FYI

My post below I added a slide show with music.....the music plays automatically and doesn't stop on it's own. There is a volume control on the slide show where you can mute it if you want it to stop. Just thought I would let you know in case you do not want to listen to the same song over and over.

Looking back at June!

So as I mentioned, if you read my last post, Lauran turned 3 on the 24th. We mostly celebrated on Father's Day. It was a last minute decision to do it on Sunday. I knew I just wanted to have a quiet one with just us but I was hoping to be more organized about it. Saturday night it had dawned on us that the week was super busy and on the evening of her birthday Ryan had a baseball playoff game. So Sunday we went out to lunch after church. We were then going to go to a beach but it had clouded over and the kids actually wanted to stay home and try out the new pool we set up. It is just one of those smaller quick set pools with a filter but they were thrilled. It is big enough for the 4 of them to have fun and splash around....and it fits on the patio...which was priority # 1 for Todd :) Anyways so that was it and then Lauran opened her presents and had frosting...I mean cake! She seemed to really get into the whole singing "Happy Birthday" to her and blowing out the candles. She knew just what to do! I have no idea if they celebrated birthday's in the orphanage or not...but she seemed to "get it"!

So our summer has had busy start with many activities. Ryan's Baseball just ended last week..they lost their 2nd playoff game:( This past month he did a week of baseball camp and a week of basketball camp. He also does basketball 3 days a week in the morning all summer. Nathan is trying tennis this summer and so far he likes it (he doesn't really like sports much). He also is involved in an outdoor hiking program. They learn about camping and roughing it in the woods. Megan is in a summer preschool program twice a week through park and rec. and evening gymnastics. The boys will also have golf lessons later this summer! And Lauran just hangs with me and is 100% alright with that! OK....I know that it sounds like A LOT. I really wanted them busy. The alternative is me nagging them to get off electronics and go out side. Most of it is in the morning so we still have time in the afternoon to do the pool or just hang out. Amazingly, all the activities are spaced out pretty good. They are all enjoying them too!

Because of our recent trip to China, finances and time do not allow us to do a family vacation this summer....other than a trip we will be taking in Aug. to see family in MN. So we decided to try and do as many things around the area this summer on the weekends as possible. So far in June we have managed to fit in a visit to the zoo, go strawberry picking, take a trip to the Discovery Museum, we celebrated Nathan finishing Elementary school, Father's Day and Lauran's Birthday. Megan and Lauran have worked on learning to be friends, the boys are learning to be helpers and more independent. Todd and I are learning to be patient, enjoy are kids while they are little, and to remember to count our many blessings everyday! It was a crazy busy month, but as I look back at the pictures I realized how much fun it was and I hope in July I can enjoy it more "in the Moment" and not let the stressful moments get to me!

I had so many cute pictures from the past month that I did not have time to post, that I decided to try my hand at a slide show!! So here it is a month's worth of pictures all at once :) Enjoy!

No more finger pricking :(

Once again we went in for a blood draw this week and the lab tech pricked her finger. She insured me she knew (better than the last tech) how to do this without it clotting(which is what it did last week). Well it clotted again :( So back I go to have blood drawn with a needle! I pray it goes as well as last week! They found a vein right away so her fussing didn't escalate to screaming and kicking. I feel so bad because now when we get there she immediately points her finger for them to prick her! Well. off to doctor and dentist visits...it is a crazy summer here..that's for sure!

Oh and sweetie Lauran turned 3 yesterday!! I will post more about that and some pictures a little later!!

Sorry- I am behind!!

So if you haven't noticed finding time to blog has been a struggle! I still trying to figure out a routine...and now the boys are home so I scrapped the routine I was working on and decided my new routine is to have no routine!!

Things are so busy with 4 kids I can't believe it! We are still having a lot of challenges with Lauran. She is still as cute and lovable as can be, but when she doesn't get her way..OH MY GOSH... stand back and GET the ear plugs! She sometimes will go on and on for over an hour. I think there are many factors that play into it all, lack of verbal skill, strong willed, She IS 2(almost 3), and everything is still new. Some days are so hard though. Added to that, Megan still has many moments of her not wanting to share me, toys, etc. But the moments when everyone is happy they are all so much fun!! Listening to Lauran say new words and watch her devour food she likes is so cute! She ate a full 1/3 lb hamburger on Sunday! She is a meat girl!! Todd is already wanting to bring her to a steak house! The boys love to play with the girls and are really helpful with them. And when the girls have moments of playing together I can see glimpses of the distant future when they will be BFF's. Did you hear me girls? You WILL be BFF'S :)

On the medical front we are still doing weekly blood draws to see if we can determine a pattern with her hemoglobin. When we brought her in for her 2nd transfusion her blood had not dropped from week 3 to week 4. It was still at 10. They still did the transfusion though! Anyways, it could mean we may be able to go 5 weeks. So we will see! The blood draw they did last week unfortunately did not work with the finger pricking. It had clotted...which is a problem with doing it that way. So we repeated it this week the old fashioned way and it went amazingly well! She cried but it went in right away and it was less than 30 seconds of crying! I felt so bad though because when sat down in the chair she immediately put out her finger for them to prick her!!