life is crazy

I actually had a post in mind as well as a title but I got distracted brushing the dog with Natasha and now I have no idea what it was. the children are all fine.

Sophie and Ben got red and green striped casts. his is red with green stripes hers are green with red stripes. Ben has been walking like crazy in his. Sophie has been working on getting to standing in hers. We are hoping to get them a tenotomy next time or the time after. still no date for Sophie's osteotomy. but we did meet Laelia who was doing pretty well after hers so we have a little bit of an idea what to look forward to. we are learning that people in a wheelchair have a very difficult time to use a bathrooom. many times our stroller will not fit in the handicapped stall and still have room to lift and move the kids. there are not very many large companion care or handicapped accessible bathrooms that are not connected to the main bathroom. we found philly has many companion care bathrooms but they are quite small and never have papertowel and in one case the smell of cigarettes was so bad the kids even commented on it. In minneapolis we found what we thought was the perfect bathroom, only to discover that we couldnt get in the door! no matter which way I turned or tried there was no getting that stroller in the dooor. if I cant get a stroller in there ( a stroller designed to go through any 36 inch door way) would a wheelchair be able to get in there? I was exhausted and the kids and I needed to use the bathroom and I was nearly reduced to tears. I can only imagine what it feels like in a wheelchair to be excluded again and again.

When we returned from Philadelphia Eric brought everyone and the new baby down to the airport to meet us. we jumped in and went to the science museum. the kids had fun there but Jaeger was afraid of virtually EVERYTHING. Diana was mad because she wanted to see king tut and he wasnt there. Maia was just happy to have her mama back with her and went to sleep in my lap during the omni movie. She has been sleeping through movies in my lap for a long time. Andre kept asking Why museum? why movie?? why this mama? why that mama? talked through the whole movie. Jaeger and Natasha were sitting next to each other and fought for the arm rest through the movie. Then all the way home they fussed about the seating arrangements. a pretty typical day with them.

One child of mine has been recalling memories of their first family. they are very unpleasant memories. so much so that you wonder if they could possibly be true. I fully believe that the horrors described truly happened and look on in wonder that this child could be so well adjusted.

Another child of mine continues to take things, including money from me. Yet another child can not be more than 2 feet away from me or Eric. they cling constantly. like an affection black hole. take and take and take never getting enough. we give and give and give but sometimes it would be nice to do SOMETHING, ANYTHING, without little hands grabbing or nonstop talk and question asking.

The other night Eric made Saurbrauten and it was NOT a hit. many blechs were heard. except one poor chid made the mistake of saying to Daddy. he was a bit hurt and mad. That child sulked through most of the rest of the meal.

Last night we had spaghetti and squash and chicken patties for dinner. two kids apparently dont eat spaghetti OR squash so they were awful hungry when it came time for ice cream sandwhiches. I generally make what I make and they have the choice to eat it or not. but if you dont eat the meal you dont get treats afterwards. so several kids went without ice cream last night.

we had a blast playing monster in the dark basement. we turn out all the lights and try to catch each other. no flashlights. no lights. just pitch black. they all love this game. Cody started it and it has taken off since then to include more kids and now me to. When Cody and Chrysta were small we used to play this.
all in all I guess things are going fairly well. we do really adore the new kids even if they can be exhausting. and we adore the old kids with all their problems as well. generally life is good, crazy, but good.