Ear Tubes...

This morning we had our first visit with an ENT.  Children with a cleft palate usually work closely with an ENT until their palate is completely closed and secure because it is impossible to keep fluids out of the ears while there are still holes in the palate, and when this is left untreated, hearing loss occurs.  Hannah received ear tubes at some point in China, but by the time we got home, they were out of the ear drum not doing her a bit of good! So, off to the ENT we go!  He confirmed that the ear tubes she has are worthless and did some testing.  Unfortunately, Hannah already has fluid buildup in her ears again and is having some hearing loss because of the fluid. :(  Usually, the ENT will wait until the child is already under anesthesia for a lip or palate surgery and jump in to do ear tubes at the same time, but Hannah's next lip surgery isn't until January and the doctor does not think it is wise to wait that long.  In order to avoid possible permanent hearing loss, Hannah will have ear tube surgery next Tuesday, August 14.  It should be short and easy, but it is surgery with anesthesia, which is always a bit scary!

The good news is that Hannah did better today with the doctors and did great with the hearing test - even cheering after each part was done!  She didn't cry in  her car seat until we had already been in the car for almost 30 minutes, too - a HUGE improvement!  At the end of our visit, the kids all got helium balloons.  Hannah wasn't so sure what to think of this magical floating balloon at first, but she quickly figured out that pounding on it was great fun! I quickly found out that tying it to her wrist is a big mistake, too... :)  Here's a picture of Hannah on the way home, sound asleep in her car seat, but still holding onto her balloon!

This past weekend, we also got to meet new baby Jack! I was shocked that although both Drew and Hannah get jealous of each other in my lap, neither cared that I was holding a newborn! I think it is funny how they are both blurs in the picture - so true to life! They never slow down!

And, no big surprise here, Hannah loved wearing a necklace to church on Sunday! There is a matching bracelet, but it was too big, so I put it around her ankle.  She LOVED that! She admired her jewelry all day long!  Jerry tried to snap a picture, but the lighting was horrible and we were running late (also no surprise) so it isn't the best - but Hannah is cute anyway!

Adjusting

I had really planned on posting here more often...but for some reason I forget what it is like adding a new child to the family!  However, as much work as it has been, and as tired as we have been, this has been an amazing first month home with Hannah.  She shows us more and more of her personality all the time and we are constantly amazed at just how perfect she is for our family!  Here are some highlights:

1. Hannah was not sleeping well when we first got home.  Not only was she in a whole new place with new people, new sights, new smells, new language...she had never slept in a room alone before.  We spent many hours in her room at night sitting next to her crib so she could calm down.  Now, we put her down for bed after a night bottle, and she sleeps for 10 hours! She still is a bit frantic when she is up for the morning and doesn't calm down until we come get her, but she is feeling more and more secure!

Her first week home - enjoying all the new toys!

2. Regardless of all we heard about kids who have been in an orphanage, Hannah is the most picky eater! This is actually the area in which we battle most.  She likes all carbs, especially sweets, but will not eat meat or many veggies.  She also was not introduced to many textures, so if it isn't pureed or really soft, she is not a fan. When she came home, she was still on 4 bottles of formula a day! We have her down to 3 and have switched her to whole milk, but I think it is going to take a while to get her off of those completely.

Hannah is also a very messy eater...  After this snack, she fell fast asleep in her chair!

Aaron and Hannah have a special bond.

3. This child is super smart!  Hannah already understands so much English it is scary! We have also been able to teach her to make different, distinguishable sounds for Mama, Aaron, brother, Grandma, and up.  None of it (except for Mama) sounds like you might think because of her cleft, but she is trying like crazy! She also has signs for ceiling fan, please, thank you, more, eat, milk, and all done.

Playing with fridge magnets.

Pointing to the ceiling fan.  Hannah *loves* fans!

4. Hannah has always wanted to be held and carried, but she struggled to be truly affectionate or completely relax in our arms or during a bottle feeding.  This is rapidly changing! She seeks out affection from all of us, gives kisses and hugs, and snuggles like nobody's business! The first time she truly relaxed and let herself fall fully asleep curled up in my arms with her head on my chest was magical.  When she also then trusted me enough to transition to her crib without jerking herself awake with fright was also amazing.

