Catch up

Props to the mamas who find time to blog because I find it very challenging!
The past few weeks, in a nutshell:
Sister came to visit and help. It was lovely. I feel blessed to have a supportive sibling who takes time out of her life to help out. I'm truly thankful because she is also the person who told our Dad that enough was enough. He had been fighting an infection in his foot for months. Since May. He had been seeing doctors, most recently a dermatologist who his general physician referred. Thank God, when my sister saw that our dad was cutting the bottom of his jeans, she insisted he call his doctor or go to the ER - his choice. Of course, he wanted to do neither but she made him decide. The on-call doctor said he wanted my dad to go to the ER. Long story short, his doctors were treating the infection as if it was dermatological when, in fact, it was cardiovascular.
Who knows how long it would have gone if my sister hadn't forced my dad to take action. This made me upset because we thought my dad and his doctors were doing their due diligence. But, bless his heart, my Dad was taking a very passive role and waiting for his doctors to contact him and, come to find out, he wasn't being very honest in the severity of the pain and symptoms.
As a child, you hope your parent will be an advocate for his/her own health. But it looks like we've reached a point in our lives where my sister and I have to take a more active role. We love our parents so much and it's frightening to think that they may not think to do what is the best interest of their health:( My parents are great about seeing their doctors. But if their doctors aren't on top of it (which it looks like a couple of my dad's doctors were NOT), it's a bit frightening because I don't think my parents are comfortable questioning or second guessing them. My dad is the type of guy that if his doctor's office says the will call to schedule an appointment but then doesn't - which has happened - he will wait until they call him because he figures that if they're not calling him, it must not be that serious. Then there's me who has been forgotten by doctors or vendors sometime during my life so I know that, most likely if they didn't call me it's because they forgot. My dad sees that as nagging:p
Because my sister saw first-hand our dad down-playing his pain and symptoms, we gave him an ultimatim - either our mom or I will go with him to his future doctor's appointments. I pray that this will work and he will allow my mom (or I) to accompany him. He will be 80 years old and he just doesn't have the immune system to mess around with this kind of nonsense.
Here is The Bun visiting her Papa in the hospital:

He was in the hospital for four days. 

On to happier updates ...
The Bun, along with my sister since she was in town, accompanied me to a swim lesson two weeks ago. While I was taking my lesson, my sister said that The Bun was itching to join me in the water. So much so that my sister had to distract her by showing her a swing set out of view from the pool because The Bun really wanted to jump in.
This was news to me since I had enrolled her in group swim classes last year and she abruptly quit them. Didn't say why but she was clearly disinterested in the whole ordeal. My parents and I chalked it up to her becoming bored.
As I mentioned in my Tahoe entry, I was inspired to learn how to swim so private lessons were what I was going to treat myself to during maternity leave. As luck would have it, there was another teacher available at the same time as my lesson so we would be able to take lessons together. Come to find out, it is quite a pretty penny to have private lessons:p Not sure how long we'll keep them up but I booked us weekly lessons until the end of the year. And, seriously, how could I deny this cutie?

Here is a fantastic drawing from The Bun for my sister's 49th birthday. I cannot explain to you how awesome it is but just trust that it is:) Let's just say that children, especially my precocious little girl, notice everything. My sister l-o-v-e-d this drawing and said that she planned on framing it when she returns home.

My parents, her Papa & Nana, are at the top. Then there's a big Hello Kitty (no explanation other than The Bun IS a little Asian girl). At the bottom is my sister with awesome round glasses, one of our pups, The Bun, Me, The Man and our other pup. When I asked her, The Bun didn't have an explanation as to why The Bean is missing. But she swears she loves him:)

Ah, I'm glad my sister captured this next photo. When I had The Bun nearly five years ago, I had some major baby blues. My mom swooped in like it was nothing and came over to my home 40+ hours a week to help. We joked that it was her pro-bono work upon retirement. In all seriousness, she was a God sent during a tough time for me. This time around, this mama is blessed to not have baby blues. Hallelujah! But my mom (& dad, as her driver) still come around, just not all day, every day. They come twice a week and help out with the kiddos.
Well, maybe it's because they don't have as much time together but it's taken my mom a little bit to figure out how to appease The Bean. I know that when he's hollering or crying, my mom really wishes she knew how to make him happy the way she knew how to calm The Bun.
Well, last week, they finally clicked:

