Tuesday, June 15, 2010

A Journey...



What comes to your mind when you think of....


A Boat?
Matthew 14:29-31
"Come," he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, "Lord, save me!" Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. "You of little faith," he said, "why did you doubt?"





Or Water?
Psalm 23:2
He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet water.





Or Rocks ?
Isaiah 26:4
" Trust in the LORD forever,  For in GOD the LORD, we have an everlasting Rock.




For me the last several months I have been on  ...

 A journey of faith....
 faith even when I am out of my boat and the winds are strong!

A journey of learning to let Him lead me....
  to a place where the water is still!

 A journey of trusting in the Lord....
my everlasting Rock

Sunday, June 13, 2010

Siblings!

As we have walked the path of adoption, sometimes moments like these.... 



 
Remind me of the amazing blessings that God  has given.....


Not only to Todd and I.....


But to each one of our children.  The boys love their sisters and the girls love their brothers!!
Siblings...knit together by God!

Monday, June 7, 2010

Memorial Weekend...Continued



Last weekend after we went to the children's museum the boys and the girls met up and hung out at my sister's condo.  





The girls love playing with their little cousin Addie!!


Lauran was the first one in line for food!
Have I mentioned Lauran loves to eat! She loves food and will try anything. Sometimes she eats more like a grown up than a little girls .....ribs, steak, guacamole. She will not just eat the guacamole either ..she will lick the entire bowl clean....if you let her! The only thing she not crazy about are breads...which explains why she told me.." Mom, I want a hangurger, with no bum...NO bum mom..OK!"




Ryan is a sports nut and spent the day tossing his football and baseball!



Later a couple of us decided to take a short walk....



since my sister and her family have this beautiful lake blocks from their urban oasis!!



I even managed to catch a snapshot of my oldest...who by the way is growing like a weed!! He has managed to almost catch up to me..which, I know,  isn't sayin' much...but still!




Lauran discovered the art of rock throwing...and the fun of loosing her balance when the waves come...and then landing her bottom in the sand (thus the wordless Wednesday picture in my earlier post)



Megan ...well she loves to pose for the camera..and does it quite well.



A great day with family!



Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Monday, May 31, 2010

Being a Grown Up!


We had a fun packed  Memorial weekend! 
On Saturday we went to visit family who live a few hours south!
The boys decided to go to the batting cages ...
while the girls spent the beginning of the afternoon being very busy...
busy being grown ups for a day!


The girls started out grocery shopping.....


where one of the girls celebrated that.  she is.  in fact.  a cheese head.....



  The girls little cousin decided to learn to steer a ship instead!!



Some chose to try out the sporty car.....



 which she drove to the day care where she needed to pick up her baby!


Later it was time for a little food (mostly pickles)....



and some relaxation at the deli!! 


The relaxation at the deli was short lived though......
 when the pooch needed to suddenly go to the vet! 
Luckily one of the girls was a trained Veterinarian!
It was touch and go for a bit but...


but the pooch ended up making a full recovery!



Nothing like ending a busy day with a little cool off at a water park!!!


And, when the water momentarily stopped flowing....
Megan worked the levers...
and saved the day!!

 A happy ending to a great day at the childrens museum!!
 
 .....back to being kids!

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Where Did The Time Go??




Our little peanut graduated from preschool today! It is hard to believe she is starting Kindergarten this fall!!  Megan is a beautiful, funny, goofy little girl. She goes back and forth from being a dainty princess who is grossed out by bugs to a tomboy who loves to watch and play sports.  She has come along way this year with her shyness!








I love the cap and gowns! Megan's cap kept falling off though..cuz she really is a little peanut. Standing in front of a crowd is still NOT her favorite thing either, as you can tell....but hey .....it's not mine either!! 




Peanut or not  ....we love this little girl and are so proud of her :)




Sunday, May 23, 2010

Beautiful Summer Weather with B's




A Beautiful weekend for my.... 

