Torticollis

I've found the name for what John has. It is Torticollis due to injury or inflamation (he did take a bad spill last night just before he went to bed, but I didn't connect the dots because he seemed fine afterwards).

Because his Torticollis is due to injury/inflamation, it is very painful. Even with the collar, his head is to the side and his shoulders crooked :(
I guess it's the position of ease for him right now.
Poor little thing :(
He's been in the couch all afternoon watching cartoons but he did eat a little (he just downed two halves of canned peaches - his favorite).
Sigh... here's to a better day tomorrow.!

Prayers needed for my John

Hi everyone,
I just wanted to take a minute and ask for some good thoughts/positive energy and prayers for my John.
He went to bed fine last night but woke up in the wee hrs of the morning in terrible pain, his neck seized up and became immobile.

I took him to Children's this morning and he has something which in Greek means "crooked neck". Basically his neck joints are seized up in one position, throwing his head and shoulders off to the right and he is unable to move either his neck or his shoulders (this causes tremendous pain for him).

They put him in a neck thingie, a collar and he will have to wear it for at least 10 days even in sleep and take it off only for showers.
I have no idea how he ended up like this, he wasn't not hurt, there was no draft in his room and he did not go to bed with wet hair or something... It just... happened ... for NO apparent reason.

He was like a rag doll (and the wait in the hospital was LOOOOOONG) but got to ride in a wheelchair and he now goes around showing everyone "his bones" (x-rays).. As soon as the collar went on, he seemed relieved and even ate and drank a bit.
He slept in the car ride home, he was exhausted from the heat, the pain and the wait and all the tests...

So please keep him in your prayers and if you don't hear from me today, please forgive me, I've had a rough night too and got very little sleep, I am literally banging on the corners in my apartment :(

Thanks all,
Tina

Your opinion needed :)

Oh wow!!
I got something like, 15 e-mails about Maddie :)
Thanks girls for liking her so much :)
I think she's found her mommy :)

Question: Some of you said you'd love a resin realistic preemie like Maddie (29 weeks about 15") and I was wondering: is there really interest for such a baby?
I mean, I can see she will have a use in a NICU and maybe my orders from hospitals would be increased but I didn't know so many people liked realistic preemies :)

Let me know and I'll see what I can do :)
Until next time,
Tina

Maddie...

She entered the world late last night, long after sleep had descended upon the inhabitants of this city...
With a kitten like cry, she declared "Here I am!" and stretched her long, stick thin limbs to say hello...

So tiny, so perfect, so strong... I love preemies with all my heart and I pray one day, each and every one will get to home healthy ...

Meet Maddie... she will soon be looking for her forever mommy...

The Mystery Baby

The Mystery Baby I'm not allowed to tell you about, loves sticking her feet through her crib's railings and then wails as she can't get them back in....

The Studio...

The situation in our tiny apartment was becoming desperate... After having the boys, they naturally occupied the 2nd bedroom, which like its counterpart, in American terms would probably be deemed as the size of a "walk in closet". Ok so yes, we live in a very small apartment, all four of us and the boys will never have their own room until they get a job and move out...

You might remember my post a while back where I'd showed you my sculpting table (a Tablemate by the couch)... so back in May an opportunity, like a sign from Above, came my way and I bit the bullet and I rented "The Studio"... an equally small "apartment" which by American standards, is the size of your very standard master bedroom... One room with a small teeny tiny bathroom with just enough room for a toilet and a sink, the "shower" being... the whole room... There is a shower head on the wall and a faucet and you just stand between the toilet and the sink and you... shower...

To me however, "The Studio" is my dream come true. Finally for the first time in 9 years I have all the space I need!! The room is cut in two by a kitchen counter and because my brother moved in with my dad, I "inherited" a fridge and a stove (which doesn't fit to go in the space alloted for it but I digress...).

