Flight

Hello all. We have landed safe and sound in Munster. We haven't done a lot since we are recovering from jet lag and etc., but I will share our experience so far.

We left KY bright and early, we woke up around the time Pete is usually going to bed :) The flight from Lexington to Charlotte was easy. We arrived in Charlotte, went to the bathroom and were going to get a bite to  eat since we didn't have much time or much appetite in Lexington when I thought we should check what time we boarded, it turned out we were boarding in just a couple minutes! Off we went to the other side of the airport. I was so winded when we arrived. They were boarding when we got there but we had made it. Feeling rushed and a bit out of sorts we boarded our plane to JFK. We had so many shoulder bags that I think I hit every person in the head as I walked down the aisle, then we got to our seats only to find someone was in the middle seat. We just stood there letting the line behind us grow longer. A flight attendant took notice and had us move to the back of the plane until we figured things out. She was very nice and gave us a very large bottle of water while we waited. The lady who was in the seat we wanted came back and was not happy, you could tell she wanted a reason to be mad, but everyone was just so polite about it, and I think we looked so disheveled that it was hard to stay angry long. They gave her an aisle seat up front and it all worked out. I was across the aisle, from Pete and the boys, with Thomas, the man next to me was being very polite but when the flight attendant offered to move him so he wouldn't have to be next to me(and a baby), he jumped on the chance adding, "This will give you more room, ma'am." I thanked him and realized in his case I would have done the same. This flight went very well too. It gave us time to relax before JFK. We let this plane clear out completely before we deplaned, and many people commented on how good our baby was the whole time. I think since we arrived in such chaos people were holding their breath the whole flight, and then were pleasantly surprised when the flight ended with everyone happy and cheerful. We knew we had a 5 hour layover in JFK and we knew that we had to pick up our checked luggage then go back upstairs to check in for our international flight. We started following the arrows to baggage claim when having a stroller made things difficult, but we found an elevator and went down. It came out at security near a TSA booth. It was pretty obvious we got out at the wrong place. Luckily, three young kids, two tired parents, and lots of shoulder bags makes you look stupid and not evil so an agent or security guard with a thick Jersey accent was so polite and helped us figure out what and where we needed to go and then handed us over to a woman who found out what terminal airberlin flew out of. Really, people didn't have to be nice or take time out of their day to help, but I am so glad they did. We found where the baggage claim floor was but I guess our detour had us entering the back way because a guard was very confused when we told him what we were looking for and asked for proof that we were really on the flight we said we were on.  By the time we arrived they were about to close the carousel. We got our luggage and a luggage cart and off we went to find the airtrain to get us to our terminal. We found it just fine but the first train was a bit full and we had a lot of stuff, so after hesitating for a second we went for it, only to find people wouldn't move and the door was starting to close so we backed out but Jack's backpack fell inside the train just as the doors were shutting. Luckily, a very nice young man pried the door open and tossed out the bag. Again, people were so nice when they didn't have to be. We found airberlin just fine but that part of the the airport was pretty deserted. We stood there for awhile and no one passed us so I went to figure out what was going on. We really wanted to get through security so we could eat since we hadn't eaten anything all day,minus some little snacks I had packed. I learned that the airberlin lines weren't going to open until 2:40pm and it was only just noon. So we found a magazine/coffee stand, bought some more snack food and a couple magazines and set up camp in a corner out of everyone's way.

This was very uncomfortable since we had no pillows or blankets and there were no chairs, but it wasn't horrible. After snack time I pulled out our dvd player and Luke watched Cars and fell asleep, Jack and Pete played Super Mario Brothers on the computer and I had Thomas. Eventually, Thomas fell asleep and I realized Pete was asleep too, so I thought I could rest but at that moment Jack woke up so I read to him. The time there was fairly uneventful we did get some weird looks from employees who passed after it became apparent we weren't moving anytime soon. One lady asked if we were actually planning on flying, but after I explained our problem she became apologetic and wished she could just check us in herself, but was no longer allowed. Then when we went to mobilize a man came and checked our bags, they had tags on them from being checked in Lexington, I am not sure what he wanted, he never said, and he let us continue on our way. We made our way to security just fine, the lady was a bit mean and sharp with me, but it could have been worse. We found our waiting area and were finally able to eat!!! The kids started to get antsy here. We got out cars, coloring books, Pete took the older ones to find cake after lunch, but the day was beginning to catch up to them. While I was in the bathroom with Luke an older woman approached me to say she had seen me playing with the boys and while her youngest was now 41 she had 3 kids who at one point were 3 and under so she remembered the days well. (People often say this to me and almost always with a wistful look in their eyes as though they truly miss those days.) We boarded our plane and Jack was excited to find we each had a pillow, blanket, and a bag with various things inside including a face mask.

