Cheer with me, "Red and Yellow, Red and Yellow"

Last year, as we drove to Medieval Times on Thanksgiving Day, Caden called Baba and asked her if she would go with us.  Since they were 1000 miles away, it didn't work out, but she promised she'd try to come this year.  In the fall, they made the decision to stay home to help my Grandma.  After she passed away unexpectedly, my parents decided they needed to get out of town for a few days.  They hopped on a plane and flew here on Thanksgiving Day.  We went to Medieval Times tonight.  It was amazing.  My parents got a kick out of seeing the excitement in the kids.  They yelled right along with us; although, admittedly not nearly as loud.  I think I annoyed my dad a tad :p.  We drank soup out of bowls and ate with our hands, all the while cheering for the Red and Yellow Knight and booing the Green Knight.

Sadly, our Knight died before the end of the show, but our most hated enemy, the Green Knight, was defeated by the champion, the Black and White Knight (who has a special spot in my heart as he was my knight on my very first trip to Medieval Times).  Jaelyn and Caden watched and cheered, but they didn't enjoy the experience any where near as much as Allie did.  It's one of those things I knew I couldn't explain so I recorded her.  Take a peak...

So, anyone want to visit us next year to take part in our Thanksgiving Tradition?  It's lots of fun!!!

Thanksgiving

We are so thankful to have my parents here with us right now.  Yesterday was all about family, food and fun!  Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, but it's been lacking since we've lived in Maryland.  The first year we were here, my parents had to cancel their trip here.  I was sad and didn't want to cook for just us so I made reservations at Medieval Times.  We had so much fun that we decided to make it a new tradition.  Even though it's been fun and different, I've still missed all the cooking and having family here.  But not yesterday.  We had Thanksgiving dinner with all the trimmings.  We had turkey, my Grandma's cornbread dressing, sweet potato casserole (with half crunchy pecan and half  ooey-gooey melted marshmallows), candied carrots, green beans and rolls.

While I was cooking, there were games of boggle and games on the Wii going.

We ate about two o'clock and were so stuffed.  Caden and Jaelyn both ate the turkey.  AND when Caden tried a bite of dressing he said "Yum, that's good."  I almost fell off my seat.  Caden doesn't like anything new and he liked the dressing.  He like it so well, that he took a second and a third bite.  Jaelyn liked the sweet potato casserole and Allie, well, Allie was Allie and she liked everything.

We never got around to pie in the afternoon so about 5:30 when everyone should have been screaming to eat dinner, I pulled out the apple and pumpkin pie.  Everyone had a piece of each plus a dollup of cool whip.  Jaelyn complain that pie didn't make a good dinner.  Where did that come from?  I'm always telling her everything in moderation.  I think pie was a great idea once a year.  Technically, we had veggies and fruit for dinner!  It might just be a new Thanksgiving day tradition.

Happy Kids

'nuff said!

Let the Thanksgiving celebrations begin!

Allie's Surgery

I talked to the scheduling nurse yesterday and Allie's surgery is going to be Tuesday, January 11th.  She's out of school 3 days the following week so she won't have to miss quite as much school.  The biggest complication for this surgery is bleeding so if you could start praying about that now.  Thanks and I'll update more as we go.

Zoe

I don't really want to write this post, but I write about everything else so I guess I should.  I know I wrote about the problems we've been having with Zoe.  In the last month, as long as she's been in our spare bedroom, she has used the kitty litter pan without problem, but as soon as we let her out, she pees and poops in the floor.  As much as I love her, we've made the decision we can't continue.  She's only 4.  That's a lot of years to clean up after her.  There's something in our house (kids or Zac) that stresses her.  We relinquished her to the animal shelter yesterday to find her an adult, single pet home.  They said declawed cats are in high demand so they should be able to find her a new home quickly.  I layed in bed last night worrying about her and feeling guilty about our decision. 

November has just been a horrible month.  I want it to end quickly!

She Graduated

Jaelyn only has to wear her retainer at home from now on.  Have you ever seen a prettier smile on an eight year old?

My Turn to Pull

Dan has pulled out many a tooth, but no one has let me pull one out.  I was started to feel unloved.  Well, Allie's been watching out for me and has been letting me pull on one of her teeth for days.  Her central had dropped down and it was hanging crooked in the center of her mouth.  I couldn't wait to get the snaggletooth out.  Allie let me yank on it Monday night and out it came.  There was a little bleeding and some drama about pain, but it ended quickly.



Allie wanted to take her tooth and tooth fairy money to school to share so she left the tooth fairy this  note.