My fridge is curretnly filled only by two water bottles and a supply of ready made Latte Machiatto from Aldi.
Later I have plans to fill it wil fresh produce so that I can snack healthily while I work. (I am however, very sure that the occasional chocolate bar will find its way in there too... you know... for the hard days ;))

"The Studio" is located at the very top of a building which affords me with a spectacular view of Athens all the way to the (nearby) sea and the Parthenon but also dooms me to a relentless sun in the summer and freezing cold in the winter...
These days, being the heart of summer, "The Studio" is a sauna!!
After being in there for 5 minutes, sweat starts pouring down your face and you run to the fridge to grab the water bottles... (note to self: buy fruit popsicles too!)
I suspect clay will turn to mush but since I can't afford an air conditioner unit, I think I will get a $100 air cooler.

The winter will be an easier affair because "The Studio" does have heating via natural gas but winter in Greece is a long way off, usually we do not require heat until November (and then winter comes relentless until March in which time we equally freeze and have sunny days - and loads of doctors visits because our immune systems go haywire because of the wacky weather).

Right this minute "The Studio" is set up. Yes, it's taken me THIS long to get my stuff packed, moved there, the fixtures to be hung, the curtains to be hemmed and hung, the photography wall painted, the nursery furniture borrowed and put together and my desk assembled...

Right now, I have unpacked almost everything and marvelled at how much storage SPACE I have... you know, with not going to be putting anything like plates or glasses or FOOD in the kitchen, I can use all those cupboards and shelves for MY STUFF!!

I reckon another day or two and I will be able to work there... except even if I put everything away and I turn the place spotless, I won't really be able to work there because of the HEAT!!! Which makes the need to buy an air cooler kind of urgent...
Although secretly I hope to be able to postpone said purchase of air cooler until the boys are in school by which time I will have time to work...

Three weeks baby... three more weeks and then school starts... and the fun begins!!

I guess I know what my dream was about...

... I just pulled a head out of the oven.. the head of a preemie sized baby... and it has cracked from one temple all the way through to the opposite temple...
Huh... I guess he will now either be a reborn kit or a resin edition.. .I can't sell him as an OOAK with a flaw like that (btw I did fix it).
SUCH a cutie too, I will post pics when I finish him, I am sure you will love him...
Well, I will go with the flow... whatever is meant to be, will be... and it's obvious he wasn't meant to be an OOAK... and yes even after 13 years of baking OOAKs, I still do get a cracked one here and there ;)

Breathless

I went to bed with a headache last night and woke up several times in the night by the boys wailing for a drink at 3 and 4am, with a headache still.
I got up in the morning and took something for it and now I feel better... but... I've had a dream I want to tell you about.

It was vivid, I was living it and I woke up crying with my pillows soaked.
In the dream I had babies... not just my two, but after them I had more... I had sextuplets and they had died... I had two in the NICU, tiny and conjoined (I know, strange!). My grandmother was alive and she was telling me how they would be fine... and I in turn was telling her that it wouldn't be because even if they did live, they would have brain damage and when they were separated each would only have one and and one leg.. "this is not a life worth living" I told my grandmother and I burst out crying.

I then called the NICU and they told me to come straight away. It was urgent. In my dream I was not living smack dab in the middle of capital like I am now, but in the country. I didn't know how to get to the NICU (I also apparently didn't drive in my dream or owned a car) but by some miracle, there was a taxi coming by.
"Please", I desperately wailed to the driver (who was sitting on the right side so I must have been in England!) "Please, take me to the Children's Hospital, as fast as you can..."

I cried and I cried and cried in my dream, my heart aching. I woke up breathless and with tears running down my cheeks.
What a STRANGE dream.... My heart still hurt an hour later, heavy with a grief about something that hasn't happened (and I doubt it ever will).
Not only that, but the whole concept of the dream was not depicting my views at all. In the first part I wanted to pull the plug on the babies (I didn't find out if they were boys or girls) and when they told me they were dying, all I wanted to do was to keep them alive...
On top of that, I do not believe that a life without a limb "is  a life not worth living". On the opposite I find our society puts too much weight on able bodiness. I've got a kid with 2/3 of a brain functioning and a body he doesn't yet command very well and I certainly believe that his life is very much worth living, especially since he's fought so much for a right in it.

Strange dream... and my heart is STILL hurting. My poor poor dream babies :( Whatever happened to them?
And I miss my grandma SO much... she was the one who pushed me in my creative endeavors as a child. If you have a Kewy in your collection and you love that baby, then it's my grandma you need to thank for her. If it wasn't for her support and faith in me, I would never have develop my artistic skills as much as I did. And she LOVED my dolls... she was my biggest fan... I only wish she had gotten to meet the boys :(

Funny how things turn out...

