Jaesen is home at last

And after all the waiting, Jaesen is finally home. I have to say it is really weird to have him here. I actually ran to the store to grab something and didn't have to take all of the kids, that was strange. We are all still getting used to having him around and it definitely takes a load off of me to have the other half of tag team Yerger here to reinforce rules, etc. Savannah is doing well with the readjustment and thinks he is funny, still not too sure but figuring it out. Right now we are just taking it slow and easy and having fun with each other. It has been a great weekend so far. Tristan wants to take Jaesen for show and tell and Jack wants a continuous piggy back ride. Life is good here at our house!

Love you Mom!

Mom, just want you to know I am thinking about you, hoping you are home soon out of the hospital. I love you and I wish I was there!

A Very Bad Dog!!!!!

Oh, this is a very bad dog! If you see him, don't love on him. That is Jack's Valentines Day candy box sitting there on the carpet. It was still wrapped in cellophane when we left home this morning. Now it is torn up, chewed up, licked on and laying on my kitchen rug. Poor Jack, he will be oh so very sad. I can hear him now. Merlin I am not your friend anymore, you are a bad dog and noone loves you. Merlin says, I thought it was my chocolate box! Oh what a very bad dog!

The ER Staff Loves Us!

Well two weeks later and we were back in the ER again. This time it was for Savannah. She had been out of sorts for about a day, but nothing overtly wrong with her. I laid her down for a nap about 4 and when she woke up I thought she was warm but passed it off as she had just woken up. About 15 minutes later, it seemed much longer since she was shrieking at the top of her lungs, I felt her head again and she was still hot. I got the thermometer that runs across the forehead and took hers, it read 105.9. Okay I am a moron, I can't even use the dumb thermometer on my kid. I went the other direction, 105.7. Okay, now I feel even more stupid. I ran it across my head, 98.8. Now I was slightly alarmed. I ran it on her again 105.9. Okay, now the grilled cheeses were burning but I needed another thermometer. I quickly flipped the sandwiches and started rooting in every cabinet, no thermometer. I am a mother, I should have more than one stupid thermometer! Finally in Jaesen's undersink cabinet I found one. Of course it was there, because he really needed the extra thermometer while he was gone. So the poor girl had to have her temp taken the other way and in the short time she would let it stay in position it read 104.9. I yelled at the boys to scarf down their grilled cheeses, tried to call a babysitter. Who was I kidding? It was 615 on a Friday night, not a soul available, so lucky me I got to drag 3 kids to the ER for what I was sure was going to be a banner night. We spent 5 glorious hours there, getting urine samples, xrays, blood drawn, throwing up (her, not me) and trying to get an IV into the poor dear. She was a great patient though and as long as I sang to her she was fairly calm. I only wish the seat Jack was in had a seatbelt, he was up and down and up and down I was ready to smack him. All in all the boys did great and we watched cartoon movies that they had on the tv. Finally just before midnight we left with the diagnosis of a virus, keep a close eye on her and keep her hydrated. She is just back down for a nap, but her fever has almost gone and that is huge. Now all of my kids have been seen at this ER, what an accomplishment!

One Year Anniversary and Savannah's Predicament

Well this weekend was our one year anniversary here in the US. I have to say that I still am having culture shock back into my "home" culture. I never in my wildest dreams thought that I would love Japan as much as I do and never thought I would say that I want to go back. I only hope that we are able to go back again so Savannah can see where she was born and do all the things that she will hear her brothers talk about. We came home on February 3, 2007. It was a long process that took exactly 24 hours from leaving the Navy Lodge to arriving at the airport in Jacksonville. I just remember sitting in baggage claim staring at our two carts of luggage, the 3 kids, it was about 11 at night and just wishing for a limo to pick us up. Instead Jaesen and I each drove a car to our hotel, took the dogs for a quick walk and headed off to Denny's at midnight to eat. I have to say that I did miss Denny's for a quick bite to eat at any time day or night. Now as we are waiting on Jaesen to come home from Iraq I just think how fast this last year has gone. Savannah is just about walking, her surgery did her wonders. The boys are each progressing at an alarming rate. Jack is excelling in school and Tristan can devour a book in one night. They are both so athletic (they get it from me you know!) and I started nursing school. What a crazy life we lead. And on that note the other morning Savannah was crying, when I found her this is what she loooked like. Instead of helping her I ran for my camera, it was really too funny to pass up. I don't know how she did it, but she got herself good and stuck.