Just a quick update...
I got the call back with result of my early screening. This is a triple screen combining the results of the ultrasound (nuchal fold screening), a blood test, and medical history (Like, "have you previously had a child with Down Syndrome?" "Yes.") So they take all of that and come up with odds, basically.
So the nurse called me and said, "The results of your screening are in and it was negative." But I know too much about this, so I told her, no I want to hear the numbers. What are the odds? "Well" she said, "your odds of having a baby with Down Syndrome are 1 in 2800." WOW! With Mabry the test came back at 1 in 200... I really wonder why the jump??? Oh well, who knows. Just glad it looks good! "And your odds of having a baby with any other chromosomal abnormalities are 1 in 10,000." Yep, thats exactly the same as it was with Mabry.
Wow I guess she wasn't kidding when she said it was negative.
Now, because we've chosen not to do any "invasive" testing, not thing is for sure until the baby is born. But I'm definitely glad to know this screening came back looking so good.
And for those that have asked, no, we didn't do the the early screening with Abby. (Or Ashley or Emily). The ultrasounds in which they were unable to detect Abby's diagnosis were just the "typical" 20 week ultrasound and a couple at the end to try and figure out why she was measuring small. (But even in those last few, they weren't even thinking to look for something as huge as Down Syndrome, they were looking for placenta issues, blood flow problems, low amniotic fluid, etc.)
Anyway, at the end of the day, I'm thankful for a baby thats looking healthy. One step closer to meeting this little surprise Spencer. :)
Merry Christmas from the Spencer Family!
We didn't get a chance to send out Christmas Cards this year, but we want all of our friends and family to know that we love you all and hope you're Christmas was wonderful! And have a very happy New Year!!!!!
Without further adieu...
The church Christmas program!
Ashley is in the group to the right, on the front row, wearing the pink hat with the enormous ball! lol Emily is in the group to the left in the black shirt bouncing. :) When the camera is shaking or comes down completely its because I was laughing!! I really thought Emily was going to knock out poor Libby (to her right) with those hand motions!! ENJOY!!!
And then, the Ballet Recital!
(Really sad I didn't get one with Ashley) :(
Abby is all the way to the right of the screen in the first song (this was the younger class). She had some issues with her shoe, bless her heart! But she tried to put it back on and keep going anyway. :) Love that girl. When I put the camera down it was because I was contemplating just going up there and fixing it for her so it didn't ruin the whole thing for her! But I refrained and she seemed to have fixed it. :) At one point (1:48 in the video) she spotted Nana and was asking her if she wanted to come up on the stage. :) She's saying "Come up?" :) SO cute.
In the second group, Emily is the third one from the right (looking at the stage) and Ashley is the eight one from the right (the tall one :)).
In the last group, when they're all together, Abby and Emily are the fourth and fifth ones... and Ashley is way at the other end, but she's a head taller than all of the other girls. ;)
They ALL did an AWESOME job and I'm SOOO proud!!!
(Mrs D'Arcy said something about Abby too, but I didn't get to tape it. :( Her word was joy. :))
Ashley is in the group to the right, on the front row, wearing the pink hat with the enormous ball! lol Emily is in the group to the left in the black shirt bouncing. :) When the camera is shaking or comes down completely its because I was laughing!! I really thought Emily was going to knock out poor Libby (to her right) with those hand motions!! ENJOY!!!
And then, the Ballet Recital!
(Really sad I didn't get one with Ashley) :(
Abby is all the way to the right of the screen in the first song (this was the younger class). She had some issues with her shoe, bless her heart! But she tried to put it back on and keep going anyway. :) Love that girl. When I put the camera down it was because I was contemplating just going up there and fixing it for her so it didn't ruin the whole thing for her! But I refrained and she seemed to have fixed it. :) At one point (1:48 in the video) she spotted Nana and was asking her if she wanted to come up on the stage. :) She's saying "Come up?" :) SO cute.
In the second group, Emily is the third one from the right (looking at the stage) and Ashley is the eight one from the right (the tall one :)).
In the last group, when they're all together, Abby and Emily are the fourth and fifth ones... and Ashley is way at the other end, but she's a head taller than all of the other girls. ;)
They ALL did an AWESOME job and I'm SOOO proud!!!
(Mrs D'Arcy said something about Abby too, but I didn't get to tape it. :( Her word was joy. :))
The fight.
** Jan 14, 2011 Update** Though the seller is still there, the card was taken down! The site posted this article today. :) Small steps. :) Please continue to pray for this seller, that he finds Jesus....
Being the parent of a kid (or kids) with special needs has its challenges... in so many more ways than one.
There are countless things... comments, popular phrases, stereotypes... that are so offensive to me because they're offensive to my children. Ands really really.... REALLY hard to know when to fight a battle and when to give it up.
The mom in me wants to never give up. Fight until its finished. Change the world. Tell people that the "R" word is offensive. Correct people that Abby "has" Down Syndrome; not Abby "is" Down Syndrome. And ya know, those fights are a continuing battle. But every now and then one comes up that you either fight for, or you leave it alone.
Recently a friend shared, on Facebook, a product. A handmade item for sale on the internet that she was appalled to see, as was I. A greeting card that says "Congratulations, your kid has Down Syndrome". And on that card is an image of a young man with Down Syndrome and a word bubble that says "I can count to potato". Breaks. My. Heart. What kind of a sick...... I need to stop there.
So I contacted this seller as well as the site that they are selling through. My email kindly asked him/her to take this card down because it was offensive to me, having two children with Down Syndrome, and in this country, that is considered hate speech. And I thanked them kindly for the hasty removal of this item.
The site has not responded yet but the seller has. I was told that it is not hate speech, that "it's celebratory. Someone could have given you one of these cards, twice!" He went on to say that, "you might think it's in bad taste, but taste isn't regulated here. I will be leaving the cards up." ....Defeat.
So now, do I fight back? Do I keep this battle going no matter how far I have to go to take this thing down? Or do I pass this... lovely person... off as someone who just doesn't get it? The mom in me wants to fight. Hard. But the realist in me knows that taking this card down won't change this person's heart. I've seen too many of the other products on their list, this person is so lost. Every "greeting" card they sell is offensive to someone, in some way. And isn't the heart what really matters? I'm not really concerned that anyone will actually purchase and deliver this card to a new mom in the hospital. I'm angry because even exists. I'm mad that there are people out there who browse this site and think thats funny. But to me, it hurts. So is taking it down going to change anything? Is this seller going to think any more highly of the Down Syndrome community if this card is no longer sold? And the real question: Is raising an uproar going to lead them to Jesus?
I'm not trying to insinuate that I have the answers to these questions. I'm just sharing my hurt with fellow believers.
God, give me wisdom. Show me how You would have me handle this situation. Spirit reveal Yourself to this person that they may come to know You and Your grace and mercy. Change their heart towards your special kids as really only you can. And God I pray that no one in their right mind would buy this card and give it to someone who has a baby born with Down Syndrome (!) but only pass it by in disgust. I pray for the hearts of those who would buy any of these cards, that they too would find You God.
And Lord, divinely direct the passion in my own heart that I would speak and move with purpose and effectiveness. Amen.
Coffee and other drugs
Today I'm having the first cup of coffee I've had in weeks, aside from the occasional hot chocolate from Starbucks. And even that would fight me. (Don't think I didn't consider putting ginger ale in a Starbucks cup just to have something normal in my life. Pathetic I know.) But here I am, drinking my morning coffee out of my "beware the sleep deprived mom" mug as I check my email. So does this mean I'm feeling better? Yes, "better" is a good word.
I'm still on a full dose of Zofran (for you other prego pukers out there who will understand, that means I'm taking 8mg every 6 hours), and I can tell when its getting close to time to take more. A few weeks ago taking Zofran meant that I could keep down water... and some food, if I was lucky... but still felt miserable. The last week or more, being on Zofran has meant that I'm eating what I want, feeling decent (it doesn't help the fatigue, obviously ;)) and functioning a little more normally.
Today marks thirteen weeks, which means this is the last week of my first trimester. And I'm hoping and praying that the end of this phase is just around the corner. While I really want to savor every part of this last pregnancy, I'd also like to be able to savor my food and know I'm keeping it. :) My plan is to start to wean off of the Zofran this week and start to lean on other "tricks" that just wouldn't work with the full fledged upheaval I was previously dealing with.
