Not To Be Left Out

Jaelyn has been working on her own persuasive writing assignment.  I would love to scan it so you can see how awesome how penmanship is getting, but it's easier for me to type it than to edit out the last names.

Dear Dr. C (her principal),

In my opinion, I think Mrs. D (her teacher) deserves a trip to a day spa.  First of all, Mrs. D is always stressed out.  In fact, when she is stressed out she spills her tea.  Second, her JOB NEVER ENDS!!  When we leave she is still here working.  Furthermore, Mrs. D likes peep toe shoes.  She will have extra cute toes after her trip to the spa because they will paint them!  As you can see, Mrs. D would love to go to a day spa.

Sincerely,
Jaelyn

Caden has also been working on his writing.  He still needs work, but I can read it and that's the most important thing.

She is spuke.  She is grompy.  She has a blak hat and blak sunglass  She is vare crepy.

Translated:  She is spookey.  She is grumpy.  She has a black hat and black sunglasses.  She is very creepy.

Long Overdue - The Jaebyrd's Update

What would I do without The Jaebyrd (she still calls herself that)?  Encase you are wondering, it's a family thing.  We spell Byrd with a "y" because I had a great grandfather named Byrd with a "y."   Anyway, Jaelyn has defiinitely had her ups and downs.  I know for sure a lot of her behavior issues are coming from anxiety over moving.  We had stopped talking about it and she calmed down.  Monday, we found out for sure, we talked about it and Jaelyn has had hard evenings the rest of the week.  She's come home "rumbling" everyday from school.  Thankfully, today was a good afternoon.

We started her on a new ADHD medicine two weeks ago.  She's having stomach aches from it, but as her body gets used to it, they are supposed to go away.  It should take another week before we'll know if it's helping her focus.  We go back to see Dr. K in April. 

Have a mentioned what a peanut Jaelyn is lately???  She was 46 lbs and 47 inches tall at her last appointment.  I put that into a growth chart and she is in the 3rd percentile for weight and height.  She's been eating really good lately though because she needs to be 48 inches to ride all the big roller coasters at Busch Gardens.  I'm not sure she can grow an inch in a month, but with the right shoes and hair do, she should be able to squeak by.

On a Whim

I've been known to trim hair a time or two. I remember a day when post pregnancy hormones were surging through my body and I had my mom hack at my hair. She was crazy for agreeing to it, but you don't say no to a sleep deprived mama who's wielding scissors. I held up sections of hair and said "cut."  It's funny now to think about it.  I was insane. There's only been one time that I've attacked my own hair with scissors. It was to correct a horrible hair cut and in the end, I had to pay a second person a lot of money to fix the 2 butchered cuts. Anyway, I say all that to say when someone says "will you cut my hair," my normal answer is "sure, why not?"  I don't know why I'm so lackadaisical about hair when I'm such a perfectionist about other things.

Tonight, Jaelyn asked me to cut bangs.  We worked so hard to grow her bangs out two years ago.  I offered to take her to have a professional cut it tomorrow, but she didn't want to wait (because here's a secret, Jaelyn thinks Mommy does EVERYTHING better than anyone else.  She's wrong of course, but it warms my heart that she thinks that).  I sectioned off her hair and she is now sporting side swept bangs.  She wanted them a little bit longer, but you don't get to be picky when you ask Mommy for help.  She actually said "they'll grow out to the length I want them." 

Perserverence Pays Off

I'm always telling Jaelyn she can do anything, all she has to do it try.  She proved me right tonight!

I think I can, I think I can

I know I can, I know I can

Jaelyn's Update

After meeting with the school staff the beginning of February, I made her a pediatric appointment to talk with Dr. K about her focus issues.  Her teachers filled out evaluation forms and they all said the same thing.  Jaelyn has trouble focusing, paying attention and staying on task.  Dr. K gave us the official ADHD diagnosis that I've been asking teachers about since she was in Kindergarten.  Always before, I've gotten the "she's just social" or "she's just a little bit immature" responses.  It's so nice to finally have teachers tell me that they see what I see and it is becoming a problem.  We started Jaelyn on medicine Tuesday.  It was a rough morning.  Jaelyn doesn't take medicine well and it wasn't pretty trying to get the capsule or the sprinkles, after I cut it open, in her.  It was frustrating because Jaelyn could swallow pills.  A couple of years ago, I did some reading online and you might remember my jello and tic tac method to learn to swallow pills.  I went to the store Tuesday afternoon and armed myself with supplies.

