Well... we had a negative experience with the girls' 'inclusive preschool' program yesterday and have kept them at home today. We do not intend to send them back at this point. I have not spoken to the director of the program yet, but honestly do not think they can pacify me enough at this point to take the girls back. This is the scenario... Rita (from RR) was taking Bella down the hall to join the rest of the kids in the class they are integrated with when she witnessed Anastasia being taken to the restroom by another preschooler. Taken out of the class, down the hall, into the restroom and back again without adult supervision. This is a safety concern big time! Anastasia could have easily bolted and gone further down the hall and right out the front door. Also, Anastasia is still being potty trained. She needs help going to the restroom and obviously NO ONE was there to help her. Who checked to make sure the seat was clean? Who made sure she didn't need a new pull up? Who made sure she had toilet paper and that she used it? NO ONE. Needless to say, I was not happy when Rita told me what she had witnessed. I expressed my opinion to another of the staff members so they would be fully aware of our dissatisfaction with that scenario. I planned to discuss this at length with their teacher when I picked the girls back up (she was with the kids in the integrated class already). When I went to pick them up, Anastasia was not with the other children. Their teacher approached me saying she had been told by the other staff member that we were not happy about this morning's scenario. I let her know we were not happy at all and prepared to begin my discussion with her about this. Before I could get started she went on to say "and I just sent her to the restroom again". What? That is why Anastasia wasn't with the others... she was down the hall in the restroom with another preschooler again! This is AFTER the teacher was already aware of our concerns/dissatisfaction. I went into great length with her about my opinion. She tried to reassure me that it would not happen anymore, but honestly... it shouldn't have ever happened. The fact that she did it AGAIN after KNOWING we were not happy about it was the deal breaker for us. I don't know how you trust your kids with someone that has told you that they went against your wishes regarding the care of your children. I hate that they will miss out on going to preschool because they were really enjoying themselves. I was enjoying having the 3 mornings without all 4 little ones! Abby and I enjoyed having a couple of 'just us' dates. Oh well... summer was just around the corner anyway! :)
Things are going pretty good around here. The kids are enjoying outside time now that it has warmed up! Both girls seem to be adjusting rather well and we love seeing smiles on their faces more and more!
Sophia has her heart cath coming up soon. May 5th. Please remember her in your prayers. Thank you!
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Monday, April 5, 2010
Another holiday at home!
The girls both enjoyed their first Easter at home. They always love dressing up and felt beautiful in their dresses and sandals. We went to church and then enjoyed time with grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins later. Sophia and Anastasia seem to embrace all the special occasions we celebrate here. They appreciated their treats from the Easter bunny and had a good time hunting eggs with their cousins. It is so easy to forget they have only been home eight months now.
Things are settling down a good bit for us. The girls still enjoy their preschool mornings (3x week). I went last Thursday to register all 3 girls for K-5. Hard to believe that we will have 3 starting school in 4 months! We are not sure how this will work out for Anastasia. She seems so 'young' still. We are going to try and adjust as needed. I did request Abby and Anastasia to be in the same class. With Anastasia being non-verbal, I prefer to have Abby assigned to the same class so she can help interpret sign for the teacher/aide if needed. Also, we will have daily feedback on how things are going! Abby will be our little 'spy'. :) We requested all 3 girls be assigned to the same 'pod' (group of classes). This should help me with any field trips, parties, etc... since the 'pods' stick together!
We are all grateful for the improved weather since the kids get to go out and play now! :) Sophia and Anastasia are healed up nicely from their surgeries. We are looking forward to making less trips to doctors! We do have Sophia's heart cath scheduled... May 5th. After that, maybe we will have a better estimate on when they want to schedule her open heart surgery. We are not looking forward to it at all, but are also ready to have it behind us!
