Busy schedules

We've been having a lot of appointments lately. I feel as if we are doing a great deal of running around. I can't imagine how all you ladies that TAKE your children to therapies and school feel! GEE WHIZ! I definitely have it made in the shade in comparison.

I don't have to get the kids up at a certain time for school, get them out the door, or bring them to school. We just get up and start our day whenever. I know, that's not very disciplined of me, but it works for us and if it ever stopped working I'd change it, but as of right now, it works just fine, so why fix it if it isn't broke, right? I think having this style has helped my children be very flexible with life in general. I can pick up and go at any time of day to any place and I rarely have a meltdown or any type of issues. So I guess my haphazard type of schedule works, at least for the children that God has blessed me with. I'm sure it wouldn't work for others.

Anah will have her official evaluation by the school district on Friday, then we'll see what type of services they plan on offering her. I also set up an appt. with our hospitals Dept. of Developmental Disabilities. They do all kinds of evaluations for the kids and offer other options that might work regarding therapies and things that may not be covered by the school district. We got the earliest available appt. (other than the one in July that we can't make), it's for mid August! I'm sure glad we aren't counting on that to get us started! That just goes to show what a need there is and how busy they are. Jonathan's follow up with them is in June, can't switch with him because his is a quicker f/u appt. not as long as Anah's needs to be for an initial eval.

I've already started some basic things with Anah. We are working on pretend play with her dollies, it seems like a relatively new concept to her, but she's catching on fairly well (she is used to caring for real babies, so the behaviors are similar). We have been coloring with crayons. At first she was just scribbling, she still is pretty much, but today she seemed like she was trying to stay in the lines a bit more today. I have shape blocks used for math, she likes to stack them, build with them and lately she has been putting them into "like" piles, progress. Memory cards, she just kind of puts them neatly in rows, not really matching them too often, but she is starting. She likes play dough, not so much to make shapes as to break into very small pieces, but at least it's working on her fine motor skills. I don't think she was very used to stairs, but she is getting much better on them now, both up and down. We've been reading some books. I actually like to limit it at this time to a few familiar ones to help build her language skills, we'll progress with time. She can toss a ball, but has trouble catching it, she can put some shapes in the shape sorter, but gets frustrated, I really don't think she had a lot of experience with such things in the orphanage, if at all.

Jonathan is taking about 7-10 steps fairly regularly, if he wants to get from one person to another. He can actually push himself up to standing from the floor and then take off. He seems better moving than trying to stand still (without help, or holding on). He's improving with his eating skills, he can feed himself some things and is working on using a spoon, he is drinking from a straw!! He can use a sippy cup somewhat but it drools out his mouth somewhat. In one year this baby has come so far, from being like a new born at 22 mos. to crawling, walking, eating all kinds of foods (he had a total oral aversion) and playing with everything. He had a totally flat affect and we thought he might be autistic, no eye contact or anything. Now he makes eye contact, talks, laughs and is so interactive, what a blessing!

Joseph is adapting well to his new sister. He just said to me tonight, "Mom, I hope I'm rich when I'm older." I asked him why, and he said, "So I can give you a million dollars so you can adopt a lot more kids that need families". AWWW And at every meal he prays for his brother, sister, niece (with DS) and for Myung Bo (our "son" we couldn't bring home from Korea with DS). He takes such joy in each of their accomplishments, no matter how small, he is always clapping and hooraying for them, he really is a blessing to them and to us.

Well, I guess that's my brag/sharing for the day. Praying you all are well and safe with this crazy weather we've all been having, we've had almost a foot this past 24hours, yuck!

Not as "addicted" as I thought....

I saw this on Rene's blog, so took the test myself. Really, I'm not as bad as I thought I'd be, lol.

50%How Addicted to Blogging Are You?

Anah's Cardiac Appt.

We're home and very happy about it!

When we adopted Anah we were told she had "cardiac issues". No medicals, nothing, but we didn't hesitate, believing we were doing God's will and my being a nurse I'm sure all helped.

Today we had her cardiac appt. She had an EKG, eval by 3 docs and an echocardiogram. Firstly, she was an angel for all of it. She has a murmur, that we knew, praise God it's benign! She won't even need antibiotics before procedures, including dental! She had an opening between her ventricals apparently at birth, but it is fully closed now. Her heart valves are all healthy and strong and her heart beat is steady and strong. No follow up needed, the end! Praise God.

We would have dealt with whatever she had, but I'm just glad for her sake that there isn't anything. Now I can schedule her oral surgery.

Just wanted to update and share our good news.

Off Line for a While

We are leaving in the morning to bring our son to college and then go visit Mom and Michelle. Mom doesn't have Internet, so I'll be off for about 10 days :o( . I'll definitely have withdrawal from all the blogs I check on a daily or almost daily basis. Praying you are all blessed the next ten days and that God keeps you safe and healthy. As of right now, I'm much better about leaving my son at college, we'll see what tomorrow brings.

