Negatives can be Positive

We have had quite a couple of weeks. . .a little bit of worry; a little bit of concern; a little bit of wondering; and now a lot of happiness!

Aidan had his 3 year old check up on May 18th. At that time, he got two shots--one in each shoulder--and a TB test. Normally a big deal was made even bigger because we drew the luck of having a new nurse. Aidan felt a bit like a pin chushion--the nurse put the needle in for both shots about half way, started to pull it out and then went all the way in. Ouch!! Mommy flinched. Aidan knew Mommy was upset and said as much on the way home. The kid reads me like a book. . .

The TB test was even worse. The stuff is supposed to be injected just below the skin to create a bubble (as I'm sure you all know) and then you wait 48 hours and then go back to have the test read. Well, again this new nurse did it all wrong by going too deep causing Aidan to bleed at the site. Again, ouch!! Poor kid!!

So, back we went a few days later to have the test read and, you guessed it, it was positive. Let me back up here by saying Aidan, along with about all Internationally Adopted children, received 3 TB tests prior to our court date, the most recent being February 18th, 2008--all negative. He then received a BCG vaccine around April 1st--A BCG vaccine is a TB vaccine given to most people who don't live in the U.S., Canada or Mexico.

So, to recap: three negative TB tests, a BCG vaccine and then a positive TB test. Sounds fishy, right?? Yes, I thought so, too. Fortunately, our pediatrician did as well. We were referred back to our International Adoption doctor, Dr. Patrick Mason at Fairfax Hospital who, coincidentally, is involved in a Federally funded study to show the CDC that the BCG vaccine in Internationally Adopted children gives a false positive result and these children should, therefore, receive a Quantitative Blood Test to test whether or not the actual disease is in the system or if the test is reacting to the BCG vaccine. We called him immediately about Aidan.

We were fortunate to get Aidan into the study, signed the waiver forms on Tuesday, had the test on Thursday morning at Georgetown University Hospital (not a fun blood test, either, but Aidan survived--so did Mommy!) and got our test results back this afternoon. . .NEGATIVE!!!

What a relief.

So, all you International Adoption parents, keep this in mind if your child receives a TB test. . .check your medical records to see if he or she has had the BCG. If so, get the blood test done. It's only $75. out of pocket if you're not a part of the study.

What's not to love???

The unofficial start of summer and what do I do???? I take Aidan clothes shopping. The perfect thing for a growing little boy! Seriously, he needed some new clothes. The pants and jeans he had that I had been pulling several button holes over and rolling up at the bottom are now let out all the way, but still fitting in the waist, but are now floods. So, off to the Gap and Gymboree we went:

A 3 year old's love of Lobsters is a funny thing. Aidan loves Lobsters in several ways.
-As food. . .how many 3 year olds do you know who love to eat Lobster so much that they talk about it for weeks afterward???
-As amusement. . .when we go to the grocery store, we have to go by the tank that holds the live Lobsters so Aidan can see them.
-On his clothing--a 3 year old can get away with wearing Lobsters on his pants, shirt and underpants. . .



What's not to love???

Truly, though, my two favorite past times are shopping for, and with, my son Aidan; and spending one on one time with Aidan during his lunch time. He becomes a chatterbox and tells me every little thing going on with Aidan. . .Fun!!




What's not to love? ? ?

Oh to be a stay at home mom. . . and be rich!!! : )

And then he grew up. . .

Today we put a big boy bed in Aidan's room and removed the crib. : (


I'm sad.

Aidan's Birthday revisited. . .

So, our weekend, which ended up lasting a very long time, was quite eventful.

It began on Thursday evening of last week. My dad, who lives in Sacramento, had decided to come out and spend Aidan's birthday with him. His flight arrived at 10:00 pm on Thursday evening. I had put Aidan to bed, hoping he would sleep some and knowing I would have to get him up. When I did, I could hear him on the monitor singing, "Happy Birthday to Aidan. Happy Birthday to Aidan. Happy Birthday to Aidan." I found myself wishing I could record it, it was so sweet sounding! Anyway, dad called at 10:00 to say he had landed so I went up and got Aidan up and off to the airport we went. Needless to say, Aidan got very wound up and didn't get back to sleep again until around midnight. . .he was so excited to see Grandpa Dave! And we picked him up at the airport! He hadn't really seen an airplane up close since his ride with Ellie from Moscow (he actually puts it that way--whether he remembers that or not is debatable).

On Friday, Aidan was up just after 7:00 am. . .for a kid who is used to 10-12 hours of sleep each night, this was not a very good start to one's birthday. . .for him or for Mama! We had a nice big breakfast and then off to Philomont to see the Big Trucks. Fun was had by all, especially Aidan.

