Tag: boys

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No, not that school

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For reason’s I’m keeping private (Except my family and a few friends) I moved my boys out of the school I put them in and today was their first day in the new Catholic school. Things didn’t work out in our first school, I’m happier, the boys seem okay?, and this is my decision. I did get a lot of advice yesterday as this decision was pretty much being made for me. It was a no-brainer moment. So now we are in a school that’s very close to our new house and I think this is how we will do it.

I tossed and turned all night trying to figure out if this was the best move for me. Is this better? Is this what’s best for the boys? We will see when I pick them up this afternoon.

Peace. My daughter Lol I swear everyday she proves more and more than she is 2 going on 25. I keep feeling left out of her school life. She finally did hug and kiss me goodbye today but that’s only because I had a hold of her little hand walking into school and I wasn’t going to let her run off this time. Someone said she has a “girl squad at school now”. I was mad Lol No she doesn’t! She’s my baby! And yet she acts like I’m just her ride.

So how is everyone else surviving school? How are your kids adjusting? Mine are doing okay. We are trying to get into a routine. I purposefully kept them out of school until after we moved and did give them an extra week here to get used to everyone. I felt it was too much to move and immediately get them into class. We started late from everyone else but I really don’t care. It was a good choice.

Ok I just found the color setting block on my WordPress software and apparently I can color the background here.

That’s interesting. If I ever get fancy maybe I can start coloring the sections I want to emphasize on each post. Don’t hold your breath. I need to go pick up Peace. Brenda our new part time nanny and Sarah are going to stay home with Sky. I’m going to pick up Peace and take her to eat. Then we will grab food to bring home to the girls.

I really am enjoying my afternoons just with my girls. I get to hold Sky and watch Peace play. Or when Sky is sleeping give all of my attention to Peace. I love it!

Have a great rest of the week guys! I love ya’ll!

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Pre-Pre-K School Tour

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Yesterday despite a raging, horrible headache I had to go tour the Pre-Pre-K school I signed the boys up for. I wanted to see the whole place to make sure it’s the right one. Registration is on the 3rd and the 13th is the first day of school. This is the first school experience for them and I want to make sure I’m doing the right thing. Being here in Colorado Springs I don’t really have a choice other than go about the normal things I need to do. If/when we leave here in another 5 weeks or so then I have at least started out somewhere with them. I’m trying to give them a big advantage by putting them into a program so early. This one is suited for their ages and is only 2 hours a day long to start. It’s pretty much pre-pre K. They start working on the very basic things. We are all teaching them numbers, letters, and colors. We are a little weak on shapes but that’s in progress.

The school is clean and in a good location. It has everything my boys need and the teachers seem very nice. I got to meet the boys potential teacher. She is very sweet and young. She assured me if I had questions she would be happy to answer. So I threw out my usual 10 or 20 questions to figure this whole thing out. She just laughed and got through them. Hey, I’m the only parent they have. I need as much info as I can get here.

I was having a bad week because of my headache but I think it’s finally going away. I’ve taken more aspirin in the past 2 days than I have in the past 2 years. I really try to avoid all types of medication. I don’t like it at all.

Everyone is doing good. Except the occasional fight over the sit and spin toy. I had no idea this thing was going to cause a brawl. We have had to put it up 3 times already. I know I need to just go buy another one but I really think they nee to learn how to share.

Sharing with twins is a thing, right? Lol It seems more like a wrestling match for any toy one of them picks up. Automatically the other one thinks it belongs to them. It’s pretty much like Dale and Brennan in StepBrothers. You touch my drumset and I will blankety blank blank you! Then I ask one of them, did you touch his drumset? Nooooooo. Of course not. Sigh.

The rest of this week is all about getting the rest of this house in shape. We have been going room by room with a contractor and making him fix the little things. When we are gone next week for our family reunion they are going to gut the kitchen and completely redo the basement. I hope they get it all done in 1 week because if not I’m going to be pretty pissed.

