The Summer Band-Aid Frenzy

It has started. The summer band-aid frenzy. This year it is in triplicate since the three youngest ALL have to have whatever everyone else is having, including owies.

Jake: "I need a band-aid." (insert fake, pitiful cry)
Me: "Where is your owie?"
Jake: "Wight hewe." (pointing to one that is scabbed over)
Me: "Jake, it already has a scab. You don't need a band-aid."
Jake: "Oh. I hab owie wight hewe." (pointing to a different area, with no visible wound)
Me: "There is nothing there, Jakie."
Jake: (points to yet a different spot, the site of yet another invisible wound) "Wight hewe."
Me: "Jake...you don't need a band-aid because you don't have an owie there."
Jake: Looking pitiful and moaning, "But it HUWTS!"
Me: Cracking up and giving in..."OK--let me fix you up."


"It HUWTS!"
It's a $2 box of stickers that makes them happy for hours. How can I complain?
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It was Molly's birthday this week and my mom gave her a ton of nursing supplies--real ones! Molly is over the moon and played with them for hours. She and Jillian have been immunizing their bears, doing surgery on them, dispensing medicine, etc. Last night, they packed up all the stuff, and arranged it before bed. I said to them, 'You guys are really having fun with that stuff aren't you?" Molly looked at me and said, "Yes! That was QUITE a present."

A day in the life...at the Shoe

Today was interesting on the potty training front. Kate has lost interest in it entirely. Since she is peeing at will into pull-ups, I decided to put her in underwear. She had a yucky accident on the kitchen floor (at least it wasn't on the carpet!), and later, she thought pooping in her pants would be a fun change of pace.

Later, Jakie, who has been very good about NOT having accidents, came in from playing in the sandbox with sand clinging to him everywhere. I eventually realized that he had wet his pants in the sandbox and now had sand stuck to every wet spot on his body. Of course, I didn't notice this until he had run into the house. Glad I don't play in the sandbox. hehe

And here is my burning 'Mom' question of the day. Does anyone else have this problem? Whenever we go to the doctor, my kids will suddenly develop extremely smelly flatulence. What's up with that?! It's mortifying!! They stink up the room and then the doctor walks in and has to pretend not to notice. Of course, I do the checking the diaper thing...and then figure that the doctor is probably thinking I am just doing that to cover my own guilt.

On Monday, we took Zoey and Kate to court to finalize their adoptions and just when we were all gathered around to take a picture with the judge, Kate let 'er rip. It was gaggingly awful!! I tried to keep her to the side AWAY from the judge, but the smell was so strong. I can't imagine that he didn't smell it. GROSS!!

And speaking of embarrassing moments... I had to pick up some antibiotic the other day for one of the girls. They asked me her date of birth at the pharmacy and I went totally blank. Her birthday month is the same as one of our other girls, and when asked, I will often mix up the dates. People always give me a strange look. I mean, how could a mom forget the day she spent hours in horrible labor pains? They don't know that I didn't deliver the kids. They just think I am dumb. And blond. And embarrassed.


I cracked up when I saw the picture that the court clerk took of our family in court on Monday. Um...some heads are missing, as well as some bodies.
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Some cool things we saw on a nature walk we took this week...

Update on Ryan's Mission Trip

I just found out that there is a blog for the mission trip that Ryan is on. It sounds like the team is doing well and have been able to spend time with the kids on the Indian reservation that they are serving. If any of you are like me and enjoy reading mission stories, I thought you might be interested in reading the updates and praying for the team.

Memorial Box Monday --on Tue. :)

OK--I have an excuse for not getting this done on Monday. The realtors were coming this morning for their walk-thru of our house and we had to have it spotless. Jeff and I got it done last night--he was so great to help me with it.

So...Memorial box story...

When we were adopting our first daughter from China, my beloved Grandma was diagnosed with terminal cancer. I had a deep desire to name Jillian after her, but her first name was...uh...dreadful. Her middle name was Elizabeth, but I didn't like the way that sounded with Jillian. My dream name was Jillian Leigh and one morning I wondered if maybe Leigh could possibly be a derivative of Elizabeth. I rooted around for a baby name book but couldn't find one, so after dropping the boys at school, I headed to the store.

It had been an emotional week in the long waiting game of adoption. I was struggling with the total lack of control I had in being able to take care of a daughter who was waiting on the other side of the world.

