Taking a Blog Break

I've really already been taking an unofficial blogging break so I might as well make it official.  I just haven't felt like blogging much lately and I'm also kind of re-thinking what I want my blog to be as well as considering how I want to preserve our family's memories.

I've kept up a blog for several years now but haven't managed to print off the hundreds of pictures we have saved on the computer - meaning that the kids don't have albums to look through.  Yes, we look at the blog together sometimes but that's not the same thing.  Looking at family photos is a special memory from my childhood and I don't want my kids to miss out on that.  So, I need to make sure I am printing this stuff out and not just posting it online.

Also, I am thinking through how public I want to be about some of the more personal aspects of our family.  As the boys get older I start to wonder how much of their lives I should be sharing.  I've always been careful not to share the more personal details of their adoptions or the way they are processing all of that but still sometimes I wonder if I'm sharing too much.  So, I need to think that through too.

I'm sure I'll come back and it may even be soon - really not sure yet.  In the meantime, if you'd like to stay in touch please look me up on Facebook or shoot me an email.

Until then,
Rachel

2011 In Review - Part 2

For Part 1 please click HERE.

July

We did our best not to be baked alive during the hottest summer on record. Our electric bill tripled and we had close to 100 days at over 100 degress (with many of them hitting 108 or 109!).  The boys peeled off as much clothing as possible and made sure that our squirt guns stayed in constant use.

August

I went to my first National Down Syndrome Congress Conference (with Munchkin in tow) and had an awesome time, making me promise myself I will attend this every year I possibly can.  We also finalized Munchkin's adoption!  We still can't believe that God has blessed us with such amazing kids.  There is a quote that says "Sometimes, on the way to a dream, you get lost and find a better one."  That is so very true about the way that we have formed our family and how completely smitten we are with our kids.

September

We got to celebrate Munchkin's 1st birthday with her - another first for us since the others came home as toddlers or older children. The boys also headed off for another year at or local public school.  Chief entered 2nd grade and continues to catch up well.  I fought long and hard to get Ace put into 1st grade since he was already reading and doing 2nd grade math and finally won. Within a week he was at the top of his 1st grade class and the naysayers were eating crow. :)

October

Upward Basketball!  Our favorite thing this past fall and something we plan to do every year.


November

November brought Ace's 6th birthday and right after was Chief's 8th birthday (now only TWO years until he can get a dog - as he reminds us almost daily).

December

This was mostly a month to spend with family.  We enjoyed visits with extended family as well as the kids' grandparents (aka our parents) and all of the assorted siblings and cousins.  My dad has started moonlighting as Santa Claus so he is pictured above with my mom and Sunshine.

And that's about it for 2011.  We are looking forward to 2012 and whatever God has planned for us!

2011 In Review - Part 1

Most of the bloggers I read were organized enough to do this before 2012 started but of course I'm not one of those bloggers!  But, I love the idea of having a yearly review post and so I'm going to go ahead and post today.    All of you don't care, right?  :)

January 

In January we packed up in preparation to say goodbye to our sweet little home and make the long and arduous 1/2 mile trek to a larger house.  At this point we were still hoping to add Tiger to our family and we were doing everything we could to make that process successful.  Sadly, we began to realize we were fighting a loosing battle and we had to let go of our dream to be Tiger's family.  As that dream began to fade, God showed up in a way we never expected.  Would we like to adopt a 4 month old baby girl?  Could she come RIGHT NOW?

February

God granted one of the greatest wishes of my heart.  One that He had placed in me as a small girl but that I wasn't sure He was ever going to fulfill.  I have always wanted the chance to parent a baby.  Having a pregnancy never really mattered that much to me but having a baby is a hope I held onto even after we started adopting, even though I knew the likelihood of it happening was very small.  Sweet little Munchkin arrived on February 4th during the biggest snow storm our city has seen in decades.  We had moved into our new home only two days earlier and so we entertained Munchkin's sweet birth family amid boxes and disorganization!

March

Munchkin continued to settle into our family and we all began to settle into our new house.  Munchkin had lots of doctor's appointments that month and we also got a date for her heart surgery.