The family reunion is now in Denver. It was supposed to be in Houston, Texas but I can’t fly with Alex. He can only drive a short little while so we told the family we aren’t coming. The family said we can go to Denver instead. Yay? It will be fun and I want my kids to know their multiple, multiple cousins. It’s very important to get together with family since we rarely do any big holidays with them. 1 week with most of my family. What could possibly go wrong Lol

I hope everyone is having a great week. I’m getting back to all the great messages today. After I make breakfast. Enjoy the next few weeks of summer guys. School starts soon and it’s back to the running kids all over the place. Love ya’ll!

 

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They are 2 and I’m getting old

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Yesterday was our small family birthday party for my twins Heston and Alex. It’s still too soon to have a bunch of people in our home with Talon so we are waiting to do a bigger party for them in March with all of our family and friends. Because of the way Talon came into this world being sick my wife said we are holding everyone off to come meet him for a month. Whatever she wants to do I’m fine with. She knows best.

I was dressed in my Batman suit because it was a full on Batman party. I’m not going to be dressed up on the next party Lol No way. I realized how hard it is to sit down in that thing and it takes forever to get it on and off. I had to have help getting out I had sweated so much it felt glued on. However…

My boys loooooooved it. That’s the first time they’ve seen me in it. I have put it on a few times for my wife (Don’t ask Lol) and that’s been it. It still fits, which is amazing after how much we all ate during the winter. I’m happy to know it’s still in pretty good shape after all of these years. The hard part today is I have to clean it all up and that takes about an hour.

We had vegan cake, regular cake, ice cream, vegan ice cream, and an assortment of snacks. I took my boys out for a special birthday surprise. We got to meet some Super Heroes at a book event that just so happen to be on their birthday. They won’t know it was just a book event and not part of their actual party so we won’t tell them that until they are older. I got a ton of photos with a lot of the characters holding or behind my boys. It was really cool that when I said hey it’s their birthday today they all let me take photos with everyone. I had to buy 4 books but that’s fine because I like to read that type of book anyway. The other 3 copies will be mailed off to friends.

Seeing how much my boys have grown up, it’s crazy. I remember them being tiny little guys and how scared I was to even change the first diaper. I always felt like I was going to hurt them when I held them wrong or if I wasn’t sure how to hold them up on my shoulder the first few times. Now I just whip right through all of it with no problems. I was all alone when they were born. I had no wife, no girlfriend, no plan. Just me and my boys. Now I have a family for them. I have contact with their birth parents which is so important for me and them. We know their medical history and we also pretty much know what they will look like as they grow up. I’m so happy my amazing little boys are living a happy, stable, life. I’m doing my best everyday for them to make good choices and not get overwhelmed. I’m very patient with my kids and even when they are screaming bloody murder and I’m getting mad I keep my head cool and remember they are just little kids.

The hardest part for me about having twins is when I’m giving attention to one the other wants in on it and I try to balance that. I don’t know how to do it other than just try to keep focus one at a time when needed. Honestly most of the time my boys are either with me or they are near me. They really don’t leave my side that much during the day now. I love it. I don’t like the WWE style beatings they dole out on each other but I know that’s just boys. I remember my brother and I duking it out when we were little and it was a constant whooping that he would get Lol But I always hugged him later and said sorry. I know they will be best friends their entire lives. I want them to remain close to each other and close to us. I don’t care how old any of my kids are, they will always be my babies and even now when I’m out-of-town I make sure I call home a few times a day because I want to and I want to know how everyone is doing.