Again... sorry for the lack of updates. I will most likely only update here randomly for now. I appreciate all of your concern for our girls' adjustment home! We are very thankful for all of the support and prayers! :)
Things are settling down a good bit for us. The girls still enjoy their preschool mornings (3x week). I went last Thursday to register all 3 girls for K-5. Hard to believe that we will have 3 starting school in 4 months! We are not sure how this will work out for Anastasia. She seems so 'young' still. We are going to try and adjust as needed. I did request Abby and Anastasia to be in the same class. With Anastasia being non-verbal, I prefer to have Abby assigned to the same class so she can help interpret sign for the teacher/aide if needed. Also, we will have daily feedback on how things are going! Abby will be our little 'spy'. :) We requested all 3 girls be assigned to the same 'pod' (group of classes). This should help me with any field trips, parties, etc... since the 'pods' stick together!
We are all grateful for the improved weather since the kids get to go out and play now! :) Sophia and Anastasia are healed up nicely from their surgeries. We are looking forward to making less trips to doctors! We do have Sophia's heart cath scheduled... May 5th. After that, maybe we will have a better estimate on when they want to schedule her open heart surgery. We are not looking forward to it at all, but are also ready to have it behind us!
Again... sorry for the lack of updates. I will most likely only update here randomly for now. I appreciate all of your concern for our girls' adjustment home! We are very thankful for all of the support and prayers! :)
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Happy Valentines Day!
It was 6 months ago today that we flew out of Kiev, Ukraine on our way home with our two new daughters, Sophia and Anastasia. Wow... hard to imagine we have already had them in our family for 6 months! They have done rather well adjusting to their new home, new language, new family, new life! We have been blessed to have them as our children and know that there are many more blessings to come as they grow and blossom into their full potential. We have struggled to keep them healthy, but that has been a fight for our whole family this winter! We are now waiting for their surgery date.. March 5th. Sophia and Anastasia will be having their tonsils/adenoids removed and tubes placed in ears. Sophia will also have the eye surgery. Prayers that all goes well and they benefit greatly from these surgeries!
The girls have really been enjoying their preschool. Anastasia brings me her lunchbox on mornings that they don't have school so I'm guessing she is wanting to go even more than the 3 mornings! We continue to use/learn sign language... especially with Anastasia. Sophia just continues to amaze us with her speed of picking up English language. Anastasia has gained new sounds, but is still pretty much non-verbal.
They really enjoyed receiving/exchanging their valentines this morning with the family. Anastasia was grinning with this look questioning look... "what is the occasion this time?". It does seem like we are celebrating something every time you turn around!
I'm sure you noticed that I do not update nearly as often as I did prior to travel and prior to the computer issues. I will admit that it will most likely not improve! I am on Facebook now though, so if you want to find me there.... you will get little updates more often. I am struggling to find time/will power/ energy to get control over the chaos around here. In case I don't post before... I will go ahead and ask for your prayers now. My mother is having Hip Replacement surgery on Tuesday, Feb. 23rd. The girls' surgery is Friday, March 5th. Please pray for all of their surgeries to go well, for them all to heal quickly and for them to have great improvements afterwards! Thank you!
The girls have really been enjoying their preschool. Anastasia brings me her lunchbox on mornings that they don't have school so I'm guessing she is wanting to go even more than the 3 mornings! We continue to use/learn sign language... especially with Anastasia. Sophia just continues to amaze us with her speed of picking up English language. Anastasia has gained new sounds, but is still pretty much non-verbal.
They really enjoyed receiving/exchanging their valentines this morning with the family. Anastasia was grinning with this look questioning look... "what is the occasion this time?". It does seem like we are celebrating something every time you turn around!
I'm sure you noticed that I do not update nearly as often as I did prior to travel and prior to the computer issues. I will admit that it will most likely not improve! I am on Facebook now though, so if you want to find me there.... you will get little updates more often. I am struggling to find time/will power/ energy to get control over the chaos around here. In case I don't post before... I will go ahead and ask for your prayers now. My mother is having Hip Replacement surgery on Tuesday, Feb. 23rd. The girls' surgery is Friday, March 5th. Please pray for all of their surgeries to go well, for them all to heal quickly and for them to have great improvements afterwards! Thank you!
Monday, January 25, 2010
Catch up...
Things have been busy around here like always. We have had a time with sickness this Dec/Jan. We are still trying to get everyone well. Sophia and Anastasia are enjoying their preschool. I'm glad it seems to be working. Abby is enjoying her time at home. I'm not enjoying getting everyone up and dressed so early, but if things will settle down some... it will be worth it!