In our part of the plane there was a woman in front of us alone with a baby and a 3-year-old, and across the aisle from us was a couple with a new baby. I think a bond was formed right away. Luke had a hard time and probably the hardest of all. He screamed, he cried, he kicked, he kept undoing his seat belt. It was rough. Thomas began to scream and cry as well. It wasn't too pleasant. I had Thomas and Pete had Luke. Jack was just perfect in the middle. I realized at some point the man with the infant was making faces at Thomas to help calm him and it worked-- I smiled my thanks and he did it on and off the whole flight. At various points on the flight I would get Thomas asleep and just then the flight attendant and the cart would come by and it would wake him up. It happened every single time! He would wake up screaming. I began to hate that cart. Luke watched a movie on our dvd player but then it died, and it was hard to keep him occupied after that. There were not movie screens at every seat only a few scattered around the plane so you had to watch what they played and while the remake of Footloose is , I am sure great, it isn't a child's movie. The couple with the infant asked when they would turn down the lights because that is one reason the kids couldn't sleep, all of them by us, but it wouldn't be for awhile, and again we exchanged glances of understanding. I eventually gave Luke and Thomas benedryl which did help. Thomas slept quite well, but Luke became so sleepy he didn't really know how to handle it. At one point he woke up throwing a fit and then almost immediately fell asleep on the floor under his seat, we kept him there for awhile. The flight was about 8 hrs. and I slept for about 2 because when we finally got Thomas and Luke to sleep Jack woke up, yes Jack had slept through all of this. Pete was awake the whole flight. In the morning we were served a German breakfast of salami, turkey, bread, pickle, yogurt, and muffin. Then a round of hot beverage. We survived but it isn't something I would want to do again right away or as Pete says-- ever. We got to Berlin and had to have our passports ready. Pete informed me later this was customs but I thought they just wanted to make sure no one was sneaking in the country. Luckily, we had nothing to declare anyway and picked the correct line for having nothing to declare. We again had to go through security and now we were in Germany. The couple with the infant from our first flight were also by our gate so I actually spoke to them, they were going to Madrid or Barcelona( I can't remember) but from her accent I deduce they weren't American which shows me there is a bond universal when traveling with young infants on an international flight. Here Pete made our first German purchase and he bought me Coke. haha. It was very good. Then on to our last flight which was practically empty. Thomas was not so quiet on this flight-people stared. In Germany, maybe America too, they use lap belts for infants. We used it on our long flight and on the small flight Thomas was nursing when the flight attendant went by so she did not see him, but when she passed later she was slightly horrified that I allowed my baby to take off in a plane with out a lap belt and didn't I know it was dangerous? So she gave me one to use for landing. We got to baggage claim found our large bright red suitcase was missing! Not the black or navy ones, but our bright red one. This airport was empty. We went to lost and found and when we couldn't tell her our address or phone number she asked if she could walk with us and meet the person picking us up. Pete Albers, Pete's adviser, was the only person there in that part of the airport. He and the lady went in a corner to work things out. We loaded all our luggage in his car and then he found us the bus route we needed, waited for the bus with us, and told the bus driver what ticket we needed. He drove back with the luggage and we rode the bus. On the bus there is a screen that tells what stop is coming up and then shows the next three stops approaching along with the time. When you want a stop you hit the stop button that is red and says stop. We had to make a transfer which was the hardest part. This bus let us out at a main stop with many bus stops on both sides of the street. We had to find the correct one. We had three train numbers we could pick from but we couldn't find them on the signs anywhere. A lady who was on the original bus stopped to help us. She wanted to be and tried to be so helpful. She fearlessly went on a bus to ask a bus driver, stopped a man on the street who looked like a bus driver, and approached a college student all of whom were not helpful other than one told us to cross the street and try looking on the signs over there. She had a boy with her whom she called retarded, and it struck me how harsh that word sounded and how in America we don't say that word anymore. She explained she was not his mother but was watching him in what sounded like a foster care situation, she went on to say he was autistic and it struck me even more that she would call this autistic boy retarded, it would not be done in the US. After she went on to try and ask a second bus driver what to do with us we saw a bus we could use stop so we bid her farewell and boarded our bus. When we arrived at our destination Peter Albers was standing there waiting for us, and it was right next to our temporary home.

I will write more later on and put a few more pictures up but Pete should be home soon and we will need to find food and a hair dryer so I won't look so crazy.

