Thanks Nana

Thanks Nana for the awesome gift.

It feels great to be a big boy now...

and such a BIG gift for me-

the BIG boy.

I was SO happy about my present.

And I didn't want to be taken away from it.

Not even one little bit.

I am getting my top teeth and

I admit it- I have been a little fussy.

But once I saw my big birthday

present... I was happy once again!

I loved it so much that they put some pillows

and a blanket in it. Its just my size.
I like to play in here for hours.

This is the best present ever.

This is the face I made when they

try to take me away from my gift.

"Hmpf!! Grrrr!!!"

I stiffen my neck and throw my head back.

The drool is just an added bonus.

Sometimes I even let Bean sit in my present.

We are really "pottery barn kids" now!

Thanks again Nana.

Your the best.

I miss you and hope you can see us soon.

Love always,

Baby Bear

p.s. I like the chair too.

Emotional down pour

I am not sure what happened tonight. It was a night like most Sunday nights where we are trying to rush through dinner and make sure that everyone has everything that they need for school the next day. I baked two cakes for Bear to have his birthday cake- finally... days late... I was feeling terrible about this but I also knew that he didn't know any different and was happy to have a new toy to play with even though we didn't do the official birthday cake and celebration until today. Some of my children were busy doing their own things and I wanted to get everyone in the kitchen so that we could sing happy birthday and watch Bear go to town making a big mess of his cake. Several of my children acted disgruntled- like they were too tired to deal with the birthday celebration for Bear. They did a bit of him hawing when it came time to stand together to have a picture taken and at some point in hearing my husband tell our son to stop his bad attitude... I lost it.
"I am done. I have had enough."
I gave myself a momentary time out and asked everyone else to do the same. (Except for Bean and Bear of course who didn't really understand what was going on they just knew that they were going to have a delay in getting the sweet cake mess started!)
I laid in my bed and had a good long cry. I cried about feeling that my children are selfish at times. I cried because I wish that I could be more selfish at times about some things. I cried because I know that they are the most giving children ever but just struggle like "normal" pre teens etc. I cried because I know that I made them feel badly- just as they made me feel badly. I cried because I had anger with God and with so many people about Isaac waiting in Haiti. I cried about all those bowls of ice cream I ate. I cried about all the bowls of ice cream that Isaac didn't get to eat. I cried about another birthday song about to be sung without my family complete, without my son home. I cried because I was a naysayer at times thinking that Isaac would never get to this point in the adoption. I cried because God had told me all along that he would come home and even though I knew that in my heart it still feels far away! I cried because of the years that have passed and the dynamics that have changed in our family and the time that I know would have been different for everyone with bonding and Isaac's life if he were home sooner. I cried because I don't want to feel pissed anymore. I cried because I have anxiety that there will be another delay. I cried because of the moments I missed with my son. I cried about thinking that someday at some point he would have to produce his baby picture for a school assignment and the picture will be one where he was living in an orphanage without his family. I cried thinking about him explaining that to his friends as a 15 year old. I cried harder when my husband came and put his arms around me. I sobbed because it hardly made me feel any better. It hardly made me feel any better because I have been lugging around a one hundred pound pack on my back for many many months now and it hurts like hell. I cry now because I am so dramatic sometimes and I don't know why I can't just see the bright side of things and let all this go. Maybe the tears, the frustration, the worries are being let go in my writing this... ?

I am going to bed now to pray. Cake pictures coming soon. :)

Thanks And Joy

Thanks and Joy

How do I say Thank You?

Thank you to parents who were balanced

and giving and honest. Who taught me love

unconditional- and that kindness is the greatest gift of all.

Thank you to siblings who love me despite

my shortcomings and support me no matter what.

Who make me laugh and bring me pure joy.

To children who love me, who teach me,

who play on "my" team.

To a husband who "puts up" with even my worst

moments and doesn't mind waiting in line for

me ever- even at Target on black Friday.

Then pays for my purchases with cash

and gives me a foot rub when we are done.

I am so glad to be your princess and that

your not letting me believe I'm "just a wife".

To friends who never give up being there for me

even with my busy life and my little amount

of reciprocated friendship. Who understand

why I whine and cry and can be needy at times.

And are still grateful for the tiny bits I can return.