We are waiting on surgery dates for Sophia and Anastasia. Both will have tonsils and adenoids removed. Anastasia will have tubes put in her ears and Sophia will have her eye surgery at the same time. We are looking at this being one trip up to B'ham for an over-nighter and all issues being addressed for both girls. It will be a heck of a recovery period, but we can't imagine juggling separate surgery dates. Sophia's heart surgery is still in the future (1+ years)
At this time I am pleased to say that Sophia is what I call "potty trained". She has been out of pullups for a while now and rarely has accidents. Anastasia... well, that is a work in progress. Since I have been so remiss in uploading photos, I will upload a couple of Christmas photos as a 'current' photos of the girls.
and for those of you from RR.... this is 3 of my girls hanging out with Rita's 4 girls
We are waiting on surgery dates for Sophia and Anastasia. Both will have tonsils and adenoids removed. Anastasia will have tubes put in her ears and Sophia will have her eye surgery at the same time. We are looking at this being one trip up to B'ham for an over-nighter and all issues being addressed for both girls. It will be a heck of a recovery period, but we can't imagine juggling separate surgery dates. Sophia's heart surgery is still in the future (1+ years)
At this time I am pleased to say that Sophia is what I call "potty trained". She has been out of pullups for a while now and rarely has accidents. Anastasia... well, that is a work in progress. Since I have been so remiss in uploading photos, I will upload a couple of Christmas photos as a 'current' photos of the girls.
and for those of you from RR.... this is 3 of my girls hanging out with Rita's 4 girls
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Going to School!
Sophia and Anastasia have started preschool! This program is the first time they have attempted to due something like this in this district. The program was designed to insert children with special needs into 2 exiting typical preschool classes that have been in place since August for the benefit of inclusion (a special education teacher was being inserted into each class as well). The girls' class had 4 children with special needs assigned to it, including them. The program did a staggered start with 2 starting on Tuesday, then 2 on Wednesday and all 4 to attend on Today (Thursday). Yesterday was Sophia and Anastasia's first day and they enjoyed going, but changes were needed. The class they were assigned to was not a good fit after all. There were some behavior issues in that classes that were monopolizing the teacher's time and causing major disruptions. The academics were above the girls' current level since they are basically starting all over since whatever they did know prior would have been in Russian. With those things in mind, we were concerned that the academics would not benefit then and they would only gain the social input... which was less than desirable. A parent (and friend of mine) expressed her concerns on Tuesday after her child had attended and I expressed my concerns yesterday after observing the class for an hour. The special education teacher seemed to have already reached the conclusion that changed were needed. They were working towards a solution when I left yesterday. When I picked the girls up, the center/district had already made the decision to pull all of them from that class and place the special education teacher in her own classroom with our children and begin to pull typical children to that room during the 3 mornings they attend class (the regular preschool program is 5 days/all day). This will give them the ability to select the 'appropriate' typical children to include. I dropped them off this morning in their new class and it was a much calmer environment that will be working on material that will be geared towards their IEP goals. Now the class will have both special education teachers and all 8 students with special needs (3 year class and 4 year class) together with additional children being inserted at a more productive ratio. The other class had 21 typical children on role w/ 1 preschool teacher and was having 1 special ed teacher and 4 students with special needs inserted. I am very glad that the teachers, director and supervisor of the program recognized that environment was not going to be beneficial to my girls or any of the others children with special needs that were being 'included' in that class. I was also impressed with the speed in which they revamped their plans in order to help the program be successful.
Monday, January 4, 2010
Back to school
Now that the holidays are all behind us for 2009, it is time to start back to school. Shelby is not happy that class starts back tomorrow for her. She is even pulling the sick card out tonight. I'm thinking most of the students have colds this time of the year! We went today to the open house for the preschool for Sophia and Anastasia. It will be an inclusive environment. They will be in the same class since they are going to have 1 class for the 2 different age levels. They already have been receiving services with the Special Education teacher, the Speech Therapist, the Occupational Therapist and Physical Therapist so they won't be totally overwhelmed. We are nervous going into this, but prayerful this will be good for them in preparation for starting school next year. I'm hoping it is a good sign that their preschool teacher is a lady that we know from Miracle League. She also is the mother of a 25 year old with Down Syndrome. She also has traveled to the Ukraine with her church to volunteer in orphanages for a few summers. Sounds like she may be a good fit! Fingers-crossed! :)
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Happy New Year!
