4 Happy Family The personal blog of Kevin R. Hoffmann

Update

Maya woke up this morning and was not much better. C took her to the Dr. for a check up and determined that her mosquito/spider/something bite is now infected. Maya is being a little trooper, she is still in great spirits, it does not seem to affect her too much. Picked up some drugs from Walgreens and hopefully the swelling will go down in a day or two.

Mosquitoes!

So our kid is allergic to mosquitoes. C put her down for her nap with a little swelling and Maya woke up with the whole side of her face swollen. The Dr. advised her to go to the hospital since we did not know if it it was a food allergy or what.

 The nurse speculated and the Dr. confirmed that it due to a mosquito bite. She was given some Benadryll which helped bring the swelling down. Maya was a little fussy at first, but reverted to our her joyful little self after a little while. She was a little banshee last night, running around like a crazy, hyped-up person; we are in the lucky minority who's kid gets hyper when on Benadryll and not drowsy.

Update: Swelling is back. We got her up this morning. She is still happy as a clam. C is going to give her a little more Benadryll to see if we can reduce the swelling again. (Click to make bigger)

At least I thought it was funny

This afternoon about 1PM I was standing in front of a urinal at work and my boss was using the one next to me.

K: "Man, it is true what they say about beer, you really only rent it."
B: "..." *Flush* "See you later."

Have a good weekend.

The square beyond compare

Sometimes you just get a taste for something stuck in your head and you need to satisfy the urge. Ever since last night I can't get the thought out of my head. Oh gooey, gooey provel why have you forsaken me and my China adoption blog?

‘They’re all going to laugh at you’

Sorry for the obscure move reference in the headline. Weirdest thing. Maya keeps waking up with a bloody nose. Actually, she wakes up with blood-smeared sheets and a barricade of red nasal crust.  Yes, she has entered that wonderful phase where she is fascinated with the cornucopia of textures and tastes that are hidden treasure in her nose, but I think it is time to invest in a humidifier for her room. Any suggestions?

Waterfront Property

Tons of thunderstorms in the area overnight flooded our backyard. The radio guy said this morning that our suburb was hardest hit with about 3-4" of rain an hour at the peak. With all of the rain from over the weekend still trying to be soaked in our backyard was half-flooded. The dogs looked at me when I went to let them out this morning like you have got to be kidding me. I would be upset too if my bathroom was flooded.

Sorry, no pictures and I am hoping that it will be gone by tonight.

Birthday #2

This past Saturday we threw Maya her "official" b-day party. Of course it was Elmo themed. All week long she was running around saying "Elmo party, Maya, Elmo party". She would say this to all of her stuffed animals, her juice box, anything that would listen. Her alternate phrase was "Happy...Birthday (long pause) MAYA! (Yes, that is all caps because she would yell this part.)

The party went well. My brother and his wife Kristin (I am still trying to catch up, more info on that later) drove up from St. Louis for the festivities. Tons of kids, tons of toys and the food was professionally catered by Dominos. The weather threatened rain all day and it did come down in spots here and there, but was relatively dry until later in the evening. Big thanks to Jeff for use of the canopy. (Pictures pop open when clicked)

One of the highlights was this cake:

Our neighbor actually made this for the party. Even though she could not attaend, she took the time out to bake and decorate this. She really is an awesome neighbor.

We took it easy the rest of the day on Sunday, picked up the house and hung out with

Maya. It really is amazing how much stuff we have going on right now, but we are still trying to have a little down time.

5-second Vignette

Driving home from work yesterday on a typical 2-lane highway (St. Mary's by Old School Forest Preserve) the traffic slowed down to a crawl; which is typical for this stretch of commute. Coming up on the right-hand side you could see the flashing lights of a police car that had pulled someone over. Pretty common, we all know stretches of road where you should stick to the speed limit.

 Like all the other rubber neckers I took my turn to see the face of the offender. Before I saw the person in the front seat I saw that there was a big sign attached to the top of the car: "Adams Driving School". The face was a kid that looked absolutely beside himself with fear, anguish and pain that can only be expressed by 15/16 year old realizing that he will not be getting his license any time soon.

It reallly was a great snapshot. In 5 seconds this whole story unfolded. I am sure when he is older he will have this great tale to tell his friends and family.

Have a good weekend! (Drive safe) 

Lead Paint - Delicious but Deadly

So the b-day was uneventful. I came home to yet another monstrosity in our backyard that Courtney and her Mom went in on. I can't complain, the kids were really enjoying it especially since it coincided with Courtney's weekly gathering of friends to discuss the arts, intellectual theories and the latest Opera arias - also known as Wino Wednesday.

Basically she sets up three holding bins (the kiddie pool, the ball pit and now the birthday monstrosity below) for all of the kids and the parents stand around and gossip discuss current events. (It is late and I do not feel like adding the background color to the picture so you get the white offset)

It is huge, inflatable and the kids love it so I guess it is sticking around. I have to admit it is very cute to see how much she loves this things.

In other toy-related news I was reading the paper on my drive into work (not as dangerous as it sounds, there is a lot of stop and go) when I came across the fact that Fischer Price is recalling a bunch of toys because of lead paint. This includes a couple of Maya's toys and some that we have given out:

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Unfortunately, Maya has watched one too many Jimi Hendrix performances at Woodstock and has been trying to play the guitar with her teeth. I have to admit that it is cute when she gets her Playschool "Arson is Fun" lighter fluid and matches and lights the Elmo guitar on fire. She will figure out her boundaries.

Happy Birthday X2

It is hard to believe that our little one is now 2. I hear that it is a great age and also can be challenging. Maya gets her own special Elmo party this weekend and of course will be inundated with gobs of landfill-filling plastic toys.

 Summer has been a lot more hectic than we anticipated. We are about 2 weeks away from wrapping up the adoption paperwork. We are getting ready to put our house on the market. (You never realize how many paint touchups and closet clutter you have until you are preparing to showcase) I just started a new job, I have been studying for my Masters and we have all of our normal commitments and obligations we are trying to stay on top of for now. Obviously, the blog has suffered, but I hope to address each of these topics soon, especially since a lot of our craziness is winding down. Thanks for the patience

We have been taking Maya to the beach at least once or twice a week, she really loves it and is learning to swim. So, happy birthday to our little girl and thanks for all of the E-mail well wishes.

PS - Our good friends Chris and Julie were 14 hours shy of having a kid born on Maya's birthday (I know, it is all about Maya) I hope they do not mund the post, I still have not talked to them yet. All is well with them and here are the stats:

Sierra Darby Montroy
born 10:12 am
7 lbs 4 oz
20" long