Forever Family Day

Well today is the one year celebration of Jaelyn joining our forever family! Unfortunately she is not in the mood for celebrating. Last night she was complaining of a sore tongue, and today the doctor said she thought it was the coxsackie virus. Her mouth is full of sores today. Since it is a virus we pretty much just have to let it run its course, which can be anywhere from 4-9 days. In the meantime she's understandably grumpy, and not wanting to eat a thing. Her fever seems to come and go. We will just have to go out for our celabratory Chinese dinner at a later time.

Kellen was inducted into the National Honor Society tonight. We are very proud of him (now if I can just get him to get a haircut)!

Happy Birthday Mommy Mother's Day!

That's what Kaia wished me today! I had a wonderful day spent with my kids, under the direction of Dad. It started with being served breakfast in bed, which by the way, is challenging to keep crumbs off the sheets with two 3 yr. olds fighting over who gets to be next to you! We then headed off the island to do some hiking around Padilla Bay. The sky could've had a few less clouds, but the scenery was beautiful, including the bald eagles flying around and the vivid yellow goldfinches (we had binoculars and a bird book!). We threw a few rocks in the bay then headed off for a late lunch in La Conner. Needless to say the girls were exhausted and fell asleep without a fight tonight.

To both our moms, we hope you had a special day, as you are special people (you know, you both raised wonderful children who happened to find one another). We so appreciate all you have done for us, and the support and love that you have given all our children, no matter how they joined our family!

One precious moment this past week was when Mike, the girls and I went out to eat Friday night (we can only afford to go out when the boys are gone!). Mike was showing me a sliver on his thumb when Jaelyn asked to see it too. She then put her hands on his thumb and said "Dear Jesus, help Daddy's thumb feel better," then a bunch of words we couldn't understand, and lastly a firm "amen!" It was so sweet to witness. The girl is the most compassionate 3 yr. old I have ever met.

Hypothyroidism

Today I was told by my doctor that I now have hypothyroidism. He told me that 20% of Type I Diabetics get it. Yippee, skippee! Because of this statistic I have been having routine yearly thyroid checks, and my doctor has been watching my numbers drop a bit each year. This year they fell below the acceptable number, so that means I will now take a daily pill. No cure, but very controllable. Like Type I diabetes, this is an autoimmune disease. I laughed when my doctor told me we caught it early, so I didn't show the symptoms of constant cold and fatigue....anyone who knows me knows I'm constantly cold. As for the fatigue, due to two 3 yr. olds, I don't think that's going away with a little pill! I'm sure I'll be scouring the Internet the next few days to find out as much as I can.

Making Daddy Proud!

For those of you that don't know, Mike is the varsity wrestling coach at our local high school. He was a proud daddy watching his two girls go at it in the living room! It's just hard knowing which girl to cheer for

Easter and Birthday

We have had such a busy week between Easter and Kaia's birthday that I haven't had time to post. Kaia turned three on Tuesday but her Dora swim party wasn't until Saturday. The weekend was made extra special by a visit from Auntie Julie and Ellie. Enjoy the slideshow!

Spring Break

It's all of our spring breaks here, and we just got back from two nights at Ocean Shores. It's a wonderful stretch of beach on the Washington coast. The weather was as cooperative as could be for this time of year here, which basically means no rain, and wind just strong enough to fly our kites! Mike and the kids had never been here, so were shocked to learn you can actually drive your car right on the beach (at least until clamming season begins Apr. 15).

Although we live on an island surrounded by the Puget Sound, this was the girls first time at a "real" beach with crashing waves and sand. They loved it, but Jaelyn did not like the idea of getting her feet wet. I think their favorite thing was riding on the surrey we rented (that's only because they didn't have to pedal for an hour in wet sand like the rest of us!). Joshua became pretty proficient at flying a kite as close to the ground as possible, then making it shoot back up into the air. Kellen hit a milestone as he wore his dad out on a seven mile beach run. This was the first time his dad could not keep up with him. Yikes, we're getting old!

We will spend the rest of the break enjoying some down time and getting some things done around the house. Oh yeah, Easter is this Sunday, and then Kaia keeps reminding us that she turns three next week. Guess I better get planning....