The tooth fairy left her money (a dollar for the tooth and a quarter bonus for letting someone pull it out) and her tooth.

She was thrilled to get to take it to school to share!

It's a Go!

I took Allie to see the pediatric ENT today.  Here's what she got from the sleep study.  Allie has mild sleep apnea.  It's so mild, that it didn't concern the doctor.  What did concern her was Allie's carbon dioxide level.  She said normal is around 10.  Allie's was 40.  That's not good.  She said to add that with Allie's large tonsils and she would recommend getting them out.  We went over the surgery, but I made it to the scheduling secretary's desk at 4:03.  She gets off work at 4:00.  I'll have to wait until tomorrow to schedule anything.  Allie's excited about "getting to eat ice cream" for two weeks, but I think that'll be short lived.  I've been told it can be a painful recovery.  She'll have to miss two weeks of school.  Start praying, please.

Nasty Nasty Stomach Virus

Caden was sick all day Thursday.  He woke up with a stomach ache on Friday and by Saturday, we thought he was all well.  We had lunch with friends at Chick-fil-a and then he had left over pizza for dinner.  See where I'm going here???  Caden woke us up in the middle of the night with diarrhea and vomiting (yes, at the exact same time).  Ughhh.  Nasty, nasty, nasty stomach virus.  Sunday, he was sick a little in the morning and then again this morning.  I took him to the doctor today.  We looked so sad walking in with our trash can, but I wanted to be prepared.  It was a good decision, because on the way out, I didn't have to tell anyone that Caden had thrown up in their carpet...we used our handy dandy bucket.  Anyway, Dr. K said it's just a stomach virus that is going around and the pattern has been virus for a day or so, a few days of feeling better, and then wham, a few more days of the virus.  I'm  keeping him home tomorrow, but I really want him to be able to go to school on Wednesday for his Thanksgiving Day party.

Letters to Santa

Now that the kids have talked to Santa, they decided they needed to get their Santa letters written.

Caden did a great job.  His writing has improved so much since September.

Allie got very into this project.  Jaelyn, not so much.

We put the letters in an envelop addressed to Santa Claus, The North Pole. Think it needs extra postage?

I Saw Santa

A Santa was at the church bazaar that the girls had a Girls Scout Cookie sale at today. They all asked me if he was the "real" Santa. So they know that all the santas they see are not the genuine article. None the less they told the imposter what they wanted for Christmas just in case he was an authorized agent working for Mr. Clause. Dan again.

Cold and Tummy Virus

Poor little Cade-man.  We both have colds, but his cough is much worse and has been keeping us both up at night.  I took him to the doctor yesterday and he was diagnosed with a cold virus.  Duh!  I could have diagnosed that, but his lungs are clear which is something I can't do.  I'm always worried now that he's had pneumonia once.  Well, he felt pretty good last night.  He went to bed wonderfully, but when I checked on him at 10, he told me he was nauseous.  He started throwing up about 10:30.  His first time was "on" the toilet, not "in" it.  I am not good at cleaning up throw up...bleh. We were up pretty much the rest of the nice between the vomiting and the diarrhea that hit a few hours later.  Caden has spent the day curled up in a ball in my bed watching movies.  The throwing up returned some this afternoon.  Caden keeps asking me for food and is disappointed every time I hand him a saltine cracker.  I gave him a melatonin tonight with the girls in the hopes he (and I) will get a good night's sleep.  Dan comes home tomorrow and I cannot wait.

Thanksgiving

What's the one word that pops in your head when you think of Thanksgiving?  For me, without question, that word is FOOD.  I LOVE turkey and dressing, sweet potato and green bean casseroles, pumpkin pie.  It makes my mouth water just thinking about it.  There's one recipe in particular that tastes like Thanksgiving and that's my Grandma's Cornbread Dressing.  It's super easy and amazing and I'm going to share it with you.  She clipped it out of the Pensacola News Journal years and years ago.  I'll have to ask my mom if there's a time when she remembers a different dressing.  I've had a few mess up making it...one year, the eggs did weird and another year my mom sent me the recipe and substituted tablespoons for teaspoons of pepper.  That was the year my parents made a pit stop at an emergency room on the way home from Atlanta because my dad thought he was having a heart attack.  It was indigestion or maybe acid reflux from all of that pepper.  If you make it, let me know what you think! 