I love my boys so much. It’s indescribable how much I love my kids. I tell them everyday several times a day I love them and they are finally getting to say it back. They are smart. Man, are my boys smart. They will be smarter than me someday I know that for sure. I want to provide a happy home. I want my wife and I to continue to nurture them, teach them, but also let them figure things out on their own. I will always be here for my boys. Always. I know my family and friends will be too. I’m so happy things are going great. I know that my wife loves them with all of her heart and when we go back to the States for summer vacation she is seriously wanting to adopt all of the kids. She was the one that chose not to. I asked her to adopt but she said no. Then she realized that she is their mom. She feels it, she wants it, and I’m happy she figured it out. I knew she would eventually. I even told her when they all turn 18, go ahead and adopt them. I know that her hesitation was about me and my past and nothing to do with not wanting my kids. I have proven over and over I have changed and I am making better choices. I have proven my complete dedication only to her and I have given her no reason at all to worry about me and other women. Those days are done. Thankfully I got all of that out of my system before my kids were here. I have calmed down, I’m a lot nicer, and I really try hard to be thoughtful. She sees all of that. She said I really am her soul mate and these kids belong with us both in Heaven. She’s taking care of whatever legal steps we need to do and I will happily sign any paper to give her rights to my babies. I trust her with my kids. I trust if we get a divorce we will split custody (And that will be in any new paperwork Lol) but I also know that I will work with her. My kids are our kids and I’m doing my best to make sure everyday she feels like their mom. I think having Talon sealed it for her. Knowing we have a child together, knowing the best thing is to keep all of the siblings together. God forbid anything happens to me, I do want all of my children together. I knew Lindsay would always have them together and that’s why she was in my papers to take custody. She said she’s happy to give them up to my wife, but she also had an hour-long conversation where my wife said Lindsay basically told her if she visits and sees the kids in disarray she’s stealing them and taking them to Mexico Lol I’m pretty sure she means it. My wife just laughed but I got a pang in my heart like Oh god she would do it.

My boys, wow. 2 years old! We made it to 2 and I haven’t lost my mind yet.

Happy Birthday Heston William! Happy Birthday Alexander James! I love you with all of my heart and I hope we made your 2nd birthday very special! Long Live Batdad!

 

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2 sick kids, time to move out

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My wife left earlier today. Friday night the boys decided to have a poopfest all night. I really thought it was just something they ate. By Saturday afternoon I had them into the clinic to see what was going on. They have this crud that’s going around. Poops, vomiting, a slight fever, and of course irritable. We had a family meeting this morning and my wife decided to take Peace, 2 nannies, and the cat, and go to the condo for a few days. I told her if they are infected she is already infected but she said it’s better to protect the baby and our unborn son as much as we can. She said she is feeling fine. Everyone else seems to be feeling fine. It’s just the boys…and now Sarah. So far I’m okay. I plan to catch it tomorrow that way we all 4 can be sick together, heal up in a few days and get the house cleaned up before everyone comes home.

I already miss them. I want them home but I also realize I need to take care of them through this. Them being away right now is the best option.

Heston has decided it’s hilarious after he throws up. He starts laughing. Alex does not think any of this is funny and is very vocal and upset constantly. I just want them both to feel better. Poor Sarah. I told her to go lay down at 2 this afternoon and she hasn’t gotten up yet. I’ve been in diaper duty x 2 all day and I’m starting to finally get immune to the smell. I have the trash bin outside of the garage, thank goodness. It’s almost full Lol I hope they get here tomorrow to dump it because I don’t think this crud is done with us yet. We are keeping the boys hydrated. I already have some chicken broth ready for Sarah as soon as she wakes up. I doubt she will want to eat anything but I also have crackers ready too.

My poor boys! And Sarah. I feel bad. We have no idea where this came from. The boys haven’t been out the past few days. No one else is sick. I don’t get it. I guess this is just one of those things. Even my wife said no one at her office has this. No one at mine either as far as I know.

If your house has the crud also right now, God bless you. We went to Church this morning and prayed it goes away soon. I always feel so helpless when my kids are sick. I want to help them but all I can do is clean them up and hold them. Alex loves to be held when he’s sick. Heston gets hot and doesn’t want anyone to touch him.

My little 19 month boys are into the NO word right now. I had hoped it wouldn’t start-up this early but it has and now we have to deal with it. I also get the Come daddy. So I walk over and they attack my legs Lol I fall for it every time. Okay, I really don’t but they crack up laughing and I always act like they got me. It’s a fun little game they enjoy. Anything to stop the beating each other up over the toys.

