Arrival in Baltimore!

I promise all my updates won't be this long, I know you guys have better things to do.  Just skim and look at the pictures.  I basically have written this in short pieces over the last four days and am just now publishing it.

Aunt Christina and her two babies

Christina came Friday night and brought dinner (Pancheros!!) so me and Chris could focus on getting packed up for our trip.  We are so grateful for her help and love!  She is wonderful with the kids and we truly could not get nearly as much done without her help.  I feel so lucky to have such an amazing sister who is so giving and generous to our children with her time and love.  I always tell her that I hope that when she starts her family that I will be able to help her as much as she has helped me.  I love you Christina!

Chris and I finished the packing Friday night and we left for Omaha Saturday morning around 8:30.  It was so good to see Chris' family in Omaha before we left.  Everyone was in town for Anne's shower/bachelorette party.  The party was a success and was so much fun.  We stayed overnight in a hotel close to the airport.  That was pretty much a disaster. Savannah was up with a fever, crying and crying and crying.  It was terrible because no one was able to sleep.  Her fever broke around 3:00 but she still wouldn't settle down. Chris and I were like zombies getting the kids ready at 6:00 am for our 8:00 flight. 

Greg and Rox met us at the airport and thank goodness for their help because I know we couldn't have done it without them.  Chris and I haven't flown since 2006 and we kinda forgot how hectic it can be WITHOUT children.  The lady at the desk asked us if we were flying international when they saw all our stuff.  Two of the suitcases were overweight and I could see the vein bulging in Chris' forehead when she said what the charge would be.  Once all the carseats, luggage, and pack and play were checked,  we went through security.  Jack had to stand in the line and have the guard with the wand check him over.  They took off his helmet and put that through x-ray machine.  The kids actually did really well on both flights and I was suprised with how tired they were.  Jack got excited at take off and landing.  He grabbed my arm tight and grinned so big.  I really think he liked it.  Savannah only had two crying outbursts.  One guy said to us as we were leaving, "I was pretty worried when I saw you guys with your two kids were going to sit next to us, but they were actually pretty good."  I was like, "gee thanks."

I was tired of dealing with Savannah arching her back and squirming out of my arms so I held Jack and gave Savannah his seat.  She was as content as can be in her own seat with her toys.  I will NOT raise a diva.  Repeat to self. I will NOT raise a diva.

Jack was all smiles as we flew.  He refuses to give us a normal smile anymore. All he will do is his "cheesy smile" for the camera.

He really liked the airline cookies.  The flight attendant gave him a navy blue Delta blanket and he carefully wrapped it around his legs and nibbled on a cookie.  He looked like he was flying first class or something.

We are very thankful that our flights were on time and that all our luggage arrived safely.  Claiming our luggage, renting those dang carts, and keeping two hungry, tired, children calm while we waited for the shuttle was a feat in itself.  The shuttle took us to the car rental place and that was an interesting ride.  The driver was a maniac and I could barely keep my own balance as he swerved through traffic, so holding Savannah was not easy.  When the drive was over, Jack made the "more" sign.  I think he enjoyed the jostling ride. 

Once we got our rental SUV and loaded the luggage and Chris installed the carseats I felt like we had made it through the toughest part.  We started the drive to the Ronald McDonald House. Traffic was a little stressful for Chris.  I seriously don't know how we would have managed without the GPS.  We would have totally gotten lost!  As we got closer to downtown Baltimore we realized that the neighborhood was not the best.  I saw about three psychic reading places, two pawn shops with people with their pants falling down waiting out front, and wrought iron bars covering the glass windows of shops.  There are also several comforting billboards that talk about prison terms for carrying guns when you don't have permits. Chris basically told me I am not allowed to leave the Ronald McDonald House without him.  It is a good reminder that the Midwest is a great place to live.

When we pulled up to the building, the actual street the Ronald McDonald House is on is nicer.  There is a lot of security to get into the building.  The people were very warm and so welcoming.  We got a tour of the place and we were really impressed.  It was nicer than what we expected.  It was recently renovated so everything looked new.   They have a big living room with movies and books and a gorgeous piano.  The kids play room is big with tons of toys and books.  Jack immediately found a stroller he is in love with.

He pushed this baby doll all over the toy room for a good hour on Monday night.

Savannah also found a few toys that kept her happy for a while. As long as it is not time to sleep the child is perfectly content to just grin from ear to ear.  Time to go to sleep, she is a terror!

