|
I guess it's time for my monthly update from Boot camp! We are still in training! Most of the kids now realize that they need to eat what is on their plate without complaining. But watch out for that inconsistency to creep in......and it just comes crashing down! If the Lord has taught me anything through our adoption experience, it is that I need to be CONSISTENT!!! Last week, Leona was very ill. Now Leona is still in her lying, making up stories, generally being dishonest phase BUT I don't think anyone could fake the way she was acting (although I did momentarily consider that possibility!! OK maybe it was more than a moment!)-she was practically delirious, couldn't keep her eyes open and focused, and was sweating like a pig. I thought she was going to faint at the breakfast table. I escorted her up to bed and called the doctor. We decided that she could be having a recurrence of malaria and he told me to give her the same meds. she had before. I did this and she seemed somewhat better in a few hours-but the eye thing really had me worried. So I took her to the ER. They decided she probably was having a malaria recurrence (she was doing quite a bit better after a few hrs. there and they said the malaria medicine probably was working already) and gave me some different meds and also some antibiotics since her ear was had some pus. Anyway, to make a long story shorter (about the consequences of NOT being consistent in parenting!)-she had actually lost 2-3 lbs. because she hadn't been eating well for a week or so before, so I decided to get her some meal replacement shakes at the health food store(to give as snacks). She drank all but two sips of one and gagged a little. I let her go without drinking the last two sips figuring she was still not feeling too well. BIG MISTAKE!! The next time I gave her one, she had a HUGE FIT! Needless to say she has been getting a lot of these and is now drinking them happily (or at least without complaining). And by the way (in case you think I'm extra mean!), all the other kids thought the shake tasted pretty good and were begging for me to give them some! Last week we had a little 2 year old houseguest (and his Mom). He demonstrated perfectly to my kiddos the reason why they are not allowed to hit and why they need to learn to obey! By the end of a few days, he was driving all the kids crazy with his misbehavior!! It was a very good lesson! Josephine was probably one of the most irritated by his behavior-and to think she acted just like that when she first came :) --TOO FUNNY! On a different note, we tried out some yarn extensions in Josephine's ponytail this week (I didn't have the nerve to try the full head of hair on the first try!). They look very cute and she loves them. I'll try to post a pic. soon. They were much easier than I thought they would be-10 of them took about a half hour or less. |
|
I guess boot camp is taking up quite a bit of my time here! Again, it's been a while since I've updated! Carri...if you're reading this, please email me to let me know your success with the lying! I can't seem to find your email address anywhere-even on your blog! Thanks! Leona is doing great keeping her underwear nice and dry now! It's so odd how that minor little thing that we wanted her to work on opened up quite a few more issues. Mostly it is the lying. It is unbelieveable how many silly things she is lying about! It seems that when we tell her she should not be doing something (wetting her pants, lying etc.), she decides with all her little might that she will do it even more! Sometimes it's almost amusing-much of the time it's quite annoying!! It certainly has made me much better at being consistent when I discipline my kids! My new favorite encouraging Scripture verse has become Galatians 6:9-Let us not be weary in well doing for in due season we shall reap if we faint not. Sometimes I do feel like "fainting"!! I think I mentioned this before in one of my posts! We are making progress though-eventually she does decided that we are really serious and she needs to get with the program! She doesn't fuss about food anymore and I've even heard her say that she likes green beans! And now she is keeping her underwear dry (I can't for the life of me figure out why on earth anyone would pee their pants just because Mom and Dad said they needed to get to the bathroom quicker!!--it doesn't sound like much fun to me!)--I am often reminded of the verse where Paul mentions that the things he wants to do, he doesn't do and the things he doesn't want to do, he does. (Sorry, I am too lazy to walk back to the kitchen and get my Bible and give you the exact verse and reference for that one!) Soon we will be starting school. I've been procrastinating for weeks! I wanted to start at the beginning of August but we are just having too much fun with boot camp!! No, actually, we have been canning and sewing and doing all kinds of fun stuff that I could count for school if I would at least write it on the calendar!! Well I better get going! Have a great night! |