However, most of the day, inspite of the good nap we had, was spent in perpetual meltdown. We had a nice dinner at a Mexican restaurant with Grandma and Grandpa, Grandpa Dave and Mommy and Daddy. But, we remained in whine city. . .It was all we could do not to wring his precious little neck! We persevered and held out for cake, ice cream and presents. Then, Mommy gave him a bath and put him to bed at a somewhat decent time and he slept nearly 11 hours. . .thanks be to God for small favors.

Saturday we were off to ice house for our birthday party. This turned out to be such a blast! The kids really enjoyed it all, especially seeing the Zamboni at the beginning. . .which delayed our pizza a bit, but no worries.

We came home for a three hour nap and then opened more presents. Sunday we stayed pretty quiet, just going out to look at and price refrigerators and lunch at Moe's. Then, on Monday we attempted to go to the Smithsonian Museum of American History but realized about 10 minutes into our tour that this was really not conducive to 3 year old little boys being good. So, back to Grandma and Grandpa's we went. And, inspite of our 1/2 hour nap on that day (we had been sleeping almost round the clock since Saturday afternoon) Aidan was so good. I mean really really good!

Dad left on Tuesday and Mommy got back to her normal routine while Aidan and Daddy didn't get back to theirs until today, Wednesday.

One other event for the weekend was Aidan's 3 year old check up on Monday. He is now 37 1/2 pounds and 39 inches tall. The doctor says that is the 90th and 95th percentiles respectively. . .what does that mean??? He's a BIG BOY! duh. . .

He had to have three shots, which the nurse was not very good at giving him, and he cried horribly. I was very upset. Having held him during the shots, I could feel him shaking. . .it was awful! On the way home, Aidan revealed that he knew Mommy was upset by saying, "My baby boy Mama is hurting!" What a cute sensitive little boy!

And so, here are a couple of pictures I hadn't already shared. . .


This boy is obsessed with trucks. . .and what's not to love in bubble wrap??? It makes the best gifts for little boys!

And now I must get back to the Thank You notes as well as trying to decide what older toys to wean out of the jumble to give away.

Oh! I almost forgot! A funny story. . .Aidan was being his normal precocious self and when Daddy began to count him by saying, "1!" Aidan said, "2!" Mommy didn't help matters at all by being completely unable to stifle the loud guffaw. . .Daddy glared at me and then began to laugh, too! It was too funny not to! Oh to be 3!!!

Aidan's 3rd Birthday

Here are some pics. . .I promise to tell you all about it later!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Growing and Maturing

Well, the Caps lost last night. . .miserably so. . .6 to 2! But, hey, I gotta say, they hung in there! They are a very young team and yet they got to the seventh game of the second round of the Playoffs. They are growing and maturing. Just wait until next year!!! Watch out Penguins!

And, my little dudely is growing and maturing, too.



Tomorrow is his third birthday. We have a busy birthday weekend planned: Grandpa Dave comes into town late tonight and Aidan and I will go pick him up at Dulles. Then, tomorrow morning we're taking Aidan to see the Big Trucks in Leesburg--it's some sort of Annual Event. . .not really sure what to expect, but Aidan loves Big Trucks! Then, after his nap, we'll have Grandpa and Grandma Harrison come out and we'll go to dinner to celebrate Aidan's big day. This will be followed by Cake and ice cream and. . .presents!!! Daddy and I got him a new big boy bike--shhhh!!! Don't tell!

On Saturday, we will go down to the Ashburn Ice House and celebrate his birthday with an Ice Skating party.



I've got the Goodie Bags, batteries, camera and video camera all set. Pictures, etc. will be forthcoming soon thereafter. Later that evening we will grill hot dogs out--one of Aidan's favorites--and then just play outside--weather permitting.

Sunday, Daddy has to work, so Aidan and I will go to church by ourselves and then take Grandpa Dave down into D. C. to see the Museum of American History. I know that doesn't sound like fun for a 3 year old, but he does amazingly well with the museums and he actually likes history, as long as I explain it in 3 year old terms!

Monday we will take a drive down near Culpeper to see a battlefield (near Goldvein, I think) that my dad wants to see. I'm pretty sure it's the Battle of Brandywine Station. We have a lot of battlefields here in Northern Virginia commemorating "The War between the States." : )

Anyway, we're looking forward to it all.