I hope you all enjoyed your holidays with your families and look forward to following some of your own stories during 2010 as you bring home your little ones from around the world!
We have been 'holed up' at home for the last few days. Trying to get everyone better, but I noticed Shelby is starting to come down with something as of yesterday. Hopefully this will just be a cold. School will be starting back for Courtney and Shelby in a few days. The open house for the special needs preschool class is Monday. Hopefully we will be impressed! This next week we will begin our new routine (again... this word is used very loosely here) of having Abby and Romney home each day.
Today I ship off the laptop to HP again, but this time they are supposed to REPLACE it with a new laptop so hopefully that little saga can come to an end. I'm hoping to wrap up loose ends on various little issues as we go into the new year. I hope to begin dealing with the chaos around here... maybe! :) I feel like we have been on "react" mode too long! I drive my sisters crazy when I look back at how organized I used to be, but I just can't help to think that organized person still lives in me somewhere..... buried under a mountain of chaos! :) I haven't seen that side of me since Shelby was diagnosed with Leukemia back in 2000! Maybe 'she' just took the last DECADE off! :) I may never get back to that level of organized since this last decade brought with it 3 more children and a grandchild! I would be happy with progress, not reform! :) Happy New Year to each of you and may you reach your own personal goals this year! :)
We have been 'holed up' at home for the last few days. Trying to get everyone better, but I noticed Shelby is starting to come down with something as of yesterday. Hopefully this will just be a cold. School will be starting back for Courtney and Shelby in a few days. The open house for the special needs preschool class is Monday. Hopefully we will be impressed! This next week we will begin our new routine (again... this word is used very loosely here) of having Abby and Romney home each day.
Today I ship off the laptop to HP again, but this time they are supposed to REPLACE it with a new laptop so hopefully that little saga can come to an end. I'm hoping to wrap up loose ends on various little issues as we go into the new year. I hope to begin dealing with the chaos around here... maybe! :) I feel like we have been on "react" mode too long! I drive my sisters crazy when I look back at how organized I used to be, but I just can't help to think that organized person still lives in me somewhere..... buried under a mountain of chaos! :) I haven't seen that side of me since Shelby was diagnosed with Leukemia back in 2000! Maybe 'she' just took the last DECADE off! :) I may never get back to that level of organized since this last decade brought with it 3 more children and a grandchild! I would be happy with progress, not reform! :) Happy New Year to each of you and may you reach your own personal goals this year! :)
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Christmas Angel Tree Nov 1 - Dec 31, 2009
(This post is dated in advance in order to stay visible, please scroll down for current post)
I am doing something that I haven't done via the blog before. I am adding a fundraiser. I want to help bring Anne Marie home! Finances unfortunately do play into adoption and can be a burden on adoptive families. I am praying daily that Anne Marie's family will hear God's call and follow in faith. I would like to be able to support them in their journey by helping Anne Marie's adoption fund grow during the Christmas Angel Tree Project. I have this set up to PayPal directly to Reece's Rainbow so that all funds received via this ChipIn will be earmarked for Anne Marie and are Tax Deductible. If you are donating $35+ and want to receive her Christmas ornament, please be sure to provide your name and correct mailing address. $5 (per ornament) of your donation will be applied to the RR Voice of Hope Fund to cover the cost of your ornament and the remainder will be applied to Anne Marie's adoption fund. Anne Marie is already 4 years old and is facing being transferred to the mental institution soon. Thank you in joining with me to help Anne Marie's future family overcome the financial burden and bring this little darling home.
