Something's got to give ...

and I guess it's the blog!  The blog gets neglected in our busy days.

Things are busy, but good - the Little are finally recovered completely from their surgeries & back to full speed.  We're working on potty training next, which scares me, but both girls seem fully capable, so we're forging ahead.  Ruby's sleeping in her big girl bed, but bedtime is still a bit of chaos -- and most mornings we find her sleeping on the floor.  It's progress though, and going better than the last time we took her crib away.  Half the time, though, I fall asleep in the girls' room putting them to bed!

Anyway, we're still here.  I'm thankful for my wonderful family and my ever-patient husband.  I'm thankful for holidays we spend at home and not in a hospital -- can you believe it's been 3 years since that fateful Thanksgiving at Children's in Milwaukee?  Karly had her surgery, and we were so naive, thinking that would be the end of it, and in reality it was the beginning of her cancer journey.

Thinking of that Thanksgiving always makes me giggle a little, too -- Brian, Braden, my mom, baby Ruby & I all huddled in the corner of Karly's hospital room behind a curtain, eating our Thanksgiving meal while Karly slept (she wasn't allowed to eat!  She was prepping for surgery!  That didn't mean WE couldn't eat....)  Thanks, Jennie, for making sure we had a meal that day  :)

Lesia

Lesia's family went public on their blog, so as promised -- here's the link!

I love this family!  I can not imagine a better family for that beautiful little girl!  Many of you may remember the Whites, since I lived with them for a while this summer when I went on my final trip to bring Lilya home.

Busy Days

This past week:

• Braden went to the planetarium with the Sibling Support Network, which he really enjoyed
• Karly missed the bus only one morning this week
• I trimmed Ruby's bangs and they look pretty awful
• Braden fell at school & has a fracture in his little finger
• We're having issues getting the orthopedic doctors to call us back for his follow-up appointment, the bullies.
• I went away to Chicago for a night to the NADS (National Association of Down Syndrome) conference, which was super & informative
• Stopping at IKEA on the way home was even better!
• Ruby fell, and now has a black eye :(  
• I've started calling her Rocky
• Lilya hasn't slept through the night in about a week, but seems to be just about completely recovered from her tonsilectomy
• Last night, Lil ended up sleeping in our bed and Ruby slept in Lil's.  
• It might be time to ditch Ruby's crib.  (I'm scared - hold me.)
• I'm sooo looking forward to the holiday this week and the extra down time that brings.  We really miss Brian when he goes to work!

Cutie Girls Copying Each Other

I love how well these girls can play together! Not always, but often, they're getting along & having fun together.

Daddy took a little video a couple weeks ago when they were playing, copying each other, just jabbering away ... until the end, when they turn on Brian & try to tickle him.

Mama's Little Helpers

Lil loves to help, and thinks the vacuum is the neatest toy...

This was BRILLIANT and the highlight of my morning ... until Ruby discovered the button that makes all the cleaning fluid shoot out of the Swiffer.  

Whooo hoooo!!

Lesia has a family!!  

(It's not us, but I do know who it is!!)  

I'm so SO THRILLED!!

It's like Christmas came early this year! :)


ps -- YES, they do have a blog, so when/if they begin posting about adopting Lesia, I'll link to them!

Happy Adoption Month!

Did you know that just about a year ago - on November 14, 2009 - we went public with our plans to adopt Lil? You can visit my first post on Lil's adoption blog to see where our journey started!


This is the picture that stole our hearts (touched up for me by a wonderful friend):

Such a sweetheart! 

Such a tiny girl,

So serious, so earnest

So very dear.


Now here we are, a year later -- and Lilya's been in our home for 4 months!  It feels as though she's been with us forever, and that our summer in Kyiv was a dream.

I mean, seriously?  We are not world travelers.  We're not wealthy people.  What we did was so far out of our comfort zone -- and yet it was wonderful and I don't regret a moment of it.

Now, Lilya is a girl with a family.

A little sister, and an older brother & sister, and a Mama & Papa of her own.

A girl who is listened to -- she's learned over 100 signs since she came home, and says a couple dozen words.  She gives a 'thumbs up' when she likes something, and has the greatest giggles.

