This blog is a place to chronicle our family's adventures in homeschooling, special needs, adoption, child training, and life in general.
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Oct. 15, 2009
Remembering...
Today, October 15th is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day. Too often, those of us who said goodbye to precious little ones this early in life are forced to grieve in silence. Long after the initial loss, the pain is still there, but it is far enough away in other peoples minds, that they have forgotten. It's not that they don't care, but when you haven't borne something like this yourself, it's easy to put it aside and move on to other things. Mothers don't forget. We still feel the pain of loss years later. I am grateful someone realized this and established this official day of remembrance. It helps to not feel so alone. Memories are easier to carry when you don't carry them alone.
My husband and I have been blessed with six children, four of whom we knew only briefly en-utero. They are waiting to welcome us home to heaven someday. They were not with us long enough to know their gender, so we don't have names for them, but they are precious to us nonetheless.
Remembered with love:
Baby H - July 2001
Baby H - June 2002
Baby H - September 2007
Baby H - August 2008
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Aug. 1, 2009
A Very Veggie Movie Premiere
This morning we packed up the children and took them on a little mystery trip. Telling the children we had a very special surprise for them, we drove to a church south of the city where our local Christian radio station was hosting the Pittsburgh premiere of the newest Veggie Tales movie, "Minnesota Cuke and the Search for Noah's Umbrella". Since our children (especially DS) are fans of the wacky veggies, we decided to brave the crowd and hope that seeing his favorite characters on a big screen would distract DS from being overwhelmed by people and keep him quiet. Praise God our hopes were not unfounded! I knew DD would do fine, but wasn't so sure of her little brother. However, once he realized the Veggies were on that big screen, he sat spellbound and largely, quiet! Sure, in his excitement he bounced and flapped his hands, but in the relative darkness of the auditorium, it did not distract anyone. Whenever he did turn around on my lap to tell me a word he heard or something he saw, his voice was masked by the movie and sometimes another child nearby doing the same thing. He made it through almost the whole movie. I had to take him out during about the last 5 minutes because he wanted to get down and go and was starting to get anxious. But even then, we got to see the last part of the movie because there were TV screens in the lobby outside the auditorium. God is good!
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Jul. 22, 2009
B.A.S.I.C. Training
Last week was VERY full. DS had his July week of EI preschool in the morning on M-W-F (one week each month during June, July & August) and in the evenings all week (M-F) we attended VBS at a friends church. I say "we" because I was there to help DS so he could participate. The curriculum was Operation Space from Answers in Genesis and everything from decorations, to crafts, to games, to drama, music and lessons was about the Bible all wrapped up in an outer space theme. The children loved it (hey, even I had a great time!) and DS participated in almost every part of each day. I had to take him out of the class during lesson time because he would not sit still & quiet, but that was near the end of the evening and that's not his best time of day anyway. The children were "cadets" in B.A.S.I.C. Training for the week, learning facts about God's awesome universe as well as foundational truths about God's Word.
B.A.S.I.C. stands for:
Book of Books - the Bible is the most important book, bar none
Absolute Authority - when the Bible talks about something, it's right - all the time
Salvation Story - why we need a Saviour and how Christ came to save us
Incredible Impact - the amazing influence the Bible has had in history and us personally
Cadet Challenge - encouraging children to read the Bible from cover to cover & live what they learn
I am so glad we were able to participate in this VBS (even though it was in the evenings). I am thouroughly impressed with the curriculum that Answers in Genesis developed and blessed by the friends we got to hang out with for the week. I'm already looking forward to next year!
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Jun. 8, 2009
Back home on my 'puter...
May was one big blur - the first couple weeks were spent getting ready to leave for a two-week trip to China while my family stayed behind and visited the grandparents. The last couple weeks of May until a couple days ago I was halfway around the world visiting friends in said country. I have a few things to share with you as soon as I can get my internal clock re-set to "home" time rather than China time. I thought I was doing pretty well until I couldn't get back to sleep this morning - I've been awake since 1:30 am, local time - sigh. I'm already tired and the children have only just finished breakfast! This is going to be a LONG day!
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Mar. 5, 2009
I'm not AWOL...
I have been away from my blog for a while and wanted to stop in to let you know I haven't dropped off the face of the planet - we've just been busy. We've been plugging away at my list of things to accomplish in 2009 and I haven't had much time for blogging. I hope to be able to post a good report in the next few days of our progress so far. Until then, it's back into the "trenches" for me...
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Apr. 4, 2008
Four Years Ago Today...