Grandma's Cornbread Dressing

4 cups of corn bread (the real kind, not jiffy)
2 cups dry bread crumbs
3 1/2 cups chicken broth
3 eggs beaten with 1 cup of milk
2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp pepper
1 cup celery, chopped
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1 tbsp poultry seasoning

Saute onions and celery.  Mix all ingredients and pour into  a greased 13x9 pan.  Cook at 375 for 1 hour or until done.

Caden Reading

My friend Jennifer sent Caden two Starfall workbooks.  He loves starfall.com so I knew he'd love these.  He immediately set to work on cutting and stapling the small books together.  It's so exciting to see him really reading.

Sad

Me, my Mom and my Grandma Molly ~ July 2010

The weather is matching my mood.  It's gray and raining.  We haven't had any angry thunderstorms, just more of overcast yuckiness.  I'm sad which fits perfectly.  I know it's normal and that each day will be different and easier.  I live so far away from my family that at moments I can pretend last week didn't happen, that my Grandma will be at the other end of the phone when I call her.  I saw her phone number in my contacts today.  I couldn't delete it.  I hate to think that I won't get to call or see her again.  There are so many questions swirling around in my head that I wish I had asked her.  There are also memories.  I have so many wonderful memories of my Grandparents from when I was little.  My grandma went with me and my mom to Miss Bojangles in the front of Cordova Mall to get my ears pierced when I was 3 or 4.  Grandma had the ultimate green thumb.  She could grow anything.  She loved camellias and I remember going to the Camellia show downtown with her several different years.  I'm glad I inherited my love of plants from her.  Spending the night at their house in Gulf Breeze was always fun.  I thought I was so special when my Grandpa picked me up from Pats on a Friday afternoon.  I also have wonderful adult memories with her.  When we were visiting, she loved for me to come and take her to lunch at The Deli Case.  We'd each get a sandwich and then we'd split a piece of cheesecake.  We always debated whether we should or not even though there was really no question about ordering it in the end.  In recent years, it was harder for her to get out so I'd take lunch to her.  We'd sit in her kitchen and chat about silly things.  My kids loved visiting Grandma Molly as they called her.  She had a big backyard with lots of flowers.  She enjoyed sitting on the swing while they ran around.  They caught a lizard at her house last Christmas and she laughed and laughed as they let it run all over their arms.

This week is American Education and I've been spending time observing in classrooms.  Allie showed me her newest writing assignment today and brought me to tears. 

I already mentioned the flowers, but I didn't talk about the roses.  My grandma loved roses and she had beautiful roses in her yard.  I posted these pictures on my other blog, but wanted to post them here as well.  We chose a spray of cream and pink roses for her casket.  I wish they had been pinker.  She loved pretty pink roses.

My mom's cousins Ray and Lillian sent beautiful Mr. Lincoln Red Roses, her favorite. 

My parents are coming on Thanksgiving Day to spent a week and a half with us.  My mom just needs to get out of town and away from the stress of settling an estate.  She needs prayers.  There's dysfunction and it's taking it toll.  God knows the details.  After that, while have 2 weeks and we'll head to Florida for Christmas.  We just need to get through the holidays and find a new normal.

Where Did I Go?

Hello all!  I'll get back to you soon.  There's a post swirling around in my head. I'm just not ready to write it yet and until I write it, I don't feel like writing anything else.  Our weekend was pretty slow except for a trip to the ER for Dan.  He left and told me he'd be back soon.  The idiot didn't even tell me he'd cut himself or he was going to the hospital.  I thought he was going shopping for my Christmas present.  2 stitches later, he's on his way to Ft. Dix for the week.

Dan's Showing Off

Look at Dan. I gave him a little access while I was gone and now he's going blogger crazy.  He's scoffed at my addiction before...I think he might have caught the blogger fever too! BTW Merry Christmas a little early, Dan.  I hope you love every penny of your Ipad!

iPad Blogg'n Dan again

Seeing if I can blog from the couch using my brand new iPad. Umm just saying that this is quite nice... I can use the touch screen just like a real keyboard...not pecking like I do with the iPhone. Pretty nifty.

Sent from my iPad

Fairy Show

It took me a bit to figure out how to get this video off my iPhone due to the size, but here it is. The Fairy Show...and I think you will agree the performance speaks for itself. Dan again.

The Tooth Fairie Cometh

Well Caden lost another one. He has been asking me to pull it now for several days, but I have been putting it off because last time I pulled a tooth Kelly got on to me because the tooth "wasn't ready yet". Well it came out easy peasy and with no tears. Caden wanted to put it under his pillow tonight for the Tooth Fairie, but I talked him into putting it off a night so Mommy can see the tooth too. Dan Again.