And hopefully... I can enjoy a daily cup of coffee. ;)
I'm still on a full dose of Zofran (for you other prego pukers out there who will understand, that means I'm taking 8mg every 6 hours), and I can tell when its getting close to time to take more. A few weeks ago taking Zofran meant that I could keep down water... and some food, if I was lucky... but still felt miserable. The last week or more, being on Zofran has meant that I'm eating what I want, feeling decent (it doesn't help the fatigue, obviously ;)) and functioning a little more normally.
Today marks thirteen weeks, which means this is the last week of my first trimester. And I'm hoping and praying that the end of this phase is just around the corner. While I really want to savor every part of this last pregnancy, I'd also like to be able to savor my food and know I'm keeping it. :) My plan is to start to wean off of the Zofran this week and start to lean on other "tricks" that just wouldn't work with the full fledged upheaval I was previously dealing with.
And hopefully... I can enjoy a daily cup of coffee. ;)
Back by popular demand, more random blogging :)
If I were the kind of person who made news years resolutions, mine this year would be to blog more. Its very therapeutic for me. (Which would help explain the recent decline of sanity.) What woman doesn't love to talk? And whats more, talk about her kids! ;) I've said it before, but its worth repeating: this blog is a creative outlet as well as a sounding board. A way to keep family and friends up to date on the happenings of our family and also to reflect back myself. And really my blogging has only tapered off because of some crazy computer issues over the last year. But lo and behold, Jake and I were given a brand-spankin' new laptop for Christmas! *Insert deep breath* It feels so good to have nice computer. And so, back to the more frequent blogging. Or at least, I hope. :)
For now, I've got an idea... one that will eventually end up on this blog. You wanna hear it?
Every year, like many families on Christmas morning, we will try to position our video camera to view as much of the room as possible, so that all of the family can be seen opening gifts. But as our family gets bigger, this is an increasingly difficult task. Last year we managed to get the back of our kids heads and occasionally caught glimpse of a gift. So this year I'm going to do things differently. No camera going during gift opening. And then after the wrapping paper has settled, I'm going to take a few minutes with each of the kids and have an "interview" with them showing the gifts they got... among other things. ;) That way I can look back and really see the personality of each kid, remember the year they got "that" toy, and really capture everyone individually.
So thats the goal. It works in theory, but we'll see what happens. I'm excited about it. :) If anyone has any ideas on how to expound upon this idea... or has any traditions themselves along these lines, I'd love to hear it. Its only gonna be Christmas 2010 once. :)
Speaking of Christmas 2010, the girls had both of their school Christmas performances and they were totally a hit! Absolutely adorable. :) And tonight is the first of the two church plays they're singing in... Jake took them so I could stay home with our squirmy little ones and tomorrow night we'll switch so I can take them and see the play. Jake's parents are here and its REALLY good to have them home, my Dad and Margie came in today and lets just say... we're gonna be snacking on a honey baked ham for a while!!! whoo hooo!!! Thanks again guys! We had a sweet time with them, the girls sure love their Grandma and Grandpa Turner.
And last but not least, I had my appointment Friday and got to see this precious baby on a screen. :) I'm in love. Make that, head over heels in love. I don't care how many babies I have, I'm still completely in awe of God's creation in me. Fascinated that a 3 inch baby can have nail beds. Wow. Anyway, no we don't know the gender yet, though we have been asked by everyone we know. Thats an umbilical cord people, the "external" girl/boy parts don't grow in for another few weeks. :) When we know, you'll know, trust me! :) And the results from the screening won't be in for a week or so. But they did say the ultrasound looked really good. I'll update again when I get the results. Not worried but still praying for good results, obviously.
Well, signing off. Good night family and friends! Much love to you all!
For now, I've got an idea... one that will eventually end up on this blog. You wanna hear it?
Every year, like many families on Christmas morning, we will try to position our video camera to view as much of the room as possible, so that all of the family can be seen opening gifts. But as our family gets bigger, this is an increasingly difficult task. Last year we managed to get the back of our kids heads and occasionally caught glimpse of a gift. So this year I'm going to do things differently. No camera going during gift opening. And then after the wrapping paper has settled, I'm going to take a few minutes with each of the kids and have an "interview" with them showing the gifts they got... among other things. ;) That way I can look back and really see the personality of each kid, remember the year they got "that" toy, and really capture everyone individually.
So thats the goal. It works in theory, but we'll see what happens. I'm excited about it. :) If anyone has any ideas on how to expound upon this idea... or has any traditions themselves along these lines, I'd love to hear it. Its only gonna be Christmas 2010 once. :)
Speaking of Christmas 2010, the girls had both of their school Christmas performances and they were totally a hit! Absolutely adorable. :) And tonight is the first of the two church plays they're singing in... Jake took them so I could stay home with our squirmy little ones and tomorrow night we'll switch so I can take them and see the play. Jake's parents are here and its REALLY good to have them home, my Dad and Margie came in today and lets just say... we're gonna be snacking on a honey baked ham for a while!!! whoo hooo!!! Thanks again guys! We had a sweet time with them, the girls sure love their Grandma and Grandpa Turner.
A little snippet from the school play... it would be nearly impossible to describe which two they are so I'm just gonna hope that you recognize them!
And last but not least, I had my appointment Friday and got to see this precious baby on a screen. :) I'm in love. Make that, head over heels in love. I don't care how many babies I have, I'm still completely in awe of God's creation in me. Fascinated that a 3 inch baby can have nail beds. Wow. Anyway, no we don't know the gender yet, though we have been asked by everyone we know. Thats an umbilical cord people, the "external" girl/boy parts don't grow in for another few weeks. :) When we know, you'll know, trust me! :) And the results from the screening won't be in for a week or so. But they did say the ultrasound looked really good. I'll update again when I get the results. Not worried but still praying for good results, obviously.
Well, signing off. Good night family and friends! Much love to you all!
Tis the season
I've got a long day of cleaning, organizing and list making ahead of me. Because as of this afternoon, life is gonna get really crazy and I probably won't get a breath until January.
Between all four big kids, we have four class Christmas parties, one book exchange, three pajama days (one of which already past), three dress rehearsals, one ballet recitals (that all three girls are in), and four Christmas productions (both Ashley and Emily, two for church and two for school).
Aside from the kids' schedules, Jake preached in "big church" ;) twice this month, hosted a youth group fundraiser/Christmas party- a Chick-fil-A spirit night, a high school outreach to refugee families in Nashville, a Jr High outreach to a nursing home in Franklin (which ended up being canceled due to a random mass power outage, bummer!), and an intense worship night tonight at youth group. (I don't think I missed anything... !)
As for me I'm in a daily battle at home. Amy vs. Nausea. And I'm happy to report that recently I've been winning the battle and I'm only 7 lbs down from my start weight! Not too shabby! Although you wouldn't now that to look at my belly... 5th baby bumps come quick! I've got an ultrasound on Friday... the same Nuchal Translucency screening (or Nuchal Fold Scan) that we did with Mabry. Basically they measure the fluid in the back of the baby's neck to check for the possibility of the baby having Down Syndrome. I'm not too worried about it, just excited for the extra opportunity to see my little baby. :) After that we'll have the big ultrasound in late January... hopefully we'll find out at that one if we'll be blessed with a little girl or boy!
I'm almost completely done Christmas shopping, thanks to the wonderful internet! I love shopping from my couch and having my packages delivered to my doorstep! Its a beautiful thing. ;) I've tried to wrap things as they come so I don't get overwhelmed there. Somehow I managed to muster up the energy through brutal 1st trimester fatigue to tear down all my lovely fall decorations and replace them with Christmas decor! It feels great to see all of these fun decorations finally up. Although we have to keep everything decorated from 4 feet up to keep it out of the reach of 6 ( ...okay 10) busy little hands. And that includes our tree which only has ornaments on the top third! Poor little tree. :(
Last but certainly not least, we've got family coming in town for Christmas! My Dad, stepmom, and "the girls" (their two dogs, Molly and Lucy) :) are coming in to spend the day Saturday! Can't wait to see them, its been months. And Jakes parents are home from the mission field! They still have their place here and are home until after the new year. They've only been in the Dominican Republic for a month, doing some preparation work before their 4 month (I think?) Language immersion. But we're super happy to have them in town for Christmas! And my brother will be at our house for Christmas day, taking a break from his tour schedule! Busy musician. :)
Well, that about wraps up our Christmas season! Now off to my to do list for the day. I know almost all of you have just as crazy of schedules as we do... praying that through the business we are ALL able to enjoy this Christmastime before its over... and remember the tiny baby Savior who came because He loved us so... blessings to you all!!
