One Year Ago

On Tuesday, August 12, 2008, Travis brought a very scared little boy to meet his forever daddy.

Quickly, he began to adjust and relax.

For almost a week, they went every where together. (eating, visiting nannies, visiting orphanages)

After 20+ hours on a plane/in airports, he arrived to meet the rest of his forever family.

Life changed. Definitely for the better.We are living happily ever after.

Good News, Bad News

Thursday was a busy day. I schelpped 4 kids to visit Sawyer's school. Of course, Sawyer did NOT want to go. Then we got ready to leave, none of the 4 wanted to leave. After that, we all headed to Walmart to pick up school supplies. No one wanted to ride in the buggy, so I was constantly trying to corral four kids. Finally, Turner wanted in. After that, they all wanted to ride. They wanted to eat at McD's in Walmart. $13 later, they were full.

Thursday afternoon, Judson and I took Sawyer for his follow-up cardiology appointment. It went very well, for the most part. Sawyer was a big boy and allowed them to do the EKG and the ECHO. (Previous visits were more like wrestling a steer to get any kind of procedure done) The good news: His pulmonary pressures are normal, around 16! Remember at birth, they were over 100 and the prognosis was not good. The bad news: He has a 'mass' on his heart. It's in the right atrium around the superior vena cava. (If I heard correctly, sometimes your brain doesnt get all the information the first time around) The cardiologist consulted with fellow cardiologist (the good thing about a teaching hospital) and they've decided it was a 'bleed'. (Aka, blood clot) The good news: It doesn't appear to be a tumor. It also does not appear to be restricting blood flow. The bad news: You don't want it to break off and cause problems. You also don't want it to grow and restrict blood flow.

The preferred method of treatment at this point is 1/2 baby aspirin a day. (To hopefully restrict any further growth and possibly dissolve it) Then we will go back in a month and see how it looks. All other treatments are more invasive. (coumadin, heparin,surgery) I told him about a clotting issue that possibly runs in the family. He didn't seem to think that was it. His best guess at what may have happened: The PIC/PICC line that was inserted (actually twice: at birth and after surgery) probably caused a 'bleed'. It's really hard to know how it happened. We just have to deal with its presence. I really like this cardiologist (and the one he consulted with). I trust his advice. So, off we go to get some baby aspirin.

Always, something, isn't it.

Personality Observation

Look at that face. So sweet and happy. That's who he is. It's the same softness and sweetness I see in the pictures of his birth mother. It's hard not to see her every time I look at him.

Lately though, he's been trying out attitude. He sees this attitude in his sister mostly. The "I don't want to, I'm not going to, hhmph" kind of attitude that really tries your patience. On Turner, it's actually almost comical. He tries so hard to be 'angry', yet he just can't. One very watered down Pat Summit stare and he comes running into your arms all smiles and kisses.

When attitude doesn't work, he tries babytude. (You know what I'm talking about. The "run and purposely fall down and then cry and say you're hurt" trick. Or the "push your big brother and then when he pushes back, fall down and scream that you've been fouled" trick.) That, too, is almost comical. Sadly, it works even less often than attitude. I keep telling him, you have got to come up with new material. Your three predecessors have used up all of those moves. I'm immune.

He is a very good user of the tattle-tale trick. Anytime he hears someone crying (even if he does not know why they are crying), he'll yell, "Ansley did it!".

Thank You Shoe Fairy

We appreciate you returning the sandal. It's mate is quite relieved. How clever of you to leave it in the car, right beside her car seat!

Sincerely,
Ansley's Mom

1st Day

The first day of our home schooling year is behind us. It went well. Judson worked at one table and Ansley worked at the other.

Judson does not like to take a break until he is done. So, I have to 'make' that happen. He also wanted to do more after he was finished with the work I gave him. On his own, he started working on writing in cursive. The problem with that is he wants to write words right away. He is a big picture kind of guy and does not like to practice the little things, like writing letters. What did he do? He practiced writing Turner's name. I guess today, I'll have him practice writing spelling words in cursive.