Baseball buddies



Others thought for the Beautiful weekend that ......
Books were Better

                 


A little later in the Beautiful weekend the girls thought .....
Bikes were Best

 

So, one is technically a car... But at least they are taking turns and Being ...
Best Buddies!

Friday, May 21, 2010

Where to start?

A lot has been going on around here! To begin with, 4 kids just keeps a person very busy!! Our kids are not even in a ton of activities and I am still amazed at how busy it always seems around here.

Secondly, the transition with Lauran has definitely taken some time! There has been a lot to figure out and learn, not just about her disorder but also about her. The conclusion I have made so far is this: the more I have gotten to know about Thalassemia the more I thank God He has found her a family! And the more I have gotten to know Lauran the more I thank God He chose us to be that family. That’s not to say it has all been fun and easy. The process really has been so much harder than I could have imagined,so many twists and turns I never knew were coming.

Along the way though, I have witnessed once again the miracle of adoption, this time on an even deeper level. Sometimes (I am learning), some of the most rewarding things in life are the hardest. I would not trade this past year for anything.  As I think of where Lauran was at when we first adopted her and how far she has come I think of this verse.....


Ephesians 3:20
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us


As I dive back into the blogging, I am hoping to share more about all that God has been and continues to to do and teach me through this journey so make sure to stop back. God never stops amazing me!

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Sorry!

Well obviously titling a post “part 1” did not keep me accountable to my own blog as I had hoped it would. It sort of does look like I had fallen off the face of the earth or off a cliff this time. It was not my intent on abandoning my blog! Life just took over!


I am going to try and hop back on the blog wagon! A lot has been going on so it will be slow going in sharing all that has transpired! It has not been an easy journey since the last post, but one that has been filled with God’s faithfulness and goodness.


Stay tuned..I will be back with more!

I promise :)

Monday, October 26, 2009

I am back part 1!

And no I did not fall off a cliff!

Sorry..I abandoned my blog! Hopefully there is someone still out there who will read this post :) I never intended to abandoned my blog. One week just turned into one month and so on! What can I say I have 4 kids, one with medical needs and sometimes I just run out of time, feel like I am exhausted or just get into a rut with managing my time. All three have applied since my last posting.

The past few months Lauran has blossomed quite a bit. She rarely has tantrums and is speaking sentences...which is probably why she is not been having as many tantrum's! Communication has definitely improved. Her and Megan play (most of the time) very nicely together! She has been eating us out of house and home. She does have a few dislikes but I tell people that most of the time she eats more like a grown man than a 3 year old...chili, steak, ribs. Unfortunately, a high meat diet, because of the iron, is not the best with her disorder. I was told at this point, it would be too difficult to try and control it so not too give it too much worry!

Her transfusions the past few months ....until last weeks(more on that later), have been going like clock work. She is completely compliant, she even gives the nurse her hand for the IV, she plays, she eats, has no complications and we go home! Her iron levels are starting to get too high so we are in the process of starting meds to reduce her iron. Iron overload is the main side effect to frequent transfusions. If the iron is not removed she can have liver and eventually heart damage.

The other issue we are dealing with is her dental problems. She has an estimated 14 cavities! It is suggested, because of the amount of work needed, to do it in a hospital setting and put her under anesthesia..but our med. insurance denied coverage for the hospital portion of the bill...so long story short we had a second opinion and are trying to appeal.

Overall though things with Lauran are going well. She is super independent, loves to copy everything Megan does, has the cutest belly laugh, and tolerates all she goes through medically with a lot of courage. We feel blessed to have her in our family and even though she has only been with us 6 months, it really does feel like she has always been in our family! Thank you Lord!

Stay tuned for part 2 : I will be back with more on Lauran's last transfusion, and updates on the rest of us...oh and some pictures too! Let just say this past week consisted of hives, a transfusion appt. that lasted almost 8 hours and H1N1!!