When you wake up in the morning, the day is still full of promise and even though from the moment you get up, you run a mental list of "things to do" in your head, you never really know how the day will pan out.

I had the perfect plan for today: get up, take the boys to IKEA and have breakfast and then let them play in Smalland for the two hrs alotted while I read a book I had wanted to read since it was announced (Half-Baked by Alexa Stevenson) and had come in yesterday's mail.

The boys did not want breakfast so I took them in to play while I enjoyed my cappuccino and it's free refill while reading my book.
About 20 minutes after I had settled down, my dad called asking me to go to the other side of the city to pick up some test results of his.. I adore my dad and I would have loved to help, but at the moment, I felt lazy and a tiny bit annoyed because, I had just sat down to drink a coffee in peace which is a rare thing for me now the boys are out of school... plus G. is on duty today so I (thought) I had the day to myself, free of rules, demands and restrictions (although I could hear my husband in my head "Don't keep them up past their bedtime" "Do the dishes, iron my clothes, where's my dinner? I want dessert" etc)

I called my brother who lives like, 5 minutes away from the exam center where my dad's results were kept and asked him to walk over and pick them up.
Turns out the lazy sod never did because just as we were sitting down for lunch in IKEA my dad called to tell me he went to pick up his test results and he had a car accident and could I please get there ASAP?

Da-duhm!! You never know how your day will pan out..
I hurriedly shoved Swedish meatballs into my kids' mouths as I called my brother, fuming.
WHERE ON GOD'S GREEN EARTH WERE YOU?? I barked into the receiver after he picked up (on my third try to reach him!)  AND WHY DID YOU LET DAD GO PICK UP THE TEST RESULTS WHEN I SPECIFICALLY ASKED YOU TO DO IT TWO HOURS AGO???

At this point I was feeling a lot guilty. Had I gone to pick them up myself, my dad wouldn't be driving. But on the other hand, what was I supposed to do? The boys were playing downstairs, would it have been fair to get them out after only 30 minutes and drag them crying and protesting across town?

Turns out dad doesn't have insurance... and he crossed a STOP sign. True it is a very weird and hard to see STOP sign and I know because twenty minutes after his call I was there and I had to stop the STOP sign, hiddne behind a tree branch, myself... but still the law is the law.

I think there must be some sort of court held and authorities notified because it is an uninsured vehicle involved (my dad's)...
My stomach was (is) in a knot as I drove the kids home. My brain is already working out ways to pay for my dad's car damage because I know in his salary, he can't afford to fix it.
All because my brother (who is 27 and unemployed, waiting for the "big chance" to fall into his hands so he can turn his life over) was too lazy to get up from playing WOW and go pick up the test results, five minutes from his home....
Or because I didn't want to leave my hot cappuccino and my book and my two hrs of childless peace and quiet... I feel SO guilty... and drawn into different directions...
Whose fault was it really?
*sigh*

Hopefully this too shall pass... and for the record, my dad's test results weren't good :(

I'm back, PC is fixed & I am eager to sculpt!! :)

Lol, I've missed sculpting!!!
I am back, we got the boys, we celebrated our collective name days, we (hubby and me) decided we don't like the village, we spent $300 for 3 days (groceries for the kids, gas and tolls - it's a VERY long drive!) and we returned last night, bathed the kids and crashed out...

This morning, I took my PC out of the desk, in order to remove the power supply and the CPU fan (which wasn't revolving at all Saturday monring - hence the dead PC)... I put the PC on the table and it's full with dust bunnies... so I vacuumed it (I did!!), and used that canned spray thingie, and I get covered in a cloud of dust, and I am not overstating... next thing I know, MY PC IS WORKING AGAIN!!!

