update on little Reid

I wanted to post a progress report on little Reid. He is doing great! Thank you on behalf of his family for all the prayers. He is going back Monday to have his stitches removed. Mom says he is eating well and sleeping better now that he is home. He is quite handsome if I say so myself!

pics of Makenna

Don't compare the pictures you are about to see with the work Scott does! I did use his camara, which was used the night before for outside pictures and set all wrong for indoor use, and turn the studio lights on and that was it! She was just too cute to not snap some pictures of! I love the long eyelashes in the middle picture!
Ryan says she looks just like Boo from Monster's Inc. I haven't seen the movie but have seen pics and she does look like her!! Just wanted to share.





OK, Hannah got up from her nap and wanted some taken too. I think I did even worse on these!! Good thing Scott is our photographer and not me!

our fun weekend

We had a great, busy, but great weekend! I wanted to get pictures of all 4 kids but it just didn't work out. Ryan didn't get in until about 1 AM Sunday night, Monday morning, and TJ was in and out all weekend. I think TJ had a nice relaxing weekend. He got to go to many graduation parties and get caught up with friends. He slept downstairs in his old room, Ryan's room now, on Friday night and loved it! Hannah was not very happy about him not sleeping with her though and let him have it. Saturday night he ended up camping out with a friend and tried to sneak in the house and upstairs around 7AM thinking Hannah would still be asleep and she wouldn't know but she had already gotten up and was crying that TJ was not there again! He did feel bad about that. She got him on Sunday night though! She was finally a happy camper. Makenna took a day to warm up to TJ but then took to him just great. He enjoyed showing off his newest sister that doesn't drool anymore at graduation parties we went to!
Ryan had a good time in Nicaragua. He was touch by how poor everyone seemed to be. They visited a dump where people live and scavange for food and clothes. He said that was really hard. They performed skits, did vbs, and visited an orphanage afew times. He said the orphanage was hard on him because he kept thinking of his 2 little sisters which he adores, and what they would have been like if we had not adopted them. He has enjoyed playing with the girls again and listening to all the silly talk that comes from Hannah. Like "Guess what?" "What Hannah" "When I was in the bathtub, my butt could make bubbles"
Oh my, what a funny little child!
Sunday we dedicated Makenna to the Lord and promised to raise her in a loving Christian home and bring her up in the way of the Lord. She did great, although right before we were to go forward, she pooped her pants! I didn't take the diaper bag in to church because we were only going to be there for church and thought I was safe so I ran out to the bathroom, took the diaper off her, dumped the dirty deed in the toilet, put the dirty diaper back on her and ran back into church just as they were calling our name!! At least she didn't stink when Pastor Mike picked her up! As we were walking back up the isle she waved her little miss america wave to everyone sitting in church and said Hi! It was too cute!


Sunday afternoon we went to my brother Todd's house for a cookout. The girls had a good time playing with the other kids there. We ate too much there and then headed out for graduation parties!
Monday morning we went to the Memorial Day parade. That lasted a total of 6 minutes if you count from the time you saw them coming down the street!! Hannah wasn't happy that there was no candy thrown! She is used to the huge 4th of July parade where you have to take a bucket because you get so much candy!
Monday afternoon our friends Vicki and Amber, and Ambers boyfriend Tim came up from around Columbus to spend Memorial Day with us. Jim and Vicki have 3 children from China and are who we blame when we have a trying day with the girls! They are the people that introduced us to the plight of the orphans. We had a fun time playing, eating, and getting caught up on life. We went to Dairy Queen on their way out of town and the kids enjoyed thier ice cream....5 little Chinese children under the age of 5 drew lots of attention! Hannah's little boyfriend that lives behind us came over and he was the minority! Too funny. We had a great time.


God Bless

Please pray for Reid

I just wanted to ask my cyber friends to pray for little Reid today. He is having surgery to close his cleft lip. He is an adorable little guy with the most beautiful blue eyes! He will be a lady killer some day!! I know his family would appreciate the prayer support.
Scott and I had the opportunity to do Reids first photoshoot a few weeks ago! What a cutie pie! I'll post a picture so all the world can see.
Thank you in advance and I'll post an update soon.
God Bless




OK, so I couldn't decide on just one picture!!

Makenna's awakening!