Proof of Life

Here are all three smiling happy children. No duct tape has been used as of yet. Caden got a haircut. We played at Annie's again today and at Chik-fil-a. Odd thing was Jaelyn asked to come home??? I had them in bed an hour early becasue I have still not fixed all the clocks in the house...so they think they are getting over on me becasue I let them play with their DSes in bed. Back to school tomorrow and back to work for me...just two more days and Kelly gets home. Its not that the kids have been bad...its that I'm just not used to it. Dan again.

Hallowen is Good for Something....

After Halloween costume specials! Kelly left this surprise for the kiddos and they are all flying around as I type. My other chores are getting done...Children fed - check. Medicine - check. Cat medicine - check. Cats fed - check. Litter - check. Washing sheets someone had an accident in - working. This is Dan again.

Jared - A 12 Year Old Guest Blogger

This post needs a preface.  My nephew Jared is with us and he enjoys writing on my blog, even though it's for boring people..  We got a good laugh out of his blog.  He is dead on about the unearthly language.  We are a little loopy around here and have laughed till we cried.  Our trip to Walmart was rather crazy and so you know, Sebastian is my mean Maine Coon Cat that lives with my parents.

I personally think blogging is lame and for boring people that have nothing better to do, but I'm an exception to this rule. (Auntie Kelly is also one too, plus she's generous and really nice.) Anyway, I like the noise that the keyboard keys make when I press them so I will continue with this epic piece of literature. Today has been a nice day. I went to Walmart with Auntie Kelly and Grandmama (BIG mistake by the way.) to buy some nice clothes. Grandmama and Auntie Kelly kept on talking really fast and speaking in an unearthly language that consisted of major giggling and strange noises. Normal people would simply let a virtual pet obsessed twelve-year old go pick out his own clothes. But nnnnnooooo. Grandmama and Auntie Kelly had to make it some kind of quest you'd see in one of Dad's games when you hit the last level. They kept on confusing everyone by dragging us around to different clothing sections. They also tried to convince me to buy a very cheesy shirt that mentioned boring people dying. Then later the very special Grandmama and Auntie Kelly decided to leave the buggy behind. Now Grandmama is preaching how fat Dad's butt is and Sebastian is torturing everyone with his demonic ways. It's lots of fun having deranged relatives. <3

Soccer

Last soccer game of the season was today!!! Saturdays are free again. Caden has already listed what he will be participating in next: T-ball, swimming, and Karate in that order.

He had a blast playing soccer and I think its mostly due to the coaches that kept it FUN. No whistle...no shouting. Kudos to them!

Caden got a trophy for all he the hard work and effort he put in to making this season so successful...and so did everyone else.

And props to me...(Dan) on my first contribution to the BLOG. And good nite.

My Grandma

The earliest memories I have of my Grandma Molly are of sitting in a white chair in her tiny kitchen (that seemed huge at the time) on Moreno Street watching her cook.  My Grandpa was a fisherman and she fried the best red snapper and hush puppies.  The holidays are not the same without her cornbread dressing.  I got my bed-making gene from her.  She had the cleanest house and she always made her bed everyday.  Some days, it took her all day long, but she did it.  My Grandma loved the Lord.  She read the Bible cover to cover every year.  This year, she read the books of the Bible backwards, starting in Revelations and ending in Genesis.  She just finished it.

 I was alone with my Grandma tonight, holding her hand, when she went home to be with the Lord.  It was 7:40 pm.  I'd told her it was okay for her to go, that we'd all be okay and we all loved her. I told her to give Grandpa a hug from me and then I noticed she wasn't breathing. We had an angel of a nurse named Julie who stayed with us all afternoon and evening and took such good care of my Grandma.  She checked and Grandma was gone.  It was so peaceful and I'm so very thankful for that.  I'm also thankful that I could be there with her.  People had been coming and going all day.  I feel blessed that I was holding her hand.  I keep thinking of her reunions in Heaven.  The one that makes me happiest is the reunion with her mom.  My Great Grandma, Mary Adeline was her name, died when my Grandma was 13.  That's 78 years ago.  As a mom, I can't imagine waiting 78 years to hug my little girl!  There's a party going on in Heaven tonight, that's for sure!

I don't have details on the funeral.  My mom and her 2 sisters will meet at the funeral home tomorrow to make the arrangements.  Thank you for all that are praying for my family.  We seem to be doing okay right now.  We know she lived a nice long life and we know she's in Heaven.  I'm sure it'll hit in the coming weeks and months in little ways throughout each day. 