To a church that welcomes US all with open

arms and lifts us closer to God. Who truly shows

what being a Christian means and do so ALL of the

time through actions more than just words. They live

in HIS word instead of preaching it. And that has

blessed our lives beyond measure having a church

to call "home" and feel that way too.

For having just enough of everything

all of the time consistently.

For the people in Haiti who inspire me

and the people in Haiti who love my son.

To all of you, my friends, who pray for us

lift us up and support us with your kind words.

To Kathy C. who has shown me what patience

means and who I will pray for daily and

hope you will too. The adoption of her two children

from Haiti has taken just a ridiculous amount of time.

She has been a steadfast support to so many

people and even started a prayer chain for all

our children. Please pray for them.

To my dear lovely MAT co-workers, volunteers, prayer

partners and host families who

I adore and am so blessed to be "on this ride" with.

and how do I say thanks to having moments

of pure peace everlasting here on earth over

and over again especially during the past 72 hours?

Particularly the moment when I read the email...

that told me Isaac is out of MOI.

HE IS OUT.

Thanks and Joy

just don't seem words enough

for the BLISS and PEACE

we are feeling...

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Tomorrow

Tomorrow is a big day for us.
Tomorrow it will have been two years since Ella passed away.
If you weren't reading our blog when we were blessed with the wonderful gift of six months with Ella- go back here to read more and here about that tragic day for so many- two years ago.
Tomorrow we are letting the kids miss school. Tomorrow we are concentrating on family, togetherness, thankfulness, prayer and JOY. Tomorrow we will spend some time looking back through the pictures and the posts on this blog about Ella. (I am so thankful for the blog because our back up drive with ALL of Ella's pictures crashed a few weeks ago. I am so thankful that I took the time to write!) Tomorrow I ask you all to please pray for Ella's family in Haiti.
Tomorrow is also Bear's first birthday. Tomorrow is the day that God gave Bear his birthday and now we have new memories and new reasons to not find only sadness in the 25th of November. Tomorrow is a new day and the reason why we have JOY is because of two babies- both with Spina Bifida- with two very different outcomes- who both welcomed our love with open hearts and who both gave of their love- to us- unconditionally. Both babies who had strength beyond reason and who showed us that miracles do happen and that the divide between geographical locations is so very small. Two babies who mean the world to me, to us, to so many who were touched by their loving spirits and touched by their stories.
We will celebrate Bear's first birthday this weekend officially. And tomorrow- we will reflect and make new memories of a fateful and blessed day.

Monday weekend recap

*Last week we had a beautiful rainbow. Angeline was so excited to see the rainbow and she was so sad when the rainbow went away. She didn't understand why it wouldn't stay forever and she has been asking for a new rainbow ever since. We tried to explain to her that rainbows are just a gift that comes for a little bit and then they go away but their memory lasts forever. There are many "things" and "people" in life like that- here for a moment and gone the next- a momentary gift that lasts in our memories. This rainbow was particularly beautiful and we could even see the other side of it- almost both ends of it. The picture is off our back deck- the view from the front yard was just as spectacular.
*Bear has continued to have some serious breathing issues. He was put on steroids to try to clear things up and is on the mend- but still requiring more breathing treatments than "normal". He is "over" wearing the casts and is really trying hard to be able to move around on the floor but they are so heavy and awkward that he isn't able to move around much at all. Next week is his first follow up appointment and we are praying for short, smaller casts for Bear and NO skin breakdown.
*Over the weekend it was more quiet than normal with three children gone at a church retreat. They had a fantastic time by the way but are all very exhausted and had a hard time waking up for school today. The rest of us spent the weekend baking for a fundraiser for Mercy, going to the bouncy house place, catching up on housework, doing some painting/redecorating, watching movies, exercising and keeping up on Bears breathing treatments. Quiet, productive and nice.
*We had no news on Isaac last week but we are really praying to hear something this week. I had a moment over the weekend as I was planning out black Friday shopping in my mind what I want to give to Isaac for Christmas this year. I realized that if he isn't going to be with us for Christmas that we need to mail something soon. Its that time of year again and I can't really fathom that we might be spending the FOURTH year without our son here at home with us. I am tempted to just put his gifts under the tree and wait for Christmas for when he gets home. I miss my son so much- there are no words to explain how it really feels. "life is so full but so empty at the same time"
*Hubby's work has a possible job coming in that they will find out about tomorrow so he may only be off for the next few weeks. We are thankful for that- but also realizing that we need to be sure we are utilizing this time to enjoy life and do things all together as much as possible. Praying for steady work after the New Year! OK so there was also a part of me that kept thinking that it would be just like God to orchestrate the perfect timing for my husband to be off work and Isaac coming home. Having Dad here at home full time for the first weeks that Isaac was here would be incredible. Is it too late to hold out hope for that? I am not sure.
*Today we are back from the workout- everyone off to school- Bear getting ready for his day- OT coming to work with Bear- kids have early release from school- Mom has four parent teacher conferences- Dad has to go talk to someone about "the job"- seven children have swine flu vaccines- and laundry needs to get done somewhere in there. Plus I want to clean and put away some of the more "baby" toys because Bear is SO over the baby toys already!
I suppose I should get busy- be sure to check out the MAT blog today because we have an Emmanuella update.
Be blessed today.