Mother's Day Dva

Today markes my second Mother's Day. And I am happy to report, it gets better each year. . .like a fine wine, aging to perfection! : )

Pat asked me several times what I wanted to do this year. . .where did I want to go? What do I want to do? When do I want to do it? Realizing I am not the only mother in our family, I really considered the question seriously. And, I decided, thinking my mother-in-law would be okay with this, since today was on the schedule to be the first sunny, perfect day after a long stretch of rain, that I wanted to stay home and cook out, thus allowing my son to run and jump and play outside where he wanted to be. If Aidan is happy, Mama is happy (yes, I know it is supposed to be the other way around, but when you have an almost three year old son, it works best this way!)

And so, Pat, who always has to work on Mother's Day, went off to work this morning at 6:30. I got up about the same time and enjoyed a couple cups of coffee. . .alone. . .and then showered and got ready for church. . .without an audience! I got Aidan up about 8:15, dressed and fed him and was ready to head off to church when Daddy showed up with flowers, cards and a gift certificate to have a pedicure!!! I struck gold!!! What a great start to Mother's Day for me!!!

After that, Aidan and I did head off to church, where he was awesome, and then we went to Costco to do a little shopping. We came home, had lunch and then played outside until nap time, when Mama was able to sit down and read her book, uninterrupted, for more than an hour!

Later, Pat came home with his parents and we grilled steaks and lobster tails and really just relaxed and enjoyed the day. What a great day!!

And so, I leave you this Mother's Day with a pictures of Aidan dancing outside for Mama. What a cutie!!!!






Happy Mother's Day, you all. I hope yours was as nice, restful and entertaining as mine was!

What's In A Name?

Do you know what your name means? Do you live up to it? Does it fit your personality? I think we do, all three of us.

Let me start with mine:

My name is Stacy Diane. Stacy is actually English and is short for Anastacia. It means Resurrection. Diane is French for Divine. . . Okay. So I could stretch this a bit and say I have reinvented what I wanted to be when I grow up several times. . .I don't think I fit the divine part, but well. . .there is another part of the Diane that is kind of cool. Diane is short for Diana, which was the name of the Goddess of the Moon. My mother's maiden name is Moon. AND, I was born in June, and if you go in for all of that astrology stuff, they say children born around the time of year I was born are children of the Moon. So, maybe it does fit.

Pat's full name is actually Robert Patrick. So, Robert is Scottish or English and means Illuminated Fame. Probably something to do with Robert the Bruce. Patrick is Latin (although the Irish have latched on to it, too) and means Noble One. Well, if you've met Pat, you would know he is definitely noble. And, he has one of those infectious personalities that just makes you want to be around him. So, maybe Illuminated does fit, too!

Pretty cool so far, right?

Okay so now for Aidan. He's a little tougher because he is still so little. But, his personality is really starting to come through so, maybe. . .

Aidan was originally named Stepan Vladislavovich. I'm not going to touch Vladislavovich--not a clue what that means!. . .but Stepan is the Russian form of Stephan which means Crowned one. They called him Steopa, which is like Stevie. I hated that name! I don't know why, but I just couldn't get comfortable with calling him that. We had wanted to name him Aidan even before we met him so when we got our Petition to the Court, that was the first thing I double checked--make sure it is spelled right!! A--I--D--A--N

So, we named him Aidan Josef. Aidan is Irish and means Fiery. Josef is the Czech or Russian (yes, we spelled it that way on purpose) form of the Ireali name Joseph which means God Will Increase. So, if you have met Aidan, you will know Fiery is his temperment to a "T!" This kid can get so fiery sometimes we just look at him and think. . .Omigosh!! What are we going to do with you if we can't get control before you're a teenager??? Seriously though, Aidan is a good, kind and loving kid. He just gets stubborn at times. It's actually a good thing because he feels comfortable with us and himself. As for Josef, I guess time will tell. I would love to be a grandmother to lots of children though!! : )

And, well, it has been raining for about 40 days and 40 nights now so Aidan has been reduced to looking at catalogs and magazines. Almost three year old boys will go a little fiery if they don't expend that extra energy they have! ;0










I know a lot of folks agonize over changing the child's name they are adopting. We did, too. As much as I disliked the name "Steopa," I still worried we were doing something bad for Aidan. I din't want to take away any links he had to his past. However, we found out after our Court date that he had not been named by his birth mother but by the Orphanage Director. This made it somewhat easier on our conscience because then we weren't taking away a link to his birth family. We have her name and if he ever wants to go looking, we will do whatever we can to help him. Plus, Aidan took to the name "Aidan" so quickly that he actually got upset if we talked to him about Steopa after just a month of being with us. I would ask him where Steopa was and he was point away and say "gone." I used to think he had decided in his mind that that name was a part of the past that he no longer wanted any part of. Just speculation, of course.