Where DOES it all come from??

Kind of a gross subject, but WHERE does all the snot come from when a kid has a cold??? GEE whiz! I know it's irritation of the mucous membranes, but really such amounts...my gosh I should have taken stock in Kleenex!

I really shouldn't complain, I mean since Jonathan's had his adenoids out and tubes in his ears he's done soooo much better. It's just this cold seems to have lasted long. It's so easy to get "unused" to it that when it returns it's so obvious. And as sweet as my little boy is, he decided to share it with ALL of his siblings that are living at home. Anah is a little pale and her appetite isn't as good, but she's doing fairly well. Joey just has a stuffy head and a headache, PJ is sniffly and tired. I refuse to allow the cold to get me and apparently so has Bob, lol. (at least for now).

I'm looking forward to seeing my mother in law and step daughter. It's always such a blessing to see them and I know they miss Bob greatly. They are anxious to see Jonathan's progress and to meet Anah. We'll also see my sister in law and brother in law as well. They are the ones that loaned us part of the money we needed to go get Anah. We always have such a fun time with them, Bill is retired Navy like Bob and Ann is disabled like me, so we have plenty in common, besides Ann and Bob being siblings, ;o) .

I must be being prayed for in regards to my son leaving, thank you ladies for being so supportive, I know so many of us go through it, it's nothing unusual or new, but it's what's happening in my life right now.

I have calls in to several of Jonathan's service coordinators to see what services will be available for Anah, messages left all over, you know you can hardly ever get anyone live. The school district is sounding positive at this time regarding services, we'll just have to wait and see. I'm not really sure how much she needs at this time, some speech for sure, maybe a PT and OT eval, some OT for writing, but nothing major. She definitely hasn't had any kind of learning, she didn't even know how to hold a pencil/pen/crayon and to draw with it. She's been having a lot of fun coloring/scribbling on paper. She likes to see all the colors of the crayons on the paper. She likes to throw balls and tries to catch them, she does fair, doesn't realize she can move her hands to catch it, she expects the ball to land in her hands every time, lol.

It's cold here lately, teens and low 20's....brrr. I like staying in on days like this. Tomorrow we have Anah's physical with her doc. so we'll see how that goes, the weather isn't supposed to be too nice.

A Time of Change

Our life seems to be in constant change, who's isn't, but this one will be a bit tougher in some ways than others. Our eldest son is going off to college. Not far, just in Williamsport PA, only 4 1/2 hrs. away, but still "away". He is one of those really great kids. As far as raising kids go, I think he's very easy. He's had diabetes since he was 11, very unstable, but he's been self care right from the start, I made him since his father had just left us and I was very ill with my lupus. He has always been my helper with his younger brother Joey. His siblings love him dearly! Even Anah, they are always hanging on him, want him to play with them, spend time with them, just BE with them, even his older sister. He is a very family oriented young man and has no problem showing his love for all of us. He teases me and says that he is my clone, we are so alike in so many ways.

To say I will miss him is an understatement. I know his siblings will too, it will be quite an adjustment for them. I just pray I don't cry like a baby, like I am now, when we drop him off. It's not that I don't want him to grow up, I do, and it's not that I don't want him to go to Penn Tech, I do, it's just I will truly, truly miss the wonderful young man he is. I know he'll be home on vacations and during the summer. We will also see him whenever we go down to our cottage, it is only 45mins. from the college, but it's not the same as him being home all the time. Our 11 yo son, Joey, with ADHD will have an especially hard time and I'm sure will act out for a while, he did when his brother went away to college last year, his brother has been the only constant male in his life (other than my hubby, but he was 4 when Bob and I met). Joey never had to worry about his brother leaving like his father did and how he feared his new dad would, his brother would always be there. Now he too is going. Logically he understands that his brother is going away to college and that is what he needs to do, but children that have gone through a divorce tend to have some kind of abandonment issues. Jonathan will miss him too. PJ plays with and loves on Jonathan a LOT in a day. Anah has just gotten used to her big brother and she likes to tease him and climb all over him. My dh also has enjoyed having an older son, he only had his daughter before we married.

Any way, I just felt like I had to blog about this. It's part of our life and I that's what this blog is all about, our every day life and how God gets us through it. I guess this will just be one more way God gets me on my knees.

Some pics

Jonathan, Joey and Anah on the Christmas train at the mall, she really did like it, just can't tell from the pic.

Don't the five of them look thrilled to get their picture taken at the mall? Even Miss Anah looks like she's sportin' an attitude!

Anah with Granny at Christmas, aren't those paper crowns stylin'?

Jonathan trying to see what Anah got for Christmas to go along with her apron and baby doll.

A Wii??!! Be still my heart!

Pretzel girl.

The four youngest.

Sissy Anah "helping" Jonathan.

Using her legs as a table?

Fell asleep on the couch.