2:30am

UPDATED 6am:

WE are HOME.

We are tired.

We are SO glad we went!

Normally I wouldn't initiate the 3am showing of ANY movie ever.

But three of my children (Grace, Sophie and Cole) are going away

after school today for a weekend church retreat. So it was the middle

of the night- or next week. And who wants to wait until next week?

NOT US!

So when we arrived at the mall for the movie we saw a HUGE line wrapping all the way around the food court. We thought- "Thank goodness we already bought our tickets online! Those people must be waiting to buy tickets."

Not so.

They were waiting in line for them to start letting people into the theatres. (There was more than one showing of it at the same time- basically they were going to take up as many theatres as five with this one movie- its that big of a deal.) The thing that really 'got me' was that the group of folks in the front of the line was quick to point out to us when we walked through the door that the line was "way back there". They told us that they had arrived at 1:15 and acted as if we should have known there was going to be a big line for the 3am showing. The real clincher here is that these folks were definitely in the "over 70 years old" crowd.

Call me a die hard fan?

I think not. Not at least compared to these folks. I was truthfully surprised at the wide range of people that were out in the middle of the night to see this movie. That was exciting and scary both at the same time.

So we were in the last group of people permitted to enter a theatre. They searched every ones bags for contraband (video cameras, weapons or snacks). This was the first time I had ever experienced someone riffling through my purse to see a movie. I might have said to the guy... "its so strange having some random guy touch my tampons." There are some moments that I can't even help myself but to let my mouth flap in the wind- especially at 3am when I have waited behind 200 people to see a movie.

We then found our seats- on the side and near the front. The crowd was rowdy and loud. They had lots of previews and I never thought anyone would settle down enough to hear the movie. But as soon as the large moon took over the screen- a hush covered the packed house.

Oh my. That Jacob- he is too sexy in this movie- and really clarified why some of us are on Team Jacob. All the ladies screamed with delight when he appeared without his shirt on. The boy has some serious muscles. And I must say that seeing Edward without his shirt after seeing Jacob without his was a pure disappointment. He looked thin, pale and cold like a Popsicle. There was some "cheesy" parts but overall it was really a good movie. I thought that they did a great job with the wolves and with the Italy scenes. (If you haven't read the books YOU really need to.)

Apparently most of the audience hadn't read the books because at the end they were all screaming at the cliff hanger that I knew was coming...

We can't wait for the next one!

Headed out.

With a friend, my sister, five children.

(three of mine and two friends)

to see NEW MOON

Yep... it starts at 3am.

We are so stinkin excited!!

Happy Birthday Cole

Yesterday was Cole's 13th Birthday. (I can't believe my little Cole-bear is 13 now.) Cole had a very mellow birthday here at home. He chose dinner (take out from a local burger place) and decided made his own cakes (carrot and chocolate). Cole got his most desired present of a new IPOD (the new one with video) from his Dad and I- and his Nana too. He was excited and stayed up way too late putting songs on it.

This has been a really strange week for me. There have been several things going on this week with family and friends that just make me want to scream. Frustrating things that I have no control over and that irritates me. I think when things going on become this way I don't like to blog as much because I know that I am going to make someone upset or angry. I most definitely would offend a lot of people. I find myself stuck between wanting to "let it all hang out" and "not saying a word to anyone about anything".

My husband and I have worked out everyday this week together. It has been really nice getting that hour a day, first thing in the morning with him. Also I find that exercise definitely calms my anxiety. Here is a great article that my Aunt sent me this morning about another benefit about why exercise makes you less anxious.