We have finally all decided to this year Alex gets to be Batman and Heston gets to be Robin! Guys, there are no words to describe how excited I am for this. We ordered their Halloween costumes they will get here next week. Peace will be going as a little strawberry. My wife found this outfit and has not stopped talking about it. She even put Peace into it already to see how it looked. Peace was fine until she put on the little strawberry hat. They manged to get 2 photos taken before she got mad and they had to change her out of it. She does look very cute in it, I must say. My daughter is adorable in anything. I can’t get enough of her little cheeks. She is so tiny. I love kissing all over her little face and forehead. She is definitely a daddy’s girl. My wife is not happy about that but oh well. I keep telling her Peanut is all hers for now. He loves her a lot more than me Lol I’m just the voice he hears.

How was your weekend? What did you guys do that was fun or new? I got caught up on all of the messages. I haven’t been on social media much the past few days and now we all know why. Having 2 sick kids at once is not fun but I think the worst is over.

At least we have plenty of diapers here. We are sure going through them fast. Have a great Sunday night! I will update more in a few days.

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2 weeks of Peace

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2 weeks ago today our precious baby daughter was born. It’s flying by. She is so sweet and quiet. She barely makes a fuss. Having a daughter in the house changes the whole dynamic. Both of the boys and myself are catering to her every need. As soon as she wakes up and starts crying the boys say Uh oh and come find me. I come walking out and say I know I know Lol They are her protectors already. I think that’s great! The dog also starts barking so he’s also a really big help.

This weekend was pretty chill. The girls finished up the last few days at #Lollapalooza. They have so many great pics and videos they shared. I put more of them up on our Family facebook page now. We relaxed and had a very good weekend.

This week I will have to go into the office tomorrow for half a day. There’s a meeting I have to sit in on because Lindsay isn’t going to be able to make it back here for it. She is flying all over the U.S. trying to handle my schedule. I can’t even handle my schedule so pray for her. Business is BOOMING! I don’t know why but we are at 65% capacity on all of our properties total. That is the biggest number we have ever had. We usually float around 40%-50% full. I’m so happy our leases are getting filled up and we can enjoy the economic boom the rest of the country is feeling.

No, it has nothing to do with Trump. It’s just the beginning of the end. The bubble always grows right before it bursts. Again like I’ve said, in 2018, s*** is going to hit the fan. I said that last year. I saw what was happening and I predicted a huge market shift.

My wife even pulled her investments out of the stock markets to protect herself. I told her leave it in, that is your money and she said no, I want to keep it my money. Amen. I do not invest anything in the stock markets. We invest in properties. Those are things I can’t lose because some other group(s) decides to dump all of their stock. It’s a safe investment and as long as we find the right people to run it, we are always fine.

Paternity leave would be pretty boring if I just had 1 baby. Having the boys run around too, that makes it so much more fun. This is such a great age for them. They follow me everywhere. They want to hang out. I’m loving it because I know when they hit about 12 I will no longer be “cool” or whatever slang word is popular at that time. I still think Lit is an awesome word. I try using it and EVERYONE IN THIS HOUSE ROLLS THEIR EYES AT ME. I had to cap that one.

Today is all about baby Peace and making sure she is still thriving. The nutritionist that we had with the boys is coming up today. I did not get along with her but my doctor recommends her so she is coming to do a check. I will do whatever I need to. I want to make sure she is healthy.

My adoption attorney will be joining us for dinner on Thursday. Without her I would have no kids. I asked her to come up tonight but she is busy. I’m excited for her to meet Peace. Adoptions are such a blessing. I knew in my heart that I would have kids I just didn’t know when or how. I really thought when I called her to tell her my wife was pregnant that would end our search for now. She said no, that is something that happens sometimes. I was not disqualified. Going through 1 adoption already helped us out with a faster process. She has already asked me if I wanted to go again. Of course I do Lol But not right now. I really do need to stop adopting babies. 4 kids all at once is enough of a great start. My poor wife Lol I still remember the look on her face when I said I know this is really bad timing but…

She is so happy though. She loves her little Pea. They have already bonded and Peace loves her mama. We have that new parent glow. I’m exhausted but that’s my own fault for not using my nannies more. I don’t want to. I have time off of work, I will sleep later. In a month. Or two. 3?

Have a great work week, while I’m just chilling with my kiddos!

God love you and I love ya’ll too!

