Happy Halloween, Happy Thanksgiving, and Merry Christmas

Ok, so much for my good intentions. Things have been busy-- but whose life isn't so it's not an excuse for not posting. We are doing well. Thought I'd share what we've been up to and some pictures. Halloween was fun. Cooper was High King Peter of Narnia and Lucy was a monkey. Lucy went around saying Trick or Treat (or a close variation) but only when we weren't at someone's house. Cooper ran into several friends from school.
We had a great Thanksgiving with our bestest of friends, Pam and Phil. They stayed for a week at a great hotel/casino that had a pool, arcade etc. so the kids had lots of fun. We showed them all the real Reno area sights, which are NOT casinos! Yes, we have them and they can be fun, but we also have the Truckee river running through the city, Lake Tahoe 30 minutes away, great restaurants (a Vietnamese one that is as good as actually in Vietnam), and on and on.
Now we are in Advent preparing for Christmas. Quite a busy time around a priest's house. The church had a float in our Christmas parade. It was joy to the world with a giant bottle of joy dishwashing liquid. It was great! I only get one day off of work-- The state of Nevada is Scrooge. Next year I will have annual leave and be able to take some time. The downer of everything is that we are so far from so many people we love. We miss everyone and hope that you all have a great Christmas!

two posts in one day

Thought I'd add a few recent pictures of the kids...

Lucy Swinging

breakfast




Cooper playing t-ball
Very serious stuff!

snow!!!!!

Here are some pictures of when it first started snowing



So we are definately not in Oklahoma anymore. Friday we had snow! It was beautiful and it made me twirl around with a big ol' grin on my face. I had to really rein myself in not to stick out my tongue to catch a few in front of a co-worker.
Snow is how we convinced Cooper that it would be ok for us to move to Nevada. With Tahoe 30 minutes away we will be spending every Saturday in Jan and Feb on the mountain. Kirk and I will be volunteer ski instructors (we will be trained by the pros) and Cooper will be taking lessons. There is a great program in this area where parents have to volunteer in some capacity (Kirk and I were planning on being bus monitors, but when we were signing up they asked if we skied and well, here we are) and kids get cheap good lessons. No kid is turned away for financial or physical limitations. They have a terrific adaptive ski program as well.
When my father heard that we would be doing this he reminded me that my goal as a teenager was to be a snow bum. I guess this isn't too far off!

Tahoe

One of the great things about our new digs is that we are soooo close to Lake Tahoe. Cooper will be taking skiing lessons every Saturday this winter and in the summer... well, you can see what we've been doing there.
Lucy is doing well. She has retroactively decided to crawl. She started this really last month although she is walking with just a little help from our pinkies. She could be doing this herself of course, but just doesn't like for her skinny little bottom to plop on the ground when she falls. I can't blame her for that. I have always had enough padding to make it pretty easy (see the pictures of the thighs behind Lucy for evidence of this) :) We have an Early Intervention appt. scheduled to get her back on PT. Hopefully they can get to it soon.
We are really enjoying this area, but we miss our Oklahoma friends!

Happy Happy Gotcha Day!!!!

One year ago today Lucy became our daughter-- officially that is. What a wonderful day in the span of a lifetime with our daughter. We love you Lucy and are privileged to have you as our sweet little Lulubelle.

home sweet home

Well, we've made it! Things are still not completely organized; ok that is definitely an understatement. But, we're getting there. We like it here. The kids have their good days and bad. There are great things to do as a family, and we are trying to take as much initiative to do those things as possible. We like Cooper's school--yes he has already started. They have year round schools, and he's at one. Lucy was pretty clingy at first, but as she comes to see this as home she's losening up some.
We are planning on contacting early intervention for Lucy. When we were in Muskogee she had a great physical therapist and we want to make sure that she continues to improve. She is now walking with holding one finger for support. She has taken a couple of steps by herself (the first ones on the day we left for Nevada) but hates to fall and therefore doesn't have a lot of desire to let go. I know that she'll reach this milestone soon though.

officially lucy

YEA!!! Yesterday Kirk mailed off all the paperwork for Lucy's American birth certificate. She was legally ours when we had the giving and receiving ceremony in Vietnam, but she was not Lucy officially until we filed our petition for recognition of foreign adoption. Everything is filed and done. The last step of all the paperwork...finally!!!!