Today Bear is having a terrible time with his asthma so we are going to the doctor this afternoon. Poor guy has been wheezing all morning despite his breathing treatments.

Tonight is Angeline's sleep study finally! She is excited about her sleep over of course. We have some other really exciting things going on tonight that I will tell you about tomorrow. Can you take a guess?

Tomorrow is Isaac's special prayer day. No news YET. Come on prayer warriors!

More soon...

Firsts

There have been many "firsts" the past few weeks...

(above)

the first apple pie-a-thon of the season
(ready for the holidays- yes!)

first play for Dominick

(Pinnochio)

Dominick was the "bad kid" that becomes

friends with Pinnochio and turns into a donkey

(Dom on the right)

(type cast... lol)

Dom's best friend Alex front left of the picture

Angeline had her first sleep over

at Aunt Nina's

(with Lauren, Lulu and cousin Zoe)

Angeline didn't cry to come home

apparently she didn't even miss me

(they obviously bribed her with donuts

see picture above)

Dominick got dread locs.

Well... we tried.. any tips?

His hair is really long now

and this is quite a process to keep

up with- we are still trying.

(love the bashful picture of

Dom below too handsome that boy)

Big Boots

Bear has HUGE boots.

His thighs are so chunky that they
had to make them extra thick and
extra BIG so that they don't come off.


He is not too happy about it.
but with extra snuggles and love
he deals

Bear has done really well since surgery.
His feet are going to look wonderful-
I can just tell.
These boots are on for another three weeks.
So we are praying that he makes it that
long without getting a rash or
becoming too miserable.

Baby Brother

Bear's parents had a baby.

Bear is now a big brother!

The baby was born on October 4th

when he was brought to the clinic (RHFH) he

was almost two weeks old and he was over 9lbs.

He seems healthy but will

come back next month to be

checked again. Please keep

the entire "Bear" family in

your prayers. Especially Momma

and the wee baby brother.

A Day of Miracles

We had a pretty darn good day today.
Emmanuella came through surgery very well. They felt our prayers. Her host Mom said that there have been SO many miracles and God's perfect coordination of events to ease Emmanuella and her Auntie during their time here in the USA. Please continue to pray for her and that there is no excess bleeding from the bypass surgery.

Baby Bear came out of surgery like a true champ and didn't require any pain meds for over eight hours so they went ahead and discharged him TONIGHT and they are on their way home already! AMAZING! After he woke up he had a bottle and a little while later they brought some baby food for him. He wasn't thrilled with that in the slightest and preferred to eat yogurt and a grilled cheese with the crust cut off (with only two teeth yes). I could hear him talking and giggling in the background and I can't wait to see him in a little bit. What a trooper! Pray for healing, no allergic reaction and continued lack of pain.


And there is an update on Isaac's file:
The legalizations are complete and the paperwork we were waiting on is done. The file will be taken back to MOI very soon and there is hope that this will be IT and he will be able to be "signed out" of MOI and on to passports. From there we need Isaac's passport, his medical appointment (visa medical exam) and his Visa appointment. That is IT. Please pray for favor. Please pray that there might be a miracle and we just might have a real chance at our son being home for Christmas. We just mailed off our check for our third set of fingerprints. (Each is good for 18 months and we are on our THIRD.) We know that its a long shot but we are going to dream and pray BIG- Christmas all together- we miss you son.

Updates!

Baby Bear is out of surgery. It went well and he will have full leg casts on for awhile. Please continue to pray for him to be able to manage his pain OK and also they are concerned because of his "big bubba thighs" that his casts might slip off. He did have a difficult time in the past with allergic reactions to the casting material so we appreciate your thoughts and prayers for Bear.

Emmanuella is still in surgery. Her bypass surgery will take another three hours. So far she is doing well- we will update once we hear more. Keep praying!

Surgery Day!

My husband left at the wee hours of the morning to take Bear down to Seattle for his surgery. I just got a call about an hour ago that he was taken into surgery with only a few tears shed. I am a nervous wreck not being there with them! But since he is being admitted it was my turn to stay home with the crew.

I will update as soon as I have some info. They were thinking it would be three hours.

Emmanuella (See the MAT blog) is also having her surgery this day- she is having heart surgery. I am anxiously awaiting an update from her host family. Keep praying!

