Celebrating 2 months!

I can't believe that it has been 2 months since Caleb has come home!

What a crazy, wonderful, amazing time it has been!

So, happy 2 month Gotcha Day from...

Our neck squeezin..

Belly-laughin...

Cheek kissin...

Celebrating 2 months together house!

Thankful Thursday

This Thursday I am thankful for:

~Hunter's successful surgery!  He is doing very well with only some minor discomfort and bleeding.  Thanks for your prayers!

Hunter waiting to be called back to the OR

Almost ready to go home; not feeling the greatest yet

~Caleb's appointment with all of the different doctors that we had this week.  We spent all day at the spina bifida clinic and met many wonderful doctors.  Caleb got good reports from all of the doctors.  Gary and I walked away from the appointment thanking God for the miracle of Caleb.  As we witnessed child after precious child with leg braces and wheelchairs we could only thank God that Caleb is doing so well and is walking and running!  God is certainly showing his might and healing power through Caleb.  What a testimony Caleb will have to share some day.

Oh, how I love this face!

~That Gary officially graduated today from his milit*ry courses!  I am so proud of the hard work that he put in to finish the class all the while taking care of his ever expanding family!  Of course, this means we will be moving again for the 2nd time in a 12 month period.  You could never say our life is boring!  The pictures are from the air show associated with the class Gary attended.

My fly boys

Hunter in a Blackhawk helicopter

B2 Stealth Bomber

Blackhawk helicopter

This one is for you Laurie!  F 22

~For the successful end of AWANA.  Both Hunter and Claire completed their books this year and recieved awards.

Hunter and his leader.

Claire and her leaders!

~For the home school band concert that Brianna and Nicholas participated in!

Nicholas on the drums.

Brianna in pink on the flute.

~For the great visit we had with Flat Stanley.  Our friend, Grace, sent Flat Stanley to stay with us for awhile and we had a great time with him!

Flat Stanley wants to be a pilot when he grows up!

Claire and Stanley in front of the B52!

Claire and Stanley with the cool helicopter.

Flat Stanley wanted to pose in the bright sun with the big kids!

~And finally, drum roll please....Caleb is sleeping in his own bed and sleeping through the night!  We finally decided to move both toddler beds into our room in hopes that Claire and Caleb would sleep through the night in their own beds.  You know what, it worked.  They have both been sleeping great.  We now refer to the master bedroom as the "dorm" but hey you have to do what works and this is working.  I have actually slept through the night more times the last couple weeks than I have in the last 18 months!

Here is the proof that he is sleeping in his own bed!

Now, that is a lot to be thankful for.  What are you thankful for?

We are home

We just got home.  Wow, what a long day it has been.  Hunter is home and doing well.  He didn't get called back for surgery until 4:30 which was much later than we anticipated.  We were told that the procedure is a quick one so they would get him in and out.  An hour and a half later the doctor called us and said they were having problems finding the left ureter that leads to the kidney.  They found the right one but the left one was the one that needed fixed.  They had to put some contrast in his bladder and use x-rays to find it.  They did eventually find it and were able to do what they wanted.  The surgeon thinks it was successful.  Hunter finally made it back to us around  7:30 and we headed home around 8:30.  He is doing well but is still groggy and pretty sore.  We brought home pain meds and medicine to help with bladder pain/spasms.  Thanks for praying for Hunter.  He is on the road to recovery!

Hunter's Surgery

We are headed out the door this morning for Hunter's surgery.  Please keep him in your prayers today.  He doesn't go into surgery until this afternoon.  It will be a long day without food for him. :(  The surgeon is doing a "tune up" on a surgery he had when was 3.  He is having some reflux again to one of his kidneys so they are going to try and repair that.  Thanks for your prayers.  I will update again when we get home tonight!

Life As I Know It

Here is what my life looks like for the next several weeks....

Meeting with Claire's speech teacher

AWANA awards night

Garage sale

Prepare for said garage sale

Hunter has out-patient surgery

LONG visit at the clinic for Caleb (see 4 doctors all of different specialities)

Finish home school

Audiology appointment for Claire

Finalize Caleb's adoption

Appear in court to finalize Caleb's adoption

Attend Gary's graduation from the milit*ry school

Get ready for the movers

Move to another state

And finally, try to maintain my sanity!

If only it were that easy!

Doctor appointment

I promised I would update you on the appointment we had at the International Adoption Clinic.  I'm sure the doctor's notes from the first visit read something like this:

"Parents have lost all control and they are in complete denial!"