|
This is a record I think for not updating my blog! You see I've been very busy in our time off from school! No relaxing summers around here! We are having BOOT CAMP. All kinds of Boot camp. First of all, we had "learn to eat what mom cooks" boot camp. That's the boot camp you have when you are tired of all the complaing about what you've cooked! My children are so stubborn that they would rather starve than learn to eat some vegetables (I take responsibility for spoiling them all these years-I have no idea what I was thinking-so if you're reading this--don't make the same mistake!! You could have 9 kids someday and that is A LOT of complaining). We have successfully ended this boot camp and 98% of the time everyone eats their veggies and beans without complaining, gagging, pretending to vomit, and just general fooling around. Of course, there are still a few who find the need to test every now and again, hence the 98%. Next came, "quit fooling around after you get tucked into bed" boot camp. I have the kind of kids who wake at the crack of dawn no matter what time they go to bed, so I decided they needed to get to sleep instead of playing in their beds. They are doing pretty good with this one now, except for one who has decided to be very testy recently. The very testy one is Leona. I am guessing she just feels comfortable enough with us to begin testing us about many things. Josephine has settled down with her testiness and is doing much better. The biggest thing we tried to conquer with her recently was that she would be playing happily with Noah all day and then suddenly start grumping at him if he were to sit by her at dinner...she got to sit by him at dinner for a few weeks and has since gotten over her grumping. I did tell her she would be sitting by him until she got happy about it. Thankfully, it worked! She still has her moments but has come SOOOOO far since she arrived. Leona on the other hand went through a brief period at first where she was a little stubborn and then settled down and was fine for a long time. Now she has decided to test and boy can she be STUBBORN! For example, one night she ate a chicken sandwich just fine and happily and two days later (leftovers!!) she refused to eat the same thing. I kept giving it back to her until she ate it (that was one of our boot camp policies). Just as the food pickiness settled down, I came to realize that she had some other issues that needed some attention. Mostly she is getting herself in a lot of trouble for lying. About dumb things. Even things she knows she will not get in trouble for UNLESS she lies. I'm sure it will just take some time before she realizes that we really mean what we say. It took about two months with the food pickiness (by the way, when she came she ate ANYTHING I cooked and loved it!). We are hoping that the most recent issues will NOT take 2 months for her to learn that we really mean what we say! On a more positive and much more important note, Leona did recently ask Jesus into her heart and we are very thankful for that. She has been praying and asking for God's help to overcome her lying and the other things we are working on. The biggest one is making it to the potty before she pees her pants (something an almost 7 yr. old should be able to do). It turns out that she is not a bedwetter after all. We had her in pullups since she arrived but mistakenly forgot to wear them a few times and she miraculously woke up dry. Each night she had a pullup on, it would be wet. It turned out she had been lying in her bed and peeing while she was awake. She does not wear pullups anymore and the only problem she seems to have is getting to the potty in time although, she seems to be able to hold it when she wants to (more stubborness, I think!). Other than that, we have been doing some sewing projects and the kids have been enjoying the $8 pool I got for them at a yard sale. I've sewed a few newborn size cloth diapers for the baby and Bailey sewed me some cloth diaper wipes today (I ran out of the store bought variety and paper towels too!). She did a good job, it was good practice. Next project: modest swimwear.......scared about this one! Someday I hope to get our schoolwork for next year set up. I had wanted to start a few weeks ago! OOPS--just having too much fun with boot camp I guess! I'm sure I will win the meanest mom ever award after posting this entry! Have a great night!! |
|
The ultrasound went well. They are so amazing! The baby is doing well and THANKFULLY there was no sign of any subchorinic hemmorage (that means the bleeding is ALL GONE!). YAY!! I got a very nice 3-D picture. AND......well, I couldn't resist finding out...so we are having a baby boy! Now, we will have 5 boys, 5 girls! Well, Have to go cook dinner! Have a great night! |
|
