Begging Strangers For Candy

This Halloween, Lacy dressed up as a certified organic banana and went out "begging strangers for candy" as she prefers to call it. Evidently 'trick or treating' does not clarify it enough for her. Um...no surprise there?

Lacy announced her arrival at the stranger's homes with "Trick or treat, smell my feet!" and then departed with, "Thanks, I gotta split"

For a while Lacy helped me pass candy out at our house. After a rather large group traveled through, she turned to me and said, "boy, those people really like OUR candy, don't they?" and followed that with, "I think that's enough, mom. We should probably keep the rest of the candy for ourselves."

When the night was finally over, Lacy was able to pick ten pieces of candy out of her bag to keep while the remainder were placed in a bowl for the Halloween Fairy. The Halloween Fairy picks up any extra candy we choose to donate and then gives that candy to children that don't have a mom and dad to take them trick or treating. Sometimes the Halloween Fairy will leave you a small toy in return. Lacy insisted we leave a note for the Fairy, so that she did not mistakenly take the wrong pile of candy.

Abbott and Costello...Who's On First?

"Lacy" I holler from my bathroom, go tell your dad that you need to brush your teeth.

She obediently walks down the hall and announces to her father, "You need to brush your teeth!"

"No" I yell from our bedroom, "tell him that YOU need to brush YOUR teeth!"

"Dad, YOU need to brush YOUR teeth"

"Lacy... go say to your father, "I need to brush my teeth".

Facing her father and pointing in my general direction she responds, "she needs to brush HER teeth, Dad".

"No, Lacy" I say as I stomp across the house towards them... "Look at your father and say, "Lacy needs to brush her teeth".

"Why? That's just silly, mom!"

Love This Shirt...

Discouraged...

Over the past few months, Randy and I have been starting the process to adopt another child. One of the pieces of paperwork we desperately needed was permission from our landlord to add additional children to the home. Yes, imagine that, we wanted to add additional children to a nearly 3,000 square foot home.

Well, we received this yesterday from our landlord (or Satan's right hand woman, as I prefer to now call her)... "Your desire to increase family size through adoption was not indicated when we signed the contract, I prefer to leave the contract as it is unless your family size is increasing through natural birth. We can discuss the issue when the current lease is expired and if you desire to renew."

The fact that she will not allow a family to adopt while living in her home is downright cruel. So far I have spent most of last night wishing all sorts of terrible things upon her. What really sinks me into a new level of depression is the fact that in nine months when our contract ends, we have to pack our stuff up and find YET ANOTHER home. It's pretty obvious that a rent increase will be part of the new "family package" if we decide to stay... and no, I will not stay here.

Note: I found a beautiful craftsman-style house for sale in downtown... hmmm... but do I really want to live in the DOWNTOWN area?

Only Lacy...

I found her in her bathroom with her underpants down below her buns (or "cute buns" as Lacy calls them). When I walked in, she smacked the right cheek and said... "Look at these beh-beh's shine, mom".

And without further ado, here are some pics from the last week's camping trip up the coast...

Lacy's Quote Of The Month

"I love you more than chocolate, cheese, and laughter"

On Vacation

I FINALLY FIGURED OUT HOW TO BLOG FROM MY CELL PHONE. JUST CAN'T FIGURE OUT HOW TO BLOG IN LOWERCASE YET!

TODAY LACY IS FOUR YEARS OLD! SHE HAS SPENT MOST OF THE DAY FOLLOWING HER GRAMPY AROUND AND PLAYING IN THE DIRT.

MY PARENTS WENT FOR A QUICK DRIVE WHILE WE STAYED BEHIND AND WATCHED MY HUSBAND DO MANLY-MAN THINGS LIKE CHOPPING WOOD AND GETTING SUPPLIES READY FOR S'MORES :)

LACY QUICKLY ANNOUNCED THAT SHE NEEDED TO "GO POTTY" BUT WOULD ONLY GO WITH GRAMMY AND ONLY GO IN HER GRAMPY'S BATHROOM.

"LACY, GRAMMY AND GRAMPY JUST LEFT AND THEIR TRAILER IS LOCKED UP. LETS USE THE RESTROOM OVER HERE (WE DIDN'T GET A TRAILER WITH A TOILET)" I SUGGESTED.

"NO. I CAN ONLY USE GRAMPY'S"W

"THEY ARE GOING TO BE GONE FOR A WHILE, LACE"

"I'M NOT USING THAT OTHER ONE. JUST GRAMPY'S"

BEING THE SUPER-STAR (AKA SUCKER) MOM THAT I AM, I MANAGED TO GET OPEN A WINDOW AND PUSH HER THROUGH IT. FROM THERE I COULD VERBALLY COACH HER THROUGH OPENING THE LOCKED DOOR.