Ethan, making Hannah giggle with tummy rubs!

Watching Dora with Andrew!

5. Hannah *loves* her brothers! Andrew is a great playmate and is always bringing her toys.  Ethan is so goofy with her and always trying to make her laugh or imitate him! Aaron is absolutely wonderful with Hannah.  He comforts her when she is upset, carries her around, wrestles with her, and can make her laugh and laugh!

6.  Hannah is a girly-girl.  She loves dresses, shoes (even has favorites), bows in her hair, and dolls.  Even so, she is a daddy's girl BIG TIME and loves to wrestle, climb, spin, be upside-down and anything else she can convince her daddy to do with her! What a great combo!

Clinging to Daddy!

As you can tell, we are smitten!  As for Hannah's future health-wise, we have taken her to see a doctor in the cleft palate team and although her palate repair was done very well, it didn't close completely (something that is expected with the type she had) and her lip repair was cosmetic only so the muscles in her upper lip are not attached. This causes a lot of problems, especially with speech development since she cannot move her upper lip to make certain noises.  She is scheduled for surgery in January to re-do her lip repair, and then in December of 2013 to finish closing her palate and lengthen part of her nose to give her better ability to breathe.  She also has to have ear tubes replaced this month and we are seeing a pediatric dentist next month to deal with several rotten teeth.  I hate that she has to go through these things, but she handles them all like a trooper!

Family of 6. Love.

We're Leaving On a Jet Plane

In just a few hours, we will be leaving on one of these to begin the actual journey to get to Hannah! Hopefully, ours won't be made out of Lego bricks, though. :)

Dropping the kids of for 18 days apart was very hard.  There were tears and lots of hugs, but it was sad. However, I have to brag on God in a major way! We were so concerned about Andrew, but he did so well! He did tell me twice that he was ready to go home now, once while I was giving him his bath and once before we tucked them into bed, but he accepted it when I told him that we couldn't do that.  The family they are staying with built a big blanket tent for them to sleep in, and they were so excited!  I know they are going to do so well.

Even more bragging on God: Jerry got a solution to the computer network meltdown at work.  I was so thankful that he could come home from work yesterday without that hanging over his head!

My shoulder is painful, but okay.  I haven't been able to do some of the cleaning I like to do before I leave on a trip, but my wonderful mom said she would fill in for me on what my shoulder couldn't take - thanks Mom! That is such a relief.

We did realize last night that we have to have 2 passport sized photos of each of us for our consulate appointment, so we are heading out to do that this morning.  Otherwise, we are completely packed, the boys are taken care of, we have people scheduled to be in and out of the house while we are gone, we are getting the last of the laundry done now, and in just a few hours we head off to the airport!

The next post will be made from China! Woo-Hoo!

Setbacks

This post could also be titled, "Nothing's Gonna Hold Me Down." Yesterday was perhaps one of the worst days we've had in a long time.

Jerry got to work to discover that the server controlling the company's network is down.  Completely toast.  He spent all day working on solutions and got nowhere. Until it is fixed, our company has no internet, e-mail, or access to their production software.

I completely aggravated an injury to my shoulder and found out that I sprained the tendon connecting my clavicle and shoulder - also called a separated shoulder.  I saw a chiropractor who specializes in sports injury (this was originally an injury from lifting weights) and he adjusted it and taped it and gave me a pain relief regimen to follow.  This morning I started having an allergic reaction to the tape.

The kids are emotionally struggling as our departure approaches.  Jerry and I are, too.  There were many tears in this house yesterday, and Andrew is throwing a fit about every. single. thing.

But you know what? Setbacks, or no, I know for sure that we are supposed to be doing exactly what we are doing.  I feel a peace that whether it is all sorted out before we leave tomorrow, it will all work out.  This morning when I was taking my kids to VBS, we were listening to a CD that we got from Children of the World, a division of World Help that we have supported.  The CD has kids - orphans - from Uganda, the Philippines, and Nepal singing amazing songs of worship.  On the way home, the 4th song on the CD started and a huge smile spread across my face. It is one of my favorite songs from the CD and just what I needed to hear.  If you ever have a bad day, you need this song.  Watch it.  Giggle at how precious these children are, and remember that they are orphans who have had days so bad that I don't even want to imagine.  Even so, watch the joy they have and let it seep into your soul, too.