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Book Signings and no baby sightings

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   I found this quote that’s my featured image and had completely forgot who Greg Louganis was. I had to Google him. Great swimmer. I remember watching him at the Olympics on tv when I was much younger.

Last night I went downtown to a book signing event. I actually had a lot bigger crowd than I expected. I was surprised. Everyone was very polite, a lot of pictures taken with me. A few videos and one person Facetimed with her friend. I said Hi how are you and did a mini wave and then I listened for about 3 minutes of nonstop OMG I can’t believe you are real Lol That’s my favorite. I love the people who show up just to see if I’m real or not.

Apparently some of my readers look at my blog here because I was asked a lot about Peace. She’s perfect and happy btw. No I do not bring my kids to book signings. No I never will. If my wife shows up, she waits until it’s over and then we walk out separately. If someone was smart they would walk out after us and see us get into the same car. That photo would be work a few grand I’m sure to the &#@)(#@ tabloids. So far so good. I hope my 15 minutes of fame is finally over. We will see when the next season of that awful show comes out. I swear if she milks her lie for Year 3 on there I’m going to be pissed. Get over me already, geez.

I sold 37 books total. 32 of Almost Meri’ed and 5 of Almost Defame’ed. I autographed all of the books and wrote a few nice messages for the people who requested it be for someone else. I try and spell the names right but I can’t always hear how they said it. I try.

We scheduled an hour of book signing which means with about 50 people standing around waiting on me we get to spend a few minutes together and I tell everyone if you wait until I’m done I will take questions. I hate taking questions but that’s part of it. If I take money for the book signing, I have to fulfill what they want.

Every stinking time they ask about Meri and if we still talk. They also ask if I have ever met Kody. They ask what my wife thinks of all of this. They ask about my kids. I’m happy to show them a few photos on my phone but I don’t allow them to photo or video it at all. My kids are on my Facebook. They aren’t for public exposure on the internet. I release what I want to my family and friends. If you are on my Facebook you are someone I trust not to ruin my family privacy. No one has yet and I’m happy about that.

What did happen is someone made a video of me last night and put it on Youtube. Then they also sent me a comment on here that I just found. It has the link and it says He’s real, now everyone stfu Lol That’s how I feel too. All of the efforts of the trolls have done nothing. They have stalked me (Literally), tried to find me, called places I’m at or was just at, continued to harass, stalk, bully, target, spam, and completely lie about the things I say on here. If ya’ll need to twist words into what you think it means, go for it. Or you could just ask me to clarify. I don’t know I guess the first one lets you spend your whole day talking about me and avoiding your own life. I have much better things to do than respond to trolls anyway. Lindsay has done such a good job the past month I have about 7 trolls left out of the 300 + trolls we started out with. 7. And 2 of them have multiple accounts.

I hit the mute/block button and I see nothing. Jack and Biz have really done a great job with the new Twitter anti-bullying TOS rules. You read them, you figure out how to word your report, you report every single thing the troll say to me and within a day or so BOOM, they are either locked up or completely suspended.

The trolls that create a brand new account after their account is gone are complete and total psychopaths. They are also wasting their time bad mouthing me. For what purpose? They are doing nothing to “Stop” anything. I just laugh when Lindsay reads some of the more insane comments to me. I don’t care. I live my life with peace (Hahaha Look at that) and nothing ever bothers me. I love they try to say my wife is fake, my kids are fake. Lindsay said even they think my dog is fake. Really? Where did I get my dog then? How dumb are these women. Avoiding your life but trying to bash mine online, that makes you a loser. You need to get over all of this. The 2 people involved (Meri and myself) have moved on. We are both much happier apart and we want nothing to do with each other. All she does is use me to get more attention for herself. Why? Because that’s good for ratings and it also finally got her husband’s attention. He has no idea at all how to balance a happy life with any of the 4, that’s obvious. They are sad. Look at them. It’s really sad to know how miserable behind the scenes really is in the reality shows. Take the money, take the fame, deal with the bs. I guess that’s their life. I’m so happy not to be apart of any of that. I actually value my privacy over fame and money. That’s why I’m a lot more careful about how I do things now. I hired a professional to teach me and give me tips on what to post, how to post things and how to secure my social media. He was awesome and really taught me how to keep myself and my family safe. That’s why the trolls are so dumb they can’t find my office, my condo or my house. Thank goodness!