My Fathers girlfriend Cheryl is doing ok. She was able to get the stint (sp?) but did lose one of her toes. She is doing better so the prayers are working! (I am unsure if she will need the bypass surgery- praying she does not!)

The appointment yesterday for dear RAD went well. It was really long and I was super impressed with how well things went and how much great open communication occurred. We all agreed that medication was in order to help with some of the anxiety that is causing erratic behaviors- so we started a really low dose yesterday of a promising medication. We have two more appointments scheduled over the next few weeks so that we can adjust the dosage or change the meds if needed. It does take several weeks before we will know how much this will help- but we have great hope and since RAD feels OK about things- I am really feeling peace about this decision to medicate. Keep praying.

No news on Isaac- praying :)

That's about all the updates for now. Oh- my internet is not great today and our phones are down in case anyone is trying to call- that's why. Comcast assures me that they have someone "working on it". Grrrr....

Prayers

We have lots of "stuff" going on this week...

Three Hearts...

1. Keep praying for Stellan.

2. Please pray for Emmanuella who has her heart surgery this week.

3. My dad's long term girl friend Cheryl had a heart attack and is getting a stint (sp?) today. She may need bypass surgery tomorrow- please pray for her and my dad. I hate that I am so far away from them right now!

Also...

1. Tomorrow is the long awaited psych appointment for my sweet RAD. We have waited six months for this appointment and I hope sweet RAD and I have all the right things to remember to say about how she feels and reacts and that we are given some hope for medication for her psych issues long term.

2. Baby Bear has his pre-op visits tomorrow and he has been having bad asthma for the past three days needing the nebulizer every 6 hours or so. This certainly isn't the worst that we have seen him but it makes me very nervous for dear baby boy who is supposed to have his bilateral club feet orthopedic surgery on Thursday. We were able to get Bear the H1n1 vaccine last night. (We were only able to get one shot because there was a mad rush- so the most needy child was able to get his since he will be admitted into the hospital post surgery and we want to be sure he doesn't get sick!)

3. Last but not least- two weeks ago we were told that it might be "two more weeks before the document we need to get out of MOI is legalized." We might hear something this week on Isaac's file and the document being completed that we are waiting on. Please keep praying for our boy!

Also if you have a moment- please send Noah a card.

Love and Blessings to all.

Home Swap?

Since my hubby is off work we have been talking about taking a vacation this Christmas. However- it needs to be extremely budget friendly so we are looking for another person or family that would be interested in doing a home swap. We would like to swap homes with someone for 7-10 days over the Christmas school break this year.
We can offer you our home for your stay. We live in a beautiful area of Washington state and we are close to Vancouver BC and Seattle, WA. You can have the use of our 4wd truck while your here and that will take you to the many ski and snowboarding places in our area.
Our family friendly home has plenty of beds for your entire family- and perhaps even your extended family!
We would like to swap homes with another family who lives in California (Southern) as we are hoping for warmer weather for this vacation. We would also consider a condo if you don't mind us bringing our sleeping bags. We promise to leave your place better than we found it. We are open to a well behaved dog in our home too- so pets welcome! If you are interested in a home swap and you live in another area we might consider going elsewhere. Just email me at: sisters3designs@aol.com
for more information. Thanks for your consideration.
Sarah and Family

Support

We didn't end up at the sleep study tonight. They called earlier today to let me know that it was being cancelled because they forgot to get the insurance pre-approval to do the study. So they rescheduled us for two weeks away. I had spent most of the week getting Angeline really jazzed up about going so she was upset to hear that it wouldn't be tonight. (Yes- I realize that sounds strange. I can make practically anything sound like "the time of your life.")

The very first newly formed adoption support group for Moms was this morning and it was... in a word... wonderful. We had a small get together here at my house and most of the women brought their children. The children played in the playroom with Lauren and two other teens helping and the Moms were able to sit and get to know one another better with little distraction. What a blessing it was indeed! We shared about our families and our experiences with adoption. We talked about our struggles, our blessings and our hopes for the adoption group. For right now- we are hoping to meet once a month. We will plan different activities or types of meetings/get together each month. Some will be just for the Moms, others for families, and some just for the children too. We hope to grow larger while still being able to know one another well. We will provide respite for one another and meals when needed and most of all we will encourage and lift one another up!

Speaking of support...

