House Update

We have had 0 showings since we put our home on the market 3 months ago, reduced the price, and got a real estate agent.

Our Realtor is having a Broker Open House today at our home from 11am-1pm. We're praying this works!

2004 flashback

While looking through pictures of Henri at 8 months, I was struck by his red cheeks & sore eye. As a baby, Henri had eczema all over and a blocked tear duct that both seemed to be particularly ruthless during his 9th month of life. Some days would be really bad like the picture on the right, then the next day, it was cleared up. Henri still has sensitive skin as well as food & seasonal allergies.
What do you think? Should I grow out my bangs?

Henri at 8 months

Can you guess who he's with?

Henri is 3 1/2 today; Cosette is 8 months, 3 days

Since we got home from Oregon, Cosette has been a chatterbox: "Geh, geh, yah, yah, geh, geh, dah, dah, guy, guy, geh, geh." And she hasn't slept through the night since before we left for Oregon.

Today, for the first time, Henri asked me, "Why?"

Johnny's young cousins, Natey & Kristian (they're twins), whom Henri had such great fun with in Oregon are celebrating their 8th birthdays today! Natey is the boy in the middle, and Kristian is on the far right. They taught Henri how to play "Crack the Egg" on the trampoline, which Henri became obsessed with playing whenever he got on it. Happy Birthday Natey & Kristian, and thanks for taking such good care of Henri when he was with you!

a really long slide show about our trip to Oregon

Enjoy! We sure did!

Gramps & Gigi

Gramps & Gigi made the long drive to the family reunion, and they were kind enough to bring us out to Oregon in an airplane. We loved seeing them, and I'm so glad they got to see the Great-Grandkids in person.

We're back. We're tired. We're recovering.

The kids and I had a great trip back. Granted I was tired, but with a shorter layover in Denver and 2 mostly behaving kids, I couldn't be happier with how things went.

Johnny's doing much better. He's very worn out and thin from not eating much. His cheeks are sunken, but the headaches, dizziness, and other symptoms are gone. Only fatigue remains.

My Honey is still so sick

My husband, Johnny, is still sick today battling the same headache, neck/back pain, fever, chills, nausea, and fatigue and taking Extra Strength Tylenol, Ibuprofen, long naps, water, and hot showers to alleviate his symptoms. He may be asking for some stronger stuff tomorrow. I wish I could be with him, but praise God that the kids and I haven't been their to catch his illness. Yes, it's contagious, but proper hand-washing by Johnny & the rest of us should, LORD-willing, keep us from getting infected. Plus the doctor doesn't think he'll be contagious by the time we get home. The remaining test results confirming that his illness is viral & not bacterial should be in tomorrow, so we still would love those prayers of protection for Johnny. The kids & I fly home on Wednesday.

It's viral!

A specialist came in to see Johnny at the hospital this afternoon and determined that Johnny has viral meningitis. So they sent Johnny home! Johnny's glad to be home and will probably be able to return to work by the end of the week. Thank you for your prayers! We praise God that we were here in Oregon to protect the kiddos from this illness, even though they've each had their days of barf recently.

meningitis

Johnny's been admitted to the hospital for meningitis. After a spinal tap, they could not determine if he has viral or bacterial meningitis. The doctor suspects viral, but the test came back with more bacteria fighting white blood cells. He will be in the hospital at least 1-2 more days until they can determine which one he has. (we're hoping for viral) They're treating him with antibiotics & morphine until the test results are back (in 1-2 days).

I'm in Oregon with the kids. We're waiting to hear back from the doctor as to when we should return.

Johnny will be making some phone calls tomorrow to get things for him from our home (i.e. toothbrush, laptop, cell phone charger, clothes, ect). So he just might be calling YOU!

all better...?

Cosette slept through the night last night for the first time in days. She's happy and seems back to normal.

Johnny, however, has called from home to say that since Tuesday, he's had a migraine, nausea, fever, and cold sweats.

barf, part 2

Cosette barfed 7 times today. Pray that my little one gets well. Her Nani is holding her now.

Whew! We made it!

We made it to Oregon! The flights went really well. Thank you to everyone who gave me such great advice for our trip.

At the airport, it all began when we said goodbye to Johnny as we entered the line to go through security. It took a while to get everything onto the belt. And then Henri did not want to go through the metal detector. So he clung to my leg as I walked through with Cosette. All was well though and a TSA person opened the stroller for me as I got our shoes on, Cosette in the stroller, and Henri in his harness. Henri loved carrying his backpack too. I think the stroller was the most helpful for the many restroom stops we made at the airport.

Our first flight went well. The airline gave us seats in their front economy section that offers more leg room. The woman next to us was quiet, but she didn't seem to mind our commotion. Henri was very excited about the snacks & candy & "new" toys we borrowed from our friends. Cosette fell asleep in my arms on both flights for about 30 minutes each. We never had to go use the lavatory on the planes, so I didn't have to try and figure out how we would manage that one. I did spill cranberry juice on the only pair of jeans I brought, and Cosette's 2nd tooth popped through.