Between all four big kids, we have four class Christmas parties, one book exchange, three pajama days (one of which already past), three dress rehearsals, one ballet recitals (that all three girls are in), and four Christmas productions (both Ashley and Emily, two for church and two for school).
Aside from the kids' schedules, Jake preached in "big church" ;) twice this month, hosted a youth group fundraiser/Christmas party- a Chick-fil-A spirit night, a high school outreach to refugee families in Nashville, a Jr High outreach to a nursing home in Franklin (which ended up being canceled due to a random mass power outage, bummer!), and an intense worship night tonight at youth group. (I don't think I missed anything... !)
As for me I'm in a daily battle at home. Amy vs. Nausea. And I'm happy to report that recently I've been winning the battle and I'm only 7 lbs down from my start weight! Not too shabby! Although you wouldn't now that to look at my belly... 5th baby bumps come quick! I've got an ultrasound on Friday... the same Nuchal Translucency screening (or Nuchal Fold Scan) that we did with Mabry. Basically they measure the fluid in the back of the baby's neck to check for the possibility of the baby having Down Syndrome. I'm not too worried about it, just excited for the extra opportunity to see my little baby. :) After that we'll have the big ultrasound in late January... hopefully we'll find out at that one if we'll be blessed with a little girl or boy!
I'm almost completely done Christmas shopping, thanks to the wonderful internet! I love shopping from my couch and having my packages delivered to my doorstep! Its a beautiful thing. ;) I've tried to wrap things as they come so I don't get overwhelmed there. Somehow I managed to muster up the energy through brutal 1st trimester fatigue to tear down all my lovely fall decorations and replace them with Christmas decor! It feels great to see all of these fun decorations finally up. Although we have to keep everything decorated from 4 feet up to keep it out of the reach of 6 ( ...okay 10) busy little hands. And that includes our tree which only has ornaments on the top third! Poor little tree. :(
Last but certainly not least, we've got family coming in town for Christmas! My Dad, stepmom, and "the girls" (their two dogs, Molly and Lucy) :) are coming in to spend the day Saturday! Can't wait to see them, its been months. And Jakes parents are home from the mission field! They still have their place here and are home until after the new year. They've only been in the Dominican Republic for a month, doing some preparation work before their 4 month (I think?) Language immersion. But we're super happy to have them in town for Christmas! And my brother will be at our house for Christmas day, taking a break from his tour schedule! Busy musician. :)
Well, that about wraps up our Christmas season! Now off to my to do list for the day. I know almost all of you have just as crazy of schedules as we do... praying that through the business we are ALL able to enjoy this Christmastime before its over... and remember the tiny baby Savior who came because He loved us so... blessings to you all!!
More on Baby Spencer #6
So I guess its time to share more details...
Some people have asked, were we expecting this? Nope, not really. Were we "trying"? Definitely not. Are we excited? Of course! Now, in all honesty, it did take a bit for it to fully sink in... not being something that was on our radar. In fact we were actually making plans to be "permanently" done. But the Lord had other plans and I'm overjoyed to welcome another sweet little one into our family. :)
I'm 8 weeks. Due June 27th. Had my first appointment, had my first ultrasound, saw the baby (just one!!!), saw the heartbeat. And it was fun seeing my OB again. They like me there, I'm great repeat business. :) She gave me a big ol' prescription for Zofran (nausea meds) and here we go. On a pregnancy journey once more.
The nausea has been... well, a lot more than just nausea I'm afraid. :( each pregnancy it seems to get worse... and longer. The longest it lasted was til 20 wks. Oy. I pray this doesn't last that long!! It really can't... at the rate I'm going that means the crumbs on the kitchen floor would be up to your ankles and we'd have to start showering in our clothes just to have a clean outfit to wear. Yesterday I really pushed it and tried to decorate for a dinner at the church (for those who don't know, I do that a lot. A little ministry of mine.) But boy I've been regretting it all day. The house is a wreck, jake had to buy groceries for us and I have ZERO energy. Please please pray with me that this part passes soon. I really need to be able to function. This place just won't run without a Mommy. (Even with a Daddy who pulls double duty!)
Lastly, and I know I've said this before but this time its serious... we HAVE to sell this house. Ya'll know I've never had a problem with kids sharing rooms but this is getting a little ridiculous! And for those who read the recent post about our rooms- micah is back in his room with the window screwed closed and Abby is back in her toddler bed in our room. Not my favorite arrangement but for the sake of sleep, its working for now. So you could also please pray with me that the Lord orchestrates a new home for this growing family!
So there it is. :) Spencer Baby watch 2010-2011. Didn't think we'd be doing this again!!!!
Some people have asked, were we expecting this? Nope, not really. Were we "trying"? Definitely not. Are we excited? Of course! Now, in all honesty, it did take a bit for it to fully sink in... not being something that was on our radar. In fact we were actually making plans to be "permanently" done. But the Lord had other plans and I'm overjoyed to welcome another sweet little one into our family. :)
I'm 8 weeks. Due June 27th. Had my first appointment, had my first ultrasound, saw the baby (just one!!!), saw the heartbeat. And it was fun seeing my OB again. They like me there, I'm great repeat business. :) She gave me a big ol' prescription for Zofran (nausea meds) and here we go. On a pregnancy journey once more.
The nausea has been... well, a lot more than just nausea I'm afraid. :( each pregnancy it seems to get worse... and longer. The longest it lasted was til 20 wks. Oy. I pray this doesn't last that long!! It really can't... at the rate I'm going that means the crumbs on the kitchen floor would be up to your ankles and we'd have to start showering in our clothes just to have a clean outfit to wear. Yesterday I really pushed it and tried to decorate for a dinner at the church (for those who don't know, I do that a lot. A little ministry of mine.) But boy I've been regretting it all day. The house is a wreck, jake had to buy groceries for us and I have ZERO energy. Please please pray with me that this part passes soon. I really need to be able to function. This place just won't run without a Mommy. (Even with a Daddy who pulls double duty!)
Lastly, and I know I've said this before but this time its serious... we HAVE to sell this house. Ya'll know I've never had a problem with kids sharing rooms but this is getting a little ridiculous! And for those who read the recent post about our rooms- micah is back in his room with the window screwed closed and Abby is back in her toddler bed in our room. Not my favorite arrangement but for the sake of sleep, its working for now. So you could also please pray with me that the Lord orchestrates a new home for this growing family!
So there it is. :) Spencer Baby watch 2010-2011. Didn't think we'd be doing this again!!!!
Birthday girls
I'v been pretty behind on my blogging... and posting on fb makes me feel like I'm still sort of in touch with the world, justifying my lack of blogging. But it doesn't. :)
So I'm finally posting about the birthdays of my two little girls: Miss Mabry Ruth and sweet Abby Grace.
Miss Mabry turned 1 last month and had a sweet little party. She's still as bald as could be and so much chunkier than my other babies were at her age, making her look so much younger than 1 to me. Nonetheless its been 12 whole months (13 now) since that precious girl came into the world knocking all our socks off. Who knew what a flirty little show stopper she'd be?! And as every mother ritually says at each of her childrens birthdays, I can't believe its been a year. :) Truly. And with crawling at 6 months and walking at 10, I can't wait to see what feats this little go getter accomplishes in this next year. (Currently she's perfecting a new tantrum, getting positioning tips from her big sister Abby.) ;)
And speaking of Abby...
Abby Grace turns a big 4 years old... today!!! She had a great day at preschool with all her little buddies and hopefully we'll be celebrating with family in the next couple of days. We're saving a great big party for her 5th next year. :) For Abby its more shocking to me that's its *only* been a year since her last birthday, oddly enough. It feels like forever ago that I was driving her into franklin 3 days a week for therapy at NHC. It feels like so much longer than a year that she's been in preschool in Spring Hill. She's thriving and doing so well.
Her big annual IEP meeting is on Friday and I can't wait to hear how her teachers feel she's doing. After her last testing they told me that her general cognition scored so high that if she were even 1 point higher that she would fall within a "typical" range and wouldn't qualify for services! While I'm thrilled she did that well! How does a child with Down Syndrome not qualify for special education? Crazy! Its one of those things where part of me wants her to do her best and show them all how smart and mature any child with DS can be... but on the other hand *sort* of hoping she doesn't score as high so that she can continue to get the therapies that will continue to burst her ahead and give her every advantage. I know that theese are the things that go through the mind of every mom of a child with special needs. (Sigh) We'll see what happens.
