Rylan’s Journey Home

It’s Sunday night and the weekend is nearly over. If I could have every day like it was yesterday - I’d have a dozen kids and quit my job! Seriously, both kids were such good boys! A few minor scraps here and there, but nothing that would compare to some of the days we’ve had lately. Saturday started out with going into my mom’s house. We had a web cam with Rylan’s former foster mother in Guatemala! It was great to see her, and they loved seeing Rylan. We were on for about an hour and this time the call ended in tears for them, not me. When Rylan was still in Guatemala, it was me who had a hard time holding them back. I feel for them, I really do. I know they poured a lot of love and hard work in our little guy, and I will always be grateful! After the call we had some lunch and I decided to put Rylan down for a nap there. My dad was staying home, so make the two people taking naps! John was working, so it was my mom, Cameron and I. We went to La Crosse, WI and I dropped my mom off at the mall. I surprised Cameron with a Railroad Show that was going on! We’ve been to it every year, and he loves it so much. It so SO hot! We spent a couple hours there touring a train and walking through the swap show. We then went back to get my mom, stopped at Toys-R-Us for a small treat, then Wendy’s to eat. Cameron couldn’t have been better! No complaining, no sassing, no fighting, he ate great, and fell asleep on the way home. In fact we got back around 5:30pm to get Rylan, and Cameron never got up! We got home and he went right to bed and slept until 6am this morning. Rylan got some nice playtime in (uninterupted by his big brother)…. it really was such a relaxing time. Today. Well, that is another story. Both kids were up at 6am and were hell on wheels! I’m not kidding. If it could be fought over, they did it. Hitting, hollaring, pushing, attempts at biting…. you name it! It was hot again, so we did stay inside most of the day. Rylan had a short nap, which didn’t help the situation either. I’m trying my hardest to understand how to help these two kids meet in the middle. Rylan, well he can get pushy and can irritate Cameron. I understand some of Cameron’s anger. But mostly, it’s Cameron. He has zero patience. I know, at 5yrs old what can we expect? I have to say, I expect more than this though. I’m trying really hard to stay consistent with time outs and taking toys away. I’m trying to jump in before a fight escalates. I’m trying to understand how much of an adjustment this really is for not just us, but Cameron. Most of all, I’m trying NOT to loose my cool. Cameron’s behavior is following through to daycare. My daycare mom is my cousin and she lives block from where I work, and where my mom lives. It can’t get much better for us really. But I think of combination of things are happening. First, all this. It’s overwhelming for Cameron, it really is. Then at daycare most days he’s the only boy his age. The rest of the kids are either 2yrs old or younger. Then girls 5-9 years old. He’s sort of stuck in the middle with nothing to do but find trouble. We are thinking of switching him to a daycare center for the rest of the summer (5-6 weeks). Maybe that will offer more kids his age, more of a structured day, and time away from Rylan. It may help him starting kindergarten this September too? My fear is that it would make it worse. I seriously want to cry when thinking about it. It breaks my heart to see him struggle because I know he is a GREAT kid! I know what he is capable of. I only hope my choices help him, not hurt him. I can’t do nothing and hope it gets better because I have a daycare mom that will be driven to the nut house! It’s bothering me so bad that I worry about it all the time, and most importantly, I need to help Cameron. I just don’t know how. Urgggg…. I knew we’d have some adjustments period. I just hope and pray that we start getting more good days. That we can find the right balance. Never in my life would I have dreamed parenting would be filled with so many ups and downs. You love these little beings so much it hurts! You want them to do better, and be better than you were. You want so much for them. I love my boys and am very lucky to have them. We just need to find the right way to get over the speed bumps! I have feeling after we pass this one, there’s going to be many, many more to come!

I had the interesting question asked of me the other day.  “Mom, how do babies get out?”  Well, babies grow in tummy’s until they get nice and big.  Then when it’s time for them to come out, the lady whose tummy they are in will go to the doctor.  The doctor will help get the babies out.  “Mom, how do they do it?”  Well, the babies come out the ladies bottoms.  “Mom, was I a big baby?”  Yes, a very big baby with very big lungs!  “Mom, did I puke on dad?”  Yup, you spit up and coughed at the same time and blew it all over daddy’s face (a favorite story of his that happend to be caught on video by me)!  “Mom, did I poop on you?”  Yup, all over me.  I was changing you and apparently when I lifted your legs, you weren’t done yet (another favorite story of his that John caught on video)!  Cameron, did I answer most your questions about babies.  “Yeah, I think so.” 
Whew….. the 5yr old mind is satisfied for now!!!!   But I should have know.  Just a few minutes later….. “Mom, how do the babies get in ladies tummy’s?”   Hmmmmm….. let me think on that one!  Luckily it makes sense to him that God works miracles and he puts them there.  I can hardly wait for the next round of questions!

Happy Birthday Baby Boy! It still amazes me that finally, we can celebrate something together! We missed his first birthday and lots of other irreplacable holidays… and as long as he is home, it will never happen again! We made up for lost time by throwing a nice big party. Lots of family, friends & neighbors stopped by for some good food, drinks, and fireworks to end the night. The weather cooperated and kids had a lot of fun! Our baby, 2yrs old…. WOW!

First, I need to start this post off by saying congratulations to Sean and Sonja, our friends!  Their daughters case finally exited PGN after 7 months!!!  They started the adoption of their daughter in November 2006, just a month or so after us.  They have had an incredible journey faced with so many challenges.  So CONGRATULATIONS to you both!!!!  I can’t wait to see Ms. Kayla home in Wisconsin!  Rylan misses his girlfriend!
To Terri, who just came back from visiting her daughter Abbie in Guatemala…. my heart breaks for you!  Terri’s adoption was started even before mine and Sonja’s!  She has endured more ups and downs than any family I know and is still facing the trials of getting the process started under the new laws of adoption in Guatemala.  Her blog link is on the lower right side of mine.
Summer is in full kick at our house!  The weekends are full of activities, and Rylan’s 2nd birthday is approaching on July 15th!  I look at him and can’t believe the amount of time that has passed.  What a little character though!  Last night when he was getting into the bathtub he ran to the potty.  I plopped him on and he went pee pee!  I was shocked!  Normally I put him on and he wiggles down.  Kuddos to his big brother who is showing him the ropes!  At least he does teach him something good once in awhile ; )
Cameron’s been having a bit of a rocky road lately.  His listening skills are putting everyone to the test!  He’s got a little mouth on him too!  We’re working really hard at having patience… some days we do better than others.   We’ve made another reward chart which really seems to help.  We’ll see how it goes, but for now, he’s added a few gray hairs to everyone’s heads!
Never a dull moment at our house, that I can guarantee you!  The other night Cameron came out of our bedroom while watching cartoons with a disgusted look on his face.  It was storming and we have satellite.  I said what’s the matter?  He said “that damn satellite isn’t working again”!  Hmmmm, wonder where he gets that word grandma farm?  Or he was overly excited in the car the other day and said “oh crap, look at that car.  Holy shit, he can’t go there”!  I did address that one and said “Cameron, that isnt’ a nice word”.  His reply, ”what mom, crap isn’t bad”.  He didn’t even realize what he said, so I didn’t pursue it.  Hmmm, grandma truck, wonder where he gets that word?  Don’t get me wrong, it isn’t that he has a terrible potty mouth.  Just every once in awhile he blows you away with something out of nowhere.
I can happily report that Rylan’s new word is Cocoa Puffs!  It’s Cameron’s favorite cereal, so of course Rylan loves it too!  Thanks Cameron for teaching him something other than swear words ; )