Braydon

Well – the boys are very much car lovers – just like their Papi! Here is a (not quite) exhaustive list of all the cars they boys know. And when I mean know – I mean they accurately identify these cars almost 100% of the time – when driving down the road.

These are not in the order of how important these cars are to them. I’ll just say that right now there are two cars near and dear to their hearts – first and foremost (and we don’t know why) is Chrysler’s PT Cruiser; which they love to shout at the top of their lungs as we drive down the road.

They are also particularly partial to (and we do understand this) the Mini Cooper/s; which again, they never hesitate to shout at the top of their lungs.

VW Passat wagon aka “The blue car”

VW Bug “VW BUG!!!!”

Mercedes e320 “Kathy’s car”

MINI Cooper aka “Just like Mor Mor’s!!!”
Toyota Rav-4 aka “Charlie’s Car

Volvo S40 “The white car”

Volvo V70 aka “Mor Far’s car”
Acura MDX aka “Our old black car”
Chrysler PT Cruiser aka “a PPPTTTT CRUISERRR!!

Honda Odyssey aka “Sandy’s Car”

Honda Pilot aka “Alex’s or Jackson’s car”

Hummer H2 “HUMMER is broken!”
BMW X5 aka “Matthew’s car”
Subaru Outback aka “Wah’s car”

Suzuki Grand Vitara aka “The rental car”

Last night, around 7:30, we were just finishing up a game of classic memory with the boys when Kyle got a little revved up (memory will do that you know), swung around fast and hit his head on the corner of the coffee table – about a half inch above his right eye. There was quite a bit of blood and a some crying, but the worst part was seeing him writhing in his mommy’s arms with no sound coming out.

We ran across the street to our neighbor who is a doctor (and who has raised three boys), but he wasn’t there. His wife looked at it (who did most of the raising part) and thought it looked like a trip to the ER. We decided to go. At least this wasn’t our first trip (this is actually our fourth trip for Ky Ky). The amazing part – Heather agreed to let me take him and she stayed home with Owen.

After applying a little neosporin (to slow clotting), packing some clothes and honey bunny, Kyle and I rushed off to the hospital. To get registered and sit for a three hour wait. No amount of asking, pleading or bullying sped it up. Three hours to have my baby’s eye tended to.

In the world’s richest country, with the worlds most sophisticated medical system, that is a true embarrassment. But who am I kidding – this is capitalism at work.

One good thing – he got to have Macaroni and Cheese (they made him a snack while we waited) and jello.

Finally we saw the doctor. She was very young and also very good. This is what happened:

She came in and Kyle said “What’s your name???” And she told him. Then he said “I’m Kyle”. She asked what happened. “I bang bang bang [with violent head motions] on my head”. “Oh, ouch” she say.

“This may hurt a little, but it’s ok. [and to me] He can stay on your lap, just be sure to hold him”

She proceeded to take some damp gauze, and wipe very firmly on the wound. The bright red blood came off. Then she picked out the eyebrow hair from the cut – one hair at a time. Then she tucked the fatty tissue back into the cut and squeezed the cut shut. The fatty tissue popped out and she tucked is back and and shut the wound.

Kyle didn’t budge. He didn’t cry, he didn’t wince, he didn’t fuss. He took it stoically and calmly. It was incredible.

She then went and got dermabond aka superglue. She spread the wound open again, tucked the fatty tissue back in, and pinched it closed. She broke open the applicator and applied it to the open wound. It was like she was putting clear nail polish (or I suppose super glue) right onto it.

It hurt – it stung – Kyle tried to move her hands away and I had to hold him. But after about 5 seconds, he was fine and said somewhat hopefully “It’s getting better?” “The doctor’s doing a good job?”.

Yes baby, it’s getting better.

After the 10 minute visit, and a Popsicle courtesy of the doctor, we went out, collected our paperwork and went home. It was 11:30 PM. I called Heather from the car to tell her. Kyle asked me who it was. He then said “It’s getting better?” Yes baby, it’s getting better. And he fell deeply asleep in his car seat.