Now, if I ask him the same thing he gives me a look like, "What in the world are you talking about???" I think he doesn't remember it at all now.

We'll tell him all about it all when he gets old enough to understand. But, I still think we named him right. He fits Aidan Josef and it does reflect his personality.

So, do you fit your name????

Just moseying on with life. . .

Not much going on around here. . .

The weather has been cold and rainy lately. Lots of rain, too. We had about an inch on Sunday and then probably another inch on Monday. I think it actually started sometime on Saturday--although I am losing track of time lately, so I'm no longer sure.

How is this affecting family life? Well, Aidan no longer cries when he sees that it is raining. Now he just asks if he can ride his bike in the rain! Poor kiddo will try to find any way to be outside!

We spent a lot of time resting this weekend, which was really good for our health recovery. We went to bed early, slept late and Aidan got some really good naps in. He still isn't 100% and actually just went on the next stronger antibiotic yesterday, but I think we're all really on the road to recovery. I'll be glad of that!

We did buy Aidan a couple of new movies this weekend and he seems to have enjoyed one of them so far--Madagascar. He actually picked out the second movie--Wall-E, which we will watch later in the week. He really likes watching movies! How funny.

While playing with his trucks the other day, Aidan told me he doesn't have very many toys. . .hmmmm. . . I guess he doesn't if you compare to the variety he has to play with at Day Care. I guess we really need to get him some more things like Play Doh or something. His birthday is in a week and a half, so maybe. But, I think he has also been watching the other kids play Guitar Hero on Wii! Well, maybe Santa will bring something like that. . .

Yesterday, Aidan came up to me and gave me a totally unsolicited kiss on my cheek. I love moments like that. It makes me feel like the mistakes I've made as his mother haven't been as bad as I was thinking!

We've been looking at this really nice Brazilian Cherry Hardwood flooring for a while to do our entire main level in. We really like it and now it's on sale, 20% off!, at Home Depot. I think we're going to order it. Mama will be so happy to get rid of the old carpeting! And getting things painted, finally will be wonderful, too. What a nice change to the look in our house. Eventually I'd like to do the upstairs, too. But, getting the main level done for now will be fantastic.

That's about it on our news, except that I should point out--How about theose Capitals??? They are up 2 games to zero in the second round of the best of 7 series. They play again Wednesday night.

Toodles until next time.

On the Mend. . .Finally!!

What a week. . .or, I should probably say, what several weeks!

Since Easter, the three of us have been suffering from colds. They have been hard to deal with because they haven't been bad enough to keep us down. Yet, they have not gone away! Some days we feel great and then the next day our throats are sore again and our noses are completely clogged. In part, this is likely due to the pollen--everything is in bloom! And in part, our resistence is down.

I have been feeding us all lots of orange juice and other fruits in an attempt to naturally boost our systems. But, to no avail.

On Tuesday, my office was freezing cold (I say this, but I am really not sure if it has any bearing on my story except to say I was very uncomfortable all day). When I got home, I decided to sit outside on the deck for a little bit to try and warm up. Pat was watching Aidan play. . .after just a few minutes, I felt so hot, I had to go in. I was exhausted.

After being in for a while, I realized I hadn't cooled off. . . hmmmmmmmm. . .I went in search of our adult thermometer (the child one is always out!) and then took my temperature. . . 102.5!!! Yikes!!! I took it again, to be sure. . .the same! Off to bed I went. No wonder I didn't feel right and I was so weak and exhausted!

Realizing this is a bit more than a cold. . .but, yet, not Swine Flu (not having been to Mexico recently or around anyone who had!) I made an appointment for the next day to see the doctor. Sure enough, a pretty bad Sinus Infection. I was started on Augmentin and Flonase immediately. Although the temperature came back on Wednesday afternoon and evening, now that it is Friday morning and I have had five doses of the Augmentin, I am doing a lot better. Weak, but better. It's a heck of a way to lose weight!!! (Nearly 6 pounds in three days!)

I stayed home, of course, again on Thursday. A good thing too. Aidan woke up with his face swollen, but seemed to be in a good mood and ate his breakfast so off to Daycare he went so Mommy could rest. Well, no rest for the weary! I picked him up before lunch and took him to the pediatrician where, yes you guessed it!, he was diagnosed with a Sinus Infection!! And, he has double ear infections, too. Cancel swimming lessons. . .And so, now the two of us are on our antibiotics and seem to be improving--we hope!

If we could just get Daddy to go and get his antibiotic, then we could all be well together!!