Seven Sweaty, Screaming, Snotty Sweeties in the Sauna with Susan!!

Today was a really good day!!! I woke up early (at 7!!) because I wanted to talk to Sean (at 9 pm Florida time) before he went to sleep to hear all about the big first day back at school. Joe said he picked him up from Laura's (my dear friend who is taking care of picking Sean up from school, supervising homework, and even feeding him dinner, along with her 4 other kids!!!) and went outside to get the trashcans. He came back in, and Sean was crashed on the couch...at 7 pm! So, I didn't get to talk to him this morning but I just talked to him at 6 am Florida time and it was the longest phone conversation we've ever had! Sean is a typical boy...not really very detail oriented and not very chatty on the phone. However, I guess when your Mom is away and you have a lot to fill her in on, the typical guy rule doesn't apply. :) We just talked about 30 minutes and he is doing great! He had a wonderful first day back and I think his buddies made him feel very welcome. I feel so much better that his transition was an easy one. He said he had no problem getting back in gear with the work load, and was super excited filling me on the happening's in fifth grade. I asked him if he missed me, and he said "YEAH, but I miss Leeza more". LOL Lucky for him, this is an answer that did not hurt my feelings. :)

Also..want to wish happy thoughts and strength and prayers to my Dad. He is having surgery this morning-gettin a new hip! This is the first time he's ever had to go 'under the knife' and I am sure was a lil anxious about it. His surgery is an hour from now, at 7:30 am Dallas Texas time. Love you very much Dad!! Can't wait to see you running marathons with that new hip!!


Anyway-arrived at the baby house to group 11 having their typical "potty party" after nap. They are too cute! The caregivers were asking me if I was taking Leeza in 10 days. I said October 3rd, which I think is 10 days. I have kinda stopped the countdown because I want to live in the moment and enjoy this special time with Leeza and her friends and her caregivers. I almost feel like I've been accepted as "one of them" or maybe that's going too far...maybe they're just not going to kick me out of the club. :) I hope that means that they know that we love Leeza so much and we'll do our best to make sure she has a happy life!!

Leeza did a great job at lunch, but didn't want her second course. I was fine with that, but Almagoul came over and shoveled it in, and Leeza ate over half of it. I felt rather "inept" that Leeza will eat for Almagoul and not for her mother, but I got over it. I think Leeza is a smart cookie, and she knows that she can't mess around with Almagoul, but she knows Mom is a real softie and is not into making you eat if you don't want to eat and you already ate whole bowl of soup with beets. :)

After lunch, we donned our snowsuit and hat, even though it was sunny and gorgeous out. I just had on a short sleeve t-shirt and a pair of "warm up pants". Leeza was not tired today, very peppy, so she learned how to "give fives" and also to strum her lips. We had only walked about 45 minutes or so when Asiil called me in. The "group" was going to the sauna! This is where a few of them were yesterday when I thought they had come back from the shower. DOH! So, off we went to the sauna room. We stripped the kids down to their birthday suits (except for Leeza, she had a diaper on) and put these shower cap thing on their heads. There were 7 kiddo's in the sauna, SCREAMING their lil heads off. I am NOT exagaratting either. SCREAMING! So, say this seven times fast....SEVEN SWEATY SCREAMING SNOTTY SWEETIES IN THE SUANA WITH SUSAN!









Of course, when the sweeties scream, it produces SNOT. So, we had some snotty sweat goin on. Leeza calmed down as long as I was sitting by her. I played "La Dooshki" (the song they sing when they teach the kids to clap) and that kinda distracted some of them for a minute. They had toys in there too. Leeza stopped crying eventually, as did a few of the others, but some cried the entire time. It was rather comical. I was a big sweaty mess as well. Asill (their caregiver)kept telling me i could go out, but then Leeza would cry, and I didnt' want my baby to cry! Yes, I am aware that Leeza is "working" her mother, but I figure she's missed 10 months of working her mother, so she is due 10 months of "overtime."









I think we stayed in there about 10 minutes. Then we carried all the munckins out wrapped in blankets and set them in these lil chairs. Talk about cute......



Then, it was time to get them all dressed, but of course, it's a must to keep their heads covered. So, they tie the blankets over their heads, around their arms and tie it in the back. These women are EFFICIENT. I am the world's slowest caregiver. I think they would SO fire me because I do not move at the speed of light. Not only do I NOT move at the speed of light, I am so slooooooooooooooooow compared to them. They get these kids dressed so fast! It takes me forever to dress Leeza cuz she is so squirmy!!



After the sauna, Susan was very sweaty too, but not snotty. :) They gave me a scrub shirt to put on because my shirt was DRENCHED! I wore it until 3 when it was time for me to leave and by then it was dry. :)
We stayed and played in Leeza's room and we had fun. The kids had fun with Leeza's toys and Leeza had fun too and is getting better about sharing. :)
All in all, it was a STUPENDOUS sunny day, sweat, snot and all!