During our 3 hour layover, we ate, I fed the baby some solid food, walked all the way down to our gate, then all the way back near our old gate where there was a play area that Henri wouldn't go into until the kids left, and made several stops to the bathroom.

We boarded our 2nd flight on the smaller plane, and thankfully, there were no steps to climb. But because of the 100 degree weather and lack of cooling systems on the plane, we waited in the heat for some time. I stripped Cosette down to her onesie as both kids were red & wet with sweat. Then the airline asked 7 people to get off the plane, offering a free round-trip ticket anywhere since the plane couldn't operate with that much heat, with a cooling mechanical problem at the weight it was at. So we waited while the 7 eager volunteers got off and got their luggage. Once we were in the air, the plane cooled down, and all was well. Henri got a little crabby & disobedient. But we arrived to see Johnny's parents, sister, and brother-in-law welcoming us to Oregon.

A very tiring trip. And I'm very glad to arrive. It's so fun to be here again with all of Johnny's lovely family, who just love on our kids, which is why I'm able to type this now.

We do it all over again next Wednesday! We leave here at 6am, and our between flight time is only about an hour. We arrive back home in the afternoon.

Thanks for all of your prayers! I praise our God, Jesus Christ, for his provision and care in bringing us here.

the big trip

Okay, we're heading out today.

• Both kids seem healthy
• I've got to go finish packing

barf:

what Henri has done twice in the past 12 hours.

Pray that we'll all be healthy for our trip to Oregon on Monday!

Henri: "Mama, I took a picture!"

thank you Nani!

low brow

sweet answered prayer

On Monday, we had left Henri's beloved backhoe-loader on our back stoop because it was muddy, and I didn't want to bring dirt into the house. That night I asked Henri to go outside and get it before we left to go to small group. I heard Johnny go out with him to find it. Yesterday morning, Henri asked me where it was. We looked and LOOKED. Finally, we called Johnny to find out where they had put it away the other night. I was sad to learn that Johnny had never found it the night before--sad because it's been such a great toy (though it felt strange to me to feel a sadness about it because it's only a toy and I've lived through a house fire, which has partially led me to not hold onto things so tightly anymore). You see, there are backhoe-loaders in our development constantly, and Henri loves going outside with his toy and watch them and mimic their work. There were two outside our house today.

So Henri and I prayed together, asking that God might be pleased to bring the toy back to Henri. I wasn't sure how to pray because I didn't want to tell God that we "needed" the backhoe-loader, but that it was a delightful toy to Henri, but not more precious then God of course... "In Jesus' name we pray, Amen."

Henri headed into the backyard with his dump truck to play in the neighbor's dirt driveway. I watched him from my bedroom while I cleaned up. Then on the other side of our garage near the utility boxes, I SAW his backhoe-loader! I opened the window and called out to Henri. He ran over to it,
"I found it! I found my backhoe-loader!"

"Praise God!" I said. "God's answered your prayer Henri! Can you say, 'Praise God!'?

"Praise God!" Henri responded as he happily brought his backhoe-loader to the neighbor's dirt driveway to dig.

How did it get over there? I don't know. There's some sand over by the utility boxes that Henri & the neighbor boys have played in, but we don't let them dig there anymore. Henri could have taken it over there and forgotten about it. Or one of the neighbor boys could have grabbed it off our back stoop and played with it and forgot to bring it back. In any case, Henri & I are thrilled that the LORD answered his prayers for the return of his toy. Thank you, LORD.

To Nancy, From Anne

Dear Nancy, I so enjoyed cozying up to your granddaughter, Cosette, today that I had to rub it in a little. She's so sweet, and I love her cheeks and little legs. I delivered your package of adorable clothing for your grandchildren. Wish you were here! Love, Anne

fever

Henri went to bed last night with a low fever. He was very tired since it was late. He didn't claim to be sick, but he felt so hot to me.

Today, he's feeling fine, but at 1pm he asked me, "Mama, can you put me to bed?" So I tucked him into his bed and felt that he was hot again. I took his temp, and it was just slightly higher than normal. He went right to sleep.

After nap update: 100.5 degree temp

Before bed temp: 100.2, but a happy boy with NO other symptoms

Don't you hate it when you

• get bleach on your nice clothes?
• wash your brown skirt for the first time in a load of darks, but any clothing (like Cosette's dresses & Henri's shirts) that had any white in them now look dirty?
• when trimming your bangs, you impatiently make a cut that layers one side of your bangs and you don't want to layer the other side because you're horrified over the fact that you LAYERED your bangs? It makes them "poofy"... is that a word?
  

Why do I feel so sick...

after signing with a real estate agent? Maybe its that:

• we just dropped the price of our home below what we paid for it.
  
• the MLS agent we were working with (we were FSBO) is frustrated that we didn't drop the price with him and that we're canceling his service.
• We didn't get a sold home for the money we spent on the first service, and we didn't try first lowering the price to what it's going to be with the Realtor.
  
• the Realtor we signed with has a very good track record, and he knows it.
• we have to pay the Realtor (if our home sells).
  
