Updates from Louisiana

It's hard to believe I've been here more than a week now. Time flies. I feel like I can hardly keep up with the house chores at night because of trouble getting the kids down, what with them sharing a room and everything. Mom had her first check up today and got all her stitches removed. She even felt good enough to fix herself up a little bit before we left. Her trip down her stairs was her second in a whole week. She's been able to sit herself up and walk around on her second floor by herself for the past few days, but I've still been helping her shower and changing her wound dressings at night. Of course, she can't pick up anything heavy or bend or what have you. She's been off her pain meds for a few days now but still feels sort of weak and at times dizzy.

Relatively speaking, the children were much better today, but I'd made a decision a couple days ago not to let myself get as bent out of shape as I had been early on. Actually, they were really good the first few days before their "rowdiness" began to kick in. I think it was mostly Anna, as she was starting to be too mean to her brother, but I think it may have had something to do with her not feeling too well (more on that in next blog) and my Aunt Lou Ann arriving last Thursday for several days. You know, more new people around with lots of stimulation going on and all that.

Alexander is learning to be self sufficient: a couple nights ago after Anna had long fallen asleep and he just wasn't planning to catch that last train anytime soon, he helped himself to some cottage cheese. He'd said he had wanted some, but I never got around to getting it for him. I was upstairs helping mom and the next thing I know he'd taken the cottage cheese out of the fridge, removed the lid, somehow poured cottage cheese onto the lid (without spilling it onto the floor), which he was going to use as his plate, walked his lid plate over to the table (leaving the cc container on the kitchen floor) and was about to sit down to eat it when caught him.

Tons of photos I've been collecting over the past week. On this post are a few from our trip to the park a week ago Monday and of the children with my Aunt Lou Ann.