I headed to the book aisle and picked up a baby name book. With slightly trembling hands, I opened it to the name, "Elizabeth," and quickly scanned all the possible names that came from it. "Leigh" was not listed. I bit my lip to keep from crying. I normally am not easily moved to tears, but like I said, it had been an emotional week.

I stood there talking to God and begging Him..."Couldn't you PLEASE make it possible for me to name Jillian after my Grandma?" I opened my eyes again and looked down at the name in the book. This time, I saw it like this.

Eli zabeth.
Not only were the letters "li" in bold--but they also were in 3-D.

Li is how "Leigh" is spelled in China.

I stood there in that store aisle knowing I had just been given a miracle. God had answered the cry of this Mama's heart in even the smallest little thing. It was small to most people, but it meant a great deal to me.

Jeff and I with Jillian in China...yep...we looked a lot younger then.

I Heart Faces - week 23 - Sepia Photo Challenge

Normally I don't enter the I Heart Faces weekly contests...um...'cause I know I'm not in their league. I do take photos for the contest, just to learn new things, but I don't enter. This week, I decided to enter for fun--or maybe I might get lucky enough to get some feedback that will help me improve. :)

I don't know how to make the photos post in a larger size, so hopefully the I Heart Faces judges will double click on this photo to see it larger. :))

Random stuff

I went grocery shopping yesterday. As I was unloading the bags and putting everything away, a few of the kids asked if they could have an apple. One by one, the rest of the kids came straggling in, spotted a sibling munching an apple and E.V.E.R.Y single one asked this question...

"Can I have one?"

By the time I got ready to put the bag into the refrigerator, it looked like this:


It reminds me of an Amish saying, "The further I go, the behinder I get." ha
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My neighbor has given me permission to use her really cool, distressed looking wooden bench for pictures. The other night, the light was right, the mood hit, and the girls quickly changed into these clothes.







We hadn't put the hats down on the girls' dresser for five seconds when two impish little brothers snatched them up.

Hmmmm....this look just isn't working for me.
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For those who grow flowers, groan with me. I have spent four years trying to get this vine of clematis to grow up my trellis. Every year, it has looked pitiful and only got about a foot tall. This year, when I have to yank the trellis out to move to Boston, look at my clematis!!


WAH.

Thankful Thursday

Katie-bug had another check-up today at U of M. Thankfully, she continues to do well. Her Coumadin (blood thinner) needs to be tweaked because her levels weren't quite right, but hopefully, that will not be a big deal to fix.

We stopped by to see baby Mason, and thankfully, he is improving, but is still in PICU. Please keep praying for him!!

Ryan is leaving in the morning for his first-ever mission trip! He is going with a team to an Indian reservation in North Dakota. I am so excited for him--although we will miss him. I got my camera out when we were saying good-bye--which disgusted him--hee.

"Bye-bye, Ryan!"



It rained all day and my peonies are looking bedraggled, but with the water droplets on them, they were begging to be photographed. ha. I am thankful for beautiful flowers!

Zoey's Doctor Appointment

Catchy title, don't you think?!

Chloe and Zoey both went to see the pediatric orthopedic surgeon today. Chloe's leg continues to grow slower than her 'good' leg, so it was confirmed that she will eventually need leg-lengthening surgery. Her thigh bone (is that a femur?) and her lower leg bone (tibia) are both growing slower than her other leg, so both bones will have to be lengthened. That was kind of bummer news. Her leg length difference is at 2cm. Her foot continues to be stable, thankfully. The leg-lengthening will not need to happen for several more years.

Zoey's leg was measured to predict what her leg length difference will be in the future. As the doctor originally predicted, she falls into the gray area, so we have to choose between amputating her foot and going through a series of surgeries to try to save it. I have no problem with several surgeries, but the big question is whether or not she will have a working foot after all of that. Since she doesn't have an ankle bone, they don't have a lot to work with. She DOES have a growth plate there, though, and the doctor said it is possible that a bone would grow! (Isn't that amazing?!?! He has had patients who grew sockets!! God has designed us with bodies that are astounding.) I asked about an ankle replacement and was told that they do not have those for kids because kids would wear them out in three years.

I still think the doctor leans toward amputation--but he wouldn't say today because he wants us to get a second opinion.

This is the God part of the story that I love... :)

Her doctor did his residency at Boston Children's. Yep... Don't you love it? His mentor is the head of the pediatric orthopedic department and that is who he wants Zoey to see. He is supposed to be one of the best in the world. God is truly amazing!! They still talk, so our doctor said he will discuss both girls with the doctor in Boston!

