We did receive our update on our son yesterday and WOW is he ever the cutest thing! He looks like he's doubled over in laughter in two of the pictures, another is quite serious and concerned and the others are just different expressions! He's grown a tad bit, has a tiny wisp of hair and a great toothless, gummy smile :)
They included information about their schedule and feeding and a little bit about his personality. Apparently he's easy to laugh and when he's tired he sucks on his middle and ring finger. After spending a month looking at his very first photo I was so happy to see more of him!
We are still waiting to hear on court news...
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Monday, March 22, 2010
Friday, March 19, 2010
Sunday, March 14, 2010
THE Call! We have a new son!
I can't share too many details -- so bear with me as I try to creatively fill in the blanks!!!!
It was just like any other Monday morning. Jack was off to school, Morgan was playing on her own, and I settled with a nice cup of coffee to check my email. I had been trying to keep my excitement in check. I checked the Bethany Ethiopian Adoption message boards (members of our agency adopting from Ethiopia joined an online group to share experiences) and noticed we were getting awfully close to the top of the "unofficial waiting list." I was not getting my hopes up though -- trying to keep from getting ahead of myself.
I then heard the phone ring. Monday, March 1, 2010 at 10:26 am. I saw the caller ID and my heart skipped a beat. It was Bethany Christian Services. In that moment I knew! Our social worker has never called our house. We use email to communicate back and forth with her. I picked up the phone and said "Hello?" and she said "Angela, it's J--, are you sitting down?" I said "Well, I am now!" and she said "I have a referral for you!" I don't think I heard what she said next. I started to get teary-eyed. She said "He was born on (certain day in the fall of 2009), and is at "certain" orphanage. I had to interrupt her -- "So it's a BOY?" and she said "Yes, it is a boy!" and I tried to do the math very quickly in my head and said "And he's under a year old?" and she said "He's 4 months old and just the cutest thing!" I said "Wait! There are PICTURES??" and she said she'd send the official referral documents through email. She told me his name. She told me how long he's been at the orphanage, how much he weighs and also how tall he is. I remember saying "I am crying, is that okay?" LOL! Who says that?? She was delighted to share in that moment with me. I told her I will look for the email and I needed to call Jason right away!
So I called Jason and said "Are you sitting down?" (such a good line, lol) and proceeded to tell him everything our social worker told us in one breath and that we have a NEW SON!!!!!!! I waited on the phone with Jason all the while hitting refresh on my email waiting for the message from J--. Finally the message came through and before I opened it, I forwarded it to Jason so we could see his picture at the same time. Both of us were quiet as we quickly scrolled through a few pages of words until we reached the bottom to see his precious picture.
There he was. Our son. A stunningly beautiful little boy curiously looking back at us with his HUGE brown eyes. He looked healthy and he was wearing the cutest orange and blue outfit. I studied every inch of his face and his little hands and legs. Since Jason was at work I had to let him get back to it and we said we would wait until he got home to call the rest of the family. I did tell him I was going to call my mom right away!
Floating -- surreal -- under water -- slow motion -- I couldn't think of anything else except our new son! I called my mom and she and grandpauly rushed over so they could see his picture. It was so awesome to have them see the same thing I was seeing! I wasn't crazy -- there he was! Our baby boy!
That evening Jason called Pa Pa and he was so excited! We called other family and friends and it was so good to finally share this wonderful news! Uncle Ryan and Aunt Shannon came over that evening to say hello and "meet" their new nephew!
I can hardly believe it's been 13 days since the call. I have so much more to share but I wanted to get this moment down on paper before my brain lost some of the details!
We have a new son!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It was just like any other Monday morning. Jack was off to school, Morgan was playing on her own, and I settled with a nice cup of coffee to check my email. I had been trying to keep my excitement in check. I checked the Bethany Ethiopian Adoption message boards (members of our agency adopting from Ethiopia joined an online group to share experiences) and noticed we were getting awfully close to the top of the "unofficial waiting list." I was not getting my hopes up though -- trying to keep from getting ahead of myself.