I am doing something that I haven't done via the blog before. I am adding a fundraiser. I want to help bring Anne Marie home! Finances unfortunately do play into adoption and can be a burden on adoptive families. I am praying daily that Anne Marie's family will hear God's call and follow in faith. I would like to be able to support them in their journey by helping Anne Marie's adoption fund grow during the Christmas Angel Tree Project. I have this set up to PayPal directly to Reece's Rainbow so that all funds received via this ChipIn will be earmarked for Anne Marie and are Tax Deductible. If you are donating $35+ and want to receive her Christmas ornament, please be sure to provide your name and correct mailing address. $5 (per ornament) of your donation will be applied to the RR Voice of Hope Fund to cover the cost of your ornament and the remainder will be applied to Anne Marie's adoption fund. Anne Marie is already 4 years old and is facing being transferred to the mental institution soon. Thank you in joining with me to help Anne Marie's future family overcome the financial burden and bring this little darling home.
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Updates
First update.... Anne Marie has received $545 in donations during the Christmas Angel Tree project! Prayers that the family God has selected for her hears his voice, obeys his call and brings that little girl home soon!
Next... Sophia LOVED being the center of attention at her birthday party! She was center stage and living it up! She would open a card, remove the money like it was nothing (money means nothing to her since she never had any before) and then make the biggest deal over the cards! :) Gifts she would open, show everyone and then go re-gift to someone else while saying/signing Thank You. Everyone got a kick out of her 'generosity'. Of course all gifts were left behind for Sophia to keep! :)
The day of the party, Tim found a knot on Abby's neck. Called doctors office from cell when he called me about it (I was picking up the birthday cake). The nurse felt it was just swollen glands from the strep she had just finished antibiotics for 2 days prior. Well... during the party she just started acting like she didn't feel well. We started isolating her from the younger guest. Still no fever though. During the night she began running fever, chills, vomitting. Took her to doctor on Sunday. She has an ear infection and Mono. Hopefully the rest won't pick this up, but honestly... it is most likely too late to worry about that! We now have a Drama Queen that is now on Steroids.... this could prove dangerous!
Anastasia's mouth seems all better now from her teeth pulling episode (4 lower front). No ill effects from the procedure... still lets me brush so yay! Progress!
And.... laptop began crashing 2 days after I received it back from HP for the 3rd attempt at repair since this started in August. Still waiting on a call back to see what they are going to do now. I'm so not impressed with them at this point, but they do not seem to care too much. Want a recommendation?.... Don't buy an HP!
Think that about covers everything since the last post. In case I don't make it back out here before.... Happy New Year! :)
Next... Sophia LOVED being the center of attention at her birthday party! She was center stage and living it up! She would open a card, remove the money like it was nothing (money means nothing to her since she never had any before) and then make the biggest deal over the cards! :) Gifts she would open, show everyone and then go re-gift to someone else while saying/signing Thank You. Everyone got a kick out of her 'generosity'. Of course all gifts were left behind for Sophia to keep! :)
The day of the party, Tim found a knot on Abby's neck. Called doctors office from cell when he called me about it (I was picking up the birthday cake). The nurse felt it was just swollen glands from the strep she had just finished antibiotics for 2 days prior. Well... during the party she just started acting like she didn't feel well. We started isolating her from the younger guest. Still no fever though. During the night she began running fever, chills, vomitting. Took her to doctor on Sunday. She has an ear infection and Mono. Hopefully the rest won't pick this up, but honestly... it is most likely too late to worry about that! We now have a Drama Queen that is now on Steroids.... this could prove dangerous!
Anastasia's mouth seems all better now from her teeth pulling episode (4 lower front). No ill effects from the procedure... still lets me brush so yay! Progress!
And.... laptop began crashing 2 days after I received it back from HP for the 3rd attempt at repair since this started in August. Still waiting on a call back to see what they are going to do now. I'm so not impressed with them at this point, but they do not seem to care too much. Want a recommendation?.... Don't buy an HP!
Think that about covers everything since the last post. In case I don't make it back out here before.... Happy New Year! :)
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Happy Birthday, Sophia!
Today is Sophia's 6th birthday! I don't think she quite gets it yet, but is showing some signs of excitement when we mentioned it coming up. It helps that we just had a b'day party for Romney a few weeks ago. At least she got to experience a party before! Looking forward to sharing the day with her!