Four years ago today, my husband and I welcomed our precious daughter into our family. After over a decade of unexplained infertility and two miscarriages, God blessed us with a beautiful little girl on Palm Sunday 2004. Unknown to us at the time, two weeks later, just before our 11th wedding anniversary, our son was born halfway around the world in China. It would be two years before we would "find" him through our adoption agency and another six months before we would add him to our family through adoption.
How the time flies! Our birthday princess was cuddling with me and she has grown so tall! I was telling her how we used to hold her and how small she was when she was a baby. She is such a big girl now! We intended to wake her up this morning by singing "Happy Birthday" to her, but she is so excited to be four today that she was awake already - before 6:30 am! I made her lay down and pretend to be sleeping and we sang to her anyway. She loved it! She also made sure we plan on singing to her brother for his birthday in two weeks. I had no idea that turning four would be such an exciting event! Maybe I'm just getting old - naah - that can't be right.
Happy Birthday Princess!
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Feb. 27, 2008
Life Moves On...
... but blogging gets left behind in the dust. Ce'st la vie.
It has been almost a month since I last posted. We have all finally recovered from the flu and are slowly getting back to our normal routine.
The kitchen is not complete yet - almost, but not quite. The momentum we had when we started has been hard to kick-start again. Every time my DH has the time to bring the last cabinets in from the garage, it is raining or snowing and cold. Since we have to carry the cabinets outside from the garage in order to get them in the house, the weather has kept us from progressing. We are so close, yet so far away. So, I have kitchen stuff still stored in various rooms in the house (other than the kitchen). This is NOT fun, and I am really tired of hunting for things when I need them. It's been so long since I packed the things in boxes and moved them out of the kitchen that I am forgetting where I put things. [sigh]
Because of the snow and being sick, our DS has attended all of TWO days at his early intervention (EI) preschool class since the beginning of January. He is scheduled to attend once a week and the sickness and bad weather inevitably fall on that day. He still has one therapist who comes to our house and she has been able to be pretty consistent. I'm just glad we are homeschooling and can keep reviewing the skills/lessons his therapists have taught previously. DS is still making good progress and catching up developmentally, he just has to do it outside of his special class. DH thinks we should schedule our son for two days a week in class, so if one is canceled, he'll at least get to the other.
Our DD loves learning with me and I LOVE being her teacher. I look forward to when her brother no longer needs therapy and I can teach them both together. They are both such different children that teaching the same topic to both of them will be an interesting challenge. It will certainly make learning about things well rounded since they both process information in very different ways. Right now, DD is a couple years ahead of DS developmentally, so they are not learning many of the same things yet. DS is still learning how to talk, play, eat, dress himself, and respond to feelings and situations appropriately (and we haven't begun potty training him yet either). DD wants to learn how to read, loves music and drawing, is learning basic math, science, history and such. it's interesting how two children, the same age, can be so different.
Anyway, that's where we are right now. I'm still here, I just don't get to blog as often as I thought I could.
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Jan. 30, 2008
Everything Grinds to a Halt
We are sick with the flu here. The kitchen is half complete - the other half is stored in the garage and in boxes and bins throughout the house. DH got sick first, then the children, and finally I succumbed. Needless to say, nothing much is getting done around here right now. That said, I need to lay down and rest. I'll be back when we have recovered.
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Jan. 15, 2008
We are busy, busy, busy!
We are only two weeks into the new year, and already we are moving full-steam ahead. We returned from Christmas travels, shared a post-holiday supper with our small group (five children, four and under included), traveled out of state again to visit my parents and a brother's family visiting from out of state. Whew! And the activity doesn't stop there. Our DS had his first day of early intervention (EI) preschool class today. When we brought him home from China, he was 2.5 years old with the development of about a 4 month old. Today at 3.5 years old, his development is roughly around the 18-24 month old range. He has learned so much this past year! We have had help from several different therapists in our home so far, and he has made great progress. His speech, social and emotional development are the most delayed at this point, so my DH felt we should try him in the EI preschool class one morning a week. He did really well this morning!
We had visited the new preschool last week and met his new teachers. One of his in-home therapists will continue to teach him here, and another is teaching him at the school, so there is a little of the same. Our DS really does not like changes, so his cooperation and apparent enjoyment of his first class is encouraging. I don't know how long it will take him to catch up developmentally, but as long as he is doing well, and my DH feels it is benefiting him, DS will participate in the classroom environment. I hope all days go as well (or better) than today.