Speaking of Boston...I have confused some of you and want to clarify. Yes, we are moving to the Boston area. We put our house on the market today. I so look forward to getting it perfect for showings. NOT. We anticipate renting a house there for awhile, since houses are not selling too fast around here. We plan to move mid-July so we can get settled before school starts.

Tonight the kids were outside playing and our neighbor came over and noticed that they were all wearing jean jackets. She asked me to take a photo of them for her. It turned out pretty cute, so I'm posting it. (Thankfully, Jake had his pants on tonight!)

Don't you think you need a little boy?!

Little boys...so much fun...so much dirt...so much love for their Mama's...

There are two little boys in China who need a mama and a daddy to come and swoop them up. They are both in my foster care program, so I have been watching them grow up. They are so adorable. They have been on a waiting list with AAC Adoption agency for several months and no one has come forward to adopt them. Please pray and ask God if one of these little guys might be your son. They are listed as Noah and Adam.


Wearing a necklace, but he IS a boy!


I have held this little guy in my arms and he is so sweet and gentle.

I think I can, I think I can....

I think I can...continue to ride the potty train...

I have discovered something. Potty training two kids at the same time is utterly exhausting. Utterly. I have new respect for mothers of multiples.

I AM very thankful that Jake and Kate are both doing remarkably well--but man, they each must have a bladder the size of a marble. They are quite independent and want to go alone, but since I'm not into having pee everywhere, I have to keep track of where they are 24/7. Kate's need to be on Lasix definitely ups the ante because she truly DOES have to go more often. But Jake, wanting more M & M's, is certain that his bladder is spasming as well. Ack!

After dinner, I was cleaning up and the kids ran outside to play. I eventually followed, only to discover that Jake had run outside wearing only a shirt and his underwear. Of course, they were on backwards. He couldn't seem to remember where he had left his shorts. My neighbor had already seen him, so there was no point in pretending that I was a great mom. ha. I just let him play... He is so used to having his pants on backwards that when I put them on correctly, he says, "Mom, my panths awre on backwarthds."


This picture has absolutely nothing to do with potty training--it's just a picture of some pretty flowers in our yard and a cool looking bumblebee. (We'll forget how this bee and his little friends are drilling holes into the trim on our house--urgh.)

Gross Bug Story

Ryan decided a few years ago that he wanted to his bedroom to be in the basement. I tried to convince him to stay upstairs, but he wanted a man-cave. I would prefer never to sleep in a basement because everyone KNOWS that there are...um...creepy bugs in basements. Ewwww... Bugs I can see are one thing, but bugs that MIGHT crawl on me while I'm asleep and defenseless, are another thing.

Yesterday, Ryan came bursting into our bedroom at 6:30AM. On Saturday. Did I mention, 6:30AM? There better be a good reason...

"Mom! There is a bug in my ear! It's driving me crazy."

Me...groggily looking at him with a doubtful expression. "There's a bug in your ear?"

Ryan, freaking out and grabbing at his ear, "Yes! It's driving me nuts!"

I got out of bed, still doubting the possibility. Dutifully, I went in the bathroom with him and looked into his ear. I couldn't see anything. He continued to say he could feel it crawling around. I peered into his ear again and suddenly saw the hairs in his ear start to move. I watched in fascinated horror as a black thing started to emerge. It was at least half an inch long! I tried to grab it with the tweezers--failed--and to my greater horror, it went back into his ear! EWWWWWWWW.... The thing was not even visible. I opted not to tell Ryan how big it was. I told him to hold still and hopefully it would crawl out again. I started to see it and told him to tip his ear down and when it came out, I flicked it down onto the floor. I grabbed it with the tweezers and we both stared at it in shock. I woke Jeff up to show him, because I just could not believe that anything that big was in Ryan's ear. Ryan said it crawled in when he was sleeping and it woke him up. GROSS!!

I went back to bed but couldn't sleep. My ears kept feeling like something was crawling in them. I get the shivers just thinking about it.

Here is the beetle...ugh...can you imagine having this thing in your ear?