• the Realtor originally thought we should leave the price, but then after doing a CMA recommended lower--though he did state he would try it at the slightly higher price-point. But we're thinking that we want to get rid of the thing (that's our home) sooner than later, so we decided to lower the price again.
• I have to clean up my home to perfection for new pictures to be taken this week. Since we haven't had a single showing in 2 months, it's not as orderly as I would like.
• right when the Realtor arrived, Henri rolled Cosette over so that it looked like her elbow bent funny & I heard a pop & then she screamed. She actually seems better now though, but I'm keeping an eye on her arm.
• while discussing what we just did with Johnny after the Realtor left, I was scraping out the last few bites of Henri's yogurt to give to him. Then I heard Henri say, "You're feeding Cosette my yogurt!" And sure enough, I had unintentionally fed Cosette 2 spoonfuls of yogurt (she's never had it, and certainly not the Yoplait kind). She was in her chair waiting for me to feed her, and somehow while talking with Johnny, my brain got everything mixed up.
  

But I do feel good about:

• A Realtor & his team are taking over and we don't have all the weight on our shoulders anymore. We are worn out.
• If this doesn't work, then we'll know we did all we could.
• Dave Ramsey recommends hiring a professional instead of trying to sell your home yourself.
• The Realtor is #32 of 3800 real estate agents at his broker. He just picked up 2 homes in the area from a builder, has had some showings at those homes, and knows the area better than any other Realtor that we've talked to--and we've contacted/interviewed quite a few.
  

she babbles!

"ba ba ba ba ba!"

little bunny

Henri's "new" Craigslist backpack

Henri couldn't get enough of playing with a Spiderman backpack we picked up today for him to use as his carry-on for our trip to Oregon. He can wear it or pull it since it has wheels. He loaded it up with toys, books, and coasters. I also found a simple harness so that I can keep him close when we're at the airport.

Popsicle dance on the 4th

Happy Independence Day....a few days after the fact. What did we do? We went to our neighbors' home 2 doors down for a barbecue. Henri enjoyed their Slip N Slide and a Popsicle. Then we walked ALL the way back to our house, played with our other neighbors while we waited for the fireworks to begin over the river, and then watched them from our backyard. Henri liked watching the "color lights in the sky" and staying up late too.
Our neighbor, Mohammad, thought it was so funny to hold Henri's umbrella over my head while we waited for it to get dark for the fireworks.

I woke up to find a little boy

outside our bedroom door this morning.

I really need to

upload the pictures from my camera so that I can post some more pictures to this blog, but I tend to be the type of person who gets consumed with one issue at a time. Right now, it's how in the world am I going to manage flying to Oregon with my two little ones?! I have a connecting flight in Denver to Medford, Oregon. From past experience, connecting flights to Medford usually means traveling to another terminal while carrying everything that you checked at the gate and walking up & down steps in order to go from jet to a smaller prop plane. In the past, I've always been with Johnny & it was only Henri. We've carried car seat, carry-ons, baby, and stroller. Now I'll have my 7-month old & my 3-year old. Any suggestions?

summer softball

happenings list

• We think we found a Realtor that will be able to market our home and bring buyers in. Our problem has been that buyers don't know about our new neighborhood and neither do real estate agents.
• Brought my car in again today, but the mechanic couldn't find a leak. So no warranty coverage. Will bring back in a month for them to try & find it again.
• We finally got our flight tickets to Oregon for the kids and I so that we can go to Johnny's family reunion (but without my wonderful Johnny). Thank you Gramps & Gigi & Mom for going through all the hassles of getting us out there! Now to figure out the best way to fly on a trip with a connecting flight with two kids by myself. We leave on the 16th!
  
• The neighbor's lawnmower decapitated our sprinkler head on Friday. We've left some messages with a serviceman. Serviceman was fixing another neighbor's sprinkler system, so I walked over & asked if he could fix ours too. He did!
  
• Called the police on Saturday. They couldn't find our home again due to our confusing address. Talked to the person in the city who handles address changes. "Address change person" talked to 911 center who confirmed the situation. City is actually starting the process of considering changing our address.
• Got a call today from a courier. He thought he had a bad address, and couldn't deliver a package. Nope. I had to give him directions.
• Henri's sandal broke on Sunday; I almost cried (over sandals!). He's wearing his old smaller ones, but Nani already told us before this happened that she was sending a couple pair from Oregon.
  
• Cosette was fussy again today. I think her other bottom tooth is trying to come through.
• God is showing us His mercies every morning.
  

going up!

Since I work in the nursery at our church on Sunday mornings, Johnny & I drive separately.

Yesterday, Johnny was bringing the kids into the garage and hit the button to open the garage door. He locked the service door and turned around to pick up Cosette in her car seat. Then he saw Henri, hands clasped on the bottom of the garage door, traveling up with it.

"Uh," said Henri, calmly as he hung on for the ride. He hung there happily until Johnny, laughing, was able to get to him.

she prefers milk

When Cosette eats solids, she sticks her fingers in her mouth, spits her food onto her hand, then wipes her hand across her face--rubbing her eyes or itching her ear--wherever she can get it, it goes.