Today, both kids had a Peds visit. Elizabeth needed her five year old check-up and Kindergarten physical! (This is coming WAY too soon!!!) She weighed in at about 39 lbs. But somehow I forgot her height. Josiah weighs about 25 lbs (a 5 lb increase from his visit 10 months ago) and is about 33 1/2 inches tall. (A growth of about 3 1/2 inches). He's still not on the growth chart for his age, but is in the 25th percentile if you compare his weight for height. I really thought he had grown more, but I'm glad to see some growth!
The doctor was good with the kids, and actually examined them at the same time, which worked pretty well. He would look at one and then the other. Then it came time for the "fun" part. Elizabeth had to have her finger pricked for an Anemia test and three immunizations. The plan was that she would go first so she could be the example for Josiah. After she did so well with the Yellow Fever vaccine before we went to Ethiopia, I though she would be fine this time. Well, she watched the nurse prick her finger with whimpers. When she lied down to have the shots in her legs, she started crying and carrying on before anything even happened.
We ended up not getting Josiah's shots yet. We thought that we had his medical records transferred from the previous Pediatrician, but apparently not. We have not started Josiah on any of his immunizations yet; with the stress at visiting the doctors when we first came home, we decided to wait a few months to let him become more comfortable. We were going to do it around 6 months, and just put it off because of moving...and then his birthday was just a couple months away...and time has just gotten away from us. But we wanted the records because we did have titres done when he came home. Unfortunately, I don't know those results. So, we'll probably be going in a couple weeks once they have his records. It's probably good he didn't have to go after watching Elizabeth anyway :-)
Friday, July 31, 2009
Monday, July 27, 2009
Too Fast
My baby girl is growing too fast! She discovered her first loose tooth yesterday! She's excited but a little nervous, too.
Friday, July 24, 2009
House situation
So, I'm realizing I never posted here that we are not going to be buying a house right now. Sorry, sometimes I put things on Facebook and totally forget about the blog! Anyway, through a series of events, one with our mortgage company, the others with the bank that owns the house, we were put into a situation where we will no longer proceed with buying the house. And since time is running low before school starts and then Baby comes, we decided to rent for a year. We've been approved for the lease, just need to get everything signed. We'll be moving to another townhouse. We're kind of excited because we like the location, the age of the house, the elementary school, and the storage potential we will now have. But we are sad, and a little frustrated, that we found a great house at a good price (down the street from friends, during a time when you would think the banks want to get rid of everything) and we lost it.
BUT we know that God is working in all things for our good.
Somewhat related, we are seriously looking to find another family for our big dog, Diego. (And I do mean big! He's weighing in at 95 lbs. right now.) He has done pretty well with all the changes we have thrown at him, but in moving to another townhouse, he just doesn't have the space he needs. There is a small fenced area, but not enough for him to get the exercise he needs. And to be honest, we are not giving him the attention he deserves. With E. starting school and the Baby coming, I just don't see that improving. It is a bit hard, though. Part of me is just ready for him to move on, but he has been with us over 6 years! He lived with me in our first house before David ;-)
BUT we know that God is working in all things for our good.
Somewhat related, we are seriously looking to find another family for our big dog, Diego. (And I do mean big! He's weighing in at 95 lbs. right now.) He has done pretty well with all the changes we have thrown at him, but in moving to another townhouse, he just doesn't have the space he needs. There is a small fenced area, but not enough for him to get the exercise he needs. And to be honest, we are not giving him the attention he deserves. With E. starting school and the Baby coming, I just don't see that improving. It is a bit hard, though. Part of me is just ready for him to move on, but he has been with us over 6 years! He lived with me in our first house before David ;-)
Monday, July 20, 2009
Determining Gender
This evening, the kids and I were having one of our regular conversations about whether they think the baby is a boy or a girl. Elizabeth remembered that the lady who did the sonogram had written down the answer in the envelope. Then, thinking of the sonogram, she went on to say that she is sure the baby is a girl. "I didn't see that thing that sticks out--like on boys."