She has glasses!  And is missing 2 front teeth!

We love our Lily-ladybug!

One more thing ...

If you look at all the sweet little faces and wonder how you pick a child to donate to, well, one of our local families in our Down syndrome group is working to commit to Aleksey (14). And of course I'm partial to the dollies at (5), where Lilya used to live!

Visit Reece's Rainbow's Angel Tree page to donate to the waiting children -- it's a shopping cart page, and donations $35 and over will receive an ornament with that child's picture on it. Of course, you can always purchase multiple ornaments, too!

Reece's Rainbow

Remember last month, I posted about 4 little ones left behind in Lil's orphanage?

These 2 little sweethearts have found families!!

Jackson

                 Micah

Hopefully, they'll be home with their families next spring/summer!

These 2 cuties are still waiting:

Leesia

Jan 2008

Antonio

May 2008

As are many, many other children - still waiting - to find families.  Right now, Reece's Rainbow has their annual "Angel Tree" fundraiser going on.  For a $35 or more donation, you will receive an ornament with a child's picture on it.  You chose the child you'd like to donate to, and every dollar helps.   The NUMBER ONE obstacle in finding families for these children is the money.  There is no shortage of families who would love to adopt these children, but the expense is a serious obstacle for many of them.

Please consider donating for one of these children.  Look at my Lil -- we can personally vouch for the fact that donations really do help smooth the way with these adoptions.  Absolutely!  Please let me know if you have any questions about the Angel Tree fundraiser, Reece's Rainbow, or international Down syndrome adoption - it's definitely one of my favorite things to talk about!

Christmas Angel Tree TwentyTen

CLICK HERE to Put the Angel Tree Bubble on Your Blog! Thank you!

Lilya's going to school!

Over the past several weeks, Lil's had numerous visitors from the local school district.  Now, because she is 6 and it is state law that 6-year-olds must attend school, Lil is currently a homeschooled first-grader.  Technically, because of her age.  But just so we're clear - I'm not teaching Lil how to read right now.

Last week, Brian & I went to meet with with the large team of people at the school to talk about Lil.  We had asked them to consider 4K as well as 5K for her -- our district has a half-day 4-year-old kindergarten program as well as a half-day 5-year-old kindergarten program.  When we look at Lil without taking her size or age into consideration -- well, the team recommended putting her into 4K, and we agreed.

The team also agreed that Lil is amazing & wonderful & doing so incredibly well since she's come home!

Putting Lilya into 4K will give her the remainder of this school year to learn the school routine and gain some school-readiness skills.  Lil will start school after all the holiday breaks in January (that was my decision, to give her more time at home to bond with us).

Then, next year Lilya will have half-day 5K, and Ruby will be in 4K!  WOW!

"The Littles" (as we affectionately refer to Lil & Ru) are feeling much better.  The other morning they were playing together on the couch:

Their very own Littles fort!

No little sweethearts were harmed while playing in this fort!

Lilya's Words

Last night, Lil said 'doll' and signed it -- I didn't know she could say that! It seems like every couple days new words are popping out! So, I sat her down & we made a little video so she could show off her emerging language skills (and her long hair! I can't believe how fast it's growing!) Also, please admire how well she keeps her glasses on -- she's even started pushing them back into place when they slide down, instead of taking them off.

We are so proud of our Lilya!

Sweet 16

(The 'sweet' is ironic, when talking about teenage girls, right?)


If you know me on Facebook, you probably already know that Karly turned 16 on Monday.  SIXTEEN!  And I've been trying to put together a blog ... but it's not easy.  Not because "oh, how did I get so old to have a daughter so old" but just the sheer oddity of her being 16.

When Karly was just barely 13, she was diagnosed with cancer.  A very aggressive type of ovarian cancer - and at the time it seemed unfathomable that she'd ever be anything but 13.  And here we are - 3 years later, and I'm struggling for something profound to say.

Happy Birthday, Karly!  Here's to many more happy birthdays -- We're so proud of you!