April

In April we cleared our schedule in order to focus on Munchkin and her open heart surgery.  She came through like a champ and only spent 5 days in the hospital!  But, the people at Children's were apparently way too accommodating so Munchkin decided to visit them again the next week when she had some post-surgery issues.  After those 4 days she'd had enough of the hospital and decided to stick with charming all of her at-home therapists instead of the cardiology nurses.

May

May was a time of kind of getting ourselves back together after all the business of being in the hospital.  We didn't do a whole lot and that was fine with us!  I turned 30 and didn't really notice (except when my husband teased me since I'm an entire 4 months older than he is).  My husband and I also celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary!  The boys finished preschool and 1st grade and we looked forward to a summer full of family time.

June

In June we celebrated Sunshine's 4th birthday.  She was absolutely delighted by her bubble machine!  Right around the same time our doctor also confirmed what we have suspected since we met or Indian Princess - Sunshine has autism.  Even though we knew it was coming, it was still hard to hear.  Sunshine has been such a blessing to our family and we are so very thankful for her but it is also hard to watch her struggle and to wonder why she has to bear this additional burden.


Stay tuned for Part 2 . . .

So I'm a Terrible Blogger . . .

That's definitely apparent considering my lack of posts this fall.  It's weird that I haven't been blogging since I truly do enjoy it and there has certainly been enough to blog about.  Oh well, guess it kind of ebbs and flows.  Thanks for staying with me!

Here is a dose of incredible cuteness to hold you over until I post again. :)

Wednesday's Child - "Bethany" in Russia

Bethany 23HA

December 2006
Osteogenesis Imperfecta
melx-23

From volunteers who met her:  This radiant girl lives in a Russian orphanage. She suffers from OI, Group 3. She was bedridden for the most of her life; until she was almost 4 years old she could not sit and could not turn over. She had multiple bones broken by simply moving around in bed. Only one year ago volunteers found her in a cast from head to toe. They have begun raising money for her rehabilitation in the American Medical Center in Moscow. As a result, she is now sitting vertically first time in her life. The first time she was able to look out the window, she saw the bleak Moscow landscape of late November and there was no limit for her joy! She takes such pleasure in being able to see that the street cleaning guy has a “soft” hat and that birds are “fuzzy .” Despite having such a handicapped childhood, Bethany is unbelievably bright. At three and a half she knew all colors, 1 to 10 numbers, could recite many children rhymes, and she has a perfect music pitch! According to the nurses, Bethany radiates positivism and humor to such degree that children from the hospital gather in her room for a good laugh, a song, or a story. When it was time for her to leave the hospital and to part with the nurses, she broke down crying for the first time, despite all the physical pain of the hospital procedures. She desperately wants to belong, to be part of a family. 

Update Sept 2011:  Bethany is extremely bright child…despite of the orphanage environment, her mental development is far beyond her age group. You should see how she responds to the questions and how she comments…she is so funny and so cheerful. She can sit without a help, but she is still not walking.

Update November 2011:   Bethany's bones can break very easy.  She is a «crystal child». She was born on december 2006 and most of her life spent in hospitals in the plasters.  Bethany is an amazing kid: despite numerouse bone breaks she never loses her optimism and joyful approach to life. She is very clever girl and in many ways intellectially exceeds other orphanage kids. When she was not even 4 she knew all colours, knew lots of songs and poems. She loves to draw and sing songs. Extremely communicative girl, real talker!  To some extent Bethany was lucky – one year ago a  volunteer fund started to look after the girl. The fund found a nanny for the period of hospitalization, paid treatment at European Medical Center in Moscow and organised massages. Unfortunately, Bethany was rather late to start her treatment. But thanks Bethany's strong will , her courage, she made a great progress. She started to crawl, move legs. She stopped being scared to move and even was trying to escape during massages. And one wonderful day Bethany sit the first time in her life!  Later Bethany started to stand on her feet.  Bethany has a lot of  internal positive energy and strength to fight with her illness.One thing which she does not have – loving and caring mother. That is why Bethany, who is not crying when she breaks her bone and during the pain, cries so sadly when she leaves one of her nannys in the hospital. When she will no longer see a person whom she liked and who took care of her and to whom she wanted to say the best word in the world: MAMA

video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rUqdzhFYzOw&feature=channel_video_title

 

More information and a video from June 2011 is available for interested families.  More pictures available.  Potential families must have good medical coverage and be comfortable financially.

