Changes on the horizon

OK, I know complete blogger fail. I'm sorry... It's been busy. I'll attempt to update on the madness.

So yes, these 3 kids turned 3. We celebrated at Chuck-e-Cheese, and they came home, ate cake... and opened their presents of plenty. They got their first bikes. Owen got a cars bike, Grey a Jake and the Neverland Pirates, and Lilly of course, a princess bike. She was the first to be determined enough to ride, and the boys to follow in the next few weeks. They love their bikes. They love their helmets. This quickly turned into having to duct-tape a "race track" on our driveway/garage so they wouldn't run each other over and/or cut each other off. It has kept them quite busy this summer.

They have also taken to many new cartoons. Dora is the latest and greatest ... and everything on Disney Jr. It is quite funny to watch them now watch the shows, and laugh appropriately, and answer the questions that the characters ask. They truly do learn from these shows, which is likely more than I can say about the smurfs. But I survived.

Grey is doing great. He continues to eat everything you put in front of him, and he is gaining weight just as he should. We had a scare of his liver numbers that took a large jump, but... there was no real reason for it, they are all now normal. He continues to surprise me how manipulative he is, and how smart he is. It's not uncommon for him to stand behind his gate in his room, and torment Lilly or Owen when they want a parent to come upstairs at bedtime. He will tell them (as he leans over his own gate) to go to bed, "You gonna be tired in the morning". He will mock them, and laugh when they get upset. He was upset one day when he didn't make it to the truck in time to sit in the 3rd row. He cried until he got to school, and told me his tummy hurt, he needed to go home, and come back to school sitting in the 3rd row. uh huh.... He's very silly, the clown of all of them. He loves to entertain, and his giggle is infectious. He's fought ear infections again this summer. Several fungal infections again, but... we've kept them under control. He loves to color, and draw. We've started swim lessons. He absolutely loves to swim. He loves to jump in, and he loves to take big gulps of the water constantly. He also likes to pay attention to the next class more than what he is supposed to be doing, but, nonetheless. He's Grey. I look at pictures of 3 years ago. July 23, and Sept 15. Days we almost lost Grey. I think of those days praying he had no lasting issues, or hypoxia. Prayed his liver would return to normal, and that we didn't take too much of his intestine out for him to live a normal life. Then I think of trying to get him interested in potty training, and giving up his pacifier... and that seems so silly compared to what the kid went through. I know this can't be an excuse for the rest of his life. But, I'm allowing him a few more months with his paci. A lot of people told me to cut holes in his paci, and he would lose interest. They are all slowly getting holes in them, since I've NEVER bought one of these, they are all from the NICU. They are OLD! He gave a paci to me tonight that had a hole in the nipple at the base, and he couldn't get a good suck on it. He said, "Mom, this one has a hole in it, you can throw it away, or give it to the babies. I don't want this one." (we always tell him the babies need his pacifier) So... he will not be allowed to make the move with his pacifier(more to come with the move)... but for now, that orange thing can hang out of his mouth when he goes to bed.

Lillian also is quite the character. The mother of the group, the caretaker, the fashionista. She has been potty trained for a few months now. She put panties on one day, and I can count on one hand how many accidents she has had since then. Usually if an accident occurs, it's an adult error. She likes to pick out her own clothes, pj's, panties, hair accessories, shoes, socks. shew.... I hope she isn't high maintenance when she grows up. She finally is letting me do things with her hair. Pig tails and barrets she enjoys. She loves riding her bike, playing with legos, and her baby dolls. She sings, and dances, and will tell you her favorite color is PINK. She has had a barrage of ear infections, therefore, she is getting tubes on Oct 21st. She also LOVES to swim. She kicks, and floats, and loves her little kitty swim cap. She is very imaginative. She often is going with her dad in a rocket ship. She told me when we were at the zoo this weekend, it looked like UMI-City, from UMIZoomies on Nick Jr. But, for that matter, they are all very imaginative, and play pretend all the time. All 3 of them. That is a trait they get from their father. I, have very little skills in that department, never really have. I like concrete things.