Ansley throws up smoke screens. She's done this since day one of coming home to us. If she is not perfect or cannot do something, she starts a fight/crying/yelling. (anything to divert your attention away from the actual problem because God forbid we have to ask for help) Today, it was numbers. We haven't worked on them this summer and she could not remember how to write them. 7's were backward and/or upside down. "I can't do it" "It's too hard" "I'm going to watch tv" The excuses and screaming went on for 30 minutes. It didn't get her out of trying, just delayed the activity. I sat her down with paper and she practiced (with my help) and by the end, I heard, "I did it, ALL BY MYSELF".

Hopefully, today enthusiasm will remain high. 179 more days.....(Don't worry, no blow by blow posts for each day, just the 'big' ones)

Dear Shoe Fairy

Please return the sandal you have stolen from my daughter. It is white (or was when it was new). It fits her right foot. It lights up when you walk on it. It's left mate is very lonely without it.

Sincerely,
Ansley's Mom

Last Weekend of Freedom

We start 'officially' home schooling Judson next week. Sawyer starts school the following week. Sometime in between, we have to get him on the school bus and HAPPY about it. ("Can't ride on the bus if he's crying")

Kimmy and Olivia came over and we played and celebrated last days of SUMMER by getting out the HALLOWEEN costumes. We had a great time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's also tax free weekend, so Mom gets some retail therapy. YIPPEE.

Last of the Swimming

For this year....I think.

Judson is trying to overcome his fear of the water. He's getting better. He swam across without putting his feet down. That's quite an accomplishment for him! (Even in 3' water, his fear is very real. I wish I could help him but alas, I had the same fear as a child. Time did help me and hopefully it will him, too.)


Sawyer spent his time jumping off the side and then trying to get back up. He has blisters and a cut on the bottom of his feet he tried so much. When he's done, he gets out of the pool, slaps his hands together and says, "All done". He means it too. Once he's done, he's done! Remember, my whole thing with S was safety. I think we made great progress towards that. (He's now taking a marathon nap! Nice side benefit.)

He went to end but would not jump. It was too 'bouncy'.

(I wouldn't have jumped because it was too dirty. There was a lot of wind last night. The pool was full of debris.)

Sick Little Girl

Abby needs your prayers. You can check out their blog (The Riggs Family Blog) on the right side of my blog. She is battling leukemia and has had a set back.

Dumplings

1,2,3 Freeze (yee, urh, sahn, ?dong?)

learning our colors

Singing! (London Bridge)

Summer's Simple Pleasures

Coming Soon

To a City Near YOU!

BUDDY WALK.

Ours is October 18th. See if there is one near you.

Check HERE to see if there is a Down Syndrome Chapter close to you.
I promise you'll have a great time if you volunteer.

Pretty Good Day

The boys did well swimming today.

They LOVED Disney's Swiss Family Robinson. We watched that this afternoon.

Plus, Dad is now taking Ansley and Judson for a bike ride around the neighborhood. The only one not so happy right now is Turner. He is too young for swim lessons and too young to ride around the neighborhood. To top it off, the only good part in the movie was when they fought off the pirates. I think maybe he's having a "Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day". We are NOT moving to Australia!

Give 'em Back, NOW

Okay, who took my nice, sweet 6 year old boy? The one who said Thank you and Please and kissed me good night and snuggled with me, please give me that boy back. You may have the one who has a smart-allec answer to everything. You may take the one who is bored with everything. This one may have stopped hitting (or at least is doing it less) his siblings but he's also lost his sweetness. Give my boy back and no questions will be asked.

And, if you have taken my 4 year old son and replaced him with a terrible 2 year old living in a 4 year old body, I want him back too.

Post-Placement Report

CHECK. The kids acted well and life is good.

What We Did on Saturday

You will see that no cleaning was done for our post-placement visit. We did manage a monthly Sam's visit though.