Live your life. I am. My life is awesome. I am so happy to be married to my beautiful wife and raise our kids. We laugh all day long at things that go on. Our kids are healthy and loved.

Today we get to take all 3 of them to the doctor. Our pediatrician wants to see and evaluate Peace. He said bring the other 2 in just for a checkup. I will never turn that down. He can look at all 3 and I will know we are okay. My boys love going there. Everyone gives them so much attention. The nurses and office people talk to them and they end up with 3 or 4 stickers on their shirts Lol They are spoiled.

After our appointment I’m taking the boys somewhere fun and Sarah will drive Peace back home. Since our daughter came home I haven’t really had much one on one time with the boys so I promised today I would take them somewhere. It should be easy because they will be in the stroller most of the time. That always makes it easy when I’m by myself. Heather and Brandi offered to go with me but I said the people there doing our tour will help me if I need it. The last time we went somewhere alone one of the girls actually held Alex through the last half of it. He loved it. He kept playing with her hair. I made her go wash her hands before she touched him Lol She said okkkkkayyy then went and did it. When she came back I told her 10 people a day want to hold one of them or both. I’m a germaphobe I just need people to help me not get my kids sick. She understood then. She was also 16 or something so she doesn’t think like a parent.

A long full day of fun. I better get going. I also need to check in on my condos. The crew is there now working on them. There wasn’t much to do other than build up a better wall between them. They knocked down the one we had built and I told them to sound proof it. That way each of the condos can’t hear anything going on. I think that will be a great selling point.

Have a great day everyone! God loves you and I love ya’ll too!

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#Dublin Ireland Day 1

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  Taking several people on a family vaca is a daunting task to say the least. My wife planned our trip. She coordinated it with her sisters who helped her siblings figure out where to go, what to show us, and how to make it a comfortable trip for all. She dropped the ball on ordering extra transportation. A rookie mistake Lol Since that was the only bad thing that happened the entire week she still gets an A+ and we were all very impressed with her vacation planning skills.

On Thursday night we packed up everything that hadn’t been packed. I told the girls 3 bags each, NO MORE! I took 2 bags for myself and 2 bags each for my boys. We still didn’t wear all the things I had packed for them. Keep in mind we were shopping like crazy and kept laundering, then wearing our new clothes so that helped. We had our flight info from our chartered flight. That was the best part and probably my smartest move. I knew getting all of us on time for a commercial flight would be bad. Or having my boys stuck on a commercial flight for 8 hours would be bad for everyone else. I ordered a 50 passenger plane for the week and told everyone the back 2 rows are for us, ya’ll can have any other seats. I needed room so that we could do things with the boys because I knew they would not sleep the whole way. We even had that conversation of flying in at night on purpose so that they might sleep but I changed my mind a month prior to the trip. They need to learn these things because we are a traveling family. I also need to learn since 99% I’m the pilot and I don’t get the experience of what my boys are doing while I’m in the cockpit.

On Friday morning the flight was supposed to leave at 10am. My wife made that non-negotiable. She even sent out a Group text saying if you are NOT AT THE AIRPORT AT 9am for check in YOU ARE NOT GETTING ON THAT (Bad word) Flight, No excuses!!! <— She added the 3 !, not me. I love her hard-ass side when it’s not unleashed on me Lol Now keep in mind the departure time she picked changed 3 times. I was expecting people to show up late. It didn’t happen and thank goodness. Everyone was there and waiting for us. We arrived at 8:30 at the meeting spot before we were shuttled off to the airport. Shuttles, she should have ordered us some shuttles for when we arrived. She didn’t.

The flight was smooth. The pilot had me come up so we could talk a little. I was a little freaked out because I don’t like being a passenger on any plane. I like to be in control of the flight. He was a very, very experienced ex-commercial pilot who had retired young and has his own business now flying families, bands, groups anywhere for a hefty price. His plane was awesome. I want one Lol Of course I do. My wife just looked at me. We are trying to “downsize” my lifestyle. She thinks that would humble me a little more and that I need that. I say Go Big or Go Home! I was raised in Texas so the bigger the better!