 

$9778.80 is available towards the cost of my adoption!

Donations are tax deductible.

So Far to Find You

This new song by Casting Crowns had me in tears when I first heard it.  So blessed by this today!

You were broken, abandoned
And crying all alone
We were waiting and praying
And longing to bring you home

And then we saw your face
In a moment you were
Wrapped up in our hearts
We took a step of faith
And now here we are

Will you let me hold you
In my arms tonight?
I have come so far to find you
So far to find you

Will you take my love
And give up the fight?
I have come so far to find you
So far to find you

From a world away, I journeyed
Just to hold your hand
You will never be alone again
I've come so far to find you
So far to find you

You were fighting and fearful
You were hiding your heart away
But I was trying so hard to show you
'Cause there were no words that I could say

If you could see my heart
You would know that all I want to do
Is care for you

Here in your eyes I see
Reflections of myself
How I'm the child that's
Really running

But I can hear a voice
That's whispering my name
Saying come to me, don't run from me
I'm all you need and I am calling

From heaven's throne
Down to a rugged cross I came
It was My love for you that brought Me all the way
So far to find you, so far to find you

You were broken, abandoned
And crying all alone

How Down Syndrome Affects Our Family

National Down Syndrome Awareness Month came and went without me posting at all about it.  Oh well.  We're pretty aware of down syndrome around here anyway - and I think that those around us are now "aware" because we have made them aware!  I was working on the pages in my sidebar today, though, and decided to copy part of that here onto the main blog. 

How Down Syndrome Affects Our Family

We have two children with down syndrome and they are about as different as night and day!  Sunshine's down syndrome is often not even on our radar because it is overshadowed by her autism diagnosis.  Munchkin is a much more "typical" child with down syndrome (I say "typical" in quotations because just like anyone else they are all different!). With both girls we've seen that they learn slower and reach milestones more slowly.  Honestly, though, that is something I have enjoyed about our girls.  Their babyhoods have lasted much longer and we've gotten to cherish each moment more fully.  The girls both have several specialists they need to see frequently to monitor different health issues - for Munchkin just to be sure nothing crops up, for Sunshine to address chronic medical concerns.  Both of the girls have needed ongoing therapy - more intensive until they're walking and then it diminishes a bit.  At the time that I'm writing this, Sunshine is only receiving Speech Therapy but Munchkin is getting Speech, Occupational and Physical therapy.  

Day to day, our lives probably look a lot like yours.  We have our daily routines, our family times, our school and work commitments, etc.  We have definitely found that for our family to run the way we want it to that I need to be a stay at home parent.  It takes a lot of time and energy to manage all of the therapy appointments, medical care, case management, etc for our girls (especially for Sunshine).  However, that isn't the case for every family and I know many families who have kids with down syndrome who both work outside the home.

Many people want to know what Chief and Ace think about the girls and their special needs.  We're only just beginning to get into that with them because up until now they didn't seem to understand their sisters were different.  We've always talked openly about down syndrome and we describe the girls as "someone who needs a little extra help".  They've always been ready and willing to help their sisters.  They are very sweet and protective with them.  As time has gone on we've tried to explain that life may look different for the girls (especially for Sunshine) and I think they have felt sad for them but they have also expressed that they want to help take care of them when they grow up (last I heard they had decided that Ace was taking Sunshine and Chief was taking Munchkin - something they had totally worked out on their own!). 

An amazing benefit we've seen for the boys is their comfort level with people who have disabilities.  Recently Ace's basketball team included a boy who is deaf and a girl who has down syndrome.  Ace wasn't phased in the least.  We've seen a higher level of compassion and understanding in our boys than in their peers who don't have siblings with special needs.  The boys seem to have an acceptance that God has made everyone differently and that we all have value.  That is a precious understanding for them to have and I am so glad that they have been able to gain that through their sisters. 

Another question that comes up frequently is what will happen in the future - do we realize that our girls will need to be parented into adulthood?  I usually have to hide a smile when someone asks that - do they really think that hasn't crossed our minds?  The future was something we discussed in detail before making the commitment to adopt Sunshine.  We knew that by adopting her we were committing to be parents for life.  We spent a lot of time talking through our plans for the future and whether we would be okay with having Sunshine in the picture.  We decided that we could live with that.  Once we'd made the decision for Sunshine, it was easy to add Munchkin into the mix.  