I then heard the phone ring. Monday, March 1, 2010 at 10:26 am. I saw the caller ID and my heart skipped a beat. It was Bethany Christian Services. In that moment I knew! Our social worker has never called our house. We use email to communicate back and forth with her. I picked up the phone and said "Hello?" and she said "Angela, it's J--, are you sitting down?" I said "Well, I am now!" and she said "I have a referral for you!" I don't think I heard what she said next. I started to get teary-eyed. She said "He was born on (certain day in the fall of 2009), and is at "certain" orphanage. I had to interrupt her -- "So it's a BOY?" and she said "Yes, it is a boy!" and I tried to do the math very quickly in my head and said "And he's under a year old?" and she said "He's 4 months old and just the cutest thing!" I said "Wait! There are PICTURES??" and she said she'd send the official referral documents through email. She told me his name. She told me how long he's been at the orphanage, how much he weighs and also how tall he is. I remember saying "I am crying, is that okay?" LOL! Who says that?? She was delighted to share in that moment with me. I told her I will look for the email and I needed to call Jason right away!
So I called Jason and said "Are you sitting down?" (such a good line, lol) and proceeded to tell him everything our social worker told us in one breath and that we have a NEW SON!!!!!!! I waited on the phone with Jason all the while hitting refresh on my email waiting for the message from J--. Finally the message came through and before I opened it, I forwarded it to Jason so we could see his picture at the same time. Both of us were quiet as we quickly scrolled through a few pages of words until we reached the bottom to see his precious picture.
There he was. Our son. A stunningly beautiful little boy curiously looking back at us with his HUGE brown eyes. He looked healthy and he was wearing the cutest orange and blue outfit. I studied every inch of his face and his little hands and legs. Since Jason was at work I had to let him get back to it and we said we would wait until he got home to call the rest of the family. I did tell him I was going to call my mom right away!
Floating -- surreal -- under water -- slow motion -- I couldn't think of anything else except our new son! I called my mom and she and grandpauly rushed over so they could see his picture. It was so awesome to have them see the same thing I was seeing! I wasn't crazy -- there he was! Our baby boy!
That evening Jason called Pa Pa and he was so excited! We called other family and friends and it was so good to finally share this wonderful news! Uncle Ryan and Aunt Shannon came over that evening to say hello and "meet" their new nephew!
I can hardly believe it's been 13 days since the call. I have so much more to share but I wanted to get this moment down on paper before my brain lost some of the details!
We have a new son!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Seizure
Monday morning literally 5 minutes before the bus came for Jack he had a seizure. He was waiting by the door with his coat, hat, and gloves on and I was in the kitchen gathering his lunch and bookbag. I don't know how or exactly when the seizure started. I heard teeth grinding sounds and thought to myself "uh-oh." and when I walked around the corner I saw a very pale, blue-lipped Jack in the middle of a seizure. I froze and couldn't make my mind work. After what felt like forever I took Jack's coat off and turned him on his side. I was working on his belt and pants (had diastat on hand) and he came to and looked around and very weakly whispered "bus" and I gently told him "Jack, you had a seizure and you're probably feeling sick" I did not need to use the diastat this time.
I grabbed the phone and called Jason, then I called the school, and then finally I remembered the bus! I ran out to the bus and explained to the driver that Jack had a seizure and I would be keeping him home from school. I ran back inside and assessed Jack. He was really out of it with big pupils and very pale. I then remembered I had to call his TSS (who meets him at school every day) and by the time I was done talking to her Jack was fast asleep on the living room floor. This one hit him pretty hard. He slept from 8:30 am until after 12:00. When he woke up he was confused and disoriented and very lethargic. He perked up a bit and ate a late lunch but was very quiet and his speech was slurred (he had a hard time getting his consonants out)...then, by 3:00 pm he totally perked up and was back to being Jack! He was dancing and singing, hopping around and requested to eat like 5 times before dinner!
He's been fine ever since...no other seizures that we've noticed.
.JPG)
So this isn't the first time and it certainly won't be the last -- but boy do seizures have a way of knocking me for a loop. It's like we go just long enough for them to creep to the middle-to-back part of my mind, almost a distant memory then WHAM -- NOPE, no relaxing for you! I know it's out of my control -- and that's probably the hardest thing. I had a really hard time sending him on the bus yesterday but I know I can't keep him home just in case...ya know? So he's fine, and I am too -- but I don't like these sneak attacks.
