2012

I slept right through the New Year! I guess not totally. I got up a few times with a beeping vent, and the sound of fireworks woke me up. Other than that, I was out!

Looking forward to a great 2012.
For the little warrior, he didn't have a horrible 2011. A few hospital stays, a surgery, but that's about it.
We want 2012 to be as uneventful. A couple of big surgeries are a possibility. But another possibility this year is him going to school.
I know, pick your jaws up off the floor! He is doing so great respiratory-wise at sea level. His sats are beautiful. I know he would benefit so much from being able to go to school. The first time he gets sick, that may be it for me. But we can't live unless we at least try! My sweet angel deserves at least that much!

The princess, of course she had a great year! Being with a family, she learned so much. I expect 2012 will be the same for her. Exploring and learning new things. Maybe preschool in the fall, I'm not sure if her birthday falls within the deadline, we'll see!

Maybe a new sister in the works for this year. Not positive about that one yet either. Our first goal is to get our new house bought. Then we will work on the sister part.

Here's to a great 2012!!!

Just because.

Some fun at the park cuteness to start your weekend. Have a great New Year!

The Mobile

Jaxson has a big, bright mobile. This mobile has been singing him to sleep since birth. My mother in law gave it to me, and it has been in his crib since. Its made multiple hospital trips with us, because the hospital mobiles are just plain crap!
When we moved, I put the hanging part in storage, and took the base that plays the music. He didn't have a crib, but needed that music to go to bed.

When we were unloading the truck, one of the boys handed me this piece.

A piece had broken off his mobile!
Then in the house, Ray handed me this..

Another broken piece! Sheer panic set in! How can I fix this? Its got to be fixed!
I can't bear to part with this mobile.
I know it sounds ridiculous, but I haven't been able to find a mobile yet that is as great as this one.
And I think for me, its the sentimental value. Everything with Jax has a lot more meaning. Clothes that he grows out of, I can't bear to part with. This mobile has been through 6 years of some scary stuff with us, and I can't let it go!

I'm going to be pulling out some crazy glue, and maybe even some tape!

Being a medically mommy really does make you crazy!!

You gotta love a Christmas with no medical drama!

What a fantastic Christmas! It was definitely weird, mostly for Ray and I. 75 degrees on Christmas is definitely not normal for us! Also having almost no family and not doing our typical Christmas day stuff was weird.
All that matters was we were all healthy and happy, especially a certain little one who is not often healthy! I kept waiting for it to happen, even in the middle of the night Christmas Eve. But it didn't!
Last year was miserable. We were in the ER with Jax until 3 in the morning, only to find out he had a fractured femur. A fracture we, to this day, have no idea how it happened. It also came with a new diagnosis of severe osteoporosis. His bones are that of a child with brittle bone disease. He was in pain and upset all day Christmas, and it made it miserable for me.

A few years ago he was sick in the hospital. I was hosting the Christmas Eve party, so I had to run home and do that, and then run back up to the hospital and try to convince them to let me take him home for Christmas. His labs were still wacky, and they fought me tooth and nail! But I prevailed, and he was discharged around 11pm Christmas Eve!

This year, besides keeping an eye on these yucky seizures, he was a good boy!

We left out our treats for Santa,

Which he took full advantage of.

Arina was so excited to see a big, pink bike!



She knew exactly what to do with the presents.


Jax got to open his presents. Toy Story stuff all the way for this superhero!


It was just a lazy day in our house, without the running around to the grandparents to do. We played our two new dance games for the Wii. I'm telling ya, its a great, easy way to exercise!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from your two favorite munchkins!!!

Speaking of adoption, a year in review

There's nothing more amazing than seeing the transformation of a child that was doomed to a horrible life and probably early death.
What an experience, seeing this country that I never thought in my wildest dreams I would ever travel to.
Yes it was also hard, I don't think anyone who has done it would say it was a piece of cake. That would be a big fat lie!
I posted a bunch of videos, from in the orphanage, to just yesterday, and the transformation is amazing!
I love this first video! Partly because she was so tiny and sweet, but you can see her starting to emerge from her shell before we even got her out of her country! The first couple times we visited her, she just sat there, staring at her fingers. In this video, we get a smile, and you can see she wants daddy to keep bouncing her on his knee!



Just a few days home. Big brothers already bringing this tiny girl out of her shell!



We get laughter for the first time a few months later!



Now the beginnings of a naughty toddler. A lot more mobile, and a lot more sassy!



Last week, now a walker, and best of all, a dancer! She would not perform for the camera though, the little stink. So at the very beginning you see her dance, and then she stops. In the second video its a little better, but she still won't perform as good for the camera!
(sorry for the shakes, I had to dance to get her to dance!)





We changed the life of a child. But more importantly, she changed our life!

Its utterly amazing!!

Un-freaking-believable!

I'm so angry right now I could spit!

A mother that has taken care of a baby for a year, has been denied the right to adopt him!

You may know that we are thinking of adopting again. Not for another 6 months to a year, but it is down the road. I've been really struggling with how I want to adopt. My heart is always with the beautiful children on Reeces Rainbow. I go to the website and want them all! But I also would like to adopt a child right in our own state. A child that is in the system and has also been left behind because of their medical need. I know in the foster system, the idea is always to try and reunite a family if at all possible. I was telling our home care RT the other day that wouldn't it be great if I could take a child, and slowly train the family how to do oxygen and feeding tubes and such, so they could eventually do it on their own? She thought that was a great idea, and thought I should bring it up!
I'm a little hesitant about the state systems though. You know what happened in Utah when we tried to adopt a baby. We were denied without even getting a chance. The social workers never even met us in person. They just assumed, with no medical background, that we couldn't care for this baby with Jax. A baby that had no feeding tube, no oxygen, just severe brain damage that they assumed left her with NO brain function. No brain function in a baby that ate from a bottle, smiled, and cooed!
I was heartbroken! Knowing this baby would not be that difficult to care for, and especially to love!
People ask why we adopt internationally, instead of in our own country...This story that made me so angry is a huge reason why!
The family of sweet Ethan, a Down syndrome boy with a lot of medical problems. I was first sent her info when they were talking about traching him. People thought that maybe I could help this family with information. They have been taking care of him for a year. When talk of a trach came about, the social workers told them he would be too much work, and they would deny the adoption. Ridiculous! You just assume families can't take care of complicated children? Its not that hard people. It makes me crazy to think that people with no medical background are making these decisions in a childs life.
Poor Ethan has been denied a transfer to Boston, where they could have helped him, and most importantly, where the family would have been able to proceed with the adoption. Now a child is going to lose the only mother and family he's ever known. How is that in the best interest of the child? A baby girl could have had a family, 4 doting big brothers, but was denied that by uneducated people.
This is why we adopted internationally. Yes, there are children here that need good homes, and you better believe that I, and many other families, are ready and waiting. But the system is failing them! The other reason is these children in other countries with disabilities, are doomed to an early death. They are neglected and left to rot in institutions. That is just plain wrong!

You think I'm a busy momma? Yes, I'm a busy momma, and I wouldn't have it any other way! My children are all taken care of, they are all given time and the love that they need and deserve. We are silly, we sing at the top of our lungs in the car to Katy Perry. We dance to Michael Jackson. We are a close family. I'm told all the time by strangers that my boys are great, when they get the door for me and everyone else at a restaurant. If my boys are around, no women will ever open the door for herself!

Seeing the joy on this face is priceless.

I can only pray for baby Ethan, and his poor family that has to walk away. I know I couldn't just walk away, how hard must it be?
Un-freaking-believable!