This past Monday, we took our yearly trip to Knobels. We've discovered that school picnic days (homeschoolers included) are nice quiet days at the park. The kids spend their birthday money to get a handstamp from 10 am-6pm and ride, ride, ride!! Leona and Josephine enjoyed the trip. Josephine went on all the "big" rides and loved them(she just made the cut off by a little over an inch!) and Leona stuck with the kiddie rides (along with Sam and Sydney) for most of the day. She did ride a water ride and came out crying. Then she went on the bumper cars with Bailey (who Leona says is a bad driver!)-she didn't have a nice time on those either. After those two rides she said she was having a bad day! So we went back to the kiddie section. Josephine, of course, had to test the rules a little and had to sit out a few rides but she got the picture that you aren't allowed to stand up and if someone asks you to move, you need to do it! They both had a lot of fun and so did the rest of the family! Although, the next day was not too fun for everyone since they were all tired and a little grumpy!! Today was a nice warm day (OK-HOT!) in our area. We found out our air conditioning isn't functioning properly AGAIN! (this translates into our heat probably wasn't working very efficiently either for the last few months). Our heat pump is only 3 years old and each year, we have had a problem or two with it. I am praying that we can get it all straightened out this year!! I have an ultrasound this Thursday and am praying that all is well with the subchiornic bleeding (hopefully GONE!). I suppose if the baby opens his/her legs, I will be wanting to know if it's a boy or girl! (Previously, I wanted to be suprised this time but...well, if the ultrasound tech. knows, I want to know too!) |
|
Well, Josephine had her first birthday in America. The dr. had decided that she was a little over 8 years with the bone scan so she has just celebrated her 9th birthday. She had a nice day. She shared her birthday with Sydney. Since the birthday's are so close, we decided to do both at once. They both wanted ice cream cake. Sydney had Dora and Josephine had Barbie (although she does like Cinderella much better!). Leona is a bit sad that her birthday isn't until October! I am a bit sad after talking with her this evening-she told me that everyone here is cute except her. She says everyone has a nice face but her face is ugly. It just broke my heart! I told her that she is beautiful and God made her just the way He wanted her. I hope someday she will understand that! I told her God thinks that what is inside her (I explained this in detail!) is more important than how she looks on the outside. She has also been asking many questions about having Jesus in your heart so if you're reading....take a minute to pray for her!!
|
|
A friend of mine recently emailed and said the girls must have suffered quite a bit of "culture shock" when they arrived! I started thinking about how much they have learned since they came. I tend to think of knowledge for them as very behind because they are on such a much younger level than their true age (emotionally and school-grade) but really, I should be thinking of it in terms of how far they have come since they are home. When they came, they used to spit on the floor and throw their trash everywhere (mostly the floor!). They took FOREVER to get a bath (even if they weren't dirty!)-they had to scrub with half a bar of soap and rinse off squatting in the tub at least a hundred times (this included LOTS of splashing water ALL OVER the floor!!). They didn't quite understand that they needed to wear WARM clothing because it was cold outside. Josephine kept a little bit of crackers and candy stashed in her backpack. They never used booster seats and especially NOT seatbelts. They were probably never in a store! Screaming fits must have been common in Liberia (called the "Liberian wail" by some adoptive parents!) And the list goes on and on......! That is a lot of learning-well, really, it's breaking old habits. You know how hard it is to break old habits, don't you?? I sure do! Looking at it in this way, they have done remarkably well. They now know how to use a trash can. They know how to use a toilet (although I am not sure they always use toilet paper when they go "pee") and remember to flush (we did have to break them of flushing muliple times-I guess it must have been interesting to watch the toilet flush?). They have been told that it is OK to cry but loud hollering along with it is not allowed-they have been doing well with this (this was mostly a problem with Josephine-Leona only tried it once). They pretty much understand that we mean what we say and are usually happy to do what they are asked to do, in fact, most times they LOVE to help! They have learned that they need to dress warmly when it is cold outside. They know they have to keep their seatbelts on and sit in their booster seats in the car. Josephine no longer keeps food (she stopped this after a week) and toys in