Sophia and Anastasia adapted to Christmas with family rather well. We opened gifts at home Christmas Eve, awoke to Santa and spent the evening with about 32 relatives (their uncles, aunts, cousins and grandparents). They fit right in by now... making noise with the rest of the bunch! :) We are very blessed this year to be able to have the girls in our family! Very blessed that they have already adjusted so well in their new life! Very blessed indeed! :)
Happy Birthday, Sophia! and many, many more!
Sophia and Anastasia adapted to Christmas with family rather well. We opened gifts at home Christmas Eve, awoke to Santa and spent the evening with about 32 relatives (their uncles, aunts, cousins and grandparents). They fit right in by now... making noise with the rest of the bunch! :) We are very blessed this year to be able to have the girls in our family! Very blessed that they have already adjusted so well in their new life! Very blessed indeed! :)
Happy Birthday, Sophia! and many, many more!
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Merry Christmas Eve!
Sitting here alone for a few minutes this morning so I wanted to try to catch everyone up. We have been crazier than normal the last few weeks: Sophia had ear/sinus infection, Romney flu/strep, Abby strep, Anastasia strep, Courtney outpatient surgery, Tim ear/sinus infection... add to that the laptop dying again and you understand why I don't find time to post much!
We made the decision to pull Abby and Romney out of preschool. Abby is going through a 'needy' time and started having problems with not wanting to go everyday. Romney keeps bringing home illnesses. The day I served notice, we received word that the school district is FINALLY opening the special needs preschool class. We plan to enroll Sophia and Anastasia. It is 3 mornings a week. They will receive their therapies during this time. If that goes well, then I will be swapping who is home and who I am running back and forth! I think Abby needs some mommy time though so this is good. We are hoping the preschool will be a good transition before the girls start school next year. We will see...
We have had some progress this month... The girls are settling in, the bullying is slowing down, the smiles are coming more and more. Anastasia is even starting to come out of her shell more and more. She has been the most guarded between the two. We have noticed a big change in her lately.
Both girls are still using sign, but Sophia also talks some (we can understand, but others not as much). Anastasia has had definite improvement with her new glasses. Goes back in Jan to see if she will be able to avoid surgery. Sophia has to have the eye surgery. The cardiologist has given ok on the surgery prior to her heart being repaired. We are going to ENT in Jan though so if tonsils have to come out, they can combine for one procedure. Anastasia had to have her 4 bottom front baby teeth pulled yesterday. She had 2 permanent teeth coming in behind them. She did much better than expected... they didn't have to clamp her mouth open, which is a first. She cried, but that is understandable. She did rather well last night. Looks like the Tooth Fairy came last night. The kids haven't woken up yet to notice. Sophia and Anastasia won't understand what is going on, but the others knew who was supposed to come last night! :)
I am looking forward to the excitement of tonight. We exchange gifts on Christmas Eve at our house. They will get to open everything from us and each other. Shelby, Abby and Romney can't wait another day! If they had to wait any longer, Santa would most likely have one less stop to make! :) Sophia and Anastasia have liked the tree. They haven't bothered the tree or gifts which surprised me some... I guess it helps that the others don't mess with it either. Sophia enjoyed going to see Santa, but Anastasia shook like a leaf. They enjoyed going to the zoo the other night to ride the train and see the Christmas Light Festival. They don't understand that tonight we open gifts, but I'm sure they'll catch on quickly. They don't know what tomorrow morning means for little children, but I'm sure they enjoy themselves when the time comes. Christmas has been more exciting to us this year knowing that we are going to be able to experience their 1st Christmas with them! Especially remembering back and knowing we were getting ready to commit to their adoption this time last year!
Well... the first of the girls has now joined me. I need to go start my day! Merry Christmas to all of you! and... in case you didn't know already "Happy 6th Birthday Sophia" on Saturday, December 26th! It is a big weekend at our house!!!! :)
We made the decision to pull Abby and Romney out of preschool. Abby is going through a 'needy' time and started having problems with not wanting to go everyday. Romney keeps bringing home illnesses. The day I served notice, we received word that the school district is FINALLY opening the special needs preschool class. We plan to enroll Sophia and Anastasia. It is 3 mornings a week. They will receive their therapies during this time. If that goes well, then I will be swapping who is home and who I am running back and forth! I think Abby needs some mommy time though so this is good. We are hoping the preschool will be a good transition before the girls start school next year. We will see...