Owen is definitely the first born. By 1 minute, I know... but he is your stereotypical first born. He is the leader of the pack, the bossy one, the serious one, the emotional one, the one that gets his feelings hurt easiest, cautious, craves structure, and the list goes on. It's just him. He remains very large for his age. Last check he was 44lbs, and 43inches tall. He too is potty trained. My bathroom floor might disagree, and his aim is terrible, but he doesn't have accidents... let's put it that way. He picks things up very quickly, and knows many letters when he sees them. He too loves his bike, and likes to draw. He sings and dances less than Lilly and Grey, but... he loves to watch the TV and answer the character questions. He is a very active child. He is on the move constantly. They all would rather be outside, which will pose issues this winter... but, we will make it. He is a terrible sleeper. He refuses to sleep in his bed all night, and demands Todd to sleep with him. He is a daddy's boy thru and thru. That child loves his daddy. I'm second best the his daddy, that is for sure. He and Grey still beat each other up, run around, tackle each other, act like they have swords, act like they are kicking or karate chopping each other. Boys... thru and thru. One of our neighbors is a state trooper. He was in plain clothes and I told Owen that he was a police man. Owen looked at him, put his hands on both hips, then pointed to our neighbor and said, "you aren't a powice man... where yo gun if yo a powice man?"
"Is dat yo powice car?" Oh my GOSH, I could have crawled under a rock, seriously. He was telling this man, he was not a trooper, because he didn't have his gun, and he wasn't really sure if it was his car either. There was a lot going on that night, and I believe he laughed... but.... nonetheless, that is my Owen.

The kids are also attending preschool/daycare 3 days a week now(instead of 2). Todd's dad had a hip replacement, so this will be in place until he is all healed and ready to come back one day a week. Likely they will stay 3 days a week until the first of the year. This week was the first week. They were not happy, but they will get used to it. We miss them, and wish him a speedy recovery!

Well, on the job front. Both Todd and I have changed jobs. Todd is now a Director of Finance at Anthem. He got a promotion. I changed departments, and accepted a promotion in Anthem's Patient Centered Primary Care division. My title is Provider Clinical Liaison. This is only my 3rd week, so it's still very hard to tell what the role will include.. but, will be the nurse Liaison between the primary care doctors offices that have agreed to contract with Anthem to change the way they prioritize and follow their highest risk, and most chronic patients. It's Anthem's push to a more quality of care, versus of quantity of care in the pcp offices. I will cover the whole state of Indiana. There will be some travel, perhaps some overnight, but not often, and most will just be day trips. So, I will be at home still working most of the time. I needed to get out of the house. I welcome the change. Change is good. I will miss my old coworkers, but those that I want to stay in contact with, I will... just as I have with transplant.

We are building a house. yea.... building a house. We've been looking at houses on and off for a year or so. Just browsing. Our neighborhood houses have been selling quickly when priced appropriately. The house we are building is in a neighborhood just north of here, maybe 2 miles. It's not much bigger than what we have now, just structured differently for having 3 kids of the same age. Simple things that were important to us. 3 car garage that has the 3rd door. Our garage now, is a courthouse garage, and has a lot of area, but, it is awkwardly situated for what we need it for. We need a 5th bedroom in the basement, which we will have. I really wanted a bathroom for Lillian upstairs so, when she is a teenager, she won't have to share with the boys. We did not want the 2 story living room anymore. I think it's great esthetically, but... terrible for heating and cooling. I'm just waiting for a truth/dare session when one of my boys dives off of it, and it's wasted valuable space we need. The cons of moving... we actually love our house, and our neighbors. We have everything really the way we need it, and we've put work into this house. We wanted though to be in a house from kindergarten to graduation for the kids, and the house we are building will be it. It is amazing the amount of work we have put into starting this new house out. Picking out stuff... positioning lights, and windows, and blah, blah, blah. Todd and I have a great deal that we agree on though, so it wasn't a negative experience, you just hope that you like it when it goes in. I will blog on this as we go along.