her backpack-I actually had to remind her that something was in her backpack recently! We help them get quick showers now and our bathroom is much happier! They know I WILL NOT buy the yellow (orange?) cheese puffs or vienna sausages no matter how many times they tell me they like them (I buy white cheddar puffs and lots of tuna!) or the very colorful cereal! They know that they can't have "A lot" of food (6 pieces of bread, 2 sandwiches, 3 helpings of chips etc.) but that they will be able to eat more in the next few hours. **side note on this-when Josephine had her eye surgery, I had to explain to her that she could not drink water or eat food when she woke up in the morning. Leona was standing nearby listening and later she asked me "Mommy, we not eating tomorrow?" I said "Of course you will eat tomorrow, why are you asking?" She said "You tell Josephine she can't eat tomorrow". I felt so terrible that she hadn't understood what was going on and that she was probably scared of being hungry. I explained everything to her and told her that Josephine would be able to eat after her surgery and if Josephine ate BEFORE her surgery, it could make her sick. On the schoolwork items, they have also been making progress. Josephine is now pretty good at remembering to begin writing on the left side of the paper (she is left handed and used to write completely backward) and has gained quite a bit of ASL (even though we are nowhere near "fluent"!!). And she has finally grasped the concept of adding numbers!! Leona has learned A LOT of sign language and has gone from not being able to write ANY letters, numbers, or her name to writing pretty well and beginning phonics. She works very hard and is very determined! It took her a full month to be able to write LEONA correctly in all capital letters. Then only a week or so to be able to write ZEPP. Recently, we gave her a middle name "Grace" and she was able to copy it perfectly in less than a minute! I was so proud of her! It was a real struggle at first (I think we spent 4 weeks learning to write the number "3") and sometimes VERY frustrating (for me!! I'm sad to say!). She has come so far!! She recently had a visual evaluation and her sight with glasses is 20/30 for near-vision and 20/60 for distance. This means that eventually, she may even be able to drive on a restricted license. All the kids have adjusted to their new siblings amazingly well. It has been such a blessing, although difficult at times to deal with the little irritating behaviors. I think one of the worst things was that Josephine wanted to "baby" the baby-well, the baby isn't really a baby, she will be 2 soon and always wants to be running aroun-NOT carried and cuddled! For quite a while, everytime Josephine would even touch Sydney, Sydney would let out a loud screech of protest! It was VERY frustrating!! Obviously, this phase passed and now it so cute to watch Sydney try to sign things to Josephine! She does pretty well and thankfully, no more screeching!! We are still working on some minor behavioral issues and I have to admit that one of the biggest things we are now working on is "holding your pee". Yes, I know that is strange! It seems like the girls have never acquired that skill. Now I know that it isn't always good to hold your pee in for extended periods of time BUT, it is a useful skill in case you are riding in a car full of groceries with no way to get out or even a place to stop (speaking from experience!). I think they were just allowed to go "pee" anywhere, anytime, at the slightest urge in Liberia and never learned "how to hold it" until you get to a potty. I can totally understand the bedwetting (only Leona-she wears pullups at night), but you really should be able to have some control while your awake especially when you're 8 (and even 6!)! We are working on limiting fluids prior to car rides and bedtime now and I have been making them wait for a few minutes longer when they say they need to potty so they realize that they are able to wait and not pee their pants. So, that's the news! It continues to be a very interesting journey! Since I didn't finish this whole entry before accidently posting it, I would like to comment on the comment that Kat left. I was had to chuckle when I read the part about the patience, strength, and determination!! You can trust me on this, it is only through the Lord Jesus Christ that I have any patience, strength, and determination! In my own flesh, I would've quit long ago! In fact, a few days ago, I told my husband that after we finished our last day of homeschool on Friday, I would be taking a 2 week nap-maybe longer!! (After the nap, I did plan on trying to teach Leona her letters and Josephine how to read! Not thrilled about the summer school idea though!) Adopting kids-especially older children- is definitely much different than having biological children! |
|