She is saying new sounds today!! I was feeding her supper tonight and she was signing daddy and asking where he was. I started in with my dadadadadadadadadadada trying to get her to say it. She did!! It kind of somes out like Ga Ga but every now and then it is a D sound! She was so proud of herself! She said it over and over when daddy came into the dining room. She has also been saying some other sounds today. It is like she realized that she can make sounds!
Just wanted to share her big milestone!

busy week and busy weekend!

I just thought I'd write a bit about our week. We have had a much better week than I thought we would with Makenna being in arm splints and eating pureed food! She has been such a trouper through this whole ordeal. She eats whatever you feed her. Her fits have gone down in number in the last couple of days. She does get angry if we are at the supper table and I take a bite off my plate instead of just feeding her! She does not mind the splints being on still. She does love to take them off though and she just smiles a huge smile and moves her arms around. I usually scratch her arms for her and she loves it! For the most part, she has not really tried to put things in her mouth. I did catch her putting her num num (blankie) in her mouth yesterday but we got it out right away. Last night she finally slept most of the night. The 3 nights before, she was up almost every hour crying. I'd have to go upstairs and pick her up for 30 seconds then lay her back down and she'd go back to sleep for an hour then wake back up! I don't know if her arm hurt from the splints or she was just afraid and needed to see me. Hannah has decided that she wants to sleep with Makenna in their room and not in TJ's bed again! She changes her opinion on where she sleeps every week or so! We went through a period of 2 weeks where every night she would come down and get in bed with us so I made her a pallet on the floor with sheet, blanket and pillow. I told her if she woke up she was not to wake up mommy, just lay down on the floor and go back to sleep. Of course being the good mom I am, I can hear the pitter patter of her little feet hitting the floor upstairs and her clumping down the steps! She told me the one morning that sleeping on the floor was not very comfortable! I told her to stay in hr own bed then! She has slept all night in her bed the last 3 nights. We have had a big celebration in the mornings when she sleeps all night upstairs!
TJ is coming home tonight. Hannah is very excited about him coming home again! She said yesterday morning she wanted to talk to TJ so we called his cell. I knew he'd be at work but she left a long message for him. He called back right as I was being poked for some bloodwork. That was a fun time...bloodwork..... I had both the girls with me and went in the hospital. I had put Makenna in her stroller to contain her. When they finally called me back she was done sitting in the stroller and wanted out. She was fussing (actually pitching a spicey girl fit), Hannah was asking the phlibomist a million questions like, 'are you going to hurt my mom, is she going to cry, can i hold her hand so she is brave, does she have to pee in a cup when you are done, she needs a bandaid, can i have a bandaid'. That is just a sampling of the questions she asked in the 5 minute window!! During the Makenna fit, the Hannah questions, and my being poked, TJ is calling! After the tech was done with my blood Hannah asked her what she was going to do with it now and she said "label her tubes". Hannah pipes up and says, my baby sister Makenna has tubes but the doctor said I didn't need tubes, meaning tubes in their ears!!! Oh this girl is too smart!
Ryan is still in Nicaragua. He will be home late Sunday night. From the email updates we have been getting, they are having a great time. They have been working in the orphanage, doing VBS, and general repair and clean up duties. It sounds like they are having a blast! I am glad that he finally got the funds together so he could go on this senior trip.
Last night a reporter came to the house to interview Scott for a Fathers Day story they are doing on dads that have adopted. Scott had written an article entitled "The Reluctant Father" so he also gave that to her. I am anxious to read what they write about him. He is a great dad and he loves his girls so much. It is much different than his relationship with the boys, he said as much as he loved the boys, girls are different! They have him wrapped around thier fingers! Maybe I'll scan the article and post it here when it prints. They want a picture of Scott and the girls for the article. I am very excited that they chose hime for the article! He has alot to say even though he doesn't say much.
Well, that is about it for today. Got to scrub floors and finish cleaning for company this weekend! I have told Scott that I need a wife!
Oh yes, I wanted to meantion, our church is so wonderful. They have been bringing meals in every night this week for us since Makenna had surgery. I feel guilty for accepting them since she is doing so well, but I got to say Scott and I were trying to decide who was going to break what next week for more meals!! First time in a long time that "I" have had a hot meal on the table for Scott when he got home! We have tator tot casserole, pulled pork sandwiches, 2 batches of home made applesauce, lemon pie, cheese cake, brownies, lazagna, ham....on and on!!!
Well, I promise I am signing off now!
God Bless!

