Catching Up

I feel like I am so behind on posting, but things just seem to be so much busier now that we are home. It's probably a good thing I didn't post last night. As I said, Riley woke up at 3am yesterday and didn't go back to bed. When Joel got home last night, he said, "Isn't that what you were wearing when I left this morning?" My response to him was, "it's not only what I was wearing this morning, it is what I was wearing YESTERDAY, and if you look close enough, you will see I have both poop and puke on my shirt." Yesterday was just rough. Riley was not a happy boy.

We had interviewed a potential nanny Sunday night. I was waiting on references to call me back on Monday. Yesterday was off to a bad start, so I called and asked if there was any way she could come help me. Thankfully, she could, and thankfully, I got two glowing references! We officially have a nanny. Her name is Tiffany and she is a 24 year old single, Christian girl. I'm sure you will all get to know her through this blog. After yesterday, Joel and I were a little afraid she was going to call and tell us it wasn't going to work, but fortunately, we were wrong! Today, she got to see a much happier Riley. Tuesday, there was just nothing I could do to make Riley happy. At 10pm last night, Joel, me and Riley were sitting in the van in the garage. That's it - just sitting. Riley was hysterically asking to "hop in the van". We finally gave in and he was happy as he could be, we didn't even leave the driveway. After coming back in the house, he was happy for about 45 minutes before it started again. It was just that kind of day all day.

After getting a much better night's sleep last night, Riley woke up in a much better mood. I stayed at home with Tiffany and Riley for a couple of hours to make sure he was okay with me leaving, and then I left them alone for the first time while I went grocery shopping. When I called to check on Riley, Tiffany said he was smiling and was bobbing his head while she sang to him. This just made my day! I don't know why, but until yesterday, it had never even occurred to me that Riley has been with me every day for the past 8 1/2 months and that he may have some anxiety about me being away from him. That is exactly what we think happened yesterday afternoon. Tiffany, Riley and I went to the store and they stayed in the car while I went in. It took a little longer than I expected, and when I got back to the car, he was very upset. He kept saying, "Mommy, take my hand." Today when I left, I made a point to tell Riley where I was going and that I would be back. We had a completely different experience today. I think it will be good that Tiffany and I will both get to be here for a couple of weeks to help Riley with the transition.

I took Riley for a walk around the neighborhood this afternoon in his wheelchair. Big mistake. It was freezing today. Riley kept saying, "Mommy, I don't want to be freezing." When we finally got back to the house, Riley was ready to hop in the van. I put him in, turned on the heat and a movie, opened the garage door so we didn't kill ourselves, and we sat in the van, probably for a good 30 or 45 minutes. That was all it took to keep him happy, and I actually dozed off a couple of times, so it wasn't so bad.


Tonight, we were invited to a dinner as the guests of honor. This was at The Fertility Clinic here in Chattanooga where our dear friend, Shirley Sinclair works. Everyone there has been following Riley's progress over the past several months. Not only did they let us be a part of their staff Christmas dinner, they presented us with a gift. I can honestly say, I have never before opened a box full of money. Their generosity and support was overwhelming. While we were there, I got a text from Brandy, who was at our house with Riley. I wasn't sure how the night was going to go. When we left, Riley was telling Brandy he wanted Coca Cola, which we typically do not keep at the house. She fixed him some 7 Up. After one sip, Riley said, "I do not want Sprite, I want Coca Cola." I apologized to Brandy as we walked out the door! I was happy to get the text a little later that said, Riley is cracking us up. He is saying, "Jesus died on the Blue Cross Blue Shield." Just another example of how the information is all there, it just sometimes gets jumbled up! Riley is always saying, "Daddy works at Blue Cross Blue Shield, and Mommy works at CBL." Lately, he has been saying Daddy works at CVS!

So that is about it for the past few days. I will try not to get so behind again so I don't have to write these long, longs posts. I know how busy everyone is this time of year!