I grabbed the phone and called Jason, then I called the school, and then finally I remembered the bus! I ran out to the bus and explained to the driver that Jack had a seizure and I would be keeping him home from school. I ran back inside and assessed Jack. He was really out of it with big pupils and very pale. I then remembered I had to call his TSS (who meets him at school every day) and by the time I was done talking to her Jack was fast asleep on the living room floor. This one hit him pretty hard. He slept from 8:30 am until after 12:00. When he woke up he was confused and disoriented and very lethargic. He perked up a bit and ate a late lunch but was very quiet and his speech was slurred (he had a hard time getting his consonants out)...then, by 3:00 pm he totally perked up and was back to being Jack! He was dancing and singing, hopping around and requested to eat like 5 times before dinner!
He's been fine ever since...no other seizures that we've noticed.
.JPG)
So this isn't the first time and it certainly won't be the last -- but boy do seizures have a way of knocking me for a loop. It's like we go just long enough for them to creep to the middle-to-back part of my mind, almost a distant memory then WHAM -- NOPE, no relaxing for you! I know it's out of my control -- and that's probably the hardest thing. I had a really hard time sending him on the bus yesterday but I know I can't keep him home just in case...ya know? So he's fine, and I am too -- but I don't like these sneak attacks.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Snowed In! Blizzard of 2010!! SNOW DAY!!!
Two storms in one week..well actually two storms in two days! Our first snow storm brought us around 15 inches...and the blizzard brought us about 20 inches! Too much snow, but it is breath taking and beautiful!
The entire family had a snow day yesterday and school is canceled again today. Jason went back to work today. We did take the kids out for a little (very short) while yesterday and they loved it!
We baked a banana cake (which turned out YUMMY), played with blocks, colored with markers, and played dress up...well, Morgan dressed up and we all told her how pretty and cute she looked (at her request) lol!
Today we'll finish making Valentines for Jack's classmates! I am not sure if they'll have school tomorrow or not but we want to be prepared just in case. I have no idea how the bus will operate in this weather (the wheel chair lift) seeing as he has almost no options to pull over and there is snow every where! Well for today no worries -- because it's another SNOW DAY! (sorry Jason, we miss you today!!!)
Monday, February 08, 2010
Funny
clues as to what she's been doing! She found the camera and took a
picture of her foot!! lol
Friday, February 05, 2010
Yes we did!
out unscathed! The kids were so patient and tolerated waiting! I am
one happy and proud momma :)
Wednesday, February 03, 2010
Jack "writes" his name!
We have a two hour delay this morning because of snow...Jack is anxious to get to school so to pass the time he wanted to play "drawing" and write his name!
In this video you can hear him say "Write ah name!" and I think he gets a few letters...normally he's been able to say "J, A, C" which is amazing -- and so close! He can recognize the letters of his name in uppercase letters as well. It's the little things when added together really show his amazing progress this school year!
Here is the short video clip (he hardly ever stays still either, lol) enjoy and hope you all have a great week!
Edited to add Jack is playing with the Scribble and Write from Leapfrog
In this video you can hear him say "Write ah name!" and I think he gets a few letters...normally he's been able to say "J, A, C" which is amazing -- and so close! He can recognize the letters of his name in uppercase letters as well. It's the little things when added together really show his amazing progress this school year!
Here is the short video clip (he hardly ever stays still either, lol) enjoy and hope you all have a great week!
Edited to add Jack is playing with the Scribble and Write from Leapfrog
Monday, January 25, 2010
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Haiti Earthquake Recovery Fund
I have been watching the news through tears the past 48 hours. It's a helpless feeling watching such devastation. I am encouraging everyone to donate to help the people of Haiti.
Please visit the link below and under gift designation choose: Haiti - Earthquake Recovery
CLICK HERE TO DONATE
Thank you!
If you can financially help the children in Haiti, Bethany Christian Services has set up a fund for earthquake recovery in Haiti. We will work with our partners on the ground in Haiti to use your donations to help ensure that children in Haiti are cared for and kept safe.
Please visit www.bethany.org/donate to donate to the Haiti-Earthquake Recovery fund.
