Family

As I sit here tonight I am in a reflective mood. This past week has brought so many thoughts into my head. It is truly overwhelming.

Riley and I went to Kindergarten Round Up on Tuesday night. This was for all incoming Kindergarten students this coming Fall. Wow! How did we get to this point. It seems like it was just yesterday when we first saw his beautiful little face in a referral picture. Now, he is ready for Kindergarten. He truly is ready. He has all of the academic and social skills he should have. I am in awe.

When Riley came home from China he was 28 months old. He had many delays. He did not speak Chinese at all during his 11 months in foster care. He was silent. He did not know how to take off his own socks. His meals consisted of 5 bottles a day and one bowl of noodles. His walking was still a little awkward. His attention span was almost nonexistent. We were sure he would not be ready to enter Kindergarten on time. Now, his receptive language is on target. His expressive language still has some delays, but not like we imagined. He carries on conversations.... actually he talks NONSTOP! I remember worrying that he would not be able to just chat with people. I worried that his speech would not improve to the point where others could understand him. Now, he can be understood by just about anyone about 75% of the time. That is huge. On May 10th it will be three years since Riley was placed in my arms. Whew... WOW.... unreal. It just doesn't seem possible. He has just grown and changed so much. He has overcome unbelievable obstacles. He is just so smart!! Now, the biggest worry about Kindergarten is whether I will have an emotional breakdown because my BABY is ready for Kindergarten! He is ready.... but I am not sure I am!

Also this week we had our social worker visit for our 6 month post placement report for CCAA. Madeline was placed in my arms over 4 months ago. She is a different little girl. Madeline has gained 4 pounds, cut 6 teeth, learned to say over 10 words. She has gone from 9 month size clothing to 18 month size shirts and 12 month shorts! She understands just about everything we say to her. She gives spontaneous kisses and runs to greet us when we get home. She laughs, plays, loves her blankie. Madeline loves her big brothers as much as they love her. She wags her finger at them disapprovingly when she doesn't like what they do. She eats just about anything you put in front of her... as long as it isn't green. She drinks out of a sippy cup almost exclusively... except for that snuggle time bottle before bed. She is practicing using a spoon at most meals. Madeline is developmentally right on target. TaiHe SWI was truly the best possible place for her to be in if she had to be institutionalized. Obviously they did everything they could for the babies.

Also this week we were very busy with James. He had a chorus performance on Monday and sang at Relay for Life on Friday. We walked in the Relay for Life for a few hours Friday night, lit a luminary in his grandmother's name and took in the amazing efforts of those working to raise money to fight cancer. It was really a fantastic experience. We went to Relay for Life... just the two of us. He sang at 8pm so that was a little late for Miss M. It was so special to share that time doing something so important and worthwhile. One on one time spent was made even more special because we were doing something... good. It was a very moving experience for us both.

When Jerry and I decided to get married.... a million years ago, we knew we wanted children. In fact, we wanted as many children as God would provide. He has provided. We didn't know all those years ago that our children would come to us in such profound ways. We also had no idea just how special our children would be. Jerry and I will lay in bed at night and talk. We can't believe we have been together almost 21 years. We can't believe we have been married almost 17 years. We can't believe we went through fertility treatments to bring James into our lives. We can't believe we went to China TWICE to bring home our other two children. We are just normal, boring people. We just can't begin to wrap our brains around why we have been so blessed. We shake our heads at each other in amazement. We never knew the plan for our lives would be so great. Family has and will always come first with us. We realize our blessings and rejoice in them daily.

"When it comes to understanding God, we are all children. Our brains are limited to finite time and space, and God is beyond all that. Once in a while, we allow God to break through and we experience the awesomeness of the divine. This is where we discover clues to the mystery of God."

from Bringing Home the Gospel: A Weekly Journal for Catholic Parents—The Year of Luke

Images of Me

Madeline

I love my crazy baby girl!! She could NOT be any sweeter.


Madeline

miracle number three
precious and true
loved from afar
now in my arms

little sister
big ideas
strong and tall
forever a gift

Daddy's girl
Mama's heart
brother's foe
family complete

Moral Issues

I have to tell you how frustrating it is to write this post. So much has happened in the past week. It is sooooooo, I don't know... sad, upsetting, disappointing.


Last Wednesday a very popular local Weatherman commited suicide. I have met this man several times over the years. The outpouring of emotion from the community over this has been unbelieveable. I know I am probably going to come off as very cold... but.. Okay.. I know this is a tragedy but this man killed himself. To glorify him in such a way that basically sensationalizes his violent act of killing himself, to me, is a sin. To say it is sad.. yes. a tragedy... yes. But the media coverage is just wrong. I just can not see how so much positive attention can be paid to give what seems like positive media attention to this really unsettles me.


On Easter Sunday... yes, EASTER SUNDAY, we were at a family gathering at my sister-in-law's home. Another sister of my husband's stood up to make a toast. She toasted the addition of a new baby in the future... her son and his girlfriend of ten months are expecting!! WHAT???? I think I must have sat there with my mouth wide open. On the holiest day of the year.... a toast was made to this. Not one mention of the importance of the day. I just did not feel like this was appropriate at all. How, how, how can this be the right time and place to announce this. These two have the most unstable life I have seen in quite some time. He is 23 and hopping between odd jobs. She also has a history of changing jobs frequently. They do not have health insurance. They do not have a marriage. (Yes, this is important to me.) They do not have a home of any sort. And... a toast is made on Easter Sunday announcing their pregnancy.