Bye Bye Henderson

This morning we took the boys down to the river to throw rocks. As we stood there a barge passed and a train went over head, it was really a fabulous last moment in Henderson. Luke sat down on the river's edge with the water lapping over his legs, and I wish I could say I just took it in with a smile, but instead I was worried about his diaper puffing out, having to do extra laundry, and his shoes getting muddy, so of course I picked him up and moved him, causing the once peaceful and happy boy to scream and cry. I believe I redeemed myself when later he decided to walk through a mud pit so large he became stuck and couldn't get out. Instead of helping him, I just watched as he lost a shoe and fell on his stomach. Pete pulled him to safety then put him in the river to wash off the mud.

Earlier in the week we met a friend of mine and her daughter for a play date. Before we arrived Jack informed me that he would not play with her at all because she was a girl. (oh Jack). For the first half of the morning he stayed true to his word. His morning consisted of one-upping everyone. If the younger kids were going down the 'baby' slides and we heaped praise on them Jack informed us that he could go down them faster and better. If one kid climbed a ladder, ran, or looked into the river then Jack could climb it higher, run faster, and look the  furthest. There was a rock hill Jack wanted to climb. I let him climb about 3/4 of the way before I told him to stop since I couldn't see what was at the top, and I wasn't going to climb up to the top to find out. If Pete had been there it would have become a new adventure where roads at the tops of hills are not dangerous but totally awesome. Sadly, I am not Pete and instead of fun times Jack informed me that he hated me, I was no fun, and was ruining his life( I wanted to have only boys because I didn't want drama ). After his breakdown he and Luci played and played then he asked if we could play with her again. As we are leaving the country soon this is not feasible but then it was decided we could Skype with her and he was so excited. We walked them to their car and he kissed her(on the cheek) goodbye.

We have enjoyed our time in Henderson. Here are some pictures.

Our last week in Indiana

It is our last week in Indiana. We leave in a few days(for forever-?) and head to Kentucky to say goodbye to family. I am not a big goodbye person. I am sure there are some deep rooted psychological issues involved, but as I would rather not delve deep into my inner mind we will just leave it at that. I had wanted to slip out of town without saying goodbye, but I realized that over the last 5 years this has become home. Don't get me wrong I still call Kentucky home-I am a Kentucky girl and proud!!! Pete doesn't understand my love for Kentucky- a state with high poverty, obesity, rednecks, and schools that aren't great--but I just remind him to look out the window while we drive across the state. It is beautiful. However, Indiana has become home too. I had two babies here, Jack started school here, we made good friends, developed a support network, and started becoming a family here. We have found the beauty in Indiana.

 Here are some things we will miss: friends, aerobics(ok that is mine), Montessori, the Feast of the Hunter's Moon, Spring Fest, riding the Purdue Train, the fountains, walking around campus, going to Millennium Farms in the fall, walking at the botanical gardens, Ross Hills Park, the libraries with great kid activities, going to Indy whenever we want without having to live in a big ol' city :), walking across the pedestrian bridge, playing at all the parks in town, the Farmer's Market, watching the tractors plant and harvest corn/soy behind our house, always being amused when I see the college kids dressed up and drunk for Breakfast Club, always forgetting that Race Day in May refers to the Indy 500 and not Derby, going to Qdoba and having the manager really know us and stop by our table to chat with us for 10 minutes( the kids went to say bye to her), going to the store and knowing the cashiers(even though they do get a little too friendly when I am pregnant),visiting our fake little zoo, and hanging out at the pool in summer and going to swim lessons with friends. Yes, I know there is probably more but these were the first things that came to mind.

 I have pictures of my kids around the house, not of places of West Lafayette because we want to remember that we are the main reasons why a place becomes home. If we have each other and a sense of adventure anyplace can become home.

 

 

 

to end with a picture of our family( plus Jack's friend ,Maddix,  he said Maddix had to be in it)

Jack turned 5

Jack's birthday was this week and he turned 5! A whole hand! The whole hand is a big deal to kids. He has told many people he is 5. We went to a sit down lunch at McDonalds, this is compared to our eat it in the car lunches at McDonalds, and an older gentleman approached us to comment on the boys when Jack loudly proclaimed, "I am 5 today," and held out his whole hand to show him.