Please visit the link below and under gift designation choose: Haiti - Earthquake Recovery
CLICK HERE TO DONATE
Thank you!
If you can financially help the children in Haiti, Bethany Christian Services has set up a fund for earthquake recovery in Haiti. We will work with our partners on the ground in Haiti to use your donations to help ensure that children in Haiti are cared for and kept safe.
Please visit www.bethany.org/donate to donate to the Haiti-Earthquake Recovery fund.
Thursday, January 07, 2010
Casts off after one week ( post Botox)
Check out this video on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrYN6pv4E40&feature=youtube_gdata
Sent from my iPhone
Wednesday, January 06, 2010
Feeling the Excitement!
The past few days have brought tremendous news for many, many families waiting for referrals from our adoption agency! There were 10 or more families matched with children (based on the waiting families just on our agency's adoption message board -- which obviously isn't every family working with our agency). This is a HUGE number. Recently there has been a lull in referrals where weeks would go by without any matches and then just one or two would occur. We have kept our excitement in check and knew that we had many, many, many longs months to go before it was our "turn" to receive a referral. This large group of referrals just made us jump up on the waiting list faster than I've seen in the past year! There was at least one family's DTE (dossier to Ethiopia) date really close to ours. The quoted time frame is still around 15 months from the time your paperwork (dossier) gets to Ethiopia. Our paperwork went on August 7th, 2009. Based on that -- we still have 10 months to wait. Based on what went on yesterday...we could potentially receive a referral much, much sooner!
Up until yesterday I hadn't thought actively about the wait. I was "fine" just going about our busy days...now I can't peel my eyes away from the message board and I admit, my hopes are waaaaaay up!!! I said to Jason last night a few days ago getting a referral seemed like some far off day...kind of like thinking of Jack's 10th birthday or Morgan going to Kindergarten. I know those things will happen in the future but I certainly don't think about it every day!
So we don't know anything...we do know that our social worker is absolutely fantastic about sending program updates and information. I just started reading another book she suggested a few weeks ago. So we wait...how long? We still don't know!
For those interested in reading more about the work our agency is doing for families in Ethiopia you can do so here: ETHIOPIA
Up until yesterday I hadn't thought actively about the wait. I was "fine" just going about our busy days...now I can't peel my eyes away from the message board and I admit, my hopes are waaaaaay up!!! I said to Jason last night a few days ago getting a referral seemed like some far off day...kind of like thinking of Jack's 10th birthday or Morgan going to Kindergarten. I know those things will happen in the future but I certainly don't think about it every day!
So we don't know anything...we do know that our social worker is absolutely fantastic about sending program updates and information. I just started reading another book she suggested a few weeks ago. So we wait...how long? We still don't know!
For those interested in reading more about the work our agency is doing for families in Ethiopia you can do so here: ETHIOPIA
Monday, January 04, 2010
Pee Pee on the P-O-T-T-Y!!
Major milestone moment here today! Miss Morgan Leigh decided today was the day she'd finally pee on the potty. We'd been trying on and off with zero success over the past 6 months or so. She'd just sit and make a "Pssssssst" sound with her mouth...we put it on the back burner over the holidays and this morning while I was running her bath water I decided to try again. I wasn't expecting anything so I was very surprised when she hopped off and there was actually PEE in the POTTY, lol! So it's officially on...potty training has begun!
Tuesday, December 08, 2009
Morgan Funnies
Because I don't ever want to forget the conversations with my kids :)
____________
Me: Morgan we are going to take DADDY'S car today.
Morgan: But I don't see daddy
Me: He's at work, we traded cars today
Morgan: Oh, I see snow
Morgan: Where's yellow binky?
Me: in Mommy's car, daddy's car doesn't have any binkies
Morgan: What about another binky?
Morgan: Get it from cribby?
Me: okay
____________
Morgan to Jack "You can't get ball now, HA HA HA HA" in an evil voice!!
____________
We were explaining Santa to Morgan and reminding her she should be a big girl and listen to mommy and daddy.
Me: And he has presents he puts under the tree for big girls and boys
Me: We wake up in the morning and there are presents to open!
Morgan: What color Santa's car??
Went on to explain the sleigh and reindeer through laughter!