I had an exciting thing happen. After my post about the new garage playroom a blog reader from the big loving state of Texas wrote and asked if she could send a window covering for the playroom window that needed a shade. This blog reader works at a window covering place and was able to ship me a shade for the window that fits perfectly- it arrived last week and my husband installed it. (picture coming soon) I felt so blessed and loved and supported by your kindness... thank you. Your kindness reminded me that when there is a need and I am aware of that need- if I have the ability to fill the need I should just DO IT.

There have been many times in my life where people stepped out and offered support without being asked and that has truly encouraged myself, my husband and our family that even in the hard times HE does provide.

When my husband first was moving his children across the country to make my little family of two and his family with four children- "One family"- a friend stepped in to help. Knowing that we were barely scraping by on my college student income and because my husband was still looking for work in a new state (the one I was in)... moving his children from a warm place to a cold place meant that they wouldn't have winter coats, gloves and hats. My friend knew that I wasn't going to take her money without paying it back- so she was smart about her offer. "Here take this and make sure that the children have what they need and you can pay me back later once you are all on your feet." I gulped, took the hand out, and bought the children's warm things. Once we were on our feet, I re payed the loan and never forgot the kindness. I was far too prideful to ever ask and had far to many naysayers towards our family that we would have never even admitted we were in a bind. This friend who offered the loan was also a college student and she was working full time- it wasn't as if she had tons of extra money laying around to loan out. But I never forgot how kind she was and how much it meant to have someone just step up without being asked and say- "I see your need and I am going to fill it because I can."

So today when I was reveling in my supported little life, living in the joy of the moment, and loving my husband and appreciating him here at home... despite our income change- knowing that "we are gonna make it and there will be more jobs soon because HE totally has a plan here"... I was reading my friend Brittany's blog and fell into a deep shock.

Whoa.

I know this loving Momma personally. I know her heart and have been praying for her family for many months. I love reading her blog and seeing her beautiful children. We used to live just a short drive from one another and found each other on Ebay (where we were both sellers of handmade children's items). We were a part of a group together with several other Mommy ebay sellers. We supported one another daily.

After I read the post written by her friends on behalf of her and her family and I finally knew the reality of the situation I have suspected for months now- I felt crushed for my friend and her family. But then to read the 301 comments left for her- many which were negative- I felt plain old grossed out and depressed. I thought about her husband Paul who loves and adores his wife with great passion and is a wonderful father to his six children... I thought about how hard it must be for him to be out of work, and working his tail end off on the farm to help his family, and then to not being able to provide for his family and then to know that family friends have stepped in to ask for donations to help them- he must have felt crushed... but then to read the nasty things that people had to say about them struggling and the posts questioning their choices and life plans... I wondered how little one person can feel without evaporating into thin air and I thought about Paul and how tiny he is at this moment... and my heart broke. It broke for them and it broke for us because in that moment I knew that it could be ME and it could be US in that situation and I would see my husband and see him bare boned flesh raw tiny. Or it could be YOU and YOUR HUSBAND and it could be YOUR CHILD without the winter coat and how horrible you would feel asking for a hand out only to find people spitting in your palm... belittled... tiny.

I pray for you my friends. I pray that you receive so many donations it takes your FAITH about mankind and life to places you never knew it could go. I pray you feel loved and supported and can separate yourselves and your situation from the naysayers and the hate that consumes so many in this world- particularly the blog world where one can remain anonymous with their hate as if it gives them permission to hate more. I pray for your children, your home, the ability to accomplish a positive move for your family and perhaps you may even be able to save the home that I watched you all love and transform into the perfect one for your FAMILY. Just know you are so loved.

Spinning

There are so many thoughts and to-do's spinning around in my head its been difficult to keep everything straight lately.
There is an H1N1 vaccine clinic in my town on Monday and I am still debating what to do. Because I may want to get the vaccine for some of my children I have been trying for the past 21 minutes to log into the registration page and for some reason it isn't letting me. I would assume its because there are so many other people in my town trying to do the exact same thing. There are so many good debates for why or why not to get the vaccine I just don't have a clear answer either way.
I put a call into Children's this morning to see if I could hear back from someone who may have some expert advice for me. The two big questions I have are:
1. Since Angeline already had the H1N1 (they are assuming with good reason)- then would she still need the vaccine?
2. Since Bear is having surgery next Thursday should he have the vaccine on Monday? (It would be VERY bad for him to get sick as a result of the vaccine and have to then have breathing troubles and miss his surgery.)