PLEASE PRAY FOR THIS FAMILY

http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080521/TUNEIN/80521174/1073/ENTERTAINMENT07

http://us.mg1.mail.yahoo.com/dc/launch?.rand=1gakrp4ocqqdd

Please pray for the Steven Curtis Chapman family. Thier son accidently ran over their youngest daughter adopted from China and she was killed. I can't imagine losing a child and also can't imagine the guilt and feeling that their son is feeling.
The first song in my playlist on the blog is SCC Cinderella. He wrote that song to remind us all not to wish our children's lives away to quickly. We never know what tomorrow holds. I always have tears when I hear that song as it is, but now they have a totally new meaning.
Please lift them up in prayer in the upcoming days and weeks. Their family has done so much for adoption and help so many people financially with their adoptions. We question God at times like this but must remember that we only see today and God sees the big picture.

Thank you for your prayers.

God Bless.

more on the earthquake

http://www.chinabush.org/

Here is a blog of a family living in China working at an orphanage close to Beijing. He has alot about the earthquake and some very sad pictures. My heart goes out to the people of China.

earthquake victims need help

http://halfthesky.org/journal/


Here is link to Half the Sky Foundation that is in China trying to help the people there. This newsletter talks of the newly orphaned children from the earthquake and the needs of China. It is a much more honest look at what is really going on. If you feel lead, please donate to help these people. The people of China have gone through so much and have so little. It is very sad. Makenna's orphanage was less than 200 miles from the epicenter. They have reported no damage. Hannah's birth city has reported that they also felt the earthquake and they are hundereds of miles from the epicenter.

pictures from Chicago Shriners

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Just thought I'd update you all as to how Makenna is doing. I guess in one word, GREAT! We are so blessed that she has come through this surgery so well. Our biggest problem is that she is two years old...she wants to do it herself! She doesn't want mommy to feed her, she wants to do it! She has not had any pain meds since Friday evening which is amazing to me. She is a tough cookie for sure! Scott was laughing that Makenna could rip her arm off and might be down for a few minutes but then get up and start playing again...Hannah on the other hand, the drama queen of the east, would be down for the count for days and weeks! She insists on bandaids for old wounds that you barely see the scratch! Of course at grandma and grandpa's last week, grandma would let her pick out however many bandaids she needed after her bath and put them on! The special things you get to do at grandma and grandpas! She has been a little pill since we returned home, after all, she is not the center of attention any more! I look for today to go better.
Makenna after not sleeping much since we had left Tuesday night, went up to her bed Saturday night when we got home and wanted to be put in bed. She grabbed her num num's (blankies) and rolled over on her side and was asleep within the minute! She woke up once and I went up and held her for a minute and laid her back down where she slept the rest of the night! She is so excited about being home. She is doing great with her arm splints. When they fall off or she takes them off, she will bring them to me to put back on! We take them off 3 or 4 times a day so she can rest her arms and watch her closely. So far, she has only tried to put her finger in her mouth once. I have a hard time getting fluids in her, she doesn't care for the syringe for fluids and I don't care for the mess of her drinking out of a regular cup!
As you can see from the pictures, we have no post surgery pictures. We had our camara with us the whole time but it was such a crazy time with her that we didn't even snap one picture! I wished we would have had one or two but that's OK. I don't think she'd want to remember that ordeal anyway. If anyone is thinking of appling to Shriners for their surgery, I recommend it! The freedom the doctors have to practice medicine as they see fit with no insurance to deal with! They told us Friday that we could go home but if we wanted to stay another day, that was fine with them! Most hospitals kick you out 10 minutes after surgery!
Thank you so much for the emails of support also. We have been so blessed!