8 and a half hours later we are walking off the plane and into Dublin Airport. Dublin Airport is not bad. I had a few friends warn me about customs and how they usher you all over to the self check-in stuff to make it easier but we had no issues. We got going and immediately everyone wanted to go buy something. I asked and Terminal 1 has better shops so we all flanked that way to get some souvenirs. I didn’t want to, but the shopping half of our group made us go that way. I forgot to mention the security part of flying into Dublin is a breeze. We didn’t have any problems which surprised me. Everyone bought a few little things to start off. My father in law was itching to get to a Pub and I wasn’t excited at all to hear that. We got out front and I asked my wife where the shuttles were. Uh oh! She said she thought the place I rented for all of us would have sent some. Noooooooooooo, they send some if I request that. I didn’t request it because YOU WERE supposed to get us shuttles from the airport. She just looked at me like I was dumb and this was about to be all of my fault so I went and got us shuttles. We had to stand there for 30 minutes but that’s fine. It wasn’t that big of a deal. On the way to our seaside house rental (It turned out to really just be apartments) we saw all kinds of really cool places. I’m always amazed at how each country is set up so differently. Of course there’s about 20 Starbucks in Dublin, Ireland (Sure, why not) so my nannies asked if we could stop. I didn’t even have to say it, my mother-in-law said No Lol She’s my new favorite.

We finally arrived just in time because Heston had a meltdown in the driveway. He was all done. My poor little guys had been cooped up for the last hour and just wanted to get out and walk around. The house manager greeted us and then presented me with a basket of stuff. I still haven’t opened it yet. I’m pretty sure by the time I get back home the nosey nannies will have ransacked it anyway to see what was in it. He showed us inside and told us how the setup was. In each of the “rentals” (They were apartments) you can sleep 6 people. I took the top floor for my wife and kids. The rental right next to us we put the nannies and only one complained about that. Then my wife started telling everyone to go pick which one they wanted. We knew each one would sleep 6 people so we pretty much just put families all together and the ones that had more than 6 people (Which would be almost all of them Lol) we had requested extra beds. I told them we would figure it out even if I had to go buy stuff. I wanted everyone in a bed because we were going to be out most of the days and we all needed a good night’s rest. How naive I was at the beginning of this trip. I just laugh thinking about that now.

Everyone got situated and it was time to go hunt for food. I had packed my boys enough food for 3 days just in case we had an issue. I had been lugging it all around in my backpack and we only had to dip into it once on the way to the rentals. Everyone had sandwiches for a snack until we could call the restaurant and make sure our reservation was still on hold. It was so my wife told everyone to go get ready we were going out. I told my nannies to crash my boys so they picked Heather to stay behind and get them ready for bed. At this point the time change was really screwing with them and I just wanted them to get settled in. Heather was not wanting to go out with all of us anyway. She wanted to chill she said. She has a slight anxiety disorder that flairs up when she’s overwhelmed and she told me later on that’s why she volunteered. She said she really enjoyed getting the boys down then walking around the place. She said the view was amazing and couldn’t wait to see it in the morning with the sunlight.

My mother-in-law made contact with the first round of Irish relatives to let them know we had made it. She gave them our address so they could meet up with us in the morning. She told them what restaurant we were going to and also asked what Pub we could go to afterwards. I told my wife I wanted to go check on the boys after supper and she agreed. She said her brothers would babysit everyone anyway so we could be off duty for the night.

Guess what restaurant doesn’t take American Express credit cards Lol The one we went to! I had to pay cash which was fine and thank goodness I had it on me. I wasn’t going to take it out of my bag because I really didn’t think I would need it. At the last-minute my wife said take some cash please, you never know. I listen to my wife so I did as I was told and thank goodness because she was right.

Guess what DID TAKE Amex Lol The Pub my father-in-law wanted to go to. You know how I know that? Because I was called a wee little man (Yes he really used an Irish phrase on me) to get me to go to the Pub and have a pint. After dinner we found ourselves at The Porterhouse Pub. It’s centrally located and near the restaurant we ate at. It also became the place we could find my father-in-law any night he went missing. How he continued to get himself over there is still a mystery.