Sorry this is a little disjointed.  It's 1 am Saturday morning.  I've been up since 5 am Friday.  I'm a little loopy!!!

Seven Years Ago Today

My thoughts always turn to our daughters and their adoption as we approach Thanksgiving.  I never miss a Gotcha Day (December 1st), but sometimes November 4th slips past me without me realizing.  On November 4, 2003, Dan and I met Jaelyn and Allie for the very first time.  I want to cry thinking about how blessed we have been to get to be their parents.  Life isn't always easy, but I can't imagine my life any other way.

I thought I'd take a trip down memory lane.  Want to come?  This is my journal entry from our first trip to Russia ~

Wow, where do I start? I guess the beginning. Our flight left Atlanta at12:40 last Saturday morning. I was really antsy to get going, so we left the house an hour early (at 9) and then had to sit at the airport for 2 hours. That flight was over-booked and they kept asking for people to take another flight. I was really scared they were going to bump people....but they didn't and we made it safely to New York and onto the plane for Moscow. The plane trip to Moscow was around 9 hours. It was dark the whole way, so we slept on and off. I was too excited to sleep much (true the entire trip). We talked with a couple on the plane who works at the US embassy in Moscow. They told us to call the embassy if we needed any help - that they love helping adoptive parents - it's the highlight of their job. I don't know exactly what I was expecting, but our flight was probably about 75% Russian and 25% American. All the announcements were in English and Russian. Customs in Moscow was easy - we went through the passport control, got our luggage and then went through customs. We had been told to go through the red line and declare our money, but they've changed the laws and you only go through the red line if you have more than $10,000 each. We walked straight through the green line.

When we left customs, we saw lots of people with signs. We started scanning for our name - we didn't see it. That was kind of scary. There were taxi drivers everywhere crowding around us asking us if we needed a ride. Dan went in hunt of our Amrex person, while I waited in the corner with our luggage. I kept looking towards the entrance to the area and finally saw a man rushing up with our name on his sign. Our Amrex guy's name was Val and he was awesome. He had been at the airport the whole time, but when he went to meet us, he realized he left his sign at home. He had gone to make another one. We grabbed our bags and he took us to a domestic flight window to buy our tickets to Samara. We were supposed to pay in rubles (we hadn't changed money yet) so he worked out with the women for us to pay in dollars. We were disappointed when he told us we'd be flying out on Monday night (the day we thought we'd meet the girls), but instead of spending Monday and Tuesday at the orphanage, we spent Tues. and Wed.) Next we headed to his car. I don't know what I was expecting, but he drove a really nice BMW (with seat belts). The drive to our hotel was a little scary. Apparently, just like laws in Russia are suggestions, so are the lines on the road. Yikes!!!! We made it safely though. Our hotel was really nice (the Israeli PM was staying there as well as the British band Ah Ha - remember them). Dan and I were both exhausted. We decided to rest on Sunday and then sights see Monday. Well, it rained all day Monday and we were still tired so we just rested. (Jet lag really kicked our butts).

Val picked us up about 4 on Monday to head to the airport (a different one then we flew into - we saw a total of 3 airport in Moscow and 1 in Samara). At the airport, we met 2 other American families that we traveled with (Scott and Christy, mid 20s from Ohio and Larry and Maxine, 40 something from FL). The only time we were really cold in Russia was boarding the plane to and from Samara. We had to wait in line outside the terminal to catch a bus to take us to the tarmac. They packed us in the bus like sardines (it won't be fun with the kids). Then we waited in line outside the plane as people climbed up the steps. The plane was packed, tiny seats, close together (and encase no one has mentioned it, Russian people don't bath a lot (hope I don't offend anyone), but that flight stunk!!!). The flight was about an hour and a half and then we repeated the bus process in Samara.

Our facilitator, Natasha, met us at the airport and we all piled in a van and headed an hour to Togliatti (we didn't get to stay in Samara at the Renaissance). Our hotel, the Ziguly Hotel, was only 5 minutes from the orphanage, but it was a real Russian dive. One of the other couples had $500 stolen out of their suitcase while we were there (it was their emergency money and it was hidden in their suitcase - someone broke into their suitcase). The 6 of us stayed up late that night talking in the hotel bar/restaurant. The menu was only in Russian and we didn't do very well ordering - boy are we glad we took lots of snacks. I didn't sleep at all Monday night. I was too anxious. I finally got up and organized what I was taking to the orphanage the next morning (donations and gifts). We left the hotel the next morning at 10 to drive to the orphanage. No one slept much the night before. We all kept saying we couldn't believe we were in Russia and about to meet our children.