So happy birthday to both of my big-little girls. :) You both blow me away and I'm completely proud to pieces of BOTH of you. :)
So I'm finally posting about the birthdays of my two little girls: Miss Mabry Ruth and sweet Abby Grace.
Miss Mabry turned 1 last month and had a sweet little party. She's still as bald as could be and so much chunkier than my other babies were at her age, making her look so much younger than 1 to me. Nonetheless its been 12 whole months (13 now) since that precious girl came into the world knocking all our socks off. Who knew what a flirty little show stopper she'd be?! And as every mother ritually says at each of her childrens birthdays, I can't believe its been a year. :) Truly. And with crawling at 6 months and walking at 10, I can't wait to see what feats this little go getter accomplishes in this next year. (Currently she's perfecting a new tantrum, getting positioning tips from her big sister Abby.) ;)
And speaking of Abby...
Abby Grace turns a big 4 years old... today!!! She had a great day at preschool with all her little buddies and hopefully we'll be celebrating with family in the next couple of days. We're saving a great big party for her 5th next year. :) For Abby its more shocking to me that's its *only* been a year since her last birthday, oddly enough. It feels like forever ago that I was driving her into franklin 3 days a week for therapy at NHC. It feels like so much longer than a year that she's been in preschool in Spring Hill. She's thriving and doing so well.
Her big annual IEP meeting is on Friday and I can't wait to hear how her teachers feel she's doing. After her last testing they told me that her general cognition scored so high that if she were even 1 point higher that she would fall within a "typical" range and wouldn't qualify for services! While I'm thrilled she did that well! How does a child with Down Syndrome not qualify for special education? Crazy! Its one of those things where part of me wants her to do her best and show them all how smart and mature any child with DS can be... but on the other hand *sort* of hoping she doesn't score as high so that she can continue to get the therapies that will continue to burst her ahead and give her every advantage. I know that theese are the things that go through the mind of every mom of a child with special needs. (Sigh) We'll see what happens.
So happy birthday to both of my big-little girls. :) You both blow me away and I'm completely proud to pieces of BOTH of you. :)
Why I can't sleep at night
This might be hard to follow. So you'll have to focus. Are you ready?
We have a three bedroom house. When we had Ashley, we made the back bedroom into her room and the other was for storage and kind of an office. When we had Emily, the two girls shared the back bedroom and the other became a playroom (and a darn cute one). When we had Abby, we tried every combination you can think of between the three girls and the two rooms. When we decided to adopt and had a homestudy, all three girls went to the back room (its the larger of the two), and we cleared out the other for two boys. When just Micah came home, we didn't want him to be alone so it was he and Abby in that room and just Ash and Em in the back.
Still with me? Ok, good.
When MABRY came home, she slept in our room for QUITE a while so we could keep that arrangement. But alas, she needed to be out of the pack n' play and into a crib, so in with the big girls she went. Then we realized, Micah and Abby were not getting much sleep because one would wake up the other around 2am and they'd turn on the lights and play together. Also we were still having some "intestinal issues" with Micah, so between the two problems, Abby needed outta there. So in she went with the girls, making Micah all by his lonely self, and FOUR girls in one room.
So then, Abby started wreaking havoc in the girls' room. She was keeping the girls up at bedtime, which we tried to solve by putting her to bed first and putting all the others in after she was asleep. And then the BIG problem: every day for weeks she was waking up at 4am like it was morning and would NOT go back to sleep. We'd hear: "MABRY!! UUUUP!!" Not cool. We tried SO many things to solve this issue. It was really wearing on the other 3 girls not getting any sleep. We even tried bringing her in bed with us. But because she couldn't go back to sleep she'd toss and turn, flopping her limbs around, beating the snot out of Jake and I. I MIGHT still have bruises.
So as last ditch effort, we moved Abby's bed into our room. Miraculously, she started sleeping through the night again. I have no idea why. Maybe she was so excited to be with the girls that when she would roll over in the middle of the night, she'd see them and want to play? I have no idea. I just knew it was working and if that meant a little white toddler bed in my room, so be it. We all needed SLEEP!!!
Then thursday, I went to lay Micah down for a nap and notice the window was slightly cracked. I assumed Jake opened it and didn't close it all the way. So I closed it and locked it but left the top half of Micah's door (its cut in half, like a church nursery door) slightly cracked so I could watch him. Once he thought I wasn't watching, he took a toy bin and moved it over to the window to try to unlock it. He wasn't quite successful and gave up and went to sleep. Friday while napping, Jake was home and we were in the living room. All of the sudden we see Micah on the front porch!!! NOT OKAY AT ALL. Micah figured out how to unlock, open and climb out of his window.
So now what the heck do we do?????
Clearly we're going to try to find some kind lock for the window but until we do (and there is literally no time for that this weekend) we're having to move Micah to Abby's bed in our room (where we will be with him so he can't get out of the window) and move Abby to Micah's room (because she's neither strong enough nor bright enough {God bless her} to figure out how to unlock and open the window). But Micah (some of you who have kids with DS will understand this) is more active when he's SLEEPING than while he's awake. So my room is filled with the sound of thumping and snoring and blankets rustling and BOOM- falling out of bed. Which as a mom, you know how every little sound wakes you up? I'm getting NO SLEEP in there with that kid. I'm seriously considering moving into Micah's room (his real room) with Abby. Let the snore kings work it out together.
Meanwhile the three girls in the other room, who previously blamed Abby for keeping them up at night are laughing and giggling at bedtime, keeping Mabry up. Now, Mabry is used to this and will usually go to sleep anyway, but all of this leads to one major conclusion:
WE NEED A BIGGER HOUSE. Like, three kids ago.
We have a three bedroom house. When we had Ashley, we made the back bedroom into her room and the other was for storage and kind of an office. When we had Emily, the two girls shared the back bedroom and the other became a playroom (and a darn cute one). When we had Abby, we tried every combination you can think of between the three girls and the two rooms. When we decided to adopt and had a homestudy, all three girls went to the back room (its the larger of the two), and we cleared out the other for two boys. When just Micah came home, we didn't want him to be alone so it was he and Abby in that room and just Ash and Em in the back.
Still with me? Ok, good.
When MABRY came home, she slept in our room for QUITE a while so we could keep that arrangement. But alas, she needed to be out of the pack n' play and into a crib, so in with the big girls she went. Then we realized, Micah and Abby were not getting much sleep because one would wake up the other around 2am and they'd turn on the lights and play together. Also we were still having some "intestinal issues" with Micah, so between the two problems, Abby needed outta there. So in she went with the girls, making Micah all by his lonely self, and FOUR girls in one room.
So then, Abby started wreaking havoc in the girls' room. She was keeping the girls up at bedtime, which we tried to solve by putting her to bed first and putting all the others in after she was asleep. And then the BIG problem: every day for weeks she was waking up at 4am like it was morning and would NOT go back to sleep. We'd hear: "MABRY!! UUUUP!!" Not cool. We tried SO many things to solve this issue. It was really wearing on the other 3 girls not getting any sleep. We even tried bringing her in bed with us. But because she couldn't go back to sleep she'd toss and turn, flopping her limbs around, beating the snot out of Jake and I. I MIGHT still have bruises.
So as last ditch effort, we moved Abby's bed into our room. Miraculously, she started sleeping through the night again. I have no idea why. Maybe she was so excited to be with the girls that when she would roll over in the middle of the night, she'd see them and want to play? I have no idea. I just knew it was working and if that meant a little white toddler bed in my room, so be it. We all needed SLEEP!!!
Then thursday, I went to lay Micah down for a nap and notice the window was slightly cracked. I assumed Jake opened it and didn't close it all the way. So I closed it and locked it but left the top half of Micah's door (its cut in half, like a church nursery door) slightly cracked so I could watch him. Once he thought I wasn't watching, he took a toy bin and moved it over to the window to try to unlock it. He wasn't quite successful and gave up and went to sleep. Friday while napping, Jake was home and we were in the living room. All of the sudden we see Micah on the front porch!!! NOT OKAY AT ALL. Micah figured out how to unlock, open and climb out of his window.
So now what the heck do we do?????
