The Office and stuff. . .

So, I am happy to announce, the office is 95% complete!! I'm ready to share some pictures. . .First some of BEFORE:




YIKES!!

And DURING:






Whew!!!

And, now. . .




We (euphemistically used) still have one more corner shelf to put in, the last of the baseboard to add, some touch up paint and a nicer desk chair to purchase. . .but, we're done enough to feel comfortable working in there again. I really love it. Pat did such a great job!! I even have one shelf devoted to my Russian books, Russian icons, and some other Russian paraphanalia including my map of Russia. . .Love it!!!

And, our new Living chairs arrived yesterday. Now I know that, if we get a piano, we really can't have anything bigger than a Loveseat in there!! : ) But, aren't they pretty???



Aidan is doing really well. We have one more dose of his Amoxicillan and then we are done. The first bout with Strep is over. . .he has been having some issues where he has been waking up at night. He used to call out and I would go to him and comfort him and get him back to sleep. Now, however, he just comes down the hall and climbs in bed with us. Typically, we wake up, briefly, when he does this, and then fall back to sleep. Invariably, though, I will wake up very sweaty a couple of hours later because I have my Aidan blanket on. . .Last night, thanks be to God!, he stayed in his own bed. . .

He has also had some issues, minor, at school lately. It started because his teachers were coming in later so he was having to go to another room until they came in. I adjusted my work start time to be later so he could go straight to his own room. that resolved things. . .briefly. . .then he got a new teacher--for his group--and we had some minor issues again for a few days. It has now resolved, but it reminds me that, although we don't have Attachment Issues (caps on purpose) with us, we do still have to be careful about changes in who are his direct Caretakers. . .makes me glad that I had him in a home environment for the first year at home, even with the things that popped up there!

My arm has been aching a lot lately. I started PT last thursday and will be doing this twice a week for about the next four weeks. I am beginning to wonder if this is ever going to be over!! I know it will, and quicker the more diligently I follow the recommendations, but it is hard! If this weather would just get better and warm up!!--that is allllllll I'm going to say about the weather. . .

A blogger friend has contacted me about going to an Easter Party with the kids at the Russian Embassy in D. C. . .AWESOME!!! We are sooooo going! And, I'm trying to talk Pat into going to see Fiddler on the Roof at the National Theatre, about the same time period. I think he'd enjoy it!!

And, finally, here is my cute little dudely. . .



Gotta go, USA is playing Canada for the gold in Hockey and it's 2 to 1 USA!!

USA!! USA!! USA!! USA!!

Random Little Nothings. . .

We are majorly in the winter doldrums right now. Nothing is really happening. We can't go outside--we still have a lot of snow, although it is melting. The clear spots are turning to mushy mud and the non-clear spots are still piled high. We're tired of our indoor activities, though, so we're trying to get out some. I know Aidan will be happy to run and jump and ride his bike again!

I'm soooo glad March will be here in a few days. We can get snow in March, but really, our big storms usually don't happen after President's Day (February 15th this year). Grandpa's birthday is March 1st--we LOVE Grandpa's birthday!!

I haven't taken too many pictures lately. . .you don't really want to see more snow pictures or even mud pictures--although the one of Maggie covered head to toe in mud was pretty funny. . .to me and Aidan. . .not to Pat. . .But, I promise to have the pictures up this weekend of the FINISHED OFFICE! Yep. It's done. Well, actually, I'm putting the books back tonight and tomorrow night, and maybe Friday night, too. I'll also include a picture from Aidan's latest school picturess--really, really cute!

Aidan has his last ice skating lesson on Saturday and will have a couple more weeks of Swimming Lessons. He will then only have Soccer beginning in April through the end of May and then the summer off. . .that will free up our schedule some!

Aidan has been recovering very well from our first bout of Strep Throat. He is on Day 6 of the medicine with 4 more to go. He was feeling so well by Saturday, I had a hard time keeping him from doing too much.

Our new Living Room chairs arrive on Saturday. Yippee!!! Once those are in, I may start on the curtains for the Living Room and Dining Room. Other than that, no more projects for a while. Well, we will likely start one that involves replacing our back door and turning our deck into a Screened in porch, but we're hiring those out, so it's not really on our plates!