I was rolling ;-)
I was rolling ;-)
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Old Posts
Last week, David said he shared our blog address with a co-worker. (Hi Heidi, if you're still reading :-)) So, I started going back and reading old posts. But some were missing! I pretty much panicked! Where were all my old posts??? There were posts from the beginning of our Ethiopia journey, but not from the process in Guatemala before that. AHHHHH!
Thankfully, after some serious searching, I remembered that we had a Google Group that we were posting to before. We didn't actually start the blog until we started the process for Ethiopia. PHEW! There are a few things I thought I posted somewhere but haven't found, but I'm very relieved to have found many old posts.
In the interest of keeping that from happening again, I'm adding the original group posts to this blog. They'll be dated so that they match the date we originally posted them. They will be posted starting with dates in August 2007 (or earlier if I can find those, too) to a few overlapping into February 2008.
Thankfully, after some serious searching, I remembered that we had a Google Group that we were posting to before. We didn't actually start the blog until we started the process for Ethiopia. PHEW! There are a few things I thought I posted somewhere but haven't found, but I'm very relieved to have found many old posts.
In the interest of keeping that from happening again, I'm adding the original group posts to this blog. They'll be dated so that they match the date we originally posted them. They will be posted starting with dates in August 2007 (or earlier if I can find those, too) to a few overlapping into February 2008.
Friday, July 10, 2009
My little herd
Today was Cow Appreciation Day at Chick-fil-A. If you dress like a cow, you get free chicken. Free food at the kids' (and maybe Mommy's) favorite place??? We're all in! We waited for dinner so David could join us. I think we got a bigger discount than we were supposed to as David and I were not fully dressed up, but I'm not going to complain about $0.37 total for the four of us to eat!
From the moment Elizabeth heard about it, she did not forget! So, we took some of David's white t-shirts, bought some fabric paint and set to work. Of course, my lovely daughter decided that black and white cows were just not special enough. So, she picked "cotton candy" pink with sparkles. Josiah had to have his own color then, too. He chose bright orange and kept calling it orange juice. I made matching ears with felt and pipe cleaners. I wish I could say I was relaxed and let the kids handle the design and painting. But I didn't. I didn't even let Josiah wear clothes to paint. Hehe. I'm giving the reason that we used permanent fabric paint...on the floor...of a rental. So I had to had my eyes and hand involved at all times. That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!
Baby had to "dress up" too, right? The cow image is labeled Baby Moo
From the moment Elizabeth heard about it, she did not forget! So, we took some of David's white t-shirts, bought some fabric paint and set to work. Of course, my lovely daughter decided that black and white cows were just not special enough. So, she picked "cotton candy" pink with sparkles. Josiah had to have his own color then, too. He chose bright orange and kept calling it orange juice. I made matching ears with felt and pipe cleaners. I wish I could say I was relaxed and let the kids handle the design and painting. But I didn't. I didn't even let Josiah wear clothes to paint. Hehe. I'm giving the reason that we used permanent fabric paint...on the floor...of a rental. So I had to had my eyes and hand involved at all times. That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!
I started calling Elizabeth Strawberry Milkshake. Josiah was Orange Creamsicle.
Baby had to "dress up" too, right? The cow image is labeled Baby Moo
(I'm pretty sure I've figured it out now, so if you click on the picture it'll open full-size :-))
10 Months
As of this past Wednesday, Josiah has been home with us for 10 months!
In many ways, it seems like time has flown. In other ways, it seems like he's been with us so much longer. Sometimes, I start to get discouraged comparing him to other kids I read about who were adopted about the same time or even since we came home. He's still not caught up in size as much as some of them, and sometimes it seems his language is still behind them. But then I look back and remember how far he has come from where he was, and WOW! He has come such a long way!