 He was able to celebrate his birthday at school today. We made a poster with pictures representing all the years of his life. In the picture where he is holding Luke we put age 3 because in just a few days he was going to be 3, but when he got in front of the class he said, "I am not 3 in this picture, I am 2. I don't know why they put 3- that is wrong." Later Ms. Heather asked him what he wanted to do the most this year and it could be anything at all. He responded quite quickly that he wanted to learn to read. He is starting to learn now, but it is the very early stages. We were reading the other night when he looked at the book and said, "Why does this page have the word NO on it?" So that was fun. He also told me the water heater said Burn Hot Water. I went to look and it did say Burn and Hot but not Water- there was just a picture of water- but he correctly pointed to the words Burn and Hot when I asked him to show me which one was which.

 He is really into Mario Brothers right now. So he got a Mario figurine pack for his birthday. We really wanted to get him a Mario DQ cake but after I kept trying to think of ways to do it the lady had to explain to me there were copyright issues involved. We settled for Dinosaurs and ended up having lots of fun with them because we realized after eating the cake and still having some left, that Dinosaurs get hungry too, and they ate a ton of cake!!

 Then today Jack's uncle/godfather drove into town to go to Chuck E Cheese with us. Jack and Pete came up with some story about how once the bell rang Danny pulled his motorcycle out from under his desk and drove like a crazy mad man out of his classroom through campus and on the street trying to get away from the police who ended up chasing him because he was so insane.

 Jack is a fantastic older brother and a huge help to me and Pete. He loves to cook, make up stories, be read to, cut paper, practice writing his letters, play Trouble, get into trouble, ride bikes, play hide-and-seek, play computer games with Pete, play cars, and just hang out with his family. He is an awesome kid.

Poster we made for Jack's class party

Dino Cake- we wanted Mario but there were copyright issues, according to DQ

Still Jack is super pumped

Dinos get hungry too

Showing you he is 5 in many different poses

A little Squeezie in my life.

My Squeezie turned 2 this week!!! He is such a sweet little boy. He has this amazing smile and a tiny voice, that we only just started hearing, it makes me smile with joy. He loves to color; that child can color or draw for hours. He likes to play with Lightning McQueen, Mater and other Cars' cars. He is this great mix of brute strength and sensitivity. He will scream, tackle, hit, and knock you down, but then he loves to give kisses, brush his hair, try on shoes, give hugs, watch Boz/Cars/Dora, take stuffed animals on walks, spend quality one-on-one time with his daddy, and dance to Ozzy Osbourne. Plus, he is such an adventurous eater. For example- last night we went to Panera and Squeezie ate onion slices, plain, he just picked them off his sandwich!!!! Yuck, there is no way I would do that. He picked tomato off the sandwich and shoved it in his mouth no problem, even though eating tomatoes gives him little red bumps on his chin. The day before Pete was eating a SPICY burrito and Squeeze ate about 1/4 of it without taking a drink of water or making any faces-he LOVED it. He loves both his brothers so much. When Jack is around he mimics him, laughs, and loves to play with him. When it comes to Thomas he will hug him, kiss him, pat him, and make him laugh. It is so amazing seeing him become and be his own little man.

It was a WD-40 kinda day

Yesterday I took an hour to get out of the house, my dad's house, and go to Wal-Mart. This isn't a fancy outing I know, but I'll take what I can get. The kids were napping so I didn't feel bad about leaving my brother and Nanny in charge. When I pulled back into the driveway and saw my brother getting something out of his car, I asked him how things went, thinking they obviously went well since kids were sleeping, but soon found out I was wrong. Jack found sharpie markers in my brother's room and decided that he and Luke would look better with various shades of green on their face. He also thought our pack-and-play, Will's lampshade, and the dresser needed to be decorated as they were apparently too boring and dull in their previous state. In the end, Jack was admonished and scolded by his great Nanny as she tried to impress upon him the error of his ways and then sat with him until he and Luke fell asleep.
The next morning Jack and Luke wanted to let their artistic side show once more, I brought out crayons and paper so there wouldn't be a repeat offense. They were working hard when I had to use the restroom. When I returned I was met with a wooden rocking chair covered in marker and crayon and a leather ottoman covered in pen and marker. I was furious. Didn't he just get in trouble for this? Hadn't he learned his lesson?  I even told him before I left the room to keep it on the paper. Oh man!!!!!!

 We learned these things today:
-WD-40 works wonders on taking crayons off wood.
-  Dabbing the ottoman with vinegar, wiping with windex, and finishing it off with rubbing alcohol gets pen off leather.
-The following sort of kinda works on getting sharpie off your lampshade but will leave a large watermark: Hairspray, vegetable oil, baking soda toothpaste, vinegar, and rubbing alcohol.