We have had some progress this month... The girls are settling in, the bullying is slowing down, the smiles are coming more and more. Anastasia is even starting to come out of her shell more and more. She has been the most guarded between the two. We have noticed a big change in her lately.
Both girls are still using sign, but Sophia also talks some (we can understand, but others not as much). Anastasia has had definite improvement with her new glasses. Goes back in Jan to see if she will be able to avoid surgery. Sophia has to have the eye surgery. The cardiologist has given ok on the surgery prior to her heart being repaired. We are going to ENT in Jan though so if tonsils have to come out, they can combine for one procedure. Anastasia had to have her 4 bottom front baby teeth pulled yesterday. She had 2 permanent teeth coming in behind them. She did much better than expected... they didn't have to clamp her mouth open, which is a first. She cried, but that is understandable. She did rather well last night. Looks like the Tooth Fairy came last night. The kids haven't woken up yet to notice. Sophia and Anastasia won't understand what is going on, but the others knew who was supposed to come last night! :)
I am looking forward to the excitement of tonight. We exchange gifts on Christmas Eve at our house. They will get to open everything from us and each other. Shelby, Abby and Romney can't wait another day! If they had to wait any longer, Santa would most likely have one less stop to make! :) Sophia and Anastasia have liked the tree. They haven't bothered the tree or gifts which surprised me some... I guess it helps that the others don't mess with it either. Sophia enjoyed going to see Santa, but Anastasia shook like a leaf. They enjoyed going to the zoo the other night to ride the train and see the Christmas Light Festival. They don't understand that tonight we open gifts, but I'm sure they'll catch on quickly. They don't know what tomorrow morning means for little children, but I'm sure they enjoy themselves when the time comes. Christmas has been more exciting to us this year knowing that we are going to be able to experience their 1st Christmas with them! Especially remembering back and knowing we were getting ready to commit to their adoption this time last year!
Well... the first of the girls has now joined me. I need to go start my day! Merry Christmas to all of you! and... in case you didn't know already "Happy 6th Birthday Sophia" on Saturday, December 26th! It is a big weekend at our house!!!! :)
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Update on Prayer request
I want to thank you for praying for my friend. She has definitely been through it lately. Her heart has been broken. The birth family has decided to keep the little baby boy that she thought she would be bringing home. She is back home and taking some time for herself. Please pray for her as she waits on God's direction for her now. Thank you so much for thinking of her and keeping her in your prayers.
I want to apologize to those of you that posted comments. I came out here to 'Publish' your comments and update you on the prayer request. I accidentally hit the wrong button and deleted your messages in error. :( That is why you will not see your comments on the previous post. I'm sorry!
Another apology... I am back on the old computer since my laptop has died for the 3rd time since coming home in August. This computer is so slow that I rarely use it. I apologize for my lack of posting. I am also on Facebook now so if you are too... look me up. Maybe between the two places, we can stay in contact better! :)
I want to apologize to those of you that posted comments. I came out here to 'Publish' your comments and update you on the prayer request. I accidentally hit the wrong button and deleted your messages in error. :( That is why you will not see your comments on the previous post. I'm sorry!
Another apology... I am back on the old computer since my laptop has died for the 3rd time since coming home in August. This computer is so slow that I rarely use it. I apologize for my lack of posting. I am also on Facebook now so if you are too... look me up. Maybe between the two places, we can stay in contact better! :)
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Prayers please
I would greatly appreciate if you would pray for a friend of mine, Erica. She has been working towards completing a domestic adoption of a little baby recently born with Down Syndrome. She flew out the day he was born and has been with him since. Now the birth family are having second thoughts. Prayers for her as she waits to see what will take place. Prayers that God's will for this little boy is done and his life is wonderful. Prayers for all parties as they go through this difficult time. Prayers for healing wherever it is needed. Prayers for Erica as she continues to wait to hear God's voice to continue leading her on this journey and as she remains open to be used for HIS glory even though that may take her places she had not planned.
Sunday, December 6, 2009
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