Mission accomplished, Nana! You figured out how to put him at ease. And to sleep!:)

This next photo has to be my favorite. I know that I've had many blessings lately. This time around, The Man took nearly seven weeks off after I gave birth! We timed it perfectly for my sister to visit right when he went back to work. So, for nine weeks, I've had a partner to tag team with when it came to the kiddos. Well, this week, it was time I finally flew solo. And let me just say that I am so impressed by The Bun.
My little girl has had a lot of change these past few weeks. In addition to a baby brother, she also started Transitional Kindergarten which is quite different than preschool. Expectations of her being more mature are certainly higher. We are also in the (long) process of night time potty training. And, as if we couldn't throw more things her way, her dad recently went back to work and then we had my sister visit. We could tell that while The Bun has been in sunny spirits, she is a bit stressed. She has had some potty accidents during the day which isn't something that has happened in a very long time.
The reason I'm proud of her is because, despite all these new things being thrown at her, she is determined to be a big helper. She gets up early with minimal coaxing because she knows how much I need her to stick to the schedule. She gets through her morning routine much faster than I ever anticipated because, again, she doesn't require the constant reminders that she had needed before when it was just her I had to get ready. The Bun gets dressed, eats her breakfast, brushes her teeth and then wants to play with her brother. I asked her to entertain him while I got ready. She's been doing so wonderfully that I asked her if she would like to hold him. It lasted all of two minutes but still ... I can tell her brother already loves her to the moon and back:

I loooooove this little girl and baby boy!

Oh man, I've been desperate for things to entertain The Bean. He doesn't really dig the play floor mat I bought (but I'm determined to not give up!) He also doesn't care for the vibrating chair that his sister loved. What to do? Well, a friend had this cool swing at her house and when I put The Bean in it, he was able to stay for over 10 minutes in it! Do you mean that there is something that exists that could actually help entertain him so I could get ready in the morning? SOLD! Well, almost. It costs $140. Um, to use for less than year? This mama doesn't have an unlimited cash supply. But thank goodness for mommy groups on Facebook! I posted that I was in search of a swing and included a photo. A woman tagged another woman who then let me know she was selling it. We agreed on $75 and I was able to get it within 24 hours! Again, how cool are these FB mommy groups?
And here is my guy enjoying "The Cadillac of baby swings":

He loves it! He doesn't pass out for hours but I'll take the precious minutes it buys me to do chores, get myself ready or *gasp* fit in a nap!

The greatest anxiety I have about going back to work is who will take care of The Bean? I was fortunate enough to find a great after school program for The Bun. I mean, not only does she love this program but they even do pick up so I don't have to worry about her going from TK to this after school program! But what about The Bean? Well, my mom has offered to care for him. But, as previously mentioned, my parents have ailments. I don't know if watching him full-time is possible but that's our best option right now. But, logistically, while my parents are saving us a ton of money, we still have to figure out how to get him there. The Man seems to be the only viable solution but he goes to work super early and his work vehicle isn't always empty enough to fit a car seat. There may be times where The Man will have to pass my parents house and go home only to switch cars and then go back to my parents' house. That adds 45-60 minutes to his commute. And, honestly, puts him in a bad mood. But what to do? The Bun has to be in school at 8:25 AM. And because they're so little, parents can't just drop TK-ers off. Us parents get out of our car and wait for the classroom to open (the teacher doesn't open her classroom early, it's always just on time.) This means the earliest I get to work will be 8:45 AM and my employer ideally would like me there by 8:30 AM. If I have to drop off The Bun and The Bean, that will add 40 minutes to my commute and I would be at work by 9:10 AM if there's NO traffic. Not at all ideal.  But we will figure it out. Because that is what parents do, right? We figure it out.

Because they're WORTH it.

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