Family Time

We have been focused on doing a few special things with our boys before leaving for China, and today we surprised them by going to the Legoland Discovery Center! They were ecstatic! All week they knew that as soon as Jerry got home from his business trip, we were leaving for a surprise, but we wouldn't give them any hints or details.  It drove them INSANE. :)  As we pulled into the parking lot at Grapevine Mills, Aaron spotted the sign first and about lost it he was so excited!

Life-sized Dirk!

In front of the Lego version of Texas Stadium.  This other boy and his father both saw me trying to take their picture, but didn't bother to get out of it...

Andrew had the most fun building towers with these giant blocks and going down that slide in the background about 74 times!

When Jerry's parents heard we were taking the boys here, they gave Jerry some money for the gift shop.  We let Andrew pick something out (knowing he would choose something small) and let the other two split the remaining funds.  They got a nice pile of loot - Thanks Grandma and Grandpa!!

The bag from the gift shop was bigger than Aaron! 

For lunch, we hit the food court so we could all be happy with our food.  I decided to get in the swing of things and go with Asian food - Mmmm.  Okay, so it is Japanese, not Chinese - but it was so yummy.

I also found something I *love* in the gift shop.  Last month, I resorted to buying the ugly white and black salt and pepper shakers that are in every greasy spoon restaurant in the South because my children have broken multiple salt or pepper shakers and I was tired of replacing nice, expensive shakers.  When I saw these, I knew the solution had been found.  Aren't they awesome??

Preparing the Kiddos

I think our trip to China will be hard on the kids.  Aaron and Ethan can at least understand that we will be coming back in 18 days and have some concept of what that means, but Andrew will need some help with that.  To help them all, and especially Andrew, I had them make a paper chain.  I wrote the date on one side of each strip and how many days until we are home on the other side, then I let the kids decorate them with stickers.  Aaron stapled them all together, and now they can take a chain off every day and Andrew can see the chain get shorter and shorter until we are home with Hannah!

Andrew took his job very seriously!

Aaron was all business.

Ethan tried to see just how many stickers he could fit on each one!

They were all excited about this! I sure hope it is fun and helps them!

We are also writing notes to the boys, one for each day, that talk about what we will be doing and asking them about things we know they have planned.  I've even wrapped up some presents for them to get on many of the days we are gone.  Nothing major, but a few books from Half Priced Books, gum, balloons, candy, etc.  I think these things will help them with our absence, and create special memories for them of this time!

Autumn

In honor of the fact that the high temperature for today is 57, I thought I'd share the many things I love about Autumn:

Fall decorations popping up around the house...

Rosy cheeks and warm, comfy clothes...

All things pumpkin! These were turned into puree and roasted pumpkin seeds...

Evidence that the house feels chilly from open windows...

Roast turkey with gravy and the three gallons of turkey stock I made with the bones...

Really, what's not to like?



School Check-Up

Today we finished 8 weeks of our planned school year! It has gone by very quickly, and I thought it might be a good time to review what we are doing to make sure we have the best year possible! I thought I'd just go down the list of my final curriculum choices that I posted a while back.

• Homeschool Co-Op: We LOVE our co-op! The boys look forward to Thursdays because they cannot wait to go to their co-op classes.  I think they have really enjoyed being with other home-schooled children and have also enjoyed getting some things that they just don't get at home! (It is hard to play dodge ball with just the 3 of us...) Andrew is in Mother's Day Out at our church on Thursdays, so not only do the big boys get some fun classes, we get to work on school for a few hours together with absolutely no interruptions, and I get to go grocery shopping by myself.  Yesterday, Jerry and I even met for a lunch date out!

A & E show off their Folk Art paintings - the first project they did in their art class! Who knew they had such talent? It sure isn't from me!!