Now for the part you've all been waiting for...The orphanage was in the middle of some old apartments. It was old, but clean. There were murals of animals painted on the walls. We were led inside, down a few halls, up some stairs and into a big room. We didn't know what to expect (if we'd meet with the director, doctor first or meet the kids). We all just kind of stood around. All the sudden the door opened and their stood a little girl with a huge pink and white bow in her hair (that was the first thing I saw). It was my little Jaelyn. She was wearing a pink dress with white knee socks and red leather shoes. She was beautiful. She took one look around the room and started crying. Her caregiver picked her up and comforted her and then handed her to me. It was an overwhelming moment - I don't think I can describe it and give it justice. I just held her tight and cried. Dan stood and rubbed both of our backs. I'm uncertain of what happened next. It's really a blur to me. I know the other couple's babies were brought in (Christy and Scott, a 10 mo old boy and a 9 mo old girl, Larry and Maxine, a 8 mo old girl) and then the door opened again and all I saw were Gerber cheeks - our little Alexandra. Dan took her. She was also crying. The first day was a little hard because our babies cried off and on ALL day and the others didn't cry at all. I kept thinking "What am I doing wrong." We got out all of our toys. I finally started giving Jaelyn Cheerios and she warmed right up to me. Alexandra just felt bad.

Jaelyn is going to be very head strong. Her caregivers told me she gets mad quickly, but she also calms down quickly. She is a favorite in her room, I'd say and is spoiled. She kept crying at us and we'd pick her up or give her a cheerio. We finally realized there were no tears with her cry. She was working us!!! Just a few hours and she already had us trained to do what she wanted. She would shake her head no when she didn't want something. She says several words already - momma (which of course I loved and I think she actually called me momma a few times), dah, nyet, we heard something that sounds like da da, but she was actually saying die die (probably not spelling it right). It means give me, give me in Russian. She loves her bows. They put bows in all the girls’ hair. They told me if the other girl in her room (there was only one other that I saw when I took her to feed her lunch) has a bow and Jaelyn doesn't, she'll go to her caregivers and point to her head to let them know she wants one. After I gave her lunch, they let me watch as they put her on the "pot." We won’t' be doing that at home yet. I don't know how much she weighs in pounds, but she is a little pudge. You should see her thighs, they are huge. By the end of day one, Jaelyn was very clingy with me. She would sit in my lap or between my legs. One time she wanted a toy out of reach, but she didn't want to leave me. I told her to hold onto my legs and get the toy - SHE DID. I don't know if it's possible for her to understand us that quickly, but she seemed to follow basic commands from us. I took her back to her room the first day and she was happy to see her caregiver. She left me easily, but waved bye to me.

The second day she came in crying. Dan pretty much held her on his chest all morning. I didn't know what the matter was, but we could tell she didn't feel good. About mid morning, I sat on the floor playing with blocks with her. All of the sudden, it felt like her butt exploded (it wasn't funny at the time - I quickly checked my pants because I was sure everything had made it out of her diaper) Thankfully it didn't. My first diaper I got to change was a nasty diarrhea diaper. She had 2 more like that in 30 minutes. They had given her a new fruit that morning - pomegranate. They gave her medicine after the second diaper and gave her a bath after the 2nd and 3rd. After that, she was fine, smiling and laughing the rest of the afternoon. She cried when they took her away that afternoon. It happened so fast that I didn't have time to be sad until afterwards. The caregivers showed up at the door to take all the babies (and they took them fast, without much chance to say goodbye), then we had to clean up the room quickly and head to the airport.

Alexandra came in the first day crying big tears. She was hot and her cheeks were bright red. She obviously didn't feel good. She played a little the first day. She started out in a heavy sleeper so I changed her into a light weight one (the room was hot). I got in trouble because I didn't put socks on her. She did better in the light weight sleeper and she hated the socks. She kept trying to kick them off. Alexandra is doing great developmentally. She is crawling short distance. She is pushing up on her hands and feet. She can sit for a little while without support. Dan and I weren't very good parents a few times. We would sit her up and then turn to talk to someone and she'd fall over when we weren't looking (we have it on video - it's funny). She was a big girl and didn't cry. She liked us to stand her up. I actually walked her across the floor a few times - I would try to sit her down, but she refused. She wanted to stand. I am very impressed with her. She turned 7 months the day we left Moscow. I was mostly concerned the first night that we didn't see a lot of emotion from her. No smiles or laughter. I was thinking it was because she didn't feel good, we were over-stimulating her, or there was another issue we didn't know about.