Insight

Yes I know I keep posting short posts but the spirit comes over me and I cannot help it.

Tonight I was telling Judson we were going to need to spend some time cleaning up the house this weekend because the social worker was coming on Monday for Turner's 1 year post placement. (Can you believe it's been 1 year almost?) Judson's comment: Did anyone come to visit me when I was born? Mom: No baby, we didn't have a social worker when you were born. Judson: Not even when I was a baby. Mom: Nope.

See the irony in all that? That any body can produce a baby and no one checks up on them. Even if the child is removed, they will spend months and years trying to put that child back in the same home(from which they were removed) while temporarily(forever) housing them in a foster home. Yet, we had endless numbers of FBI/GBI/Homeland Security/DHS checks run on us. (Not to mention the many medical exams and letters written on our behalf and many hours of classroom studies. Oh dont forget the septic tank inspections) Then we have numerous post-placement visits afterwards.

Not offering what should and should not be changed. Just saying, there's an irony about the whole thing that even a 6 year old can see.

Numbers

So, I took Judson to the grocery store with me tonight. I gave him a pencil and a piece of paper and asked him to keep a running total of what we were buying. He was very excited and extremely diligent about keeping up with everything, down to the penny. We even had produce for which we estimated the cost. There was no calculator used in this exercise, nor did Mom help. (Hey, it's Friday. I don't have any brain cells left.) His total: $83.11. The subtotal rung up at the register w/o tax: $83.20. The cashier was quite impressed.

*Can you say: "Like Father Like Son"

What She Said

http://ethiopiaguzo.blogspot.com/2009/06/adoption-is.html

Too Worn Out to Talk

All I've had lately on this blog are pictures. Why? I just haven't had the brain power to write much. This summer is wearing me down, I think. There's a chaos to this summer that has just gotten to me. Now, in a family of 6, there will always be chaos. This summer, though, has been a disorganized lump of days with very few plans. Anyone that knows me, knows, I am not a fly by the seat of your pants kind of girl. I like 'plans'. I live for plans. I NEED plans. What to do to recover from this break we call 'summer vacation'? Make plans!

THE PLAN

1. Start Judson (and Ansley and Turner) on his home schooling August 1st. (now we've done some this summer but nothing PLANned. ) Going to turn in the paperwork this week to make it official.

2. Sawyer starts school August 10th. This should be interesting since we are hoping to get him on the bus and going 5 days a week. He doesn't like the bus, so this will take time.

3. Find a dance class for Ansley. Yes, I let the summer go by without doing that.

4. Find a Cub Scout troop for Judson. (along with his karate)

NOW, I have something to keep me sane, a PLAN to flesh out. In between all that, I'm going to finish the kitchen painting.

Summer Time....

So, how many kids can fit inside a kiddie pool? At least 7! (There was also a sprinkler going but they said the water was too cold)Make sure you slide the bar over to catch the hand on the hip.

Love This Picture

Cousin Emalyn with hairy Cousin Libby

A friend of my sister-in-law (who owns a photography business) took some pictures of the kids.
My kids were VERY uncooperative that day but Libby and Emalyn had a good time.

We're Back......

After a relaxing weekend in LA. (Lower Alabama) We....















Had our pictures made.....(with our cousins)















Rode 4 wheelers......















Had water gun fights.....(Aunt Robyn got caught in the crossfire)















Got to see some young quail, chickens, pheasants....

And Got to play with Baby Emalyn.

Swimming Progress

Funny. With Judson, he's working on getting Judson to keep his head in the water and just come up to breathe. With Sawyer, he's working with him trying to get him to keep his head up so that he can breathe. They are making progress. I'm very proud of both of them.

It's Decided (a load off my mind)

After much deliberation and thought, Judson has finally decided where he'll be going to college. Whew, I thought we'd never get that decided. Now we can start filling out the paperwork. So glad, we didn't wait till the last moment!

Where you ask is he going? Georgia Tech. It meets all of his requirements: Meteorology, Physics, Trig, Math AND most of all, it's close to home and he can still live here. (That's very important when you are 6 years old)

Now, he can fixate on something else!