Between the three kids, they swallowed half a container of tic tacs and 3 cups of jello.  Jaelyn worked very hard and I was so proud of her for trying.  She can do anything.  I truly believe she can, but she's scared of failure and refuses to try. 

She's taken the medicine like a champ since then.  She came home yesterday and told me she thought it helped her pay attention better.  We'll go back to Dr. K in a month and go from there.  I meet back with the school March 1st.

A Big First...Sleep Over!

Jaelyn was invited to a birthday party last night and then was asked to stay and spend the night.  She really wanted to go and I've gotten to know the Mom and trust her.  Anyway, Jaelyn was so excited.  I dropped her off last night knowing she'd be fine, but I went to bed missing her.  I wondered if she was having trouble going to sleep or if she missed me. I know it's normal growing pains of letting your kids grow up, but I did not like her being away from me.

Jaelyn did great and came home smiling (whether or not the rumbling volcano appears later from lack of sleep and lots of sweets is another story).  My big girl is growing up and that makes me a tad bit sad this morning.  On a happy note, she did report to missing me this morning and she said my waffles are better than Suzanne's.  Silly girl, it's not like I make them from scratch or anything.  They come out of a box mix!

The Meeting

It's silly that I was so nervous for this meeting, but I was.  My stomach was in knots.  I was sure that the teacher, guidance counselor and assistant principal were all going to tell us Jaelyn is fine and that we are imagining all of her issues.  I'm so glad Dan was able to go along for silent moral support and I do mean silent because he let me do all the talking and when they asked him what he saw, he basically said "What she said..."  Silly man. 

The meeting started with the guidance counselor asking us to tell them about Jaelyn and our concerns.  I had my little list and went down my bulleted items.  Mrs. D, her homeroom teacher, backed me up on every item.  Her teachers are seeing exactly what I'm seeing.  Instead of saying "she's just social," she said "we see attentive issues as well."  Praise the Lord.  Based on a test that's given to first and second graders, I learned that Jaelyn has an average IQ.  I'm not sure how accurate the test is, but I'll take average...for now.  When we looked at her performance, it matches up with that average IQ.  The biggest issues are the focus and organization.  There might be comprehension issues???  Or maybe it's the attention issues.  It's something for all of us as a team to continue watching.  We talked about ADD and ADHD.  It may be what we are dealing with, it may not be.  We are meeting again the end of February at the end of the current grading cycle.  All of her teachers are going to fill out a Vanderbilt assessment for me to take to our pediatrician.  I'm a little leery of medicine because of the side effects and some of the anxiety issues we already deal with, but then again, medicine has made a world of difference for Allie.

Overall, no real answers yet, but it's a first step and I'm happy that the school is receptive in investigating and helping us further!

Our Gotcha Day Tradition

Seven years ago tonight, Dan and I were standing in an orphanage in Samara, Russia waiting to pick up our baby girls.  We had no idea of the adventures and changes our lives were going to go through at the time, but wow, what a ride it has been.  It hasn't always been easy.  As a matter of fact, a lot of it has been down right hard, but God has orchestrated every minute of it.  I am forever thankful that He gave us our girls (and our little man).  The Marriott in Moscow was decorated with beautiful gingerbread houses so every year on Gotcha Day, the kids and I decorate houses.  Dan and my mom joined in tonight and apparently, this is the first Gotcha Day Dan has been home for because he says he's never helped decorate them.  And trust me, I would have enlisted his help if he'd been here.  It's like our wedding anniversary...as long as he was at the main event, the rest is just a bonus (right?).  The kids look forward to this activity every year and this year was no exception.  We had a wonderful time and my Dad was kind enough to play photographer for us.

I dug into my adoption box for the first time and pulled out Russian coloring books and paper dolls to give the kids.  I've been waiting for them to be old enough, but not be too old, to appreciate and enjoy them. 

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?

Her Beautiful Smile

A year ago, Jaelyn had finally gotten enough of her permanent teeth so we could find an orthodontist and fix her cross bite.

It only took about 4 weeks with "Cranky" the expander in her mouth to expand her arch and line her teeth up.



Finally, Dr. G declared her teeth perfect last month and scheduled her debanding for today!



I took a picture of Cranky to show you what's been in her mouth, but it was kind of gross so I won't be posting it. They offered to let us take it home, but "no, that's okay." Apparently, some of their patients do things like put them in baby boxes and make Christmas ornaments out of them. Now, I'm into teeth, but that's a little too far, even for me.