ONCE THROUGH, LACY IGNORED MY "SUGGESTION" AND WENT STRAIGHT TO THE TOILET. I BECAME NERVOUS WHEN LACY TOOK MORE THAN A FEW MINUTES. SHE HAS NEVER BEEN ONE TO LINGER ON THE POT, SHE HAS MUCH BETTER THINGS TO DO, REALLY.

"LACY, ARE YOU GOING ONSIES OR TWOSIES?"

"TWOSIES" SHE FINALLY YELLED BACK TO ME.

'CRAP' I THOUGHT.

"DO YOU NEED ME TO WIPE YA?" I ASKED

"NOPE. DID IT MYSELF" SHE ANSWERED.

'DOUBLE CRAP' I THOUGHT.

"OKAY, WELL, LETS GET THE DOOR OPEN AND GET OUT OF THERE!"

WHAT SHOULD COME AS NO SURPRISE AT THIS POINT IS THE FACT THAT SHE COULD NOT GET THE DOOR UNLOCKED. SHE ALSO REFUSED TO COME BACK THROUGH THE WINDOW BECAUSE SHE ALSO COULDN'T GET THE TOILET TO FLUSH AND REFUSED TO LEAVE "A TURD FOR GRAMPY TO FIND"

I TOLD HER THAT GRAMPY WOULD LOOOVE TO FIND A POOP IN THE TOILET WHEN HE GOT HOME, BUT LACY WAS RESOLVED. SHE WASN'T LEAVING TILL THAT POOP WAS GONE.

I DECIDED IT WAS TIME TO PUSH AUNT LARCI THROUGH THE WINDOW TO RESOLVE THE ISSUE.

ONCE LARCI HAD MADE HER WAY INTO THE TRAILER, SHE FOUND THAT LACY HAD TRIED TO FLUSH THE TOILET... MANY TIMES, IN FACT. LARCI REPORTED BACK TO ME THAT THE TOILET WAS COMPLETELY FULL OF WATER AND ALMOST OVER THE TOP. LACY DIDN'T PUSH THE "FLUSH BUTTON" JUST THE "FILL BUTTON".

NOW, THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN A VERY SPECIAL SURPRISE WHEN GRAMPY GOT BACK!

Not Everybody Is Adopted...

Earlier today before our morning walk to the park, Lacy and I were watching the Discovery Channel in her new upstairs TV room. We were watching the end of a Baby Story waiting for Adoption Story to come on.

During the scene where the mom was giving birth, Lacy's interest piqued. "Mom, what is going on there?"

Now, do I go for the direct description of what is goin on? Do I explain to my kiddo about the baby and the va-jay-jay? Probably not. We all know that will come back to haunt me.

I took a different angle...

Me: "Lacy, I need to tell you something... (insert dramatic pause here)... Some people have a family, and they don't adopt any of them!"

Lacy: "No way, mom"

Me: "I know. There are people out there who actually think it's a good idea to have the babies themselves!"

Lacy: "Themselves?"

Me: "Yeah, they carry the baby in their stomachs and then when it is time they go to the hospital and have them taken out, and then they take the baby home! But it's not okay to make fun of those kids, just because they aren't adopted!"

Lacy: "I'm adopted"

Me: "Yup. Just the way it was supposed to be!"

Lacy and Larci

These two have so much fun together! What a cute pic!

New Blog

As I have mentioned before, there are a few "mom blogs" that I follow. A few of them post their child's birth story on that child's birthday.

I like that idea, but since I have no birth story per se, I have decided to put together a small blog about how we came to have Lacy in our lives.

I will eventually post the link on the side of my blog...

but for now, here it is http://ourlacylou.blogspot.com/

enjoy.

Oh, and one more thing... I believe I have posted this picture before, but I just wanted to post it one more time. This is the picture that I brought home to show to Randy. This is what Lacy looked like when I first found her. Sometimes I look at that picture and just weep.
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To me, this picture reminds me of the grace that only God can bring. I pray that God's grace will be what defines Lacy throughout her life.

Now scroll down a little further to see where are today.

This little girl certainly has the Hand of God on her life in a very real way.

... and as Lacy would say... "can I get a praise the Lord?!"

Lacy Pictures

Last week we had some professional pictures done of Lacy... they turned out so well, and I just couldn't wait to show you some of them! Thanks, Christa! If you are in So Cal, let me know if you need a photographer... she is the best!

Poop Factory

Tonight we sat down to a lovely dinner with Lacy's Grams at Claim Jumper.

We should have known trouble was brewing when Lace started dramatically sniffing the air. As our waitress arrived at the table, our beloved child said...

"Eeewwww, I think God farted because it smells like a poop factory in here"

My question is this... there are times when her voice can become hard to understand because of her trach... why is it moments like this when she is loud and clear?

