina where I convened with my sisters. It was great to eat and talk and laugh and eat some more. But I sure enjoyed also coming home and seeing my family again!

The kids are doing great. Simmy's face is still red, but it's a much smaller section than before. We're putting cream on it four times a day to try to reduce scarring and it's causing zero pain. We're so grateful!

Simmy's had some fun quotes over the last weeks. When I was cooking cous cous for dinner one night, he ran out in excitement and informed Bryce that we were going to have "jacuzzi." Then at the table he asked for a helping of "caboose!" He also wanted to know if he could clean his burn with a cottontail.

We finished reading Charlotte's Web and now have started on Stuart Little. Simeon is totally engaged in the story and asks insightful questions. It's fun to see him processing. When Charlotte died I got a little teary and Simmy looked up, gave me a tender look, and patted me on the arm.

Lydia is enjoying life to the max these days. She got a little pink stroller from a friend and loves cruising around with that thing. Sometimes it's carrying a doll, sometimes a bunny, sometimes her electronic abc toy. She also loves to climb up on Sims' bed or the couch with a pile of books she gathered, and sit there, flipping the pages with concentration. She and Simeon are as thick as thieves. They crack me up! Simmy talks to her like she's an adult and she answers with an emphatic "Yeah!" or "No..." like she knows exactly what he's asking. He really looks out for her, too, fetching pacifiers or blankies with thoughtful initiative. They are a delight.

We miss you all. I'm sorry to be so long since my last update!

Susan

Back from Spring Break

Well, since I last wrote, we've had the flu, traveled to San Diego, and survived a third degree burn.

Simmy and Bryce were camping March 6 when a metal hanger flipped out of the fire and hit Sims on the cheek. Unfortunately, his automatic reaction was to trap the hanger between his face and shoulder, and it took a while for Bryce, in the dark, to realize what was happening.

The third degree burn area was about 3 by 8 centimeters, and the second degree area got the bottom of his ear and extended another inch behind. He also burned the inside of his left wrist, which concerned the doctor more than the facial burn. Because it's an area that requires so much movement, the tendency is to hold it rigid, thus causing the scarring to impede mobility. So we're doing hydrotherapy--giving a morning and evening bath and afternoon sink playtime where he keeps his wrist submerged and keeps the burn moist. Now both Simmy and Lydie are hooked on their twice-daily baths!

We've had to change gauze on his face every morning and evening, which is fairly traumatic for everyone involved. Finally, we realized that we needed to divide with one person taking Lydie somewhere else because she was so upset by Simmy's screams that she needed major comforting after it was all over.

Sims has definitely gotten better over the last 10 days. He hates when we take the old tape off and clean the gunk off that has formed on his burn. But he'll stand very still without fussing while we put on the burn cream and tape the new gauze to his face. Then he smears cream on his wrist burn all by himself.

What a process this has been! Bryce came back from Spring Break and time away last night, and the house is much more full of life with him in the house. Grandma Steen has been here helping with the kids and that's been a huge load-lifter. She's been reading Charlotte's Web, among other books, to Simeon and he's loving it. Every night he asks, "Will Grandma be here when I wake up in the morning?" He's worried she'll take off without warning.

In the meanwhile, we're so thankful for what didn't happen.... that the burn was no bigger, that he received immediate help via border patrol who stopped by the campsite soon after the accident, and that the wound has stayed clear of infection, which is such a risk with deep burns. He is already healing so well. We're full of gratitude for it all.

Susan

We're with pics!

I tried to go back and add photos to past entries but I'm not quite figuring out how to do it. So we'll have to start from this point forward. This picture was from a couple weeks ago when I walked into the kids' room to find Lydia in her crib playing with toys, her feet tucked into the two smallest cups she could find. I guess she likes her feet cozy. She definitely likes her shoes. Yesterday I asked her if she could go get her shoes because we were going out, and sure enough, she came back with a matching pair. I have no idea where she found them!

She's been feeling rough the last couple days... definitely teething. But she's been super cuddly, so that's been fun. I hope she's doing better by tomorrow, though, because that's when our family leaves for five days in California. We have a student conference over the weekend, followed by staff meetings for staff in AZ and CA. Other kids will be there too, so I hope ours have fun playing with them.

As for Simeon, he got a haircut not too long ago and has been looking quite handsome. He has a "date" tonight with one of our students so Bryce and I can go out. Yesterday Krista was here when he woke up from his nap and I asked him if he wanted to say goodbye before he left. He was heartbroken when he realized she couldn't stay. "But I want a date with her!" he wailed, lip quivering. I don't know any other 3-year-old who will call women on the phone, ask for a date, and get an immediate yes! The girls are great with him, and he loves the attention. So far, he hasn't noticed (or seemed to mind) that Lydia's usually there as a chaperone.

We hope everyone is doing well!

Susan

Glad to be together

I made a last-minute trip to Phoenix with one of our staff on Friday because she had a close family friend who died. I was gone just a day, but real thankful to be able to share that time with her, then thankful to once again be with my family. Her friend was like a second mother to her, and she left behind three children -- two in college and one in high school. It's made me glad for life and for this time that I share with my own kids and husband.

Simeon is enjoying increasing independence. We haven't had to change a dirty diaper from him in months because he's going so well on the potty. But we still have to use pull-ups because he forgets and wets through his underwear. He can take off his sleepers, put on his own pants and socks, and get his arms through his shirt by himself. He loves going to the park with daddy and kicking balls.