Okay...More details

I have accepted the Rector position (head pastor) at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Sparks Nevada. I begin July 15th. We have a contract on our house here in Muskogee, but don’t have a closing date yet. We WILL be at the Vietnam weekend. We are not sure when we are moving, and I may have to go by myself until Tricia gets a new job.

That’s the scoop!

Peace…Kirk

Hot...but it's a dry heat!

Lu Lu...Can you say desert?

We are pretty good at dessert, but the desert will be a new experience for all of us.
We are leaving the comforts of the Mid West for the Wild West. We are moving to Sparks Nevada which is a really Reno.

I thought Vietnam was an adventure, but we are in for a big one here.

Well...this may just mean that we'll be blogging more often...yea..we'll see.

words

Well Little Lu may not be moving much, but she is starting to be a talker. She put two words together on Sunday. She was up bright and early on Sunday, and we bid Kirk adieu before he got to the church for day. I was changing her diaper and she said DaDa bye bye and then waved. I said yes, Daddy left for church. She put her hand up in her high five position and I said yes, you gave daddy five before he left. She then said Mama bye bye and waved. I said nope, Momma, Lucy, and Cooper will go to church later. Her receptive language is good too. She's understanding so much. I just love this stage!

flu

Not much to post lately. Lucy had the flu two weeks ago for over a week. I had forgotten that my beautiful girl is normally smiley and pretty easy going. Then all of a sudden-- oh yeah, this is my daughter. Little man was very patient with her. However, I think he was a little frustrated that his spring break was taken up with a whiny little sister. We had little therapy session--he was playing with Lucy's Little People doll house and then a hurricane hit the house and the baby flew out the window! Now, as a child therapist I just had to laugh. It was textbook-- just perfect play therapy.
The picture is from a couple of months ago. I dressed her and gave her her doll not realizing they were wearing the same outfit! The only real difference was that her shirt had a flower and the dolls a bunny. Weird!

slacker

Ok, ok... Kirk is funny. But hey, I can contribute too. Here is the latest update. Lucy is adorable, funny, and adjusting really well. She is getting stronger daily. She is doing well developmentally, but is a little behind motorically. Her PT says that she should catch up and be able to do everything she wants to soon. She sees Ms. Pat once every two weeks and really likes her until she makes her do something that frankly Lucy couldn't care less about doing! Lucy definately has her own opinions, and is great about voicing them. Lucy fits right into the family with that one! She has the greatest smile and loves to laugh her very infectious laugh frequently. Here are some pictures...

…eeeeeeeyyyyyyyy!!!

You know… this realization just hit me like a cell phone bill… I can’t decide which is worse: Lucy’s non-stop taking at age one when I can’t understand her, or when she turns thirteen and I can? This kid is a talker! Now don’t get me wrong, I support a girl using her words…words are good, but silence is good too…at least a little silence would be nice. Lucy does have some favorite words, like the one she uses first thing in the morning or in the middle of the night when she wakes up for no good reason…..eeeyyyy…eeeeyyyyy…eeeeeyyyyyy…eeeeeeyyyyyyy…eeeeeeeyyyyyyyy!!! Okay, okay!! We actually heard you the first time, but we were hoping you would put yourself back to sleep.

There is of course my favorite… Dada, which is not to be confused with Da(dog). There are those times when I think she is calling me a dog and that’s just what I need around my house… another comedian.

Peace,
Lucy’s Dada

Bless me Father for I have.......

Bless me Father for I have sinned. It has been over a month since my last confession....I mean blogging. Blogging...what a name! It sounds like it should be included in a sentence with "water boarding". No really...I'm not a spy or a bad guy...please don't blog me! Or maybe it's a type of dance..... Hey what are you doing tonight? Me and my gal friend are going blogging. You wanna come along?

Okay enough of that nonsense.

Tricia was gone all week at some workshop in OKC. (or that’s what she says anyway…I’ll have to wait and see after our credit card bill comes in)
All week it would get asked over and over again, “you’re taking care of both kids by yourself?” If I could bottle up that utter amazement on people’s faces and sell it I would be a bit wealthier than I already am……

Is it that big a deal? Really….what’s up with all the amazement that a man, and me in particular, can take care of a couple of kids? It’s not like its rocket science…okay I agree it is much harder than rocket science, but still. People either don’t know me that well or they forget that Lucy is actually my third child. I’ve done this stuff before…..I just don’t always like it.