Now.. just when I thought Easter Sunday was as shocking as it could be... the sister-in-law who announced her upcoming grandchild tells me... are you ready..... that she thinks it is wrong that our government gives a tax break to families who adopt from other countries. Ahhhh!!!!!!!!!!!! I could not believe it. Now... I stand firmly behind what I did next. I responded that the money the government gives in the adoption tax credit is far less than the money we pay to raise children who are in foster care, to cover hospital costs for the uninsured and to pay for government programs for people who can not provide for the children they bring into this world.

Was it harsh? Maybe. Am I overly judgemental? Possibly. Do I regret it? NO!

Okay... I will step down now from my soap box... go and embrace my children adopted from other countries who I received tax credits for AND sleep soundly.

Many Changes

Madeline is changing and growing each and every day. Here are just a few of the amazing changes we have seen recently.

1. Words - mama, dada, James, Ri, up, babl (bottle), didi (diaper) Uhoh, owwww
2. climbs and climbs and climbs Madeline climbed up onto Riley's bed scaling the bedrail. YIKES
3. takes off her shoes and socks in the car
4. is starting to try to use a spoon to feed herself
5. LOVES fruit... apples, pears, peaches, bananas, oranges, watermelon, honey dew, cantalope, strawberries, etc
6. will not eat anything that is green. Strange but true
7. wears 12 month bottoms and 18 month tops. My girl is going to be tall... maybe taller than Riley
8. can tattle on her brothers even though she doesn't talk
9. loves to rock in the rocking chair with her Mama
10. jumps for joy when she wakes up in the morning
11. runs... FAST
12. loves to try to ride big bikes

What a great joy she has brought to our lives.

And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.

Corinthians 13:13

Spring Break is HERE!

I am just so thankful it is Spring Break. The new school district I am teaching in this year has a great schedule. They have the week prior to Easter off. For me, that is a very good thing. The previous district had a random week off, not tied to the holiday at all. This presented some issues for me, being Catholic. I always had to take Good Friday off of work. This caused a hardship for the school, since all the other practicing Catholics (as well as MANY other Christians) also would take this date off. There were never enough substitutes to cover all of the classes. Art, Music, PE, Library, Guidance.. anyone without a full time class would be pulled to cover teaching vacancies. If there wasn't enough coverage than classes would have to double up for the day. Tell me, what teaching and learning is happening??? All of this crazy hoopla is because this district didn't want to appear insensitive to those who did not have the same religious beliefs. Hmm... I never truly understood the rationale since it caused so much chaos.

Riley had some dental work done today. He had 6 teeth worked on. I am learning that this is fairly common for children who are adopted a little older. His nutrition was not what it should have been early in life, and his little teeth suffered for it. He was the supreme trooper at the dentist.

In May both boys will go to see a pediatric orthodontist. James is about at the age where all of this starts. He has major crowding in his mouth... just like his father did. Jerry didn't get braces until he was 20!! He got them off just months before our wedding.

Riley is going to need some major dental work. He has a severe underbite. It seems that some of this is easier corrected at a younger age while the jaw is more pliable. If we wait they would have to break his jaw!!! Ummm.... no thanks! I hear that is absolutely misearble. If we can avoid that by starting now, I am all for it.

We are concerned how this will effect Riley's articulation. He currently goes to Speech three days a week. (It was 5 days a week previously.) His Speech Pathologist, whom we LOVE, says it will be no problem... but geesh... I just can't see that this will make his language easier to understand with a dental thingymabob on the roof of his mouth. We are just going to trust that we are doing this at the right time.

The weather here is gorgeous! We spent about an hour at the park yesterday. Several of Riley's little friends from school met for a playdate. Madeline LOVED the big slides. James rode down the different big slides... I mean BIG slides with her... she just laughed and squealed and tried to climb back up again. That girl is one crazy girl. The little kid area just wasn't enough for her. She scares me!! James was the ultimate big brother playing with all of the younger children. He is just so good.

What a great family I have!!

Ten is So Grown Up!

James is ten years old. That is so young...yet he amazes me with his maturity and insight and.... depth.

While riding in the car we were listening to our local Catholic radio station. This is the station we usually have on since just about every other station is not really appropriate for children. We had just finished listening to Mass when the announcer stated to remember the importance of this week. James proceeded to initiate a conversation about Easter. We talked about the Ascension. We talked about Good Friday. We talked about how the Easter bunny really has nothing to do with Easter. It was such a profound conversation to have with a ten year old. He amazed me with his comfort and candor when talking about such big topics. The conversation was so moving to me. It was also very reassuring. It showed me how much James has truly learned about our religious beliefs. He understands. When someone can carry on a conversation and use appropriate terminology and ask thoughtful questions... that just shows the depth.

I am so proud of him.

5 Miinutes for Mom!

This is a very cool site.... and... they are giving away a new Dyson Slim Vacuum. Very cool! Check it out!

5 Minutes for Mom

This really is a great site. It is not always easy to find a site that just kind of right.

Enjoy