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Since I don't want to leave you with that creepy image in your mind, I'll share some cuteness. :)

The potty train continues to chug merrily. Jake is doing surprisingly well. He does "go to potty" far more often than necessary, so as to get an M & M, but I can live with that. Kate has decided that she wants in, and has been trying very hard to stay dry in between going potty. She is motivated by candy, but is also quite excited about wearing big-girl underwear. Poor little thing, though, she has such a hard time after her twice-a-day dose of Lasix (diuretic). I gave her some tonight and we tried to keep her dry, but she had an accident in the driveway. I felt so sorry for her. She stood there, rooted to the spot, looking so stricken. She literally had to go potty every ten minutes for about an hour after the Lasix. I'm not sure how to help her with that--other than keep running to the bathroom. Any suggestions?

Once both kids are trained, we will be out of diapers (except at night) for the first time in nine years. Woohoo! :)

"Thanks for pushing me, Kate!"

We went for an ice cream treat tonight and while the girls did a pretty good job of eating it neatly, Jake...um...not so much.


Not sure how he got it in his hair?

My funny little Molly has been quite intrigued by the whole graduation thing, and today she made herself her very own mortar board with paper and tape.


There is nothing sweeter than the sound of childrens' laughter...

It's Official

Ryan, eight months old

Ryan has made his decision and officially enlisted today. He is currently not scheduled to start bo*t camp until Nov., so he will be coming to Boston with us for a few months.

Jeff and I have peace about it, despite not wanting our son in harms way. I believe that all of our days are written for us by God, and whether he is home or overseas, the number of his days on earth will not change.

"All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be." Psalm 139:16

Thank you so much to those of you who have been praying for him as he made this decision.
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I went to check on the progress of the bird nest in our yard and found that the eggs had hatched. Jordan wanted to be lifted up to see and while I tried to accommodate him, the mother bird was going nutso. She dive-bombed us and squawked. I kept an eye on her as she perched herself almost directly above us because I didn't want a poo-bomb dropped in my hair. Sure enough...she lifted her tail feathers and let 'er fly...a disgusting squirt that thankfully missed it's mark and landed harmlessly in the grass. We decided to vacate the area and leave the poor birds alone. They are getting big, so I think they will be trying to fly very soon.

SaraGrace gets flowers

If you're new to this blog, you may not know that SaraGrace is the family actress. She loves to sing, dance and pretend. The other day, I was messing around with my camera and asked her to pose for some pictures. She is always happy to oblige. Jordan tagged along and we headed for the lilac bushes that were blooming in our yard. I asked Jordan (who is NOT a natural actor--hee), to hand SaraGrace a flower. These were the results...and SaraGrace did this on her own.


"Here's a flower for you, SaraGrace."


"For me? Ohhhhh....thank you!"


"Oh, thank you! You're the best little brother ever!"

Oh man...I was totally cracking up! She is so dramatic.

Are you my Mommy?

Please, please go and read my friend, Lynsay's post about a little orphaned baby girl in need of a family.

http://stinkytofuandotherthings.blogspot.com/2009/06/are-you-my-mommy-and-daddy.html

Kate on the Big Girl Swing

Little Miss Katie-bug has always used the baby swing. She is somewhat frail, her gross motor skills lag behind, and she didn't have the strength to hang on to a regular swing. Yesterday, she went happily out to her baby swing only to find this!

Ewwww!! How rude!

Maybe that mother robin left it there as paybacks for me taking photos of her baby birds....


Rather than run back into the house for something to clean it, I suggested the big girl swing. To my surprise, she wanted to try it!



I wanted to see how her color had improved since her surgery, so I went back to January and pulled out this picture...



Same sweet smile but so much pinker than this now!

The 'triplets' love to swing and I am getting my exercise pushing them. They are constantly yelling, "Puth hiwer! Puth hiwer!" Translation: "Push higher!" I push them until my arms are numb. I briefly considered teaching them how to pump but abandoned that idea in light of the fact that they haven't fully mastered eating with spoons yet.

Home of the weak?

I heard a story on the radio the other day. A man was visiting another country and a comment was made to him, 'You Americans have such a can-do spirit. If something needs to be done, you find a way."

What has happened to that great spirit? Where is our American ingenuity and strength? All I hear about lately is how we need to depend on the government to meet our every need and that we are too weak and helpless to do it on our own.

How depressing is that!?!

I don't want to hear that I am weak and need the government to take care of me. I want to hear that I am strong, capable, and with the right attitude, I can accomplish anything. Where is our pioneer spirit? When did we become a nation that is afraid of everything and anything that might be painful?