update on Makenna

Hello all. So sorry we did not get to post while we were at Shriners. Things were fairly crazy and didn't take the time. Makenna is out of the hospital. As I write we are at SCott's parents house in Indpls. The doctors said that surgery went as perfectly as possible. When the ent went to put the tubes in, he pulled out a huge ball of wax out of her ear and said it was the biggest hunk of wax out of a child this age he had seen! Maybe that had something to do with her not hearing?!?! After the surgeon came and gave us report on her he said that they'd some get us in about a half hour and get us so we could go back and see her. Within 20 minutes the doctor came out and said "Are you Makenna's parents? Come quick, she is about to kill us all!" Let me tell you about our spicy little girl! They could not calm her down at all and she screamed continually for at least 3 hours! She would settle for a few seconds then rear back and stiffen up to the point of you could not hardly even hold her. They had give her medication to calm her and it had the opposite effect on her. Between the morphine for pain, and the other meds, she was so snowed she didn't know what was going on. It was very difficult to watch and it took quite a long time for her to come around. I stayed in the PICU with her all night and by the time Scott got there around 7 this morning, she was doing much better. She had to lay on my chest all night to sleep and would wake screaming 3 or 4 times an hour so it was a very long night! We forced her to drink some juice and eat some cream of wheat so they would discharge her. She was so glad to get the IV and SPO2 off her foot(check her oxygen saturation) ! She would pull all the cardiac leads off her chest numerous times, she just hated all those wires. Since her IV was in her foot she couldn't get down or leave the room so she was happy to have that stuff all gone and get up and walk. The staff was wonderful at Shriners. I highly recommend them! Scott talked today about how we couldn't decide if we wanted to deal with a cleft lip/palate baby when we were looking at our agency's special needs list and after this week and seeing some of the children and what the parents and kids have to endure, we are so blessed to have a cleft child, something that is so easily fixed.

We serve a great God and he answered many prayers. Upon waking up at 5 AM on Thursday morning, Makenna was signing hungry and to eat. Of course it was surgery day and she was not able to eat or drink anything so I put her in the stroller and we walked for about 3 hours until Scott got there. We went outside to the walking path and I just prayed as we walked that God would take all her hunger pangs away and she never signed to eat again that day! We praise God for answering that prayer. All the prayers that went up for a successful surgery and that was granted. When we sent word that she was having a hard time after surgery and prayers went up, that was also answered. Our prayers about Scott being able to stay at the Ronald McDonald house for 5 dollars a night was also answered! It was so nice to know he was sleeping an a comfortable Select Comfort bed with free food there while I was with Makenna in the hospital!!!! That's OK, he slept Wed. and Thurs night and I will get to sleep tonight!

Thank you so much for following and for all your prayers. We will update pictures after we get home tomorrow.

Side note: After I wrote this, I fixed Makenna some Double Chicken Noodle soup and put it in the blender. She ate at least a half a can of that, a half container of chocolate pudding, and some apple sauce! She has not had pain meds since 11 this morning and it i s now 8:30. I gave her some meds now since we are going to bed, hoping she will sleep. I think her recovery is going to be great. She doesn't even seem to mind the No No's on her arms! She was so happy to get all the wires off of herself I think she is Ok with just the no no's. THey have not slowed her down, she was climbing the chairs, on the kitchen table etc!

Messy Makenna!

Is it because she is a cleft and drools or is she just messy? We will find out soon!! We leave for Chicago tomorrow! Surgery on Thursday! We'll keep you posted.

Make a Smilebox postcard

Makenna turns 2!

Happy 2nd birthday Makenna Grace! We had a little get together Saturday night for Makenna. She LOVED her birthday cake! We sat that cake down and she tried to stick her hand in the icing! She had cake and icing everywhere! We had to lose her pants before gifts because there was cake on them. She had a great time.

Prom pics

Here are some pictures from prom night last Saturday night! I'll post some of Ryan and Jess in the next day or so. Due to some issues, we were not able to photgraph Ryan and Jess before prom! We are getting pictures from her parents!

more pics that Scott has taken

I just wanted to brag on Scott and show off some of his pictures he has taken this week! We had the priviledge of photographing a little boy from our own little town here that was born with bilateral cleft lip and palate. He was so good and those blue eyes...OH MY!! We also took more pictures of our first and tiniest angel! She is 5 weeks old already. I wanted to try out the new antique baby scale I had purchased and she was the perfect baby! Her mommy brought the perfect dress for the pictures too. I think Scott is doing great!! We have another sitting tonight. We are so grateful for people giving us the chance to "practice" with their kids!!
Enjoy the slide show.