Hi All! I don't know how many people keep up with my blog these days BUT.....if you read this I am asking that you please pray! I spoke with a young girl this morning who is facing a VERY big and life changing decision. I can't post details, but please know it is a very serious situation. The Lord knows who she is and what she is going through. If you could, please pray that she would make the right decision! |
|
Well, here I am again-a little behind on my blogging! We had an eventful week with our 4 yr. old last week. He spiked a high fever of 105.8 one night and started hallucinating. He insisted that there were worms with teeth, snakes, and spiders everywhere. He was very scared (SO WAS I-but not because of the snakes that I couldn't see!) When we put him in the bath to cool him down, he said the "magic school bus" was in there. He had some bruises on his leg and started screaming "see what the worms did to me!" After having nine kids and being a mom for 13 2/3 years (I know this because my oldest is keeping track of how long it will be till she is 14), I have never had an experience quite like this one! After some tylenol and a lot of praying, his fever went down to 102 and the worms went away. He got to sleep with Mom and Dad and little sister and was happy about that. It turned out that he had an ear infection (I took him to the dr. a few days later). Leona had a visual exam and the dr. said she has pretty good vision (for someone with albinism) with her glasses. I think she estimated her near vision to be 20/30 and her distance to be 20/60, which she said meant she would probably be able to drive a car eventually. She prescribed a handheld magnifier for her and also a pair of glasses that get darker in the sun (my husband says this is polarized but I really can't remember the technical term). Tomorrow I will go to a new OB/GYN. I am praying that all is well with the baby -I'm not sure when I will have another ultrasound. I am 16 weeks pregnant now. That's all for now! |
|
Josephine had her eye surgery this past Tuesday. She did very well-it took a whole 15 minutes. She had gas to put her to sleep-no needles (I did prepare her for a needle and she said she would be brave!)! They opened her tear duct and made sure there were no other blockages in the tear duct system. They inserted a small plug to keep it open so it doesn't grow closed. It has made such a difference already. She was very happy that her eye no longer watered and said her eye was "finished" watering. YEAH! The doctor thought that she may have been born with a closed tear duct. A long time for her eye to water like it did! She did have to have the plug replaced twice in the office because it fell out. She did well with this. I don't think it was painful for her, just a little strange to have someone working so close to her eye. They used something that looked like a pen to insert it. She didn't even cry--very brave!! This Tuesday, Leona will see an ENT to have her eardrums checked. You may remember that she had an ear infection for 2 years at the orphanage and came with pus oozing out of both ears. Hopefully those holes in the eardrum will close on their own but if not she will have to have something grafted over them to help them close up. Sh eis looking forward to getting another blood test to see if her malaria has cleared up. On another note, we found out that Josephine loves swimming. Unfortunately, she was so excited and jumped in so fast that she forgot (and no on ecould catch her in time) to take her hearing aid out. OOPS! It seemed to work OK once it dried out but now continually beeps in her ear. She was a bit sad. We did find out from the audiologist that the recommended hearing aid for her costs about $1200. Some people were paying quite a bit more for the same aid so we were pleasantly surprised. The audiologist said because she is deaf, medical assistance would cover the cost. Unfortunately, this will take a few months to get through all the red tape for that to happen. |
|
Our re-adoption hearing went well today. The judge was very friendly (he said he thought we would bring ALL our children!) and didn't seem to mind that we were not represented by a lawyer. He approved our case and gave us our "official" Pennsylvania adoption certificates. The girls should get their new birth certificates soon. We changed their names to Leona Grace Smith Zepp and Josephine Emily Tokpa Zepp. Very long names but we thought it would be appropriate to keep their birth last names in there somewhere even if they don't use them. Josephine's birthdate will also be changed. It's such a relief to have that over with!! Thank you for your prayers! |
|
I just got back from my ultrasound/dr. appt. The baby looked good. I am 12 weeks 2 days. Just 4 short weeks ago, the baby looked like a bean and today he/she was waving at me with tiny little fingers. I even got to see the tiny little toes! Unfortunately, the area of bleeding was still there and looked about the same as it had 4 weeks ago. Still, I have had no bleeding and the nurse there was a little more encouraging, saying that this probably happens in 30-40% of pregnancies but since not everyone has an early ultrasound, it goes unnoticed. She felt that it was just bleeding caused by implantation of the baby in the uterus. I would greatly appreciate prayer for this situation! Thank you! |
