The Dog Days Are Over...

Well not really, because it is hotter than the blazes of HELL here this week, but School has started! Today was day one of first grade for our oldest boy, Jake. Wow how time flies. It was like we never stopped....the routine was the same...the chaos for me was the same...the fact that I waited til the last minute for all of his clothes, supplies and even his meal ticket...you guessed it..the same..WOW am I the epitomy of the unorganized mom. But as with so many things...we got there, we bought it (all $100 of it by the way!) and day one was a success, at least according to him. And it was equally successful for Sy who now has Grammie ALL TO HIMSELF!!! It doesn't get any better. So here is what Day 1 looks like at the Schlattmann house! And it wouldn't be the same if Gus (aka Rat Dog) wasn't in the picture. I would like to report that every day is a great day for our family, but reality is that some days are better than others. Somedays Jake and Sy and great friends, some days more like great enemies. Somedays Jake is excited to see Sy, today..not so much. Somedays we roll through the day thinking..wow all is well with our transition to two kiddos and somedays...well somedays... Sy has learned so much English though... he is amazing. To think that we have been home with him for only 4 months and that he has a near normal vocabulary, has good gross and fine motor skills and has mastered the art of whining...who would have THUNK it! (I think THUNK should be a word).

Growing and Changing

Today, after being gone for three days, I was welcomed home with some great news....mama, I pooped in the potty....mama, I ride bike....mama, I miss you, and the best greeting of all was simply running into my arms and holding me tight with his head on my shoulder. And in line with much of his new vocabulary was this bossy statement, "mama, you stay dere (there), you eat, I be back". ..............Jake was quite the repeater of words but Sy, he takes it to a whole new level. I am so fearful of what I say, knowing that it will be held against me...from the mouth of Sy! And it isn't just what he says, be he actually knows how to say it and when to say it! Yikes.....And when he says it, Jake turns with open mouth towards me to see my reaction, which of course is pale faced and silent............ Grammie (Cindy) is the #1 request from the boys. Everytime we get in the car Sy says..."let's go grammies". We are so lucky to have her and grandad around! There is a certain comfort in knowing that even though you have to have someone watch your children while you work, that the someone is Grammie.

Milestones - 8.9.10

Normally my posts are all about my kiddos, and our journey to bring Sy home. As I sit here tonight I reflect on the fact that it has been nearly a year since my mother passed away and I wallow in my sorrow knowing that she has missed out on so many wonderful things this past year. My oldest son Jake only mentions her here and there but his memories of her are good ones. My fear is that they will fade and he will have little recollection of her at all. That makes me so incredibly sad. And the fact that she never was able to meet Sy is the saddest thing of all. I still remember the day we picked him up from the orphanage and the impulse I had to pick up the phone and call my mom. Such happiness and such sadness all in one moment! The other day we found her cell phone that had been misplaced since her untimely death. On it was text messages between her and myself just days before her unexpected death. I smile knowing that I had told her that I loved her but her unresponsiveness troubles my heart. I took so many things for granted and my mother was by far my biggest fan and friend and the one that I was the hardest on. Unconditional love is how you would have to describe what she felt for me because I was not a wonderful daughter. I suppose you only notice these things once those whom you love have passed, but there are times when I still think she is just up the road or a phone call away and nearly have to stop myself from picking up the phone to call her. Sometimes I do pick up the phone and call her cell phone just to hear her beautiful voice. I tend to learn things by experience and the death of my mother is not how I wanted to learn that I would have a terrible void in my heart once she was gone. I am thankful that through this all I have had the best family and my two best friends, my brother Duane and sister Katy are still nearby to share these moments with them. I am most thankful for my father, whom I know each day is a struggle. He has been my mentor and owe much of my success to his support over the years. I fear the loss of any one close to me but know that these moments are out of my hands.

Durango Photos

Durango Photos

Here comes the Silverton up from Durango!