In many ways, it seems like time has flown. In other ways, it seems like he's been with us so much longer. Sometimes, I start to get discouraged comparing him to other kids I read about who were adopted about the same time or even since we came home. He's still not caught up in size as much as some of them, and sometimes it seems his language is still behind them. But then I look back and remember how far he has come from where he was, and WOW! He has come such a long way!
Monday, July 6, 2009
4th of July!
This year, we celebrated the 4th of July a day early. David's youngest brother Steven will be deploying to the Middle East with the Marines, probably in the next couple of weeks! So he asked Auntie Max and Uncle Bill if we could all go out and enjoy the day on their boat and in their pool. They graciously agreed :-) We drove over to Mom Baber's house Thursday evening. Then Friday morning Steven, Mom, AJ, and the four of us drove over to Auntie Max's and Uncle Bill's house and headed over to the boat!
As far as we know, this was Josiah's first time on a boat...definitely one with a motor. He was so excited that he was going to be on a boat on the water! We expected a bit of resistance with wearing the life vest, but he was a champ! He put it right on and didn't bother it the rest of the time. Elizabeth has been out on Uncle Bill's boat once before, and on a cruise ship and touring boat in Jamaica, so she kind of considers herself a pro now. ;-)
We were thrilled with how well all three kids did! We were out for about 2 1/2 hours, and they listened and enjoyed the ride for pretty much the whole time! We thought Josiah might be scared by the motor, and it surprised him for a moment in the beginning. But after that, he was great! We also thought the motion of the boat might unnerve him. He got his sea legs quickly, though, and would have walked all over the boat if we let him! Elizabeth was mostly content to just sit back and watch the water and other boats around us. AJ moved around a little more, and wished he could have gone on the front with the big guys, but enjoyed his time anyway.
After the boat, we headed back to the house for swimming and grilling. This was going to be another first for Josiah, at least with us. We were unsure of how it was going to go. When we were in Ethiopia, Josiah cried...loudly anytime we got near the tub. It took almost a couple weeks at home before he was relaxed sitting inside the regular tub. He loves it now, and even loves getting in my parents' big hot tub. But a pool is much bigger. We were expecting clinging for a while. Well, apparently, our son has become part fish! He held onto David for all of about 20 seconds, and was then face first into the water. We could practically hold him underneath with one hand (he hasn't figured out how to stay on top of the water yet) and he would move his arms and legs, swimming all over the pool. He went under water and came up laughing. He jumped off the side of the pool with glee. He wanted to go out on his own with the water wings, but for some reason he just couldn't keep his body high enough in the water. I think next time, he'll be wanting to jump off the diving board! ;-)
AJ and Elizabeth weren't quite as adventurous this time. It usually takes them a bit of time to regain their comfort level. Both were excited to see how much they had grown over the year, and how well they could touch in the shallow end! Elizabeth still insisted she had to have floaties on. Normally, they would have been jumping off the side and holding their breath under water by the end of the day. They just weren't having it this time. But they still had tons of fun! (I think once things finally settle down in our lives, we're going to work on getting Elizabeth into swimming lessons again. She hasn't done them in several years. I think Josiah would enjoy them, too!)
Grandma and Grandpa Scott drove over and joined us all for hamburgers and hot dogs, lots of yummy fruit, potato salad, and the works! The kids and I made Berry Cheesecake Parfaits for dessert. We prepared the pudding layer ahead of time, and then layered them in individual cups after dinner. The kids, and David, ate theirs in ice cream cones, and loved them!
We headed home after a long day. The kids both slept a couple hours on the way home.
As far as we know, this was Josiah's first time on a boat...definitely one with a motor. He was so excited that he was going to be on a boat on the water! We expected a bit of resistance with wearing the life vest, but he was a champ! He put it right on and didn't bother it the rest of the time. Elizabeth has been out on Uncle Bill's boat once before, and on a cruise ship and touring boat in Jamaica, so she kind of considers herself a pro now. ;-)
We were thrilled with how well all three kids did! We were out for about 2 1/2 hours, and they listened and enjoyed the ride for pretty much the whole time! We thought Josiah might be scared by the motor, and it surprised him for a moment in the beginning. But after that, he was great! We also thought the motion of the boat might unnerve him. He got his sea legs quickly, though, and would have walked all over the boat if we let him! Elizabeth was mostly content to just sit back and watch the water and other boats around us. AJ moved around a little more, and wished he could have gone on the front with the big guys, but enjoyed his time anyway.