The second day I really need to see some emotion and interaction with us or her caregivers. And of course, God heard!!! The second day she came in with rosy cheeks, not bright red, on fire cheeks. We got lots of laughs and smiles. We even heard some babbling. It was funny because I said I needed to see smiles and another Mom said she needs to see some crying. Her little Alexia cried just about all day on Wednesday. Alexandra is going to be our thinker. She spends lot of time studying everything. Her eyes are still blue now, but there are several flecks of brown. My guess is that she'll have brown eyes.

Dan and I are so happy with our girls. They are perfect! I miss them already and can't wait to go back. Our facilitator had us sign our set Bs (forms formally accepting the referral that go to court to start the court process) on Tuesday; so we were guessing that something was up. At dinner that night (she took us to an Italian place for pizza for dinner - Italian food in Russia) she was really coy when we asked if she knew about court dates. At first she said she'd tell us the next day. Then she said she'd see us in a month...she wouldn't say anymore. We of course all speculated when we might be back. The second day, we bugged our facilitator's assistant (Natasha was the facilitator, her assistant Anna, stayed with us and translated for the doctor and caregivers) and she wouldn't tell us. Then when no one was looking she mouthed the words "Dec. 1" to me. Later, Natasha came in and she told us our agencies would have to tell us. We bugged her some more and reminded her that she had promised us the night before. So she said our court date Dec. 1st, but it isn't official yet. We have to wait to get the official word from our agencies before we can schedule our trip. I talked with our SW this morning and she had the Dec. 1 date, but also said it wasn't official yet. She told me our original court date had been Nov. 24th. Do you believe it? My medicals expire in 2 weeks, so I have to have them redone, but Dan's are still good. So only one more piece of paperwork.

Now we spend the next 2 weeks and 6 days (we are flying out Thanksgiving morning so we'll have time to sight see a little in Moscow) to finish getting our house together and prepare to bring the girls home.

Saying Good-bye

Things have not gone as we had hoped with my Grandma Molly.  Her kidneys have stopped working.  They tried 2 rounds of dialysis, but it was too hard on her.  She's asked to be taken home and my Mom and her sisters have agreed.  They'll be bringing her home tomorrow.  Hospice will be there to help.  I'm flying home tomorrow to spend 6 days in Florida.  I want to be able to say good-bye to my Grandma in person, not at her funeral.  I'll miss her.  Driving home from the commissary today, I had a good cry.  I always call her on the way home from the store because it allows me to have a good 30 minute conversation with her.  I'll miss those phone calls.

My Grandma is a Christian and I know that I know that I know that I'll see her again someday in Heaven.  There's hope in Jesus Christ and I'm so thankful for that today!

Zoe Issues

We adopted Zoe and Zac from a local animal shelter about 3 years ago.  One of the cats has been peeing in the carpet on and off since the beginning.  I've always blamed Zac.  Well, now I am pretty sure the culprit has been Zoe the entire time.  The kittens we were fostering this summer gave us more than fun cuddles and silly play times, they also gave Zoe Giardia.  If you don't know what that is, it's an intestinal parasite.  She started having diarrhea in the pan thankfully and peeing on the carpet.  We took her to the vet and she spent 2 weeks living locked in our spare room while taking the medicine.  She was fine for a week or so and then she started pooping right outside the kitty litter pan and peeing in the same spot in the carpet.  I went to the vet as a last ditch effort before we found her another home because nothing I had done worked.  The vet put her on an anti-anxiety medicine and gave us some other steps to try and get her using the kitty litter pan again.  She's spent another few weeks in the spare room and so far so good.  She's allowed to come out in the day when we are home.  Zoe has always been a sweet cat, but not very friendly.  She wants to be.  She will sit in the room with us, but she's always a few feet away from anyone.  Well, I don't know if it's the medicine that's chilled her out or being locked away for so long, but she's been getting in my lap.  She purrs while I pet her and takes a little nap before going on her way.  I like this Zoe, but if she pees or poops in the carpet again, she's out of here!!!

PS Please ignore the highlighting.  I can't figure out how to turn it off in the post without starting over and I'm not starting over.