Our family vacation this summer was a trip to Durango CO to ride the Silverton train and visit long time friends Gene, Becky and Keely Legerski. The excitement was building and building to the point that we had heard CW McCall's Silverton song more than any one family should have to and could and do sing it in my sleep, in the shower, and yes, in the car....heck even Sy was starting to pick up on some of the words and at the very least was doing some sort of jig in the back seat to the very familiar tune. For those of you who have not heard the song or seen the train, here is the link that will TAKE YOU THERE!!!! Beware...your kids may begin to request this song, so be careful! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7a_19VDqQgo or if you don't get there, don't worry, Jake would say, "come on Mom....just google YOUTUBE SILVERTON CW(see dub) and you are there!" So don't panic if the link is not effective! Becky was kind enough to send me her pictures as I was otherwise preoccupied trying to keep my two year old from an accidentally exiting from the windows! It wasn't easy to keep him from draping himself out to "see what was going on".................And quite frankly no family vacation is complete without a 12 hour drive with a CD called "the We Sing Collection". Much to Dean's disliking, this "collection" had no AC/DC, Metallica or whatever other 80's band exists. But it did have..."the Bear Went over the Mountain", The Farmer and the Dell, The Ants Go Marching One by One, and the hands down favorite "Big Rock Candy Mountain". These are just a few of the 44 (yes 44) songs sung on the "collection". What really made the CD special was that we listened to it at least 4 times and between each song, Sy would say...."mama, where the moosik?" Never failed....he was a faithful follower. And of course no 24 hours in the car is complete with out someone throwing up....Almonds (and a variety of other snack foods). Thank you Sy for making our vacation "complete". ....But despite my sarcasm, Durango is beautiful, the train ride is amazing, and if you ever get the chance to hear (and memorize) the lyrics to SeeDub's (CW) and hear the part where he talks about "400 feet straight down" well, he isn't lying. There were times when we peered out and there was nothing beside us but a giant cliff and water below! Amazing really. I had great intentions of posting pics, but the upload is not cooperating, so may have to do that separately. I will leave you with a a phrase that Sy uses: ExCoomChee Mama (translated Excuse Me Mama) which is used faithfully after each hiccup, when wanting passed you and any other time deemed necessary by Sy. Because we all get such a kick out of it, we are reinforcing his poor pronunciation and have officially made ExCoomChee the new Excuse me in the Schlattmann family.

ARE U OK....and more

Ya know how sometimes you say things...and you don't really realize how often you say things? Well, leave it to a two year old who is a parrot to point that out to you. Apparently I say, "Are you ok?" alot to Sy because it is a very used phrase at this point. Bang my knee, "mommy, you ok?", Kill a biting mosquito, "mommy, you ok?", burp,..."mommy, you ok?", ect ect....and he goes as far as to mimic what I do to "make it better". Just a couple days ago, after somehow scraping my leg on something, Sy walked over with a towel (dirty, mind you) and applies pressure to my scrape, says, "mommie, you ok?" and then......."give it kisses" as he says.......................... And to add to it, in my endless pursuit of potty training I am a watchdog for any sign that Sy might need to "go poop" (sorry for the descriptives!). So a rootie toot here, or a grunt there and I am by his side saying, "Sy need to poop?" (again, sorry) Well, my smart little parrot now repeats this behavior......Jake rooties and Sy says, "Jake poop" and comes over and touches his butt (which is my way of telling whether or not I am too late with Sy, if you know what I mean!). And just tonight when we were sitting at the table, a toy fire engine made a noise that sounded a bit like a rootie toot and Sy came running over to me and said, while placing his hand on my bum...."mommy poop?" Ya gotta love it!..............................And finally, there is my less than successful approach to getting Sy to do something I ask of him. Sy is a bit of a clown, he loves to think that ignoring our requests is funny, or running away from us is funny, so my attempt at taking a calm approach to this has been to count down from 5 to 1. Well, do you want to know when he spurs into action....somewhere after one and before I get to him! So anyway, obviously Sy has become quite familiar with the numbers. And wouldn't you know it but the other day while sitting in the kitchen, Sy barked an order at me and when I didn't respond as he had hoped he began to count down.........5.............3...............1 He forgets a few numbers, but whose counting right? So there ya go.

STICKEM UP

It used to be that I heard this once in a while...but now, even as I write this, my youngest is screaming from the room..."MAMA, STICKEM UP".. All of this while packing a toy pistol around. Jake and him are now chasing each other around the house playiing cops and robbers .........This morning was a wonderful testament to two brothers in the making.....I don't know if I have ever mentioned this here before but Jake's all time favorite show is the Andy Griffith show and we have purchased the entire series on DVD. So as they were watching an episode, Barney begins to hop on one foot and consequently so do my two boys. It was priceless. I have tried to capture it on video, but I don't think I did it justice. I will post that later. Just had to share. They have become friends and enemies but both wonder where the other is when they are not around. I can't believe I have two little boys and they have become brothers! Each morning Sy says to Jake in a very loud voice....JAKE GET UP!!! WAKIE WAKIE JAKIE JAKIE So fun to see them interact.