We got home, put him in bed and both had a Bourbon.

Now, granted, this is nothing like what the Livesay’s deal with, but it’s tough none-the-less.

How things change and how much they are the same….

Today I checked my cell phone and there was a MMS from Alex. She was babysitting the boys, snapped a picture of them and text’d it to me. How cool is that? How sweet is that? How nuts is that? I remember we had a rotary dial phone in our house with the four-prong plug when I was a kid. I am sure there are others reading this blog who remember far more changes. It was a super big deal when I got my 110 camera that had 24 shots on it. I loved walkie-talkies, but they didn’t send pictures. I am so psyched about this though – I got to see a snap shot into their day – at the moment it was happening.

But somethings never really change I am coming to realize. And if any one is timeless in their jubilant approach to life, it’s K&O. Two boys, a fountain and a beautiful day. They love that thing and they know how to find fun where ever they go!

If I had been really cool, I would have actually noticed when she sent the message, and would have replied back with something like: lol – 2cute -thx 4 the pic – ttyl! But I’m not – I missed it by an hour and a half.

Every night before going to bed, I check on the boys and give them a kiss. Tonight I just checked on Kyle.

And although he was clearly out cold, I tip toed in, and as I leaned over to give him a kiss, I heard him in his sleep clearly say:

“Hey Owen…”

We’re over extended, stressed and tired; any of you who have read the blog know this. And for all the rewarding aspects of our life, we just have a lot going on – sometimes too much.

Heather is constantly stressed out about food – making dinner, shopping, planning, breakfast, lunch. She works so hard to have healthy meals for our family and our boys. She makes every effort, every day to expand their horizons with food.

I just try – mostly unsuccessfully – to keep the laundry up-to-date.

So, it’s Saturday night – we’ve had a great day out and about and it’s a beautiful night. We’re going to unwind and reconnect by watching a movie. Heather a little apologetically says to me: “I thought we’d have Caesar salad for dinner – is that ok?” I say sure – thinking that we have some romaine and a bottle of Caesar dressing.

But then she says: “Would you like blackened shrimp on that?” And I cock an eyebrow, look over and she is getting out shrimp to make (blacken them herself). I notice that she has just made a whole batch of homemade croutons. And then I realize she is also making the dressing from scratch.

And I realize that I am absolutely the luckiest and most appreciative man on Earth.

And I realize, that although I live with her and know her better than anyone, I just have no idea how she does it all.

So – everyone talks about “Finding Nemo“. Kids love it, they wear T shirts and have stuffed animals. Our kids had never seen it and didn’t know what it was. So, I thought – why not – let’s give it a try -and I got it from Netflix.

I watched it a little to make sure it was ok. And I tried to watch it as through K&O’s eyes. But you can never really see it through someone elses‘ eyes.

So we’re sitting there watching Nemo. It starts off with the mommy and papi clown fish living on the edge of the reef with all their hundreds of baby eggs (and one of which they name Nemo). Then a barracuda comes along, kills the mother and eats all but one of the eggs (Nemo). Sheesh! Of course they don’t show it, but ugh!

Cut to the next scene and 1st grader Nemo is going off to the first day of school. Where he is promptly kidnapped by a Scuba diver and taken from his papi. The “Finding Nemo” part ensues.

Yes, yes, I know, it’s a nice story about growing up and learning and loving, etc. But sheesh – how do I explain this to my almost three year old adopted twin boys?

So – I skipped over the missing mommy part, the Scuba diver part, the chasing Nemo part and the school part and it came out something like this:

Owen: “Papi. That papi fish so sad? Why he so sad?”

Papi: “Well…. he only has one baby and he wants two babies. Just like Papi has two babies. I am so happy I have two babies. And that papi fish wants two babies just like me.”

Owen: “You’re so happy you have two babies?”

Papi: “Yes, I am so happy I have two babies.”