Here's Jaelyn this afternoon. She has a clear retainer that you can't even see. She'll get her permanent one that fits into the roof of her mouth next month.




She's always had a beautiful smile that lights up a room, but now, wow! Gorgeous!

PS If anyone in my area is hunting an orthodontist, Dr. Godwin has an amazing practice. I wish we were going to be here for the long haul so he could fix everyone's teeth!

Amazing Glaze Birthday Bash

Jaelyn had the best party today. She chose to have it at a paint your own pottery place. 4 of her friends came so it wasn't too big. They provided the pizza, balloons, paper products and entertainment, I just had to bring drinks and cupcakes. I loved it. In additional to painting something, Jaelyn also gets this awesome plate that all of her friends signed.

Jaelyn and 2 of her closest friends...they all chose to paint a seahorse and they were silly, silly, silly.

Jaelyn named her seahorse Kiwi. I have no idea why.

Jaelyn's Prize

I love Jaelyn's orthodontist. Dr. G and everyone in his office is wonderful. We especially like one of the technicians, Katie. She's so sweet and always has a joke to tell Allie. Dr. G gives out tokens for taking care of teeth and braces at each office visit. Once you have enough tokens, you can trade them in for prizes. Jaelyn got 7 tokens today (2 for the office visit and 5 for no cavities at the dentist a few weeks ago). That brought her total up to magic 25. She traded her tokens in for a $10 gift card to Toys R Us. Talk about incentive to take care of your teeth. She can't wait to go spend it.

She's still in a holding pattern with her braces while we wait for her laterals to come in. Next month, she'll probably get brackets on them, pull them in line and then it'll just be a few months of stabilizing and she'll get her braces off. I'm amazed at how quickly they corrected her bite.

Our 6th Gotcha Day

I cannot believe it's been 6 years since Dan and I were standing before a Russian judge petitioning to adoption Jaelyn and Allie. So much has happened since then. We've had another child, we've moved 4 1/2 times (that 1/2 was a 2 month pit stop at my parents on our way back from Germany), we've lived through 2 deployments and through it all, we have grown more and more in love with our daughters every single day. Last year I walked down memory lane by posting my journal entries from that time period. This year, I thought I'd take you on a slide show of our 2 trips to Russia. I don't have time to do all the captions now, but most are pretty self explanatory.

To celebrate our Gotcha Day, we'll be making our gingerbread houses like we do every year. I woke up thinking about the Big Macs we ate in Moscow and after our court date....the best Big Macs in the world, hands down. I think we might have McDonalds for dinner as a happy reminder :).

Let Your Little Light Shine

Jaelyn didn't want to tell anyone that she asked Jesus into her heart. She did however want me to tell Daddy, Grandmother and Baba. She especially wanted to keep it a secret from Allie and Caden. Well, 2 nights ago, Jaelyn and Caden were coloring together. I over heard Jaelyn telling Caden that I told her a prayer and she asked Jesus into her heart. She told him he needed to do it too so he could have Jesus in his heart. Caden does anything Jaelyn tells him to do. Next thing I know, Caden is standing beside me asking me what the prayer was. I guess Caden and I need to spend some time talking. I think it's sweet that Jaelyn is letting her little light shine even if it was more of an order rather than just sharing :).

Jaelyn Just Asked Jesus into Her Heart

Last night, I thought Jaelyn was close to asking Jesus into her heart. We've talked a lot about it lately...what it means to be a Christian, what you have to do to become a Christian. With Daddy Doe's passing this week, we had a whole new round of questions about salvation, death and Heaven and how it all works together. Our Bible story last night was Jesus' baptism. We talked about the salvation prayer being private and personal and baptism being the public statement of the personal decision. She and I spent about 10 more minutes talking about it after the other two kids went to bed. I asked her if she was ready to pray and ask Jesus into her heart. She said "Not yet. It's a big thing and I need to think about it some more."

We hadn't spoken at all about it today. While she was in the bathtub tonight, she asked me what the prayer was that she had to pray. I talked with her about it and asked her if she was ready to pray. She wanted to so I asked if she wanted to do it then or later when she was out of the bathtub. She picked right then. She asked Jesus into her heart right then and there, naked as a Jae-bird sitting in the bathtub. I keep telling her she can talk to God no matter where she is :).