Happy 4th!

So, we were supposed to have 2 parades and a playdate. We bailed on parade #2. The kids are worn out. It would NOT have a been pretty.

Parade #1 was much smaller and more low key than in previous years. I guess the economy played a part as there are usually many participants from out of town/state. This year there was only 1 band in the WHOLE parade. At least the bag pipe group had drums, as Sawyer LOVES drums. It isn't a parade without drums. Here are the highlights.

Bike Brigade

BagpipesVeterans

Smiles

There were also fezes, cars (mini coopers and corvettes), motorcycles and dogs.

Then we came home and had a playdate/grill out. They played for several hours and are worn out. Therefore, we will be foregoing the evening parade.

Friends + Water = FUN

OK. Not as good as e=mc2 but it's the best I can do.

Conversations in the Kitchen

J: "Ansley, do you even know what e=mc2 means"
A: "No"
J: " It means energy equals mass times the circumference(***) squared, that's kind of hard for a 4 year old to understand"
A: "I'm going to be 5 in January"

***He's a bit confused. He also learned about pi today, so circumference was also on his brain. ***
I did just ask him what the "c" stood for and he corrected himself, saying it was the speed of light. In his mind, "c" should be the same thing from one equation to another.

It's hard being a little man trying to learn everything before you enter 1st grade.
Sunday night, he read this article. He came into the den where his dad and I were watching tv. He grabbed a book and let it drop. He then announced, "That was one Joule of energy".

Guatemala Trip Part 4 (Final Installment)

The Culture

Guatemala City
Antigua, Guatemala

Guatemala Trip Part 3

The Orphanage
(A collection of buildings actually)

The Kids
The pictures on the yellow wall of the kids living in ONE house.
And you say we have enough children....

Guatemala Trip Part 2

The Work

Digging footings for a new building.

Painting 2 of the homes exteriors.

Guatemala Trip Part 1

Randy spent this past week in Guatemala. He was with a group donating their time to work with THIS orphanage. (Click on the word THIS and go to their site) Over the next few days, I'll post some pics of his trip. First and Last
(Impressions)

The Kids

Future Meteorologist

Why the glum look, you ask? See the weather station on its side? That is used to measure wind speed. THERE WAS NO WIND!

Calgon Take me Away

Let's just say, I'm hoping tomorrow is a better day. The current tally (and the night isn't over yet):
"I Love Judson" Ansley 25 times
"I will not hit" Judson 95 times Ansley 25 times.

Hey...look at their hand writing. Pretty good for a 6 and 4 year old. If nothing else, they are on the road to getting a LOT of work on penmanship. The added bonus, while they are writing (at different tables in different rooms) they are not hitting or saying things like "I don't love you anymore". So mom's blood pressure remains low.

Wordless (and Toothless) Wednesday

*smile*

There's a 4 year old in this family who is learning to tread water. His low muscle tone body is quite buoyant to be so skinny. His brother is a bit more timid but is still doing well.

Monday, Monday

Happy Father's Day

Fatherhood

Because not all fathers are like the father you read about in my previous "Sad" post, here is a happier post. This POST is about father hood. It is a very good and realistic read. I got it from the Schlorf's blog. This family, whom I've never met, are very inspirational to me. You see, they are in the process of adopting Louinard from Haiti. From day one of Reece's Rainbow, Louinard was the child I was drawn to. He had a beautiful smile and a sweetness about him. This family sold all their possessions and moved to Haiti to raise Louie until his adoption was complete. Twenty-six months after their journey began, they are FINALLY getting to the home stretch. Awesome family.

To all those fathers out there, hope everyday is a Happy Father's Day for you.

This Makes Me Sad

http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2009/06/rare_prenatal_testing_case_rai.html

LOVE THIS

'When someone shares something of value with you and you benefit from it, you have a moral obligation to share it with others.'

- African Proverb.