Don't tell me I can't do something. It really ticks me off. With God's help, I believe that the impossible can be accomplished and our country is living proof of that. This country was founded on the belief that our CREATOR gave us the spirit of freedom...that spirit that is deep in the heart of every man, woman and child...the spirit that LONGS to be free and will do what it takes to gain or keep that freedom.

Wanting hand outs isn't who we are! We are AMERICANS! This nation became great on the backs of hard work. I want to be proud of my country. I want to stand and say that I worked alongside others to make this country great. I don't want to stand alongside others in a line to get a hand-out. That is not only depressing, it is insulting and would cause me to have a total loss of self-respect. Is that what we want to become? Is that what we want to force others to become?

Obviously helping the underprivileged is a passion of mine, and I am an advocate for helping those who are truly in need. However, "helping' people does not mean stealing their self-respect by convincing them that they are incapable of taking care of themselves.

The "American Dream" is all about working hard and receiving the pay-off. That is what immigrants come here to achieve. Why? Because God has put inside us a need to work hard to be able to feel good about ourselves.

We are AMERICANS! Stand tall! Follow God's principles of working hard and giving generously but voluntarily to those who are in need. We are strong. We are capable. We have a long history of doing the impossible with God's help! With His guidance, we can continue to do great things and be a beacon of light in the world.


"If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray, and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive...and will heal their land." 2 Chron. 7:14

Reality TV

For those of you who will no longer be watching J*n & Kate Plus 8 (that would be me!!), here is an uplifting opportunity for you.

Love Without Boundaries has been asked to provide an entry for a possible episode on a new reality series about people doing charitable things in countries around the world. LWB's dream is to build a cleft healing home in China where parents can bring their cleft-affected babies for treatment, so they will not feel they have to abandon them. The reality show is letting people vote on the shows they would like to see, so if this is of interest to you, please go here and vote. There is also an amazing story there, written by Amy, that is one of those, 'suck-in-your-breath-because-God-is-so-obviously-doing-something' stories.

One thing that I have always appreciated about my friend, Amy, is that she knows that God is the one orchastrating all of these events. She doesn't try to take credit--and I believe that is why He keeps using her to help orphans in need.

The Potty Train

I can't remember which one of our kids thought that getting potty trained was 'getting on the potty train.' ha.

I want to get off.

Jake decided to potty train himself last week. I have no clue what motivated him to do that--other than the fact that we had promised a candy bribe reward for anyone who used the potty instead of a diaper.

He is actually doing pretty well. It's just that now Zoey and Kate want a piece of the action. Zoey had already ridden the potty train in China, so we don't think she needs to have an M&M every times she goes potty. She doesn't seem to comprehend our mindset.

Kate also wants her share of the M&M's. She has decided to sneak upstairs to sit on the potty every five minutes...squeeze out a few drops and then go get herself a new diaper or pull-up. She 'needs' a new one because she also pees into the diaper at will. She doesn't understand the concept of staying dry in between trips to the potty.

Random thoughts and pictures...

Jake dresses himself again...notice the mismatching shoe apparel


The family who donated this shirt to us had no idea how appropriate it would be for Jake. It reads, "I tried to be good but I got bored."


SaraGrace and buddy, Emma, a fellow Hope Healing Home alumni.


Chloe checks out the peonies in our backyard. They're pretty--but I'm not a big fan. Every year, my peony bushes end up looking dreadful because I forget to buy the metal cages that are needed to hold them up. As soon as they bloom, they flop over, touch the ground and do nothing but attract 5 million ants.

Sunday Afternoon Hike

Some of the kids and I went for a hike in the woods today. It is so pretty right now...the flowering trees are pretty much done, but there are a lot of spring wildflowers blooming.















When we returned home, the little kids were done napping and came outside to play in the yard.

Zoey has taken a liking to this baseball hat she found in the closet. It completely escaped her attention that the hat and her ruffled shirt were incongruous.


"Jeff...you got, like, three feet of air that time." -Napoleon Dynamite


"There once was a girl, who had a little curl, right in the middle of her forehead..."
Kate is recovering well, although we have noticed that she is a bit puffy around the eyes. She also had some unusual sweating this morning that concerned us. I upped her Lasix (which the doctor gave me latitude to do), and we are hoping it does the trick.


Can you stand the cuteness?! This morning during church, I heard the people behind us say, "That little guy is so cute but you can sure see the mischief in his eyes." Snicker.... Oh, if they only knew...