Only other news to give you is that we are soooo excited about the Olympics. The Americans are doing sooo well this year! Today are the Quarterfinals for Hockey. USA plays Switzerland at 3:00 pm Eastern Time; Finland and the Czech Republic at 10:00 Eastern time; the winners of these two will play in the Semifinals on Friday at 3:00 ET. Also today are Sweeden v. Slovakia at midnight and Russia v. Canada at 7:30 Eastern Time; the winners of these two will play on Friday at 9:30 ET. Obviously, we will root for the good ole' USA all the way, but we'll have to root for Russia, too. After all, in addition to Aidan being Russian, the Russia team has three current Capitals players and two more who were on the Caps until last year. Never fear, though, USA!! USA!! if US plays Russia at all in the coming finals. . .Aidan won't mind. . .

At least the Olympics are adding a little excitement to our lives!! : )

St. Áedán

Áedán is the gaelic form of our little guys name--Aidan being the Anglicized version. When we had him baptized, we received many wonderful gifts for him, but one was really special, a St. Aidan medallian. This arrived from my sisters in-laws and we have him wear it as often as possible, to church, hoping that it will rub off on him thus making him a little saintly! : )

Sometimes it works. . .

I finally looked up this venerable saint to see what it was about him that made him a saint.

Hi lived in the early six hundreds and was an Irishman from Connaught. He went to a Monestary in Iona, which was then part of Ireland and now part of Scotland, in order to become a Monk. In the 630's he went to be the Bishop of Linisfarne and built a monestary. Not knowing English, he learned and had his monks learn as well so that they could talk to the people of Northumbria on their own level, the result of which that many, if not all, converted from Paganism to Christianity. His work was so well thought of, even though he was Irish, that he became personal friends with the King of England and was deeply respected by the Romish Pope Honorius I. He died on August 31, 651. A biography was later written about him by St. Bede the Venerable. . .The beatification came about due to a story that the town near his monestary was set on fire during an attack of infidels. St. Aidan prayed to protect the town and the wind changed, blowing the smoke and flames back at the enemy, thereby repulsing them.

Not much, but hey, that's more than we knew before! Sounds like he was a pretty awesome dude, none-the-less.

Our little saint was home yesterday with Strep Throat--our first experience with this and thus allowing for the time to look up this information about St. Aidan. Today will be kind of rough because he is feeling so much better already. I hope we can keep him from doing too much without major tantrums! But, after as bad as he was yesterday, I will stick to it!

Lent and Daddy's Day. . .

Today is Ash Wednesday. So, now it is Lent. It always seems to creep up on me, a little stealthily, but so much more so this year! I guess I was focusing on my arm; being snowed in; being snowed in with a 3 year old little boy; not seeing much of my husband. Needless to say, it took me a bit by surprise on Sunday when I realized it was here and I have not a clue what I am giving up for the next 40 days! Perhaps I'll use what a Seminarian once told me: Chilean Peppers. . . : )

We had initially thought we would go to church tonight. But, what with Aidan's swimming lesson and Pat wanting to work on the Bookshelves in the Office, I decided to give them a "Bye" and went at lunchtime. I think Pat was glad, and truth be known, I think Aidan will do better with the impostion of the ashes when he's a little older. . .

Remember you are dust and to dust you will return. . .

Since last Fall, Aidan has asked, repeatedly, when his birthday is. So, I started telling himthe litany of birthdays to come:
Grandmas, then nana's, then Jesus', then Daddy's, then Grandpa's, then Grandpa Dave's, then Kendalls, then Aidan's!!

Aidan, in his cute little way, asked when is Mommy's?? Well, after Aidan's, then it's Tylers, then Aunt B's, then Mommy's!

I should preface this next part by saying he knows Daddy's name is Pat and has even heard him be called Patrick. So, the rest shouldn't come as a surprise. . .

Last week Aidan again asked about his birthday. So, I said, well, next is Valentine's Day, then Grandpa's birthday, then St. Patrick's Day, then. . .wait!!! Daddy's Day??????