I had thought that we weren't going to vaccinate and then I was reading this morning on the CDC website and others about the massive risk for children with neuro developmental issues, especially those under the age of 5 and especially those with breathing issues- like Bear.

But at this point- since the registration page isn't working for me- it doesn't really matter anyhow because it doesn't even appear that getting the vaccine is going to be an option.

Tomorrow is our first ever adoption Mom support group meeting. I am very jazzed up about it and hoping I get the chance to bake something yummy for the Moms who are coming over tomorrow.
Tomorrow night Angeline has her sleep study at the big hospital a couple hours away. Please keep her in your prayers as its going to be scary for her to have all the wires and everything hooked up to her. She still has her tonsils and adenoids and they are HUGE. So she may need them removed but they wanted to see how her allergy meds are helping with her apnea etc. We had been on the schedule for later this month and we were blessed enough to get an appointment sooner because of a cancellation. We are also still trying to figure out who is going and who is staying behind with the kids. I think that myself or Lauren would be more comforting to sleep in the study room with Angeline but my husband- Angeline's Daddy- would not be as quick to get upset seeing miss beanie upset. (Like her Mommy does.)

It has been awesome having my husband home. I have been keeping him busy by getting him to take over many of my responsibilities and that has given me a bit of free time to do other things- like shower- and reply to emails- and dream big- and exercise! (Speaking of exercise- does anyone do the "wii active"? ouch- it really gives me sore legs- much more than the treadmill, eliptical or swimming ever would!)

I have been trying to be as frugal as possible to stay on budget and in doing so I went to the local technical college to have my dental exam ($10). I have a lot of anxiety about the dentist so it was really a massive amount of anxiety going to the dental college. The hygeniest that I got was a dental assistant prior to going back to college for her new career as a hygeniest so she knew what she was doing really well. The first appointment takes three hours. Yes- three hours. And that doesn't inclue the paperwork. You actually have to arrive early to do the paperwork.
It was the most thourough dental exam ever (by three different people- the student, her teacher and the dentist). I have three more appointments in January to go back for my dental cleaning and then two appointments for fillings. (Each of those appointments are also three hours long.)

At the end of the dental marathon she brought me a baggie of "treats" for my teeth. She gave me a care packet of samples for "people with dry mouths". She said that I might have a problem with this. I said- "perhaps it was holding my mouth open for three hours?" :)

The dentist was a jokester and said that I had nearly ground down my canine teeth. He asked if I was under some kind of stress or something? I mentioned that I have a large family and then he naturally asked how many children- when I told him I had fourteen- he offered to quit his job and be my agent so he could get me my own reality TV show.

I declined the offer but asked about a mouth guard for night time instead.

Last night we attended with our good friends an evening at our church for time of extended worship. It was really a great night and a blessing of a time. They have these special events once per month at our church. We are going to make it a regular habit to attend, one that we certainly will look forward to. We had many moments of clarity and connecting with each other and our Creator. We left there feeling refreshed and renewed. Awesome.

Hey adoptive Moms!

Hey adoptive Moms!

Are your children growing up too fast?

Do you find pictures like this one on your camera?

(Is this a sassy "for my facebook" photo Grace?)

Do your children have questions that are hard to answer?

Have you been waiting half a century for your child to come home?

Have you dealt with the nightmare of foster to adopt?

Toddler peeing everywhere but the toilet?

None of your other friends even know what RAD means?

Don't have anyone to talk to who understands?

Worried about how to fix your AA daughter's hair?

Hoping for friends for your children who look like them?

YES!

We are in the same boat!

If your hoping to find some non judgemental support

and to offer up some support from your experiences...

PLEASE JOIN US.

Adoptive Moms Support Group

starts... THIS FRIDAY

where... MY HOUSE

when... 10am

email for more info: sisters3designs@aol.com

What will we be doing?

Talking.

Having tea.

Brainstorming and Planning for the group...

Limited childcare provided.

Halloween re-cap

Halloween was wonderful.

Everyone had a great time at the party.

We all ate too much food.

And WAY too many sweets!

Baby Bear got to be a Pumpkin instead of a flower.

Angeline went as a ladybug fairy.

I didn't take nearly enough pictures this year.

Sophie went as "Jasper" her favorite character

from Twilight. She did an awesome job of portraying him!

Here is part of the crowd...

more to come.