We decided we would see if Savannah fit into the dolly stroller.  She is a bit wide for it!  But Jack thought it was funny!

Jack and Savannah playing in the pack n play in our room.

The house also has a small workout room with a treadmill and bike.  Chris is still working on a temporary gym membership at the University of Maryland, just two blocks away for weight equipment. We'll see what happens with that.  God forbid he miss a few weeks of working out. :o)  They also have a game room with ping pong, foosball, pool, and darts. I love the pop machine in there where you can get a can of pop for a quarter! They have an outdoor play area with a basketball hoop, swingset and some other equipment that is all fenced in with a tall fence.  We haven't been outside to play yet, the weather has been cool and rainy except for this afternoon.  Each family has an assigned mailbox and they put toys and gifts for the kids.  They each got a Build a Bear, and Savannah's bear even came with a selection of colors of ear bows!  In the elevator there is a sign that says they have family passes to the zoo, the National Aquarium, the Children's Museum, the B&O Railroad Museum for kids, and some other fun places.  Chris and I were really excited to see that since we were wanting to do a couple of fun things for the kids while we were here, but we wanted to be careful about the expense.  Now we don't have to worry.  The weather is supposed to be gorgeous on Saturday so we are hoping to go to the zoo.  Jack has never been to a zoo and I know he will love it!  They even have tickets to Baltimore Orioles games and that is on the agenda for tomorrow night!  Chris said they actually won their fourth game this season!  I guess the Orioles are the worst team in the MLB but who cares?  It will still be fun.  Every night at the house there is a family activity. Kohls volunteers came with a bunch of toys to play BINGO and I really wanted to play with Jack, but that was Sunday night and we all just needed to go to bed.  The fire department is supposed to be coming one night this week to show all the kids the fire truck and to do a demonstration.  Jack will go nuts!

Our room is nice but quite small.  There is one double bed and one twin.  I have been sleeping with Jack in the double, which is difficult because he wants to be right next to me, so I end up moving him three or four times during the night so that my rear end doesn't fall out of bed. We are literally on top of each other in that room.  The bathroom is tiny and the biggest challenge has been trying to sleep.  Savannah, my precious child, has me and Chris both right where she wants us.  We are forced to give in to her cries because Jack has to sleep.  Savannah literally grins at me in the dark, grins so big her binky falls out of her mouth at two AM when I pick her up because she is crying for NO GOOD REASON.  She is not wet, she is not hungry, she is not sick.  She just is an insomniac child who is driving us all crazy.  More about that later.

Sunday night I gave the kids baths while Chris sought out groceries at the closest WalMart. Both kids crying, Jack not listening, and I was near the end of my rope with exhaustion myself.  Jack fell off the darn bed because he was bouncing and not listening and I seriously thought maybe it was a mistake to come out here.  He was crying, Savannah was crying and I was crying.  Chris walked in with armfuls of groceries, no where to set them, and we both just looked at each other.  Again, another moment when someday I will be able to look back and laugh about it. I hope!

The house has two huge kitchens, brand new and they are so nice.  We have an assigned spot in one fridge and have a couple of cupboards for our stuff.  They serve breakfast a few mornings a week, and dinner every night at 6:00.  Dinners have been really good so far.  Too good.  I was hoping to lose another couple of pounds before weddings this summer but it doesn't look like that is going to happen!  We have been eating a quick breakfast in our room before leaving for Jack's therapy in the morning, and then lunch with our groceries in the afternoon, and eating dinner with the other families in the kitchen. 

Jack's first day of therapy went really well.  I was impressed with how efficient everything was.  Jack went right in with a speech therapist first thing to have a speech evaluation.  They do a speech evaluation at the beginning of the program and at the end to determine how much progress has been made.  While Jack was doing that, Chris and I met with the pediatrician and nurse who are in charge of the program.  They had a ton of questions for us, his health history, immunization record, tons of stuff to go over.  After that, Jack had a quick physical, height, weight, blood pressure, head circumference, and heart beat with the nurse.  Then they took us to a little room with lots of toys with a camera set up on a tripod and Jacks name labeled on a piece of paper with the date.  The PT proceeded to work with him at this little table while he was being videotaped.  All the toys were ones that required two hands to work.  They wanted to see how Jack uses his right hand currently and how he has adapted without its full use.  I tried so hard not to laugh, but I think there are a few chuckles on the background of the video.  Jack would attempt to make the toy work, then he would push it off the table, stand up, politely push in his chair, and say "all done."  Then the therapist would say, "sit down please Jack."  He would pull the chair back out, sit down, scoot in and she would hand him another toy.  Then he did the exact same thing in a row for like six toys.  I was proud of him.  He is a smart kid.  Why would he continue to waste his time in futility, trying to make some dumb toy work that he really could care less about when he knows he can have fun doing something else.  He explained to the lady that he was all done, and he pushed in his chair.  Smart, polite, efficient, that's my boy!  Of course, I do hope that in time, he will not be as frustrated and he will be able to use a two handed toy, but at this exact time he can't and he dealt with it well.  After the videotaping, they fitted him for his cast and Chris and I met with the OT to outline goals, and a treatment plan for Jack.  The morning flew by and before we knew it, it was time to go back to the house for lunch and naps. 