Yay!!! I just saved myself at least $100 on parts!!!
Thanks for being patient everyone... I am off to have lunch and reply to e-mails and I can't wait to show you what I've been up to lately :)

Take care!!
Tina

No PC and extremelly short getaway

Hi everyone!!
This is coming to you live from hubby's laptop as m PC decided to graceully die last night...
I've been having trouble with it for about a month now (remember my HDD that died about a month ago?) but since last night it simply does not even start!!
Before that it would "eat" e-mails, either coming or going, it would shut off whenever it wanted and show me blue screens and shut off peripheral devices at whim...  sigh

Tomorrow is the 15th August. In Greek Orthodox Christianity this is the biggest religious day after Easter, the death of the Virgin Mary. I was named after the Virgin Mary and my boys (before I had them) were pledged to them so their middle names are traditional Greek names we use for Virgin Mary.
So tomorrow (except the fact that everything is closed), we also celebrate our name day. I have explained a few times what a name day is in Greece since from what I have been told, there is no such thing in other religions, only in Greek Orthodox Christianity.

Since the boys are in the village (and have been for a couple of days - a "present" by my mother in law so we could spend some time alone - first time in 5 years!) we are going to be driving there in a minute to pick them up. We will spend tonight and tomorrow there to celebrate and we will be driving back on Monday at which time I will go buy new fans for my CPU and a new power drive for my box and (crossing fingers) my PC should work.

Andrea I know you read my blog, I told you I had probs with my PC, please be patient until Monday when I will be home, I couldn't upload the pics, my PC kept shutting off (which apparently happens if your fan is not working).

Hope everybody will have a great weekend... :)

Just one more...

It's been a couple of months now that I began feeling that longing deep inside for another baby...

... just one more time...
... just one more baby...

God has been very gracious and generous with me because when 5 years ago I pledged my (future) baby to Him and prayed for a child, after years of battling infertility, he gave me not one but two children to call my own and bear the Virgin Mary's name (in Greek, John is also Mario and Cody, Panagiotis, both names used for the Virgin Mary).

My hands are full... so full.. yet my heart is a little less full these days... there is someone missing from our family... another baby... just one child... being pregnant just once more...

True, I had a very difficult pregnancy with the boys. I lost one baby, their triplet brother, and I almost lost John but here we are almost 5 years later and I am longing to hold a baby in my arms once more.

My heart is screaming for one... my brain knows right now it can't be done...
So I remain, hopeful, that one day...soon, I will get my wish.
When the time is right, I am sure the Lord will provide... until then... I wait... and I sculpt, wishing my body would produce a real baby, with the ease my hands and heart, produce clay ones...

What's worse?

... having one of your infamou migraines that can last for days and disable you totally?

OR

... taking Excedrin Migraine which works wonders for said migraine (even if they take an hour to work!) and then feeling sick to your stomach and wanting to throw up/die??

I can't decide... now excuse me, I need to go hug a toilet bowl... or die... will let you know which...

Baaaack

Hello world, we're back!!

We had an awesome time on vacation but alas, like all good things, a week wasn't enough :(
*sigh*
Well, looking forward to next year... We can't afford more/other vacations throughout the year, so we will save out pennies for next year and maybe, next year we can do 10 days instead of a week :) We shall see.

The boys did good; of course there were times when they really got on our nerves but all in all they behaved great!! :)
Nothing like seeing other people's children *not* behaving to make you appreciate your children's behavior because let's face it, unless they are tired, they are pretty obedient kids :)
Sure, they have so much energy each could probably power Athens for a year if plugged in but hey, they are sparky, right?

I have taken many pics, I will post them as soon as I get a minute :)
I got 588 e-mails to answer, yikes! No, not all from customers but you know, from friends, relatives and the parenting and special needs forums I am a member of :)

I hope you all had a great time as well :)
Oh yeah, did I mention that the boys are now out of school until mid-September?
I have NO idea what I will do because by they time the day rolls by and they are in bed, I am exhausted... and last night I watched all the episodes of People Unknown and I am now thoroughly confused!!
 Hated Lost because of the lack of answers, now they throw this show at me...

Can't watch shows that are wacky... man, you are either totally fictional like Sci-FI (in which you buy anything they throw at you, because hey, it's SCI-FI!! IT COULD HAPPEN!!) or you are down to Earth like Desperate Housewives or Grey's Anatomy! (what? Those could happen too!!!)
You should not be half-way in the air with no answers and crazy things happening that have no explanation like People Unknown!
My pea sized brain can't understand those shows... note to self: don't watch it, uses too much brain power.... zzzzzz