Anyway…..Cooper, Lucy, and I all survived the week and now that Tricia is home….well….I’ll get back to being lazy.

Peace…Daddy

Excuse Me......Are You Irish?

Okay…I know it is not uncommon for people to show their silliness when it comes to questions asked towards the parents of international adoption…but listen to this…...

Tricia, Lucy and I were traveling from Oklahoma City to Muskogee on our way back from our new bishop’s ordination. We stopped at a Cracker Barrel to eat and meet up with a bus load from our congregation. I don’t know for sure if it is relevant or not, but I was wearing a black priest shirt with full round white collar. I was holding Lucy out in the “shopping” area of the Cracker Barrel and a lady came up to me and asked if I was with a sight seeing group. I said, no. She then asked me if I was Irish. I said, no. She looked a Lucy and said is she Chinese? I said, no and then she said she and her friends were just nosey.

Irish? What in the heck it that all about? Asking if Lucy is Chinese I understand, but asking me if I was Irish really through me for a loop. All I could say was no. If I had not been in shock from the absurdity of the question, I could have really had some fun with her.

Lucy is doing great…no more worms crawling out of her back side….oh yea, did I mention that Lucy had pin worms? Not something you just go around talking about.

Peace, Kirk O'Woodliff

Okay, Okay.......Here's More

Back by popular demand! I want to personally thank you all for your gracious kudos about my blogging. Okay…enough about me!

Lucy is nuts…. Are all babies so nuts? Maybe they are, but I guess parents just forget….it must be a survival thing, kind of like the pain mothers go through when giving birth. If they remembered how painful it is and then how nutty they are no one would have more than one.

Okay…how many days does it take for a 7 month old to transform their sleep patterns by twelve hours? Sorry, no punch line! This is a real question. How long does it take to shift the sleep patterns of a 7 month old by twelve hours? I’m not really asking for my sake, I’m asking for Tricia. She’s on Lucy duty and I’m responsible for Cooper. (Who’s kidding whom here? Tricia is responsible for both kids, but it’s my job to get Cooper to school on time which is a big job…..six year olds don’t like to brush their teeth and when they finally do they are normally wearing a nice coating of tooth past on their school uniform which requires either emergency surgery, or a change of shirt.)

We had our first “post placement” visit today. It went well, though it is hard to have a serious conversation with professional people when the baby keeps acting all cute and stuff. Really! What nerve Lucy has being all smiley and giggly during our interview. (Actually we told Lucy we would take her out for ice cream if she smiled and laughed a lot and made us look good.)

Oh…here is another one for you. How many minutes does it take to get smashed peas out of petite little Vietnamese nostrils? I don’t have the answer yet, but give me a day or two and I’ll let you know.

Have any of you ever experienced the genius that is called the “bumbo seat”? This is an amazing chair made of rubberized foam or something. This little jewel allows Lucy to sit up all by herself, and be stable too. I think we could make a bundle if we made some for adults and sold them to bar owners, however we would have to change the name from “bumbo” to “dumbo”.

For those of you that didn’t know it, last Sunday was take your kid to work day, and since I’m an Episcopal priest I thought I would participate. In hind sight this ended up to be a poor career move. I had this great sermon all prepared, and apparently not a soul heard a word I said (except for the one blind person and the two people who sit further towards the front of the church than Tricia. There I was offering the sermon of a lifetime. If they gave out Pulitzer Prizes for sermons this would have been a shoe in! This sermon was powerful, but apparently not as powerful as Lucy. There I was up in the pulpit being all priestly and everyone (except for the aforementioned three) had their eyes glued on Lucy’s every move, squeal, and smile. They didn’t hear a word I said! At the announcement time I carried Lucy into the pulpit and started my sermon over…...taught them a lesson.

Well maybe I have it all wrong…….. Maybe they really have been listening to me over all these years………. Yep! I’ve always said if you want to experience Christ, all you have to do is look into the heart of a child.

Lucy is doing great. She had her first trip to the doctor’s office and she left with a blue ribbon. Cooper is doing well too. One is his recent memorable quotes…. “Even though Lucy is loud and wakes me up at night, I’m still glad that she’s my sister!”

Peace, Kirk

PHOTO FINISH

Couch Time

Lucy and Her Brothers

Cooper and Lucy