 Here is what led up to why I think that.  We arrived at our appointment after our 1+ hour drive.  (We brought Claire with us because she had speech later that day.) 

They called us right in.  GREAT!  This won't take long at all!

Fast forward (I wish!) 45 minutes and we are still waiting in our tiny exam room and haven't been seen yet.  By this time Gary and I are taking turns peeling children off of the walls, the doctor's chair (you know the fun one that spins and spins) and trying to keep them from jumping off of the exam table.  I am starting to sweat profusely by now.

In walks the doctor and we begin talking about how things are going.  We had only had Caleb for 3 weeks at this point.  So imagine, in between answering questions we are still taking turns peeling children off of things!  Of course, being the positive people that we are we tell them things are going great.  We have things under control.

Insert first doctor's note here - Parents have lost all control!

Now the questions turn to how are the other kids doing with the new addition.  We tell them that they all love Caleb and the adjustment has been smooth.  They ask specifically how is Claire doing with it all.  We just finish saying she is doing very well when all of a sudden Claire pushes Caleb off of the chair onto the floor!

Insert second doctor's note here - Parents are in complete denial!

We somehow made it through the appointment and then had to subject Caleb to blood work and a renal ultrasound.  He was not impressed but Claire was relieved that it was him and not her.  3 1/2 hours later we walk out exhausted and late for Claire's speech appointment.  We rush across town and still manage to get some speech therapy in while Caleb slept in the stroller the entire time.  I wish we had a double stroller because I think I would have crawled in with him at this point.

Believe it or not, I was brave enough to go back to the clinic for a follow up appointment last week!  That appointment went so much better and less sweat producing!  I am happy to report that all of his lab work came back good and so did most of his vaccine titers.  He however has not gained an ounce.  He weighed exactly the same amount as last time.  The doctor said he was at the 50th percentile for a 12 month old.  WHAT!  Where is all the food going that he has been putting away?  Have I told you before that he eats and eats?  Well, he does.  I'm not worried about it yet because I know he is eating.  Hopefully, one of these times we will take him in and we will see some weight gain. Hey, I'm willing to give him some of mine.  Do you think they would do that kind of transplant?  Maybe I should ask!

Thankful Thursday

This Thursday I am thankful for:

Brianna

Nicholas

Hunter

Claire

Caleb

My Ever-Lovin

Mother's Day 2010

And to God Almighty, who has for now, blessed me with these!

What are you thankful for?

Fab Friday

I can't believe a whole week has passed since last time I blogged.  We have done a lot in this past week like traveled to the state we will be moving to next, found a house to rent, traveled back home, did some home school, laundry, laundry, and laundry!  I completely missed thankful Thursday.  Don't think that I am not thankful because I really truly am but I am just trying to keep up with 5 kids right now!  Someone or something constantly needs my attention so blogging and facebook have been put on the back burner.  Right now, the 2 little ones are eating lunch so I am taking a few minutes to blog!  I should be eating too but hey eating can wait!  Can I go ahead and share a few things I am thankful for even though it is Friday?  Thanks, I knew you would understand.  I am thankful for:

~Digital cameras!  Do you know how hard it is to get 5 kids to pose for a Kod*k moment?  Thanks to digital cameras I can immediately see that we need a redo again and again and again...take these Kod*k moments for example.  First time all of them went swimming and then a visit to a park.

Cute - but wait Caleb is looking the other way

We are getting closer, Caleb is almost looking

Caleb still isn't looking and now Claire and Hunter are sinking!

Finally, that is a wrap!  I'll take it!

Now we have moved outside to the park..

Claire is instructing Caleb on how to stand and smile

Not bad, Caleb is looking down..

That's a wrap!  I'll take it!

You can be thankful that I didn't share with you the actual pictures from the photo shoot!  Believe me it took more than 3 or 4 tries to get the shot with all of them looking!

~We found a rental house at the location we will be moving next!  We only had a few days to look but we were successful and found a house that everyone agreed on.

~That my honey took his last test yesterday!  His professional milit*ry class is finishing up and it is a relief that the tests and papers are done!

~For S*nic Happy Hour!  We love going and getting iced teas, slushes and limeades!  Who can argue with half price drinks?!

Thanks for letting me share some of what I am thankful for with you.  I need to run the little ones are done eating so my blogging time is over!  Until next time!