How cute is that?

Two Years of Blogging. . .

Incredibly, it's been two years, to the day, since I started this blog. . .on that day I was feeling the desolation point of our wait between trips. It was a mere 2 1/2 months since we had seen Aidan, but it seemed like it would be forever until we saw him again. I worried about how much he was growing and changing without us. . .without me! I didn't know it would only be 13 more days until we got the call about going back!

So much about our lives has changed in the past two years. We used to just pick up and go wherever we wanted whenever we wanted. Now we have the kiddo to think about. My morning routine and Pat's evening routine have both changed to include our shared responsibilities for Aidan. When planning meals, I always think about what will Aidan like? before moving in on my decision of what to cook. Our evenings and weekends have begun to fill up with extra-curricular activities Aidan is involved in: Ice Skating, Swimming and soon, Soccer. And, lest I forget, we have introduced new customs into our lives: wearing Jamas inside out to encourage snow (although Grandpa emailed us to not let Aidan do this anymore and I quite agree!), playing hide and seek, and, of course, the ever present Tickle Bug!

It's all sooooo good!

And, I'll leave you with a little something Aidan said, upon leaving St. Gabriel's Church on Sunday (this is the church we have been thinking of going to for a while and finally went), "I like this church, Mama!" Hmmmmm. . . .out of the mouths of babes. . . .

You Make The Call. . .

Where are these pictures taken?






Okay, so the first one is in Loudoun County, Virginia, USA. It is a Dominion Virginia Power Bucket Truck that got buried by the blowing and drifting snow. . .in about an hour!!

The second one is in Krasnoyarsk, Russia. . .Siberia! Not much differenc between the two, eh??

Aidan has been saying things like, "When it gets warm again, I'm going to. . ." poor Kiddo!! Probably thought he was done with this kind of thing. I've decided to stop listening to the weather reports for a while. That decision was made after I heard the weatherman say something about measurable snow for Monday! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!

I'm starting to gather my pictures for our post placement report and visit. I still need to get at least one more of the three of us, though. That always seems to be the most difficult one to get!

I got the pins out of my arm yesterday and am now out of the cast. I'm in a brace and will start Range of Motion exercises on Monday. It's sooooo good to be out of the cast!

History In The Making. . .

So says the weatherman. . .

It is snowing again. The prediction total for this storm is 10-20 inches. Leesburg officially had 34.5 inches from the weekend storm. With an additional 10-20 inches, you begin to lose perspective on what constitutes a lot of snow. When asked, I could guesstimate we had gotten about 6 inches over night. With 10 more expected throughout the day, that puts us in the upper reaches of the prediction. This storm is slated to make this the snowiest winter ever recorded in the Washington, D.C. area. As Barb, who lives in Finland, said to me though, at least we'll see the bare ground before the end of April!



Adding insult to injury is that the wind has picked up, in classic Nor'Easter style, We're having steady wind around 20 miles per hour and gusts up to 40 miles per hour. With the gusts, it's whiteout conditions--I can't see my neighbors houses!




Needless to say, Aidan and I are home again today. I got the message that his school closed very early this morning. Frankly, I was glad for the excuse to not drive to my office!! The last road there is a winding narrow country road that, although plowed, is not plowed well despite the fact that it is a main thoroughfare between Brunswick, Maryland and Route 9 in Peaonian Springs, Virginia. It was just okay yesterday morning, but quite slick on the way home--it had already started to snow. I found out a little later that my office had closed. Now I don't have to figure out what to to about my leave--I've taken a lot of time lately for my arm, Aidan and the weather!!

And so, we'll watch some movies, play some games and say a prayer our power doesn't go out. . .

Speaking of power, I should note that we may never see Daddy again. . .Nearly nonstop work since the storm started last Friday. Crazy!!

Wish I had bought those beautiful tulips I saw the other day. . .