 Being reminded by your Nanny not to lose your temper with your overly rambunctious son, but to use a calm, stern, level voice is slightly embarrassing, mostly since I didn't realize she heard me yell at him this morning.

Guess what I did this week.

So guess what I did earlier this week-------had my appendix removed. Awesome.

Saturday I had some cramping pains but honestly I thought they were menstrual pains. Then Sunday night, around the time of the Super Bowl, I began to have sharp constant stomach pain. Then the pain began to wrap around to my back and I began to feel very nauseated. I decided to just lay down in my bed and when I went to stand up I realized I couldn't stand up all the way-- I was a little hunchback. Once I made it to bed I knew I wouldn't be able to get up again and of course that is when Thomas noticed me and began to cry. I just stayed in bed because I knew, no matter how pitiful the face and cry, I wouldn't be able to get out of bed and if I did lifting him would result in both of us being injured some how. Luckily, Pete came home about 5-10 minutes later and asked if he should get Thomas. By then I had the chills something horrible. I wrapped the down comforter all the way around me but nothing. I decided to hunchback walk myself to the shower so I could warm up. Pete came in with tylenol and advil because he thought I had a fever, which I hadn't thought about--haha. In the warmth of the shower I was able to start thinking a bit more clearly and noticed the pain was focused on my right side, and I remembered your appendix was on the right side, so I had Pete check what the other symptoms were. As he read them off I was like √ √√, but I didn't want to go in case it was just gas. I mean how embarrassing would it be to go to the ER, have the doctor press on your stomach, fart, and then have them say that will be 1,000 you can go home now. Plus, the money thing was another reason not to go. We don't have any!!!!! Our insurance sucks!!!!! We are moving to a new country in a month or two ,how will we get and pay the bills???? I told Pete we should wait ,and he wondered just what I was going to wait for. Good point but still. He called his mom and she had him do a few things on me to test it out and the results were that I should probably go to the ER now. Let me tell you that it was almost midnight at this point. He loaded up the boys and off we went.

 The nurses did the preliminary stuff, but it was going to be a bit before the doctor got there, and we wouldn't know anything until then and probably wouldn't even then because he would probably have me sent off for a CT scan. Pete wanted to stay I know he did, but by 1am and no sign of the doctor I sent them home. So basically skip ahead to 3:30am it was confirmed I had a very angry and irritated appendix that had to come out that day. I got moved upstairs and admitted as a patient, was given morphine, and only got a couple hours sleep because really, who can sleep in a hospital? My surgery was at noon, and I told Pete to just stay home with the boys because there was no point in him 1. being at the hospital just waiting when he could be hanging out with the boys and 2. if he was going to hang out with the boys do it at home and not the hospital where they would go crazy.

 I guess everything got delayed some, even my waking up from anesthesia, I was informed I was a light weight and that it took me awhile to come to. Pete and the boys had been waiting for me for about an hour, but even when I was back in my room he wasn't informed until I sent him a text. (It is hard to navigate hospital time when you have a family.) The visit was short since they had already been there awhile and Thomas very angry that he was being forced to drink formula from a bottle when he is 100% breastfed. So I just hung out in my room, watched E!, drifted in and out sleep, begged to be allowed to drink Coke even though it isn't technically a clear fluid, pumped some milk, took my iv machine on a walk down the hall, got dizzy, had some morphine, took another walk, failed at urinating, then finally success, promised them I was not nauseated but was in fact very hungry since it had been over 24 hours since I had dinner on Sunday, was allowed to eat oatmeal, and settled into a night of watching the Bachelor. The pain level was still pretty high with morphine but once I got my pills I could go longer without complaining.

There was a general consensus among the nurses and aides, well probably unanimous consensus, that having 3 kids as close in age as mine was something none of them would ever do. It was something I heard so often I that wished I had some snide remark to make about them. Let me just say 1. yes, I do know how babies are made  2. yes, we understand what you need to do if you don't want to have kids 3. it isn't your place to tell us what not to do on valentine's day 4. yes, three kids is a lot of work, 5. yes, it can be crazy and 6. I am not asking you to have three kids or to take my three kids so please shut up about it because I love and like my three kids.

So that is pretty much it. The next day in the hospital I just hung out waiting to finish my antibiotics so I could go home. I was allowed to eat real food, but my eyes were far bigger than my stomach. I took my ever faithful IV machine on a couple walks to the end of the hall, I caught up with the Kardashians, and read some of the US magazine Pete had given me.

When I got home there were I Love Mommy pictures on front door, which was super cute. I heard that the boys were great for Pete. I am also very grateful to have such an awesome husband.