The Contract Strikes Again...

Every once in a while Randy likes to bring home donuts. If you have followed this blog for longer than a day, you know how much Lacy loves donuts.





This morning, after noticing the pink donut box on the counter, she nonchalantly called to me upstairs, "Mom can I have a donut?"

To which I stupidly responded, "yeah, sure." (please note: the terms of The Contract had just been met... she asked, I said 'yes'... )

As I came down stairs, this is what I found.... singing and eating, like she had just won the freakin' lottery...

Not a care in the world!

Upon further inspection, I noticed she sampled nearly every donut in the box!

Afternoon Cooking...

Just a little shout-out to my CCHS people...

Nothing like an afternoon spent boiling trachs!

...and a small reminder to me that we are not your everyday family!

Say it aint so...

Mother's Cookies declared bankruptcy last week and are closing down their plants.

Goodbye my little frosted friends. You served my childhood well.

What Would Santa Do?

***Here is a pic of Lacy at one year old***

I had my Casting Crowns CD on in the kitchen while I was finally washing the pile of long-overdue dishes. Lacy was playing in the family room, and evidently listening to the music too.

Lou: "Mom, why is Jesus singing?"

Me: "He's not... they are singing about Jesus"

Lou: "But what about GOD?"

I did my best to explain the whole God/Jesus thing... and somehow managed to confuse myself a little. Finally I just finished with, "we will cover it more at Christmas, okay?"

Of course it could only be followed by a CLASSIC Lacy response, "Okay, mom. But is Santa Clause going to be okay with this?"

Little Guy

We'd like to welcome the newest friend to our imaginary menagerie, "Little Guy".

This morning Lace woke up with more than just her standard bad 80's hair and delicately crossed eyes, she also has a new imaginary friend.

It's barely 8 AM and so far Little Guy, as she refers to him, has watched a little TV with her, gone poop (we were all called into the bathroom to applaud his imaginary efforts), and helped her with breakfast, "he just wants a few bites, really".

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Lacy totally commits to the character. She refuses to use her left hand because she is busy holding Little Guy, appropriately named for his size! I am notorious for trying to get her to break character, but she is pretty intense about that fourth wall. The one and only time she did forget about her character was quite memorable...

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One morning she asked me if she could give her baby zebra a bath in her sippy cup. I pulled off the top and she carefully put imaginary baby zebra in the cup and returned the lid. A little while later I caught her drinking from said sippy cup. In the most freaked out voice I could use, I said to her "LACY! YOU JUST DRANK BABY ZEBRA!!!!!!!!" Her usual expression turned to horror as she sprayed every drop of water that was in her mouth across the room. She scrambled to her knees to look for imaginary baby zebra while I stood there trying not to pee on myself from laughter.

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To this day Lacy refuses to bathe any more imaginary animals in her sippy cup!

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For those of you concerned about baby zebra, he was fine. She found him next to the couch in a puddle of water.

Peanut Butter Monster

We have evidence of a peanut butter monster in our home...

Obvious peanut butter tracks...

A lid with monster finger streaks in the middle

Ah-ha, the monster herself!!!

Parenting

I find myself constantly analyzing the actions and behaviors of those around me. Sometimes I feel like I view life as a giant social experiment.

Maybe it is.

Today, for instance, I spent a few hours with a friend I have had for over twenty years. She, the mother of three beautiful girls all along for the ride, and me, with Lou (Lacy's nickname... also sometimes called Lacy-Lou).

This dear friend parents her little girls with a kind spirit and gentle authority. She is one of those 1 Corinthians 13 kind of people.

The difference in our parenting technique became painfully obvious when we were about to leave for the evening. A stray cat passing by us was noticed by our girls. Just as girls do, they wanted to go say 'hello' and of course try to pet the stray cat.

At the same time we both say, "Stay away from the cat. DO NOT try to pet the cat!"

"Why" our girls ask?

1 Corinthians Mom's response? "Well, honey, we don't want to get scratched, it would hurt."

My response, "He will bite your face off."

Now, for the record, Lacy totally accepted my theory as appropriate and acceptable.

CCHS kids are cuter than the rest!

Considering how rare Lacy's syndrome is (about 400 people worldwide), you can imagine that there are not many local CCHS playgroups for our family to join. Well, there is one local playgroup... unfortunately, it's just us! Often times it can become a little discouraging, feeling like you are going it alone.
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It is contact with new people that reinforces the understanding that we are not the only ones in the CCHS boat.
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I have been very lucky to meet via the internet a few very cool moms that have kiddos with CCHS. It is an absolute blessing to know that these people are out there.
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This is Carmen. She only reinforces my theory that CCHS kids are cuter than the rest! Don't you just love her?
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I am glad that I have found her mom, Liz... hopefully we can meet at the next CCHS conference!