Tiny Tushie

Ruby has the cutest little round buns -- but I wasn't prepared to see them this morning.  When I went in to get her out of her crib, she was completely naked, lying in her crib - pajamas & diaper on the floor.  Such a little stinker!  She was smiling at me, so proud of herself.

Then about half an hour ago, she found the box of crayons I had in the hospital bag from Lil's tonsillectomy -- and she colored all over the couch.  Good thing crayons are washable, or she'd be back in her crib for the rest of the day while I calmed down!

Just, no. Not allowed.

She did do this all on her own, though, which is impressive. But still - NO.

Drink Milk for Cheese!

Friday morning, Brian & I brought Lil to the hospital very early in the morning. Even though the dentist & ENT usually schedule patients by age, since she had 2 doctors working on her, she got to be the first patient of the day.

She did really well, and they gave her a little medicine before they took her away from us. They decided it was better safe than sorry & ran her some antibiotics as they prepped for her surgery -- since dental work can introduce new bacteria into the system, and she's got that pesky heart history.

The dentist did his x-rays while she was getting the antibiotics, and came out to tell us what he saw. She had cavities in 2 places - 1 in a top tooth, and a bottom tooth that had a few spots and may need a cap. She ended up with 4 fillings, and no cap. He also said her bottom front teeth were loose and he was going to pull them. "Are they loose because something's wrong, or because she's 6??" It was because she's 6, and the new, adult teeth were starting to push on them from below. So, we now have a little bottle with Lil's first lost teeth -- time to call the tooth fairy, I guess!

After the dentist, the ENT had his turn -- and he removed her ginormous disgusting tonsils and her adenoids.

We asked that they come get us as soon as they can, since we didn't want her to wake up scared & without us. They were super, and got us back to her right away. After she was more alert & awake (although she was still pretty sad & miserable) they brought her upstairs to her room. They don't normally keep kids overnight for tonsils, but again -- that pesky heart condition makes them extra cautious.

The rest of Friday was pretty lowkey, but Lil did eat some yogurt.

We came home yesterday morning, and have been pushing soft foods & fluids ever since.  The foods are fine -- she's eating oatmeal, pudding, noodles, yogurt, mashed veggies, cereal in milk -- but the fluids are NOT going in.

Brian's started bribing her with sliced cheese - "Take a drink of milk, and you can have a bite of cheese."  Seems fitting, since we live in Wisconsin, no?   I've given her a syringe of juice, like it was medicine.

Please ignore her messy bed-head - this is a 'say cheese' shot to show off her missing teeth!

Ru's not one to be left out!
She was up a lot last night -- I think the draining of her adenoids was hurting her.  We had lots of "I'm in pain" crying, which got better when Mama rocked her.  Then she kept Mama up for almost 3 hours.

Poor little cuties -- can't wait until they're feeling 100% again!

Halloween

I know Halloween was last week, but it's been busy around here!


Lilya Ladybug loved the holiday - dressing up, decorations, trick-or-treating -- she loved it all!

Yoda Ru was a fan of the holiday, not a big fan of her super-cute hat.

We went trick-or-treating around our neighborhood - big brother Braden was a Jedi Knight.

Braden used his lightsaber to carry his candy bag -- he said it make him look like a 'traveling guy.'  We were amused!

Miss Ru Update

Ruby-do is the proud owner of a new pair of ear tubes -- and is now sans adenoids.

The surgery went well & she's home & happy -- if a little bit tired (but so are Mom & Dad!)

Snippets

Halloween was great! Pics to come - the little girls had a GREAT time! I haven't been able to post yet, since Ruby broke my space bar .... again.


Lil wore her glasses ALL DAY TODAY!! This is a HUGE step for her, major progress.

A few weeks ago, we moved Lil's bed out of our room & into the room she shares with Ruby. Success! She's sleeping in there very well. Next, we have to work on getting Ruby out of her crib ... I mean, she's 3 & 1/2, she really should move to a bed eventually.

But, not soon - this week is surgical week, Ru on Tuesday (ear tubes & adenoids) & Lil on Friday (tonsils, adenoids & teeth cleaning / cavities filled). It will be good to get it all done. We've made promising progress with Lil & brushing her teeth ... I've got big dreams for her post-surgery hygiene care!