On top of all that, this week we are taking delivery of our new kitchen cabinets and preparing for this weekend's marathon renovation by clearing out the existing kitchen. Our house is about 35 years old and the kitchen is original to the house. The existing cabinets are poorly organized and are made out of particle board covered in plastic, wood-grain-like laminate. We've been in the house for five years now, and finally we are able to fix it up. Not only will it be much prettier, but the new cabinets are semi-custom to fit our small space better, good quality wood construction and there will be more of them. We're adding a couple new upper cabinets and an above-stove mounted microwave (so a microwave won't be taking up our limited counter space) and a pantry cabinet beside the refrigerator. Until now, we have had our few upper cabinets split between pantry items and dishes, with a few things outside the kitchen in the hall closet. I think the pantry will be my favorite thing. I am so excited! We'll be installing the new cabinets with my in-law's help this weekend, but paint, flooring, and final touches will be completed in the next few weeks.
All that to say, I have no idea how soon I'll get to blog again. I may be a couple weeks. Maybe I can figure out how to post photos and show a before and after picture of my kitchen when it's done. We'll see.
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Jan. 10, 2008
First Week of 2008
Well it's been a week since I posted last, and truthfully, I had hoped to get back to my blog sooner than this. I wanted to post something inspiring, maybe an encouraging recap of 2007 and share some goals for 2008. Instead I've been struggling through "post-Christmas-travel disorder" with my children. This has seriously hampered my ability to compose grocery lists and basic schedules for the new year, never mind the eloquent editorials I had dreamed of. Looks like it will take a little longer to integrate regular blogging into my schedule (oops! I forgot; I don't have that new schedule done yet!). Ah, well, such is life with little ones. Maybe there's still time - January isn't done yet. We'll see how today goes...
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Dec. 5, 2007
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!
We are enjoying some beautiful snow this week. We woke up to a winter wonderland yesterday morning and it's still going today. I love the way everything is covered in white. It makes everything look clean and bright and very pretty. DD loves snow and was eager to get out in it. We were a little unsure about DS. Last year he hated it and that seriously limited the times his sister could play outside in it. Well, I took them outside all bundled up and as long as I was within arms reach, he was all smiles! He didn't play much - mostly just followed me around the yard, but he did seem to be enjoying himself. I'm relieved and his sister is thrilled. It looks like we'll be spending a lot of time playing in the snow this winter!
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Nov. 26, 2007
Thankful for so much
I've been away from my blog for several days enjoying my family for Thanksgiving. We shared Thanksgiving dinner with my parents in Ohio. We also had the privilege of visiting with another family who has three adopted daughters from Asia. The youngest has been home with her new family for about six months now. We had a great visit and shared experiences while the children played. It was a very good time.
This weekend friends joined us for our son's dedication at church. We have wanted to participate in a child dedication service for a while, but felt our DS was not quite ready to cooperate. The wait paid off. He was calm and quiet, though he did insist on being held. He did not cry or wriggle when the elder prayed for him, and was relatively still while the pastors spoke. I think it helped that there were bright lights shining on the platform and that he was able to snuggle in to Mama. Actually, our DD was the wiggly one and my DH had his hands full with her. It was a very special occasion. God has blessed us so much!
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Nov. 9, 2007
A Brief Introduction
Since I'm new to the blogging world, I thought I'd share a little bit about me and my family. My name is Mrs. H and I live in Pennsylvania. I am a Christian woman striving to live my life in a manner that pleases God and brings glory to Him. I have been married to my college sweetheart for 14 years, and am blessed to be a stay-at-home mama to our two precious children.
Mr. H is a computer genius (I'm not really biased, honest!) who enjoys mountain biking and hunting. Our children are 3.5 years old "virtual" twins. I say "virtual" twins because our daughter was born to us, and our son joined our family through adoption. DD is learning preschool things with me at home and can't get enough "school"! She is a very enthusiastic learner. DS has multiple developmental delays and low-vision issues to deal with. He has four different therapists help me teach him in the home each week and is making great progress. In the year we have had him home, he has progressed from the development of about a 2-4 month old to somewhere in the vicinity of an 18 month old today. He still has a ways to go, but in time he will catch up with other children his age. God is good!
Other than being a helpmeet to my DH, keeping-the-home and training my children, some of my favorite things are books, music, family genealogy, books, creative projects, music, reading, history, flowers, books, music, autumn leaves, and, oh yes, books! I hope you enjoyed this little introduction to our family.
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Nov. 6, 2007
Snow Sighting!
Today we saw the first snowflakes of the season! They melted as soon as they hit the ground, but we saw them come down. My dd is so excited. She was ready to don her snow suit and everything! Unfortunately, she'll have to wait at least a few more weeks for that.
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