Clearly we're going to try to find some kind lock for the window but until we do (and there is literally no time for that this weekend) we're having to move Micah to Abby's bed in our room (where we will be with him so he can't get out of the window) and move Abby to Micah's room (because she's neither strong enough nor bright enough {God bless her} to figure out how to unlock and open the window). But Micah (some of you who have kids with DS will understand this) is more active when he's SLEEPING than while he's awake. So my room is filled with the sound of thumping and snoring and blankets rustling and BOOM- falling out of bed. Which as a mom, you know how every little sound wakes you up? I'm getting NO SLEEP in there with that kid. I'm seriously considering moving into Micah's room (his real room) with Abby. Let the snore kings work it out together.
Meanwhile the three girls in the other room, who previously blamed Abby for keeping them up at night are laughing and giggling at bedtime, keeping Mabry up. Now, Mabry is used to this and will usually go to sleep anyway, but all of this leads to one major conclusion:
WE NEED A BIGGER HOUSE. Like, three kids ago.
Special Needs night @ Peek-a-boo Playtown!
Attn parents of kids with special needs in the middle Tennessee area!! I just got this email forwarded from a friend. If you've never been to the Peek-a-boo Playtown, check out the website below. What an awesome thing to host this night for our special families. You bet we'll be there! Come join us!
Hi All -
I am reaching out to you in hopes that you may have some contacts with organizations that help families of children with special needs. At Peek-a-boo Playtown we want to begin offering a special evening of play for children with special needs and their families every month, and our first event is Nov. 15th, 5:30-8:00 PM. Cost is $3 for children with special needs, and $5 for siblings. If you know anyone who has a special needs child or who offers services to them, would you please forward this email to them? I would really appreciate it! I have attached a flyer with all the info.
As a parent of a child with special needs myself, I understand the need to communicate with other families facing the same challenges. Sometimes just talking to another parent in the same situation can be hugely helpful. There are times when it's tough to take your child to a facility because other people may not understand your child's behavior, or the environment might not be comfortable for your child. It's nice to have a chance to let your child play and not worry about any of these things. Also, sometimes siblings with typical development cannot attend event for children with disabilities or special needs, meaning families have to split up to provide play opportunities. We invite all family members to attend this event, just let loose, and have some fun.
If you have any questions, please let me know!
Joy E. Nguyen
615-495-4965-cell
Co-owner/Marketing Director
Peek-a-boo Playtown
www.PeekABooPlaytown.com
For all my non-FB, blog reading friends and family, I promise to post pictures from our vacation soon! Actually I'm working on a montage. :)
Hi All -
I am reaching out to you in hopes that you may have some contacts with organizations that help families of children with special needs. At Peek-a-boo Playtown we want to begin offering a special evening of play for children with special needs and their families every month, and our first event is Nov. 15th, 5:30-8:00 PM. Cost is $3 for children with special needs, and $5 for siblings. If you know anyone who has a special needs child or who offers services to them, would you please forward this email to them? I would really appreciate it! I have attached a flyer with all the info.
As a parent of a child with special needs myself, I understand the need to communicate with other families facing the same challenges. Sometimes just talking to another parent in the same situation can be hugely helpful. There are times when it's tough to take your child to a facility because other people may not understand your child's behavior, or the environment might not be comfortable for your child. It's nice to have a chance to let your child play and not worry about any of these things. Also, sometimes siblings with typical development cannot attend event for children with disabilities or special needs, meaning families have to split up to provide play opportunities. We invite all family members to attend this event, just let loose, and have some fun.
If you have any questions, please let me know!
Joy E. Nguyen
615-495-4965-cell
Co-owner/Marketing Director
Peek-a-boo Playtown
www.PeekABooPlaytown.com
For all my non-FB, blog reading friends and family, I promise to post pictures from our vacation soon! Actually I'm working on a montage. :)
Rosemary or bust!
In 48 hours I'll be waking up in Rosemary Beach! I haven't been to the beach in 2 1/2 years nor have we had a vacation at all this year so I couldn't be more excited!! This trip is one huge unexpected blessing. We're going for practically free, staying the whole week with some close friends... what more could you ask for?? (Thank you doesn't seem enough to the people that are making this happen- you know who you are ;))
Abby was only a year and a half old last time we were there... and Micah and Mabry obviously haven't been to the beach with our family... ever! Micah's orphanage (if you can believe this) actually took his grouppa to the beach once a week. They were right on the Black Sea and had a little bus that they would load up and take. They told us that Micah LOVED it. In fact, the very first time we met him he was coming off of that bus. Anyway it'll be really interesting to see how he reacts to seeing the beach for the first time since then.
Ashley and Emily will have to miss a week of school but I feel like we can get away with that more while they're still in younger grades like this. Ashley's teacher gave me a packet of stuff for her to work on while we're there which is actually great, she loves stuff like that and it'll give her something to do.
We're leaving tomorrow after church. Which means I have a LOT of packing to do today. And some serious cleaning out of the Suburban. (If anyone wants to know, almond milk DOES sour when left in a sippy cup in a hot car. You wouldn't think it would, but I can verify that it does. SICK.)
And I'm so happy that I got to sneak up to the hospital last night to meet baby Ben before going out of town. And I have to say- D'Arcy, you KNOW I had to say it!!- :) he had been awake since he was born but while we were up there, I swaddled him up tight and bounced him around for a bit and I got him to sleep for the first time since he was born! Thats good bragging rights for the rest of his life! He's a sweet, strong, hungry, feisty little thing!! And did I mention he's adorable and looks just like Mindy?
So off I go to move some laundry through. And pack. And clean. And pack some more. Please pray for a safe road trip and a peaceful relaxing week! Rosemary Beach or bust!
Abby was only a year and a half old last time we were there... and Micah and Mabry obviously haven't been to the beach with our family... ever! Micah's orphanage (if you can believe this) actually took his grouppa to the beach once a week. They were right on the Black Sea and had a little bus that they would load up and take. They told us that Micah LOVED it. In fact, the very first time we met him he was coming off of that bus. Anyway it'll be really interesting to see how he reacts to seeing the beach for the first time since then.
Ashley and Emily will have to miss a week of school but I feel like we can get away with that more while they're still in younger grades like this. Ashley's teacher gave me a packet of stuff for her to work on while we're there which is actually great, she loves stuff like that and it'll give her something to do.
We're leaving tomorrow after church. Which means I have a LOT of packing to do today. And some serious cleaning out of the Suburban. (If anyone wants to know, almond milk DOES sour when left in a sippy cup in a hot car. You wouldn't think it would, but I can verify that it does. SICK.)
And I'm so happy that I got to sneak up to the hospital last night to meet baby Ben before going out of town. And I have to say- D'Arcy, you KNOW I had to say it!!- :) he had been awake since he was born but while we were up there, I swaddled him up tight and bounced him around for a bit and I got him to sleep for the first time since he was born! Thats good bragging rights for the rest of his life! He's a sweet, strong, hungry, feisty little thing!! And did I mention he's adorable and looks just like Mindy?
So off I go to move some laundry through. And pack. And clean. And pack some more. Please pray for a safe road trip and a peaceful relaxing week! Rosemary Beach or bust!
Home Sweet Home
Well, we're home. Its been about two weeks since the A/C escapades began. And today... the whole unit was replaced. We tried to wait out the last of the summer days... but it got hot. We tried to replace some parts and patch the problem... but it kinda blew up. And in the end, we replaced the whole unit.
And while it was being repaired and replaced, we had to pack it up and head to a friends house until it was fixed. And by "it" I mean 5 kids, all their backpacks, lunch boxes, pillows, blankets, pajamas, sound machine, clothes (for the little ones), uniforms (for the girls), underwear, socks, shoes, ballet leotards, tights, ballet shoes, toothbrushes, diapers, pull-ups, wipes, detangle spray, brushes, hair bands, baby wash, lotion, diaper cream, formula, bottles, baby food, sippy cups, water bottles........ not to mention FOOD or anything at all for Jake and I!! Three times I did this. The first time to Jake's parents' house because they were out of town. Then we went back home thinking it was fine. The second time we thought it might be a while so we went to a friends' house. Then we went home because we were really sure the problem was fixed but after two days we headed back to the same friends' house for a second time. Each time it looked like this:
Packing up to go:
So why must we leave? Why couldn't we just open the windows and turn on some fans? Well... we couldn't open the windows because we have no screens and, for one thing, Micah and Abby wouldtry to climb out of the windows. We even tried putting baby gates on the windows, but any baby gate that isn't "installed" is kind of a joke to Micah. So he'd tear it down and THEN climb out. For another thing, Micah and Abby would throw launch toys out of the windows. If you drive by our house you'll notice a lovely pile of toys still in front of the living room window. I'm still debating rather or not I'm bringing these in. I've told them, "if you want to play with that toy, you probably shouldn't throw it out the window, huh?" Lastly, every mosquito, moth and housefly in middle Tennessee took it as an open invitation (literally) into our house. We filled up 3 fly strips in 1 week. If you've ever seen the fly strips I'm talking about, you understand how disgusting that is. And the mosquito's feasted on my children and it looked as if they had chicken pox. (Abby's still haven't gone down.) We had to send poor Patrick home totally covered!!! I'm sorry Lyndi!