Irish food, hmmmmm. It’s very meaty which doesn’t work out for me however the way they cook the vegetables, alright. That was tasty. I learned a lot about Irish food and learned it’s not all just meat and potatoes. They have some very delicious local things and I did go off vegan to take a few bites of things because I honestly wanted to know what it was, how it tasted, and to experience it.

Oh yeah, and guess who showed up at the Pub with most of us? Lol The Irish relatives. A few of them at least. It was a holy reunion and there were real genuine tears. It has been a few years since they have all seen each other and my wife made sure to introduce me to all of them. Great, great guys. Honestly, her relatives couldn’t have been nicer. And so funny. They had us all cracking up. They served as our guides the entire week and I did try to give them some money for all of their help which they laughed at and said “We don’t do that kind of thing here” and “Happy to help”.

We got home at Midnight Dublin time which meant I had been up for too many hours and we all just crashed when we got home.

Day 1 recap over with. I am going to go grab something to eat.

Right now my wife and I are in Las Vegas at Lindsay’s house. We will be here all week. It’s a vacation but during the days Lindsay and I will be at the office having meetings because I’m starting to turn things over to her. She will be taking over most things on January 1st and we really need to get started on this process. Everyone is sleeping but my body wakes me up at 5:30am no matter what I do.

Lindsay’s house is awesome. She has bought more new cars. This place belongs in a music video. She has bought more guns now too. That part I could live without. We were supposed to come this morning instead but I felt great and my wife said lets go, so we left yesterday. It’s only a 4 hour flight and I knew I could handle it. Sitting for 8 hours coming back from overseas just made me antsy to get in the pilot seat and go somewhere.

My boys are in Chicago and will be at the lake house all week. Their birth mom and birth grandma are in town for their visit. We had this planned out for a while. I do like to give them privacy with the boys because my little cousin told me it just feels awkward with me around. All 3 of my nannies are at the lake house with them for the week and I hired a chef. I want everyone to have a good time. My buddy Cam is also stopping in to make sure all of the ladies are doing okay and he promised to invite them to his restaurant a few times to feed them. I know my boys will be fine and I pray they both have a great time. They are growing up so much in between her visits and it’s really important to me to always keep that door open to her. I constantly ask her to move to Chicago to be closer and she says it’s just too hard. Plus she’s still in college and wants to finish up there. Having an open adoption has worked out great. We have had a few hurt feelings along the way but I’m always happy to compromise the best that I’m capable. My wife is okay with the open adoption part but always has a lot of questions about why I leave and let them come stay. She is confused by it. It’s because there is a bond that I will never have with the boys like their birth mom has. They need to know who she is just as she is without me telling them things. They need to understand she gave them me. She picked me and she really didn’t have to. They need to know their whole lives that adoption is a great gift of love and they should be very proud to be able to know their birth parents. Their birth dad didn’t want to come this trip but he is asking for more photos which is great. He also can come see them but ONLY if I’m there. I know that’s backwards but my agreement is with her, not him. I barely know the kid and will be happy to host him and his parents anytime. Just not when I’m out-of-town. I explained my feelings on that and he didn’t have a problem with it. I also told him only up to 3 days because after that, it’s an interruption to our schedule. He has certain moral rights to see the boys but he also can’t use his time to get it in his head he can take them from me. My adoption attorney cautioned me on some of the cases she has come through and some birth dads regret signing over rights and try to sue. I would crush him if that ever came out of his mouth and he would be thrown out on the street in 2 seconds Lol No way can anyone take my boys away. We all agreed and it has worked out perfectly (For me). I guess the boys too. At this point they don’t know any better. All they know is that everyone that sees them loves them a lot and are very happy to get time with them. My boys! Mine!

Enough of that. I’m hungry. I hope she has some fresh fruit, I’m really wanting an apple or an orange right now.

I will be posting Day 2 later on. Hope everyone had a great 4th. We did. I will get to that soon! Love ya’ll!

I’m back!