• Sonlight Core B+C: This is turning out to be a good history and read aloud core for us.  We started reading Gladys Aylward yesterday, and I must admit that I'm a bit bummed that we have to wait until Monday to hear more of her story! My boys are also loving learning so much about world history.  The have gotten into coloring a flag for each country we talk about and taping it to the wall around our world map. I love that they took the initiative to do this themselves! 

E chilling in the recliner I sit in to do read alouds.  This chair has become a favorite "chill out" spot for the whole family.
• Rod & Staff Miller Series: I am enjoying using these books to supplement our Bible readings, and my boys really like the character quality workbook we are going through this year.  They look forward to starting a new page and I am enjoying the way they are searching through the Bible to find answers. 


Ethan *loves* Rod & Staff workbooks!
• Language Arts: I still love the Rod & Staff English curriculum.  This is my first year to use their grade 1 curriculum (I didn't start Aaron in it until grade 2) and Ethan is enjoying it.  He is getting a great foundation on how words are put together, and he loves the craft worksheets that go with each lesson.  I also still love the way Bible lessons are woven into each grammar and reading lesson.  I am glad we switched to Spelling Power, too.  Aaron's book is teaching him much more than what we used last year. 

Some cut-out people from one of Ethan's craft worksheets that go along with his reading.
• Apologia Human Anatomy and Physiology: I cannot say enough about this curriculum!!! We are absolutely *loving* science this year, and we have loathed it until now.  The workbooks that go with this are amazing and the reading keeps the kids' attention! I highly recommend this series! 

After each system we study, we add a layer to our "person" in the workbook.  We just finished muscles!

Mummifying an apple...

Making an edible cell.  It's hard to go wrong with a science activity involving large quantities of candy!
• Math: Aaron is really coming along with math now that he is using Abeka.  He is also understanding the concepts in RightStart's level B that he did last year much better hearing it with Ethan again this year.  I was concerned that he would resent having to do it with Ethan since he already did it once, but he is enjoying how quickly it makes sense now that he is seeing it for the second time.  I will keep him in Abeka, though, because it is taught in a way that simply clicks for him.  However, Ethan is doing perfectly in RightStart, so it looks like we will be a "two math curriculum" family.  It's only money, right??

Andrew has been much easier to deal with this school year.  He still wants to get in the middle of what we're doing, but hey! I just look at that as him getting some of his learning done early!

Finally, I was told by many that having a dedicated school room was a nice idea in theory, but that we would abandon it within a few weeks.  I don't know why we are the major exception to this statement, but we are still using and enjoying our school room. Other than Aaron escaping to a quiet spot to do his math work while I do reading with Ethan, we do all of our school in there every day.  My boys are able to understand that once we move to that room, we are there to learn.  They go to their seats at the table many  mornings without me asking and wait for me once they see I am headed that direction.  They have personalized their end of the table with a few items they enjoy and are staying much more focused when I am reading to them than they used to when we were sitting where ever we happened to be.  Jerry is also very grateful that the piles of books stay in there and not all over the living room! A nice plus has been that we have made a habit of deep cleaning the school room every Friday together, so the boys are taking some responsibility for keeping their learning environment neat and clean.  I don't think we'll be abandoning the "school room" idea any time soon!

Aaron hiding on my bed with his math work.  When I walked in the room, the cat was curled up at his side!

Mini Post Monday

Welcome to Mini Post Monday, "First Day of School" Edition!! I *LOVE* the first day of school! And yes, I know I am a geek. I've come to terms with that a long time ago! And this year I have been looking forward to it in a way I haven't in previous years since my children are old enough to really, truly get on each other's nerves! Summer's lack of structure really needed to end...

Aaron, ready to go!

• Is it possible that Aaron starts the 3rd grade this year? I had my very first crush on a boy in the third grade.  I sat next to him at our "table" made from four desks pushed together, and thought he was so cute.  Boy am I thankful there are no little girls in Aaron's "class" at school for him to crush on...I am *so* not ready to deal with that! 

Ethan, excited about 1st grade!
• Ethan has joined the ranks of "real" school in 1st grade this year.  He continues to amaze me with his zeal for life and love of learning.  I cannot wait to see what he does this year!

Does this look like a future 3rd grader to you? Where did the time go?