We couldn't open the doors for the same reasons we couldn't open the windows. And we could only put fans in rooms where the children were not, you can imagine why. Which was fine during the day when we could point them from behind our -installed- gates :) but at night, we couldn't leave them in their bedrooms with them, so they'd just sweat to death, poor things. :(
And because hot, sweaty, itchy, irritable children don't get much sleep for school, nor do they do anything but whine all day... its been a tough couple of weeks.
BUT. We have some incredible friends who opened their home to all 7 of us. They shared their beds, their food and their time. They've been friends of ours for a lot of years now. She and I were pregnant with our first babies together, born 4 weeks apart. And now, seven years later, we have a combined 9 children: ages 7, 7, 5, 5, 4, 3, 1, 1, and 11 months. :) I'm so glad to be doing life with these people.
Our greeting:
Going to school:
A typical meal:
This week, we had a few crazy "situations" but all in all, it went really well. We made lots more memories. :) And I'm so thankful that they were there for us when we (as dramatic as this might sound) didn't know where to go!! :)
Lastly, can I boast on my husband for a second? Jake has been incredible this week. Every second he's not at work he's been running kids to and from school (keep in mind we have two in one school and two in another, 20 minutes away, and they all start/stop at the same time), running to the house to grab things we forgot or realized we need, helping with the kids... one day he even had 6 of the kids (which included Micah, Abby, Mabry, and the 1 year old twins) by himself for the afternoon while the rest of us had stuff we had to be at. On top of all of this, Jake is putting on a huge Worship Workshop for our youth group tomorrow!! He's been preparing for this for a while but has been SO busy at work this week getting ready for it. And of course, he's the one talking with the different people we had working on the A/C and dealing with all of that. I don't know how he does it. Really.
Oh and did I mention that in the midst of all this, Abby broke her arm and has a hot pink full-arm cast? Yeah. But thats another post. :) (In the video above, it had just happened but we didn't know for sure that it was a fracture until the next morning. I'll be posting pictures of that too.)
But we're home. Long story but God TOTALLY has provided the money to replace the unit as ONLY He could do... and all my kids are sleeping in their own beds, under the covers, with the windows locked and the air is cool.... aaahhh peace. :)
And while it was being repaired and replaced, we had to pack it up and head to a friends house until it was fixed. And by "it" I mean 5 kids, all their backpacks, lunch boxes, pillows, blankets, pajamas, sound machine, clothes (for the little ones), uniforms (for the girls), underwear, socks, shoes, ballet leotards, tights, ballet shoes, toothbrushes, diapers, pull-ups, wipes, detangle spray, brushes, hair bands, baby wash, lotion, diaper cream, formula, bottles, baby food, sippy cups, water bottles........ not to mention FOOD or anything at all for Jake and I!! Three times I did this. The first time to Jake's parents' house because they were out of town. Then we went back home thinking it was fine. The second time we thought it might be a while so we went to a friends' house. Then we went home because we were really sure the problem was fixed but after two days we headed back to the same friends' house for a second time. Each time it looked like this:
Packing up to go:
So why must we leave? Why couldn't we just open the windows and turn on some fans? Well... we couldn't open the windows because we have no screens and, for one thing, Micah and Abby would
We couldn't open the doors for the same reasons we couldn't open the windows. And we could only put fans in rooms where the children were not, you can imagine why. Which was fine during the day when we could point them from behind our -installed- gates :) but at night, we couldn't leave them in their bedrooms with them, so they'd just sweat to death, poor things. :(
And because hot, sweaty, itchy, irritable children don't get much sleep for school, nor do they do anything but whine all day... its been a tough couple of weeks.
BUT. We have some incredible friends who opened their home to all 7 of us. They shared their beds, their food and their time. They've been friends of ours for a lot of years now. She and I were pregnant with our first babies together, born 4 weeks apart. And now, seven years later, we have a combined 9 children: ages 7, 7, 5, 5, 4, 3, 1, 1, and 11 months. :) I'm so glad to be doing life with these people.
Our greeting:
Going to school:
A typical meal:
This week, we had a few crazy "situations" but all in all, it went really well. We made lots more memories. :) And I'm so thankful that they were there for us when we (as dramatic as this might sound) didn't know where to go!! :)
Lastly, can I boast on my husband for a second? Jake has been incredible this week. Every second he's not at work he's been running kids to and from school (keep in mind we have two in one school and two in another, 20 minutes away, and they all start/stop at the same time), running to the house to grab things we forgot or realized we need, helping with the kids... one day he even had 6 of the kids (which included Micah, Abby, Mabry, and the 1 year old twins) by himself for the afternoon while the rest of us had stuff we had to be at. On top of all of this, Jake is putting on a huge Worship Workshop for our youth group tomorrow!! He's been preparing for this for a while but has been SO busy at work this week getting ready for it. And of course, he's the one talking with the different people we had working on the A/C and dealing with all of that. I don't know how he does it. Really.
Oh and did I mention that in the midst of all this, Abby broke her arm and has a hot pink full-arm cast? Yeah. But thats another post. :) (In the video above, it had just happened but we didn't know for sure that it was a fracture until the next morning. I'll be posting pictures of that too.)
But we're home. Long story but God TOTALLY has provided the money to replace the unit as ONLY He could do... and all my kids are sleeping in their own beds, under the covers, with the windows locked and the air is cool.... aaahhh peace. :)
Micah's Orphanage
Its a very emotional thing to go through my family photo's and select just a few to send back to Micah's orphanage.
Some RR friends are adopting from that orphanage... one family is there now and another leaving in just a couple of days. I've emailed her to see if she wouldn't mind taking some photo's of Micah to give the orphanage and our translator if I can email them right over.
Not only is it very emotional looking back through the last year at how much he's changed, but also thinking about the time we spent there with him... and of all the children who've probably grown as much as he has but not actually changed much... The hopelessness. And loneliness. Imagine being one of those kids watching sweet Mommy's and Daddy's come in, pick out your friend, play with them for a week and then the three of them disappear forever. Jake and I would come get Micah and the other children would run up to us begging us in Russian to hold them. The care-givers would yell out to them no, to leave us alone, that we were "Borysov's {Micah's} Mami and Papi."
And here's Micah now. Running and playing and laughing in my living room. He's been riding the bus to pre-school and he LOOOOVES it. :) On his way out of the bus he tries to push as many buttons and controls as he can before we pull him off the bus; he even tries to pull the big handle that closes the door, lol! Maybe one day he can work as an aide on a special-ed preschool bus. :) And he sure loves his Nana and Grandma. He takes their faces in his strong little hands and gives them a big, loud, slobbery kiss. :) He's also more cuddly with me these days too. When he first came home, he mostly wanted Jake. But now, when he's tired, he climbs up on my lap and pushes his cheek and ear against my mouth so I'll whisper and sing to him. That's what Mommy's do. That's what he never had.
A friend of ours from church recently spoke some Russian to him- we wanted to see if he remembered or not. He did. And he was terrified. He didn't cry but he turned to me with a frightened face and held on for life to my neck. He held on tight but turned back to her and just said "NO!!" over and over. :( Poor little guy.
You're safe, Buddy. We love you. You're ours and we're yours. Forever.
I'm so glad Jesus adopted us. I'm glad we can climb in his lap and feel his breath on our faces. I don't want to be one of the ones left watching others run to Him. I want to be His kid. Loved and thriving.
*sigh* Back to picking out photos...
Some RR friends are adopting from that orphanage... one family is there now and another leaving in just a couple of days. I've emailed her to see if she wouldn't mind taking some photo's of Micah to give the orphanage and our translator if I can email them right over.