We don't really know what the future will look like with the girls.  It's possible that they will both live at home their whole lives.  It's possible that they will both live semi-independently in an assisted living environment.  It's possible that they will both do something different.  If I had to guess right now I would say that Munchkin is going to want and be able to achieve more independence than Sunshine.  Munchkin seems like she's going to be very social and very anxious to be involved in everything.  Sunshine is timid, more quiet and so very content just to be at home surrounded by the things and people that she knows and understands.  I think that for Sunshine a happy life will probably involve living here with us, doing her favorite things and following the routines she cherishes and that make the world make sense for her.  For Munchkin, I wonder if she may want to live more independently or at least in a situation where she can be the life of the party! :)  We will take it all as it comes and do our best to meet the girls' needs and help them shape futures for themselves. 

So, I think that's about it with down syndrome.  It does impact our lives but for the most part it has been a good and precious thing for our family.  If someone offered a magic elixir to take away our girls' down syndrome we would pour it down the drain!  They are wonderful just the way they are - the way God made them to be!

If anyone reading this has specific questions, please feel free to ask them.  You can email me or post in the comments section.

Orphan Sunday

Orphan Sunday 2011 from Christian Alliance for Orphans on Vimeo.

FlyLady Love

I was recently telling my friends on a yahoo group about Marla Cilley (aka "The Flylady") and her home management program which I just love. Thought I'd share the email here too in case others of you are in search of a solution to the CHAOS (Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome)! :)

The best organization book I've read that really fits with busy moms and crazy lives is Sink Reflections by Marla Cilley. She is also known as "The Flylady" (you might have heard her by that name). If you are ultra-organized then you probably won't like it but if you're flying by the seat of your pants most of the time and feel like your house is never neat (like me!) then she is perfect. She is so affirming and non-judgmental and focuses on small things you can do each day to make your home run more smoothly. She has a website at www.flylady.net that actually has her whole system but I found that reading the book was easier - the website makes more sense when you've read the book. There is also an email list where she sends out encouragements and tips. It was a LOT of email so I unsubscribed but I'm sure it's helpful to some people.

I've heard others say they were thrown off by her first instruction which is to shine your sink (even if your house is a disaster area). The purpose of that is to give you one place that is clean and ready for you to use - and then you work from there to keep the rest of the house neat too. Personally I don't do the sink but I've picked my own version of my "sink" which is the island in our kitchen (which is a major junk magnet). If that is clean then I feel like I can handle life. LOL. 

Some of the things I love from her program (really too many to list here so I'll just give a few):
1. Her "routines" (a list of just a few things that you do at different times of the day to make things easier)
2. The way she encourages you to do little bits of housework when you can (like doing a quick swish of the toilet bowl when you get out of the shower in the morning).
3. Her "27 Fling Boogie" where you go through your house and find 27 things to give or throw away.
4. Use of timers when you're feeling overwhelmed - for example setting it for 10 minutes and working on the kitchen then moving to a different project when that's done
5. My favorite quote of hers is "Housework done incorrectly still blesses my family" and I recite that to myself probably on a daily basis! What it means is that if you can't manage to mop your kitchen but can use a wet rag to "hit the high spots" or if you can only vacuum the middle of a room while pushing the toys out of the way with the vacuum, then that's ok! Even those small things are still making your home a better environment for your family.

Can you tell I LOVE Marly Cilley? My mom (who I blame for my lack of organizational skills lol) got me hooked on her. :)

Oh and I should note that if you live near me you are welcome to borrow my copy of the book! I do not claim to have it all together or that FlyLady has solved all of my messy-house issues. But, she has helped me see that there is a route that will take me towards a neater house and her techniques have definitely helped us maintain a more orderly home.

Have you tried the FlyLady system? Or do you have another book/system that you recommend?

Combo of "Scary" and Cute

Today my husband and I will be escorting two very terrifying Darth Vaders and two adorable ladybugs to our local church's "Hallelujah Party".  Pictures to follow! :)