Catching Up....

So I have some catching up to do, as April has flown by without me posting much. First of all, we had Kaia's 4th birthday over our spring break (everyone's that is, except Mike), followed by her Ariel birthday party that she has been dying for. Turns out her party was on the nicest day of the year so far, so the pinata was outside instead of in the garage.


After watching Kellen set a PR (personal record) Friday night in the 800, we met up with my parents on Saturday at Josh's wrestling tournament, where he placed 3rd in his weight class.


Remember the beautiful day for Kaia's party? Well the week after we had 2 inches of snow on the ground! I wasn't sure the tulips would come out at all this year, but alas, they did. On Saturday we also stopped by the incredible Skagit Valley Tulip Fields for some beautiful back drops. Of course, the first thing I did was to tell the girls to stay out of the mud. Yeah right, Kaia gets pulled into water like a gigantic magnet. Silly me didn't pack any extra shoes or pants. Oh well, she dried:)

Teenage Boys...

Just a glimpse into the gym bag of a teenage boy (and he's proud of it).

You Know You're....

I have to start off by saying I completely stole this from my friend Lisa's blog....thanks Lisa! Those of you in the adoptive community will find this amusing:


You Know You're An Adoptive Parent When . . .

1. The fact that there are 143 million children without a parent to kiss them goodnight has made you lose sleep.
2. You realize DNA has nothing to do with love and family.
3. You can't watch Adoption Stories on TLC without sobbing.
4. The fact that, if 7% of Christians adopted 1 child there would be no orphans in the world, is convicting to you.
5. You spend free time surfing blogs about families who have experienced the blessing of adoption.
6. It drives you crazy when people ask you about adopted child's 'real' parents.
7. You have ever been 'pregnant' with your adoptive child longer than it takes an elephant to give birth. (2 years!)
8. You had no idea how you would afford to adopt but stepped out in faith anyway, knowing where God calls you He will provide.
9. You have ever taken an airplane ride half-way around the world with a child you just met.
10. You believe God's heart is for adoption.
11. You realize that welcoming a child into your heart and family is one of the most important legacies you could ever leave on this earth.
12. You know what the word 'Dossier' means, and you can actually pronounce it!
13. You have welcomed a social worker into the most private parts of your life.
14. You shudder when people say your child is so lucky that you adopted them, knowing full well you are the blessed one to have him or her in your life.

-Author unknown

Sponsor-a-Crib

Many of you know that my husband and I are headed back to China this summer for a mission trip to the Chaoyang orphanage in China. The orphanage has requested the donation of 20 cribs. As you can see by the photo, they are dire need of new cribs. Many of the kids did not even have mattresses in their cribs, or if they did, they had no sheets. Mind you the humidity there is quite high, so they would sweat like crazy on the mattresses. We were able to purchase air conditioners last year, so hopefully that has helped. Our mission team is looking for 20 sponsors for the cribs, or 40 1/2 sponsors. The cost of a single crib is $150 (or $75 for 1/2), and is tax deductible. Our plan is to have them delivered while we are there, so that we can set the cribs up, then take photos of the kids in their new cribs. We would bring back a picture for each sponsor so that he/she could see his/her donation in use, as well as have a photo of a child to pray for daily. Would you please consider this worthy cause? Please email me if you have questions, or if this is something you are interested in, and I will tell you what steps to take next. Thank you for your consideration!

Incensed!

Sorry, but I have to vent on this one. As a born again Christian, as well as being a Type I Diabetic, I am outraged at what has happened to this little girl. This did not have to happen! View the news story (warning, commentator Nancy Grace is annoying) on how this family did not get help for their daughter, and slowly let her die from ketoacidosis, caused by Type I diabetes (you'll have to believe me on this one, ketoacidosis is not fun...). I completely believe in the power of prayer, but that doesn't mean ignorance. I can't imagine watching my child suffer like this, and I can't imagine what the daughter was thinking. Did she know it didn't have to be this way? Did she share her parents belief? I pray she is at peace now.

Easter Slide Show

Here are some pictures from this busy weekend. My parents came out for the weekend, to celebrate Easter and Dad's birthday (the first time they've ever been on the same day in his lifetime). They got to watch Kellen run the 3200 and 1600 on Thursday (freezing and windy), and decorated eggs Friday night. We were supposed to watch Joshua wrestle on Saturday, but Josh ended up not being able to keep anything down that day, so we didn't go. Instead, we took the girls to a local egg hunt, where they were petrified of the Easter bunny! Sunday was church, birthday celebration, and more egg hunts. After the girls hunted the eggs, they hid them for their brothers. Check out the cute video and pictures below.

Great Job Doc!

Recently Kaia had her annual checkup at Children's Hospital in Seattle. It's always a long day when we go there, because we have about four appointments each time we go. We stay in the same room while doctors come in and out at different times. Sounds easy, right? Try being in the same tiny room for approximately four hours with a 3 yr. old, right smack in the middle of nap time. Actually, Kaia did quite well. It was me who was going stir crazy!

Dr. Cunningham, Kaia's pediatrician there at the Craniofacial clinic, reminded us of how far she has come. When we first brought her in to her first appointment, she was about 9 months old. She was at the 5% for her height on the American growth chart, and didn't even make it on the chart for her weight. Now she is just over the 50% for her weight, and just under the 50% for her height. Wow!

We unexpectedly discovered that Kaia had an ear infection when the ENT was checking her out, so we will wait to take out the tubes in her ears in about 3 months. She is such a tough kid; she never complains of an earache. She also got a great report from the speech therapist, as she is right on target for a kid her age.

The last one to come in was Dr. Hopper, who performed both of Kaia's surgeries. He hadn't seen Kaia since her palate repair, which was 2 1/2 years ago. His first comment when he came in was something like, "Wow, what a great repair!" It was cute the way it came out, like "Wow, I did a great job," only it didn't feel like he was bragging, just admiring how beautiful she is. We discussed possibly doing an easy touch up to her nose next spring. We will reevaluate then, and if we decide to go forward with it, it will be a 15 minute outpatient surgery. Other than that, she will still have one more surgery around the age of eight.

Since I didn't have this blog when we adopted Kaia, I thought I would post then and now pictures of Kaia, so everyone can see what an amazing job Dr. Hopper did do! We are so blessed here in this country. We take it for granite that surgeries like this are so common place. If you are looking for a way to spend your Bush Tax Rebate, try donating to a worthy cause, such as Operation Smile. You have no idea how much you will be changing someone's life!