Quick note on my arm: provided that I can get there, I am scheduled to get my cast off tomorrow afternoon and be fitted for a brace. Yippee!!! I'm scheduled to get the pins out at the Outpatient surgical Center on Friday morning. More Yippee!!! I'll be in the brace thereafter--think of all the things I'll be able to do!!--and will begin to work on my range of motion. Awesome.

The Day After

Yesterday, the morning after the big storm, dawned sunny and beautiful. And very cold. It was about 10 degrees! But the sun was out and it was really pretty.

Aidan and I ventured out to try and clear off my car, which is vey hard to do one handed. After about 10 minutes, which included trying to walk and sled in the deep snow, Aidan decided to play on the front walk with his Scaper and Bulldozer. That occupied him for another 5 minutes! Truly, this snow is overwhelming for me, an adult. I can't even imagine how he must feel not being able to see over the top of it!

The house and pipestem:




The entrance to the pipestem after the plow came by--this was all clear!



Aidan trying to amuse himself:




The day continued well. . .The Caps won (#14 in a row!!) and then the Saints won the Super Bowl. Daddy got home at about half time--he's been working like crazy this whole weekend!

Today we're off again. Aidan's school is closed. My doctors office is open, so I'll keep my appointment for this afternoon for my arm--hope Aidan doesn't freak if they take my cast off!! And, I got our taxes done!! Woo Hoo!!

And, now, I'm hoping to get to the grocery store to do a little restocking because. . .the weather forecast is calling for another foot Tuesday and Wednesday! I don't know where we'll put that. . .

When will this madness end?????

Blizzard 2010

Yep. That's what I would call it. We're currently looking at about 30 inches or so and it is still snowing. It's not expected to stop until sometime this evening. It's a bit overwhelming to look at, to be honest. They say a picture is worth a thousand words. . .so, here's a few thousand for you!














Fortunatealy, storms like this one don't come around too often. They say this may the biggest to hit the D. C. area in 100 years. The last one even close was in 1996 and shut this whole area down for a week. Wonder how long this one will take to clean up??? I just hope it doesn't all melt at once. . .

Fortunately we only lost our power for half hour. But, thousands are out. I'm not sure when Pat will be home again! Thank God for wonderful neighbors and our collectively owned snow blower. Otherwise, no one on our pipestem would be going anywhere fast!

Little man is zonked after playing with the neighbor girls for a couple of hours. I think he'll sleep good.

SNOW

O my gosh. . . .

More later, with pictures, after I have had a chance to wrap my head around the amount out there. . . .

Okay, Neb him!

Sigh. . . . . . . . . . . .

While home yesterday, I listened as Aidan began to cough. It started out slow and then began to grow. By night time, it was nearly nonstop. When I put him to bed, I decided to do a nebulizer treatment, and a good thing, too! The poor child was wheezing so terribly by that time!

So, I decided to keep him home one more day and took him to the pediatrician this morning. Diagnosis: VERY BAD COLD (would be RSV if he was younger) with major drainage into his lungs. Here we go again!

And so, we are to do the nebulizer evey 4 hours for 2 days, then try to wean to every 6 hours, then 8 hours, and so on. . .and we got a presciption for Augmentin to fill if he isn't better by Saturday or Sunday. Fortunately, the school will do the Neb tratments for us tomorrow so I can go back to work.

Cue Pat--When I called Daddy to tell him, he strongly suggested getting the Augmentin filled today. Reason, our impending bad weather. It seems the snow storm coming will now start tomorrow morning (forget the dinner out with friends!) and will not end until very late Saturday night. We are now expecting 16 to 36 inches!! Yikes. . .

I filled the Augmentin.

Winter Wonderland

Well, another six inches of snow. We, Aidan and I, are home today because of it. Movies, popcorn, and maybe a short foray out into the yard (for him) is the order of business for the day. I wouldn't mind getting started on our taxes, too. . .but, I don't want to plan too much for this unexpected day off!

It is beautiful this time around:





Tonight we're going to to Grandma and Grandpas and take dinner over there. Tomorrow back to the normal routine. . .but, looming over the weekend. . .another storm. . .could it be a dusting? Or will it be a 2-3 foot experience like most are saying? Stay tuned and we'll find out!