Not only is it very emotional looking back through the last year at how much he's changed, but also thinking about the time we spent there with him... and of all the children who've probably grown as much as he has but not actually changed much... The hopelessness. And loneliness. Imagine being one of those kids watching sweet Mommy's and Daddy's come in, pick out your friend, play with them for a week and then the three of them disappear forever. Jake and I would come get Micah and the other children would run up to us begging us in Russian to hold them. The care-givers would yell out to them no, to leave us alone, that we were "Borysov's {Micah's} Mami and Papi."
And here's Micah now. Running and playing and laughing in my living room. He's been riding the bus to pre-school and he LOOOOVES it. :) On his way out of the bus he tries to push as many buttons and controls as he can before we pull him off the bus; he even tries to pull the big handle that closes the door, lol! Maybe one day he can work as an aide on a special-ed preschool bus. :) And he sure loves his Nana and Grandma. He takes their faces in his strong little hands and gives them a big, loud, slobbery kiss. :) He's also more cuddly with me these days too. When he first came home, he mostly wanted Jake. But now, when he's tired, he climbs up on my lap and pushes his cheek and ear against my mouth so I'll whisper and sing to him. That's what Mommy's do. That's what he never had.
A friend of ours from church recently spoke some Russian to him- we wanted to see if he remembered or not. He did. And he was terrified. He didn't cry but he turned to me with a frightened face and held on for life to my neck. He held on tight but turned back to her and just said "NO!!" over and over. :( Poor little guy.
You're safe, Buddy. We love you. You're ours and we're yours. Forever.
I'm so glad Jesus adopted us. I'm glad we can climb in his lap and feel his breath on our faces. I don't want to be one of the ones left watching others run to Him. I want to be His kid. Loved and thriving.
*sigh* Back to picking out photos...
Cooler weather cuteness
Cooler weather is ascending on middle Tennessee and it feels amaaaazing. The kids are enjoying being able to roam free in the backyard without having to break and come inside to cool off (or dry off). I got a few pics of Abby, Micah and Patrick... I tried to get some of them running, but inevitably, when they reach the yard, they scatter in 3 different directions. :) But here's a little cooler weather cuteness...
(Ps. No Micah was not strangling Abby, just givin' some love. :) She's used to it. And no they were not bare-footed to begin with. They each had socks and shoes on but made a joint decision to ditch the shoes AND socks so they could run with bare little tootsies.) ;)
(Ps. No Micah was not strangling Abby, just givin' some love. :) She's used to it. And no they were not bare-footed to begin with. They each had socks and shoes on but made a joint decision to ditch the shoes AND socks so they could run with bare little tootsies.) ;)
These are a few of my favorite things
After 48 hours with Patrick in our home, I don't have much to say except: I love him. :) He has been great!
A few of my favorite things about Patrick:
~the way he lays on the couch and talks to the ceiling. He even points and uses his hands when he's talking. Very serious conversation.
~his forever long eyelashes. When his glasses are off I can tell he has a hard time seeing me but he just tilts his head, smiles really big and bats those adorable eyes!
~the way he says "ah-loo-OOOOOO" for I love you
~he likes my cooking
~the way he and Abby will sit together and shout out the wrong letters when watching "Super Why"
~the way he says a deep throaty "YEEAAAH" every time I ask him a question, as if it were a revolutionary idea. Like "Patrick, you wanna eat?" "YEEAAAHH", "Patrick do you need to go potty?" "YEEAAHHH", "Patrick are you 6?" "YEAAAHHH" I LOVE it. :)
We haven't heard from Lyndi yet but she should be landing in Ukraine right about now! I need to go install Skype on this new computer so Patrick can see and chat with his Mommy. :)
A few of my favorite things about Patrick:
~the way he lays on the couch and talks to the ceiling. He even points and uses his hands when he's talking. Very serious conversation.
~his forever long eyelashes. When his glasses are off I can tell he has a hard time seeing me but he just tilts his head, smiles really big and bats those adorable eyes!
~the way he says "ah-loo-OOOOOO" for I love you
~he likes my cooking
~the way he and Abby will sit together and shout out the wrong letters when watching "Super Why"
~the way he says a deep throaty "YEEAAAH" every time I ask him a question, as if it were a revolutionary idea. Like "Patrick, you wanna eat?" "YEEAAAHH", "Patrick do you need to go potty?" "YEEAAHHH", "Patrick are you 6?" "YEAAAHHH" I LOVE it. :)
We haven't heard from Lyndi yet but she should be landing in Ukraine right about now! I need to go install Skype on this new computer so Patrick can see and chat with his Mommy. :)
Ashley's Memory Verse
Tonight I was going through Ashley's homework with her- part of it being scripture memorization. She's working on the first three verses of Ephesians 6.
A lot of times I'll explain the verse to her and/or read the ones around it. Putting it in context helps her to understand it better and therefore memorize it quicker. It might make her get a word or two wrong (because she's using her own paraphrase) but at least she's thinking about the meaning, which to me, is more important than the difference between "all" or "every". You know what I mean?
Anyway tonight we sat and worked on these scriptures:
1Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2"Honor your father and mother"—which is the first commandment with a promise— 3"that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth."
So as I'm reading it to her for the first time I'm telling her: "It says to obey and honor Mommy and Daddy. And guess what? If you do, there's a promise for you!" To which she got excited and her face lit up a bit. I was thinking- this is awesome, she's learning to obey AND to get excited about the promises of God.
So I said, "It says if you obey your mother and father that it will 'go well with you' and you will 'enjoy long life on earth'!" And her brightened face crumpled up into almost angry frown of disappointment.
"What?!" I said.
"But I don't want to be on the earth for a long time, I wanna go to heaven!!!"
Touché. I think I'm gonna have to agree with Ashley on this one. :)
A lot of times I'll explain the verse to her and/or read the ones around it. Putting it in context helps her to understand it better and therefore memorize it quicker. It might make her get a word or two wrong (because she's using her own paraphrase) but at least she's thinking about the meaning, which to me, is more important than the difference between "all" or "every". You know what I mean?
Anyway tonight we sat and worked on these scriptures:
1Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2"Honor your father and mother"—which is the first commandment with a promise— 3"that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth."
So as I'm reading it to her for the first time I'm telling her: "It says to obey and honor Mommy and Daddy. And guess what? If you do, there's a promise for you!" To which she got excited and her face lit up a bit. I was thinking- this is awesome, she's learning to obey AND to get excited about the promises of God.
So I said, "It says if you obey your mother and father that it will 'go well with you' and you will 'enjoy long life on earth'!" And her brightened face crumpled up into almost angry frown of disappointment.
"What?!" I said.
"But I don't want to be on the earth for a long time, I wanna go to heaven!!!"
Touché. I think I'm gonna have to agree with Ashley on this one. :)
Development Alert!
In all the excitement of the kids going back to school... let us not leave out little Miss Mabry Ruth.
She has decided its time to walk! She's now taking 3 or 4 steps at a time! And she's REALLY proud of herself. :D
I don't have any pictures or video of it yet. So for now I'll just leave you with this cuteness:
Lookin' more like her daddy every day. Little stinker. ;)
She has decided its time to walk! She's now taking 3 or 4 steps at a time! And she's REALLY proud of herself. :D
I don't have any pictures or video of it yet. So for now I'll just leave you with this cuteness:
Lookin' more like her daddy every day. Little stinker. ;)
Patrick is coming
When we left for Ukraine last summer, it was incredibly hard leaving our children behind... for THREE weeks. And then Jake made the second trip which was another couple of weeks. I always say that the travel is the final labor pain of international adoption. Its hard and it hurts. But in the end, you bring home a new little addition to your family. :)
My awesome friend Lyndi adopted her son, Patrick, from Ukraine pretty much the same time we did. For those who already know this story, you can skip to the next paragraph. :) We would sit once a week in a RR chat room and talk about all things Ukrainian special needs adoption. :) Specific, I know, but that's why we needed each other!!! (Ok, ok, sometimes we talked about completely random things that had nothing to do with adoption AT ALL. :)) But at some point I realize, one of the people in this room is from Tennessee. "Thats cool" I thought. Then I find out Murphreesboro. "Holy Moly thats right down the road!!!" Whoo hoo!!! So Lyndi and I met, and we don't see each other a TON but we get together as much as we can. We do have 11 (almost 12) kids between the two of us! But we "had" Micah and Patrick at the same time, I like to say. :)
Anyway, being the amazing mom, RR volunteer coordinator, and general adoption advocate that she is, she's going back. :) She's adopting Fedia. You can read about that -------> *HERE*. :) And Patrick is coming to stay with us while she's gone!