Angels are singing in Heaven for her tonight and as Joan said, I'm sure that Daddy Doe is tickled pink to know his passing had an eternal effect on his Great-Granddaughter.

Thanksgiving at Schools

The kids all had Thanksgiving celebrations at school this week. Allie had a "feast" consisting of apples and popcorn in her classroom. She made a thankful tree as s craft project. We've all written on it now and it's the center piece on our table.


Jaelyn's feast was in the cafeteria. She had a lot of "party food" and I'm thankful that she came home and behaved herself loaded down with sugar and artificial food coloring.

Jaelyn with her friend Allison.Caden's party was Wednesday. He told me he had "corn muffins which I didn't like, applesauce which I didn't like and cold water that I did like." He helped Miss Patty make cranberry relish. She said he did a great job of stirring.

Indian Caden with Miss Barb.

Indian Caden with Miss Patty.

Halloween

You all know about my dislike of Halloween and the overload of sugar. It's genetic, passed down from my mom; I can't help it. However, I am all for the dressing up part of Halloween.

Caden was Bumblebee the Transformer for his Halloween party at school. He wanted to be a character from Star Wars, but couldn't decide between a Clone Trooper or a Jedi. Bumblebee was his compromise, I guess. He was cute. One of his friends was Optimus Prime so they were a matching set.

We offered the kids $10 each for toy shopping and a nice dinner out in exchange for not trick-or-treating and then not having to throw all of their loot in the trash. They loved our offer especially since they still got to dress up and Walmart always passes out candy. Jaelyn chose to be a tiger like last year, and maybe the year before that. Now that I'm thinking about it, I can only think of 1 year that she hasn't been something in the feline family.

Allie went as a princess in a pretty red dress out of the dress-up bin. The dream of growing up and marrying a prince is alive and well in Allie.Caden had planned on being a nerd for our Halloween outing, but ended up in his spiderman costume instead. He spent his Halloween money on a new, super cool light saber. It's spring loaded, lights up and makes humming sounds. He's in Jedi heaven.

Jaelyn and Allie being sillyJaelyn spent her money well. She got a Webkinz, a Little Pet Shop Frog, and 3 jungle Pocket Pals. Allie got a new Cinderella Polly Pocket, because you can never have too many Pollys. Disney has gotten smart and painted the shoes on her feet. No more searching through the vacuum canister for a missing shoe.After we got home from shopping and dinner at Ruby Tuesdays, Jaelyn wanted to carve a pumpkin. The weather has been yuck and with Dan out of town, we never made it back to the pumpkin patch as a family. We only had the 2 small ones Caden and I got on his field trip. He wanted to keep his pumpkin whole, so I used my tiny pumpkin. Last year, I bought a Disney carvng kit clearanced after Halloween. I wanted to do Frankengoofy, but he was complicated so I went with Vampire Mickey instead. I had to free hand it on the pumpkin because the pattern was too big...or maybe the pumpkin was too small. Either way, I think I did okay.

In the beginningAll cut out and ready to be lit upGlowing Vampire Mickey - Whhhoooooo

Metal Mouth

Jaelyn got her braces this week. She's so cute with them in. She's requested Tylenol a few times, but overall, she has adjusted really well. Nothing could be as bad as turning cranky. She's expected to have them about 9 months.

A New Admirerer

The same little boy has come and rung our doorbell for the last 3 nights in a row asking if Jaelyn could come out to play. Everytime, we've told him no because Jaelyn was either doing homework or eating dinner. Today, I put the trash out front and I saw Jordan sitting on the curb in front of our house. Maybe he was afraid of being rejected...again. I told Jaelyn he was there and that she could invite him to play in the backyard. I opened the gate and in he came. I'm not sure how I feel about this newest admirerer. I don't think I am ready for little crushes!

Flower Power

Last year, Jaelyn had a poncho that she loved from a hand me down bag. It was too small this year so I found her a similar knitted poncho at Children's Place. I was so proud of myself and I really thought she'd love it. She wore it once before she complained that it didn't have arm holes. The poncho was given to Allie, but Jaelyn still wanted one. I took her to Joanns this weekend and let her pick out fleece material. It was a hard decision and I had to steer her away from leopard and puppy dog boy prints, but in the end, I think she picked the perfect thing. We worked yesterday evening and this morning, she wore her new poncho, complete with arm holes, to school. I think she rocks the whole hippie flower power thing!