____________
Morgan told me a story. "Dora Explorer...open the piñata....pull the string...cookies come out...yummy cookies, open the piñata"
____________
"Mommy I eat rectangle Cheerios" (Frosted Mini Wheats)
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Friday, November 20, 2009
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Catching up is hard to do!
So it's been a while and I am sorry! So many things to catch up on I am not even sure where to start! So here is a very "off the top of my head" update!
School is going very well for Jack this year. His team continues to work so hard at helping him succeed and learn and it's showing! Jack's talking and vocabulary has exploded since last year. It's amazing to hear him talk these days! He's also doing really amazing things with his walker as well. He's also doing stairs (assisted) and his legs are stable. We're going to do another round of botox in December and he'll also be evaluated for surgery (his left leg turns in at the knee and our physiatrist feels it's his muscles pulling on his bones and we do not want his bones to grow abnormally). We'll know more in a few weeks. His academic skills are coming along too and looking back over the past year we really do see a lot of progress! Jack had several days where he had small seizures and after an increase in his Keppra (fingers crossed) we haven't seen any lately. His Keppra levels are already on the high side, so we don't have much room to increase this med. I really hope he remains seizure free because it's so hard to switch seizure meds and it can take months and months of behavior changes and seizures until we reach a stable point. He's doing so well I really don't want to see this happen!
On the adoption front -- we are officially waiting (as of August) and expect to have a referral perhaps by this time next year! It's great to have all of the interviews and mounds and mounds of paperwork behind us. Now all we do is wait! I am having moments of excitement and other times it's hard to imagine it's really going to happen!
Morgan is growing up fast! She's funny and smart and can talk a mile a minute! She's always exclaiming how beautiful things are or how sweet someone is or how much she loves something. She loves to show affection and make us laugh. She's also very, very stubborn and willful! She's thrown a few good tantrums here and there and tests our limits daily. I plan on sending her to preschool after she turns 3 to the same school Jack attended, but maybe only 2 1/2 days a week. It's hard to believe she'll be 3 in April!
We are looking forward to the holidays and spending time with our families. I have so many pictures to share and will be uploading more soon!! I would like to do weekly updates -- there's so much I want to mention but it's all too much to remember or put into a cohesive story!!! So that's my goal to post at LEAST weekly from now on!
Must run -- time for the kids to get a snack!
School is going very well for Jack this year. His team continues to work so hard at helping him succeed and learn and it's showing! Jack's talking and vocabulary has exploded since last year. It's amazing to hear him talk these days! He's also doing really amazing things with his walker as well. He's also doing stairs (assisted) and his legs are stable. We're going to do another round of botox in December and he'll also be evaluated for surgery (his left leg turns in at the knee and our physiatrist feels it's his muscles pulling on his bones and we do not want his bones to grow abnormally). We'll know more in a few weeks. His academic skills are coming along too and looking back over the past year we really do see a lot of progress! Jack had several days where he had small seizures and after an increase in his Keppra (fingers crossed) we haven't seen any lately. His Keppra levels are already on the high side, so we don't have much room to increase this med. I really hope he remains seizure free because it's so hard to switch seizure meds and it can take months and months of behavior changes and seizures until we reach a stable point. He's doing so well I really don't want to see this happen!
On the adoption front -- we are officially waiting (as of August) and expect to have a referral perhaps by this time next year! It's great to have all of the interviews and mounds and mounds of paperwork behind us. Now all we do is wait! I am having moments of excitement and other times it's hard to imagine it's really going to happen!
Morgan is growing up fast! She's funny and smart and can talk a mile a minute! She's always exclaiming how beautiful things are or how sweet someone is or how much she loves something. She loves to show affection and make us laugh. She's also very, very stubborn and willful! She's thrown a few good tantrums here and there and tests our limits daily. I plan on sending her to preschool after she turns 3 to the same school Jack attended, but maybe only 2 1/2 days a week. It's hard to believe she'll be 3 in April!
We are looking forward to the holidays and spending time with our families. I have so many pictures to share and will be uploading more soon!! I would like to do weekly updates -- there's so much I want to mention but it's all too much to remember or put into a cohesive story!!! So that's my goal to post at LEAST weekly from now on!
Must run -- time for the kids to get a snack!
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