She's already made her first trip. And Patrick stayed with our friend Meredith the first time around, and I secretly wanted to get to watch him then but since Jake was out of the country and I had a CRAAAZY week anyway, that was for the best. But this time, I'm thrilled to be spending sometime with our little Ukrainian buddy! :) Though I might go peek back through Mer's archives to get some pointers, lol. :)
Anyway, I KNOW Micah is gonna have so much fun with his new roommate. Actually, I'm sure that all the kids will have fun with him around.
A lot of times people ask me, "What do you think it would be like if Oleg had come home?" Well, folks, I think I'm about to find out!!!
My awesome friend Lyndi adopted her son, Patrick, from Ukraine pretty much the same time we did. For those who already know this story, you can skip to the next paragraph. :) We would sit once a week in a RR chat room and talk about all things Ukrainian special needs adoption. :) Specific, I know, but that's why we needed each other!!! (Ok, ok, sometimes we talked about completely random things that had nothing to do with adoption AT ALL. :)) But at some point I realize, one of the people in this room is from Tennessee. "Thats cool" I thought. Then I find out Murphreesboro. "Holy Moly thats right down the road!!!" Whoo hoo!!! So Lyndi and I met, and we don't see each other a TON but we get together as much as we can. We do have 11 (almost 12) kids between the two of us! But we "had" Micah and Patrick at the same time, I like to say. :)
Anyway, being the amazing mom, RR volunteer coordinator, and general adoption advocate that she is, she's going back. :) She's adopting Fedia. You can read about that -------> *HERE*. :) And Patrick is coming to stay with us while she's gone!
She's already made her first trip. And Patrick stayed with our friend Meredith the first time around, and I secretly wanted to get to watch him then but since Jake was out of the country and I had a CRAAAZY week anyway, that was for the best. But this time, I'm thrilled to be spending sometime with our little Ukrainian buddy! :) Though I might go peek back through Mer's archives to get some pointers, lol. :)
Anyway, I KNOW Micah is gonna have so much fun with his new roommate. Actually, I'm sure that all the kids will have fun with him around.
A lot of times people ask me, "What do you think it would be like if Oleg had come home?" Well, folks, I think I'm about to find out!!!
Mission Back to school Part 3
Ah the first days of school. :)
This past week was our family's first full week into our new school year schedule. From youngest to oldest...
Abby is doing great! She was a little hesitant the first few days of school. As if she were thinking "wait, I remember this place but what am I doing back here again?" She's in the same class this year (3 yr old, pre-k, special ed) with the same three teachers, each of whom I LOVE. But this year Micah has moved up to the 4/5 yr old class and is no longer with her. I think this is really a good thing. Last year she had a hard time focusing because she needed to "take care" of Micah. :) (Little mommy.) But I'm really optimistic that she will thrive this year. Believe it or not, I think her vocabulary has already increased in the last week and a half!
Not happy in a picture by herself:
So we had to throw in Micah to make her smile: :)
Micah has moved up to the 4/5 yr old, pre-k, special ed class... same room, same teachers as Abby's but on opposite days. And I'm really hoping for a great year for him as well. There is no one in the class that is signing with him, which is a bit of a frustration to me, especially as he is learning more and more at home. But on the positive side, they're really working with him on potty-training. So its GREAT to know my efforts in that area at home are not going to the wayside during the school day.
"Buh, buh, buh, BYE!!"
And Miss Em started Kindergarten this year! My peanut is in Kindergarten. :( I can't believe it. But she had a great week. We've been carpooling with her best friend, Lily. And it blesses my mothering heart to know that as I send my baby off, she's riding with her Daddy, her sister, and her best friend to school and the three of them are walking to class together. :) Thursday I went to a Kindergarten parents' breakfast and it was SO good to really connect and pray with the parents of the other kids in her class. I'm looking forward to getting to know each of these families better through the school year.
Last but not least, Ashley. Who, bless her heart, had an odd couple of weeks. Her birthday was the first day of school, so "back to school" was sandwiched with a family party, a friend party and a school "cupcake party" the very first day of school! And the first few days were great, but the last three were spent at home... with a 100.3 fever. :( Poor thing, she just can't kick this bug, whatever it is. But her teacher has been great, sending home work and stuff for her to keep up. With much prayer, I'm hoping she'll be back on Monday!
And after a long first day at school: :)
This past week was our family's first full week into our new school year schedule. From youngest to oldest...
Abby is doing great! She was a little hesitant the first few days of school. As if she were thinking "wait, I remember this place but what am I doing back here again?" She's in the same class this year (3 yr old, pre-k, special ed) with the same three teachers, each of whom I LOVE. But this year Micah has moved up to the 4/5 yr old class and is no longer with her. I think this is really a good thing. Last year she had a hard time focusing because she needed to "take care" of Micah. :) (Little mommy.) But I'm really optimistic that she will thrive this year. Believe it or not, I think her vocabulary has already increased in the last week and a half!
Not happy in a picture by herself:
So we had to throw in Micah to make her smile: :)
Micah has moved up to the 4/5 yr old, pre-k, special ed class... same room, same teachers as Abby's but on opposite days. And I'm really hoping for a great year for him as well. There is no one in the class that is signing with him, which is a bit of a frustration to me, especially as he is learning more and more at home. But on the positive side, they're really working with him on potty-training. So its GREAT to know my efforts in that area at home are not going to the wayside during the school day.
"Buh, buh, buh, BYE!!"
And Miss Em started Kindergarten this year! My peanut is in Kindergarten. :( I can't believe it. But she had a great week. We've been carpooling with her best friend, Lily. And it blesses my mothering heart to know that as I send my baby off, she's riding with her Daddy, her sister, and her best friend to school and the three of them are walking to class together. :) Thursday I went to a Kindergarten parents' breakfast and it was SO good to really connect and pray with the parents of the other kids in her class. I'm looking forward to getting to know each of these families better through the school year.
Last but not least, Ashley. Who, bless her heart, had an odd couple of weeks. Her birthday was the first day of school, so "back to school" was sandwiched with a family party, a friend party and a school "cupcake party" the very first day of school! And the first few days were great, but the last three were spent at home... with a 100.3 fever. :( Poor thing, she just can't kick this bug, whatever it is. But her teacher has been great, sending home work and stuff for her to keep up. With much prayer, I'm hoping she'll be back on Monday!
And after a long first day at school: :)
Mission Back to school Part 2
Mission School Supplies: Accomplished!!
A master supply list + over $200 + one determined mom =
The top picture is Abby's supplies. I had to buy hers before tax free weekend. Which- pretty much all of her "supplies" were cleaning products anyway, so tax free wouldn't have really applied anyway, lol! In the second picture- Micah's pile is to the right, Emily's pile is at the top and Ashley's pile at the bottom. A teacher friend of mine gave me a few things which was awesome. And I still need to buy Ashley's Adventure Bible on Amazon. Everything else was purchased in one big trip.
Note to self: Don't EVER go to Walmart for school supplies again. What a nightmare! Target was the way. to. go.
And to Wendy Harper, Heidi Weimer, and all you other moms with way more kids in school than I have- my hat is off to you!!! I can't imagine buying for more than four!!!!!
A master supply list + over $200 + one determined mom =
The top picture is Abby's supplies. I had to buy hers before tax free weekend. Which- pretty much all of her "supplies" were cleaning products anyway, so tax free wouldn't have really applied anyway, lol! In the second picture- Micah's pile is to the right, Emily's pile is at the top and Ashley's pile at the bottom. A teacher friend of mine gave me a few things which was awesome. And I still need to buy Ashley's Adventure Bible on Amazon. Everything else was purchased in one big trip.
Note to self: Don't EVER go to Walmart for school supplies again. What a nightmare! Target was the way. to. go.
And to Wendy Harper, Heidi Weimer, and all you other moms with way more kids in school than I have- my hat is off to you!!! I can't imagine buying for more than four!!!!!
Confessions of the Chromosomally Enhanced
An After the Rainbow friend just shared this blog with the group. I viewed it. I cried. And now I'm sharing it here.
Confessions of the Chromosomally Enhanced
The more I read, the more I smile, laugh, and cry happy tears. What an incredibly beautiful family.
Confessions of the Chromosomally Enhanced
The more I read, the more I smile, laugh, and cry happy tears. What an incredibly beautiful family.
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