Close brothers from the very beginning.  How much joy it brings me that they can continue to develop their bond every single day doing school together at home! We are so very blessed.
• I am wondering how Andrew will do this year with school.  Last year he was really in the way, wanting to be involved with what we were doing and sit in my lap the whole day or look at our school books without us.  I am hoping that the maturity he has gained since the end of last year will allow him to play independently at least a little bit during our school day.

I know it must be very hard to picture him causing any kind of trouble during the day...
• I am going to attempt to be a bit more scheduled with my days this year.  I started on this path last year, but Andrew made it hard to stick to it much.  However, with more detailed subjects to teach, I think it will be important if we want to actually get everything done.

A first day of school family tradition.
• The boys made it through one more allergy treatment last week.  After this, they still have a treatment in early November, but after that one, they get to wait until March! Woo-Hoo! I cannot wait until we are down to only 2 treatments a year!
• I have been thinking about traditions, and realizing that we don't have very many fall traditions prior to Thanksgiving.  What are some of your family's fall traditions?

Mini Post Monday

• About a month ago, we celebrated 14 years of marriage! My parents kept the boys overnight and gave us a night at the Westin Hotel at the Galleria in Dallas! We had Mi Cocina for dinner, walked the mall, had Haagen Daz for dessert, and actaully had a quiet evening together for a change! Wonderful! For my anniversary, Jerry got me a new camera. I cannot tell you how excited I am about it, although I still haven't learned how to use all of its features. The pictures in this post are a few we took while trying to figure out the new camera.

Just goofing off with the new camera...this is Drew on our way to a July 4th cookout.

• I cannot tell you how excited I am for school to be starting next week. I am soooo tired of hearing the kids bicker and get on each other's nerves! I am also tired of hearing the words, "I'm bored." At least with tons of school work to do, they won't have a valid reason to say they're bored. Not that they won't still try it...
• The Jr. High Grammar class I was so excited about teaching at our local homeschool co-op didn't make.  I was so disappointed I had a hard time gathering my things and getting out of there without crying in front of everyone.  But I know that there were many people praying that just the right students would sign up, so the fact that I didn't get enough to keep the class tells me God has something else for me to be doing instead.  I'm choosing to trust that his plan is better than mine, because, you know, it is.

One of the sillier features of the new camera - templates to put the pictures in - right on the camera screen! Crazy.

• I am working through a Kay Arthur Bible study right now called, Lord, I Want to Know You.  It is a study on the names of God, and it has been amazing!! I am so thankful that I had already done the lesson on El Elyon before the co-op registration.  It is so amazing to me to try to understand fully what it means that God is Most High, fully in control of everything that happens.  I am not sure my human brain can fully comprehend it all, but to know that even when Satan attacks, he has to ask God's permission first - well that's comforting to me! That means that God has a purpose and plan to use each of those hard times for my betterment. His plan will happen no matter what because he is sovereign over heaven and earth, angels and demons, the good and the bad.  Wow.

Jerry took this one...I know it is a horrible picture as far as pictures go, but the effect of having the outside blurry and the focus only on Aaron's head is cool. I'm sure there's a technical name for this effect...

• It's amazing just how cool 86 degrees feels after 40 days in a row of temperatures over 100 degrees. Saturday we actually had rain (!!!) and the temperature stayed so low - sitting in the house under the ceiling fan actually felt cold that day!

This picture doesn't show any special camera feature, but I love seeing Andrew really able to join in with what his brothers are doing now.  And I love that his brothers humor him and let him join the fun!

• Jerry and the boys have another allergy treatment this week.  We all hate these treatments so much, but also cannot deny that they have made a world of difference for our overall health. With a treatment on Thursday, we are on much stricter eating now through September 9. It's no fun, but we also thought it was important to get another treatment in before the fall baseball season gets in full swing so that the kids aren't suffering after each practice and game.  The summer clinics they did, although fun and very educational for them, were horrible for their allergies.  With no rain, the dust has been unbearable.  Mix that with the tree pollen and the ragweed, and they coughed and sniffed after each night at the ballpark. Actually, all of us except for Andrew did! Remind me on Friday when both my older boys are throwing up and miserable that it is worth it, okay?