Lydia is walking so well now. She and Simmy play together by the hour, inventing games that mystify onlookers. One recent game was both falling onto a sleeping bag that was laying in the living room. They would bonk heads as they fell, both laughing, and gingerly rubbing heads as they prepared for their next dive. Another game was Lydia standing behind Simeon and holding his middle. Then he would walk too fast for her to keep up and she would fall face-first onto the carpet. They did it over and over and thought it was hilarious.

Lydia's still eating twice (or three times) as much as Simeon most days.... until those random meals of oatmeal, or tomato soup, where Sims makes up for 3 days-worth of eating in one setting. They're sleeping fairly well in the same room. And we usually get to sleep until 7:30 in the mornings. That's glorious.

We had a workday on Saturday for the students to earn money for spring break and winter conference costs. We hired a few students of our own and finished filling the dirt into the raised flower beds. It looks great!

I've got two crying kids to deal with. More later.

Susan

Baby Frankenstein

Well, as of yesterday, Lydia's walking pretty much everywhere. Slowly. She lifts each leg with measured concentration, feet turned out, arms held ready for some imaginary ballroom partner, and manages to get to each room just as folks are leaving for the next place. Usually when she sees Sims coming toward her, she sits down as a preventative measure, as he usually ends up knocking her down. It's fun to see our baby turning into a little girl.

I've been easing off the cortizone that the doctor had me on to boost my adrenal function. I felt like it was helping, but the problem was that I was also not sleeping well. As I'm lowering the dosage, I'm getting better sleep, but I'm also more tired during the day. I have a few more days of finishing the cortizone, then am starting a new supplement that I will only have to take once a day, as compared to four times daily. We'll see how the new stuff works.

Saturday, Bryce went down to the mountains about an hour away with some of his guys and took Sims along. They had a great day of hiking and eating junk food and using all the woods as their toilet. Simmy had a blast and when he came home, wanted immediately to go back outside.

Lydia is communicating more these days. When she wants her ski hat, she pats her head. When she wants her sunglasses, she pats her eyes. When she wants her pacifier, she says, "Bah!" And then there's always the bloodcurdling shriek that lets us know that she is not okay with the present situation. She used to say "Yeah!" to any question you might ask but now likes to change it up with a "Noooh", or the more uncertain "Yoh." This morning when the staff team was here for breakfast, she pulled out a "Yoh" when we asked her something and Simmy pondered for a moment. "Did she mean yes, or no?" he asked. Good question. But he still likes to interpret what she wants, and usually his diagnosis sounds right on track. It's nice to have someone that remembers how to speak baby.

I keep meaning to post photos, so keep checking back. But for now, I'm signing off.

(Happy Birthday Kathy!)

Susan

Let it Snow!

Sunday night we were out as a family and it began to snow. Within minutes we had separate phone calls from two different neighbors making sure we had seen the miracle. The flakes were larger than ping pong balls... huge and heavy and wet. People were clicking camara phones, arching backs to catch snow in their mouths and even leaning out of drive thru windows, gazing in awe.

Naturally, Simeon wanted to know if it was snowing at home, too, and if there would be snow in his back yard. And then he started to get worried that snow was going to cover up his balls (and I counted yesterday... we're up to more than 2 dozen laying around the yard). But as we loaded stuff in the car, then Simmy really got concerned. Bryce had left Lydia under an overhang while he strapped Simmy in, but Simmy was fidgety. "You gotta hurry, dad!" he said. "Lydia's going to turn into an iceburg!"

Bryce's 35th birthday was yesterday. He awoke to find a huge gift-wrapped box on the patio that contained a new leather office chair, something he's wanted since we got married. He enjoyed the cards and calls from many of you, and ate so much dessert that afternoon that he couldn't finish his dinner. Sims decided he was too full to eat dinner, too, until Bryce suddenly found that he was getting hungrier.

Lydia had a fever over the weekend and we're guessing that she's working on more teeth. She loves to feed herself everything now and is doing a good job of keeping the bowl or plate on the tray. Yesterday when I came home after an appointment, she saw me and her face lit up. "Ma Ma!" she yelled, and started cruising around the chair she was holding onto. I held out my arms and she did her best Frankenstein impression, stumping toward me and falling into my arms just in time. When Bryce came home, it was an exact repeat. "Ma Ma!" she exclaimed and reached out her arms to him. "Um, I'm Daddy," Bryce corrected as he picked her up. "Ma Ma," she insisted with a smile. She wasn't going to let him throw her off track!

We wish you could all be enjoying it with us,

Susan

Here We Go!

We don't really have the energy for anything that isn't necessary these days, as evidenced by the piles adorning each room of our home. But these kids do grow so fast and older moms keep telling us to "write it down!"

We had a blog while Lydie was in and out of the hospital and braving the troubles of nasal gastric tubes and--oh yeah--heart surgery. But that was more out of survival, needing folks to pray, and not wanting to repeat the latest doctor opinion 27 times.

For three years now, I've meant to start a little book with the kids' witticisms and favorite habits. And then last week I thought, maybe this could be my little book. And rather than it sitting on our office bookshelf where no one else can enjoy it, this is a book that can be checked out by Grandma and Grandpa in Memphis, Nana in Virginia, Mim and Pip in Florida, and numerous aunties and uncles from Colorado to North Carolina. So why not?

My goal is to update once a week. Maybe more often, maybe a little less when we're traveling. But weekly is my plan, and if I just can't keep up with it, I'll say so. I don't expect to have hilarious anecdotes for every entry, but can at least say what we're up to as a family.

Oh, and Happy Birthday Pip!