Please Pray for Grandma Molly

My 91 year old Grandma has been in the hospital since Thursday. She was admitted because she felt horrible and had lots of extra fluid in her legs. In the process of getting the fluid out of her, they dehydrated her and had to give her fluids. Now her kidneys have stopped working. The plan (as of this afternoon) was to do a couple of round of dialysis in the next few days to give her kidneys a chance to rest. There are some other dysfunfunctional family issues going on too that I can't really type here. God knows the details though. Would you pray for my Grandma Molly and for my parents who are trying to take care of her and do the right thing when other people are making it very difficult? Thank you!

Parent Teacher Conferences

The first quarter of the 2010-11 school year is over. I had a conference with the childrens' teacher tonight. Overall, they went really well.

I met with Jaelyn's teacher, Mrs. D, first. She started out by telling me how much she loves Jaelyn's personality. I agree. Jaelyn is a hoot most of the time. She told me Jaelyn is trying very hard to be organized. She even asked her teacher for a special sticker for her desk that has a picture of how it should be organized. I heard many of the same issues Jaelyn has had since kindergarten. She's very social. She has trouble listening and following directions. She is easily distracted by things going on around her. Academically, this is the first year Jaelyn will get real grades, but not until the second quarter. For now, she gets the same consistently evident and developing she's gotten all along. Jaelyn is on a beginner third grade reading level, but she is struggling with comprehension. She is also having trouble taking her ideas and transferring them to paper. In math, Jaelyn also seems to not quite get it. I see this at home with homework as well. It's causing a lot of frustration from both of us.

So basically, we are seeing the same issues we've been seeing since Kindergarten, but back then, they said "let's give her time to mature." We have and we are still seeing the same issues. I'm worried that if she stays behind, it'll only get worse, especially with her reading and comprehension. If she doesn't understand what she's reading, then she will struggle in every subject. I talked with her teacher about testing and she is going to set up a meeting which is the first step in that process. It'll include me and Dan, her homeroom, reading and math teachers, the guidance counselor and the principal. It'll be a roundtable to discuss what issues we all see and come up with ideas to help her.

I was concerned about Allie going into the conference, but I came out of it feeling really good about her progress. Behavior wise, we might need to tweak her medicine, but hopefully, after her surgery, good sleep will beget good behavior (I can hope and pray anyways). Academically, she's doing awesomely (is that a word?). She is right on grade level with her reading. I do have some concerns there, but I've seen improvement. Her teacher and I will continue to watch and wait. When you think about it, she's had 1 3/4 years where she wasn't focused at all. We started her on her medicine last April. She's had 4 months of catch up time. I'm willing to give her more on her few weak areas. Her writing is great. Mrs. F showed me the most recent story they've been working on. Allie had a great opening sentence, added lots of details in the middle and wrapped it up really well. I was concerned about Allie's last Math test, but Mrs. F told me all the kids did bad. She thinks it was the way the problems were written. For her most recent math test, Allie scored a 100% on the consistently evident skills and a 90% on the developing skills. Again, we had concerns that she just wasn't getting a few things, but maybe not. We'll continue to watch that as well. Mrs. F loves Allie's attitude. She's happy and always willing to participate in class.

I meet with Caden's teacher last. Miss K loves Caden. He is a sweet little boy who follows directions and is friends with everyone. He's doing great in reading. They will split into reading groups on Wednesday for the first time and Caden will be in the highest group. The gifted and talented teacher will be provided enrichment for the class. I've accepted that my kids don't have my perfectionist, must have an A+ personality, but I have to admit, it makes me happy that Caden is excelling. He's doing great in math too. His weakness is his writing. His teacher was actually wondering why Caden was slow doing his work and now she gets it. He's never wanted to color, draw or write. She showed me his writing from the first week of school. You can't make out any letters other than C-A-D-E and N. He's improved greatly. His writing from last week was 4 lines of 1 long run on word. Neither of us had a clue what it said, but his letters are almost recognizable. From now on, Caden's homework is going to include some simple sentence writing with an emphasis on spacing between words. I will say that he is starting to use stretch spelling. I've been able to read some of his most recent classwork where he's had to do things like write words that start with N.

So that's my report until the end of the 2nd quarter.

Coming Soon

I made a decision and ordered my new camera. I bought a Nikon D3100 and I can't wait to get it. In an effort to learn how to use it and not overload my family blog, I've start a new photo blog. It's not a 365 - that was way too much pressure, but I will possibly use it daily. I just won't feel guilty if I don't. I'll add a link to the sidebar above Jaelyn's blog as well. Feel free to check it out in the coming weeks and months and give me input on my pictures. Tell me what I'm doing wrong and right :).