On Tuesday they put the cast on and Jack tolerated it really well.  He was excited to show it to me and Chris, and went right up to Savannah and whacked her with it.  She was not impressed. 

Jack with his new waterproof cast.  He is supposed to wear it 24 hours a day, for five weeks.  It will come off a couple of times a week to check his skin for allergic reactions or sore spots, but that is it.

Tuesday and Wednesday's therapy went well.  Both days Chris stayed with Savannah and just dropped me and Jack off at Kennedy Krieger. The therapists prefer to have the parents stay in the waiting room so that the child is not distracted.  So I have read a little, written thank you notes, and talked to the other parents of the children in the program. I check on him every 20 minutes or so, peeking around the corners so that he doesn't see me.  He is always doing well, working on different activities.  Never crying thank goodness.  I was worried he would be frustrated and cry.  He is one tough little boy.  Today he rode the bike down the hallway, using righty to hold onto the handlebars.  They have a red toy vacuum that Jack LOVES, so I hear that often running in the treatment rooms. 

One of me and Chris's challenges is helping Jack eat.  It is so hard for him to grip a spoon or fork with his right hand and since he can't use his left, we practically have to feed him every bite. Which is pretty counterproductive since the goal is to get him to feed himself.  By the time he gets done with therapy, he is tired and very hungry.  We get back to the house, fix lunch quickly and Chris feeds Savannah while I feed Jack.  I try to get him to do a few bites on his own but he gets impatient because he is hungry.  It will be some time before he can really do it himself. 

Both therapists remarked today that Jack was very tired.  It made me feel so bad.  We are trying our best to get the kids to sleep but is difficult.  I explained the close quarters and they understood, but worried that Jack wasn't benefiting as much as he could if he was exhausted.  I resolved to try harder that afternoon to organize naptime a bit better.

I tried and failed. Naptime was again a horrible experience.  Savannah cried for 45 minutes before she fell asleep, and Jack and I just lay there as Chris tries to soothe Savannah to sleep and of course Jack can't fall asleep with her screaming ten feet away.  After 45 minutes everyone was asleep and guess who dropped a pen on the laminate wood floor, waking up both children only ten minutes later?  Yep, brilliant mom. Savannah screaming again, Jack sitting up saying, "nite-nite" half asleep in bed.  I just marched right down the stairs and begged the front desk for another room telling them that we would pay for the second room and that we just couldn't get Savannah to sleep and that everyone was so tired.  They were so nice and said that they just had another family leave yesterday and they had wanted to offer us a room with two separate rooms when we checked in but it wasn't available.  So she took me right upstairs and showed me the new room.  It is basically the same as our old one, but it has a small second room attached with a door to close.  Savannah, welcome to your new room honey!  We spent the afternoon transferring all of our stuff to our new room and changing our food in the kitchen to our new space.  Hopefully this will help with the sleeping situation.

So I am writing the end of this blog update Wednesday night.  Savannah was blessed with endurance and stamina.  She just doesn't give up.  She had a full tummy, a clean diaper, warm pjs, and a soft bed.  I gave her a bit of Tylenol just in case she had teething pain through her big grin she gave me just before I laid her down to sleep. Her huge smile disappeared and she started to scream immediately.  I closed the door, the sound disappeared and Jack fell asleep. She cried for 45 minutes, Chris checked on her every 10 minutes just to talk to her and make sure she was okay.  Maybe she will be a cross-country runner someday with that determination and lung capacity. 

I will leave you with a picture of my sweet Jack, loving life and finally sleeping peacefully.  If you made it through this whole update you deserve a prize, and here he is!