After the boat, we headed back to the house for swimming and grilling. This was going to be another first for Josiah, at least with us. We were unsure of how it was going to go. When we were in Ethiopia, Josiah cried...loudly anytime we got near the tub. It took almost a couple weeks at home before he was relaxed sitting inside the regular tub. He loves it now, and even loves getting in my parents' big hot tub. But a pool is much bigger. We were expecting clinging for a while. Well, apparently, our son has become part fish! He held onto David for all of about 20 seconds, and was then face first into the water. We could practically hold him underneath with one hand (he hasn't figured out how to stay on top of the water yet) and he would move his arms and legs, swimming all over the pool. He went under water and came up laughing. He jumped off the side of the pool with glee. He wanted to go out on his own with the water wings, but for some reason he just couldn't keep his body high enough in the water. I think next time, he'll be wanting to jump off the diving board! ;-)
AJ and Elizabeth weren't quite as adventurous this time. It usually takes them a bit of time to regain their comfort level. Both were excited to see how much they had grown over the year, and how well they could touch in the shallow end! Elizabeth still insisted she had to have floaties on. Normally, they would have been jumping off the side and holding their breath under water by the end of the day. They just weren't having it this time. But they still had tons of fun! (I think once things finally settle down in our lives, we're going to work on getting Elizabeth into swimming lessons again. She hasn't done them in several years. I think Josiah would enjoy them, too!)
Grandma and Grandpa Scott drove over and joined us all for hamburgers and hot dogs, lots of yummy fruit, potato salad, and the works! The kids and I made Berry Cheesecake Parfaits for dessert. We prepared the pudding layer ahead of time, and then layered them in individual cups after dinner. The kids, and David, ate theirs in ice cream cones, and loved them!
We headed home after a long day. The kids both slept a couple hours on the way home.
On Saturday, we relaxed around the house for most of the day, ordered pizza, then headed out to the movie theater parking lot in time to watch fireworks from a distance. The kids loved them. Josiah keeps asking to watch them again. Next year we'll get closer for more of the "full experience" ;-)
We lift our prayers with those of many of you for our nation, the leadership, and our troops!
Another way we have decided to support our troops is through Operation Worship. http://www.operationworship.com/ I'm not sure of all the ways to participate, but we bought the Bibles at a Lifeway store near us for $5 each, wrote messages in them, and then returned them to the same store. They'll take care of shipping them! (I'm just not sure how long they are participating.) Blessings!
Room Arrangements
The other night we were, once again, discussing moving and room arrangements for when the baby comes. (No, we still do not know if we will be buying the house we have a contract on. Hopefully, we'll know by the end of the week.) We are thinking that most likely someone will need to share a room with Baby once he/she moves out of our bedroom.
I asked Elizabeth if the baby could share her room. She said yes. Curious, I asked her why she is fine with the baby in her room, but doesn't always want Josiah to come play in her room with her. She just answered that she sometimes doesn't want him in her room.
I asked Josiah, "Well, what if the baby is a boy? Can he share your room?" His answer was quick and simple. "No. Elizabeth's room." I guess he figured that if she's already willing, he does not need to share his room. ;-)
I asked Elizabeth if the baby could share her room. She said yes. Curious, I asked her why she is fine with the baby in her room, but doesn't always want Josiah to come play in her room with her. She just answered that she sometimes doesn't want him in her room.
I asked Josiah, "Well, what if the baby is a boy? Can he share your room?" His answer was quick and simple. "No. Elizabeth's room." I guess he figured that if she's already willing, he does not need to share his room. ;-)
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