|
A few weeks ago at church, our pastor decided to sing the children's song "I'm in the Lord's Army" during praise and worship time. That song brings back so many memories of when my oldest two children were smaller. They used to march around the room singing that song and doing all the motions (Ahhh... they've grown so much!). Then they would sing another marching song.... you probably know it! It was "Onward Christian Soldiers"...marching as to war with the Cross of Jesus going on before. Only Bailey (now age 13 and probably very embarrased to read this!!)did not know the correct words to the song. She sang "Onward Christian soldiers marching PAST the war"! At first it was just plain cute and I almost rolled on the floor with laughter! But then, I really thought about the words she was singing! How sad but true it is, that sometimes as Christians we ARE marching PAST the war. Look at our public schools, where children can't pray and Christianity is "politically incorrect". Where it is taught that we all came about by random chance when "nothing" exploded and that our ancestors were a bunch of monkeys. Our world, where people abort babies because they are inconvenient or because they may be born with Down's Syndrome or deformities. Where families are no longer defined as a Mother, Father, and children and divorce is just as common as marriage. So, today I am asking, where are you marching? PAST THE WAR? or AS TO WAR? I know that somtimes I am marching right on past! As Christians we are called to fight in this battle! How are we to do this? I can't think of a better way than through prayer-it is truly a mighty weapon- and by spreading the gospel. Ephesians 6:10-20 says "Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities , against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having girded you waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the firey darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints-and for me that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak. |
|
HELLO! I have been a little behind on blogging in case you didn't notice! In between morning sickness, a computer virus, doctor appointments, the stomach virus, and a much needed bathroom remodeling project (the bathroom was growing mold-eeew!), I have not had much time to sit down and write! So, what is new here? Well, we have many doctor appointments scheduled for this month. One that we already had, required a blood test from Leona and Josephine. I am SO glad that I took them when we all got our blood tests done last. Since, they watched Samuel (age 4) get a blood test without crying, they were much calmer this time around. In fact, I would say it was a complete turn around! Instead of screaming, "NOOOO, Please, I will die!", Leona didn't even cry one tear! Last time, Josephine plopped to the floor and cried in her loudest voice after the test (she also cried during the test), and this time she did not cry at all! YEA!! Unfortunately, the blood test showed that Leona had Malaria. The only symptom she really had of malaria was that she would wake up drenched in sweat sometimes. Once she ran a low grade fever. She was on medicine for 3 days and will have to get another blood test soon to make sure it is cleared up. Both of their iron levels were up mostly due to diet, I guess because I keep forgetting to give them their vitamins. Last week, everyone but Leona and Josephine had the stomach virus. I am wondering how they got immune to it? Lucky them! We are still working on some behavior issues- mostly with Josephine. She has come a VERY long way. We are trying to make her understand that she needs to be more gentle (frustrating sometimes!). She is not purposely trying to be mean or anything, it's just that she is more "rough" and doesn't understand quite how to be gentle. The funny thing is that she is very gentle with her baby dolls but when she tickles Sydney or even when she taps someone on the shoulder to get their attention, it is a little too hard. I've tried to explain and I am hoping that it will sink in soon! This Thursday, I have an ultrasound and OB appointment. I am 12 weeks pregnant now and praying everything will be looking good on the ultrasound and the area of bleeding will be gone. I would appreciate prayer for this! Also, this week we have our readoption hearing in court. We will not be represented by a lawyer (too expensive and not required but recommended). We will be changing the girls names (adding a middle name), Josephine's birthdate, and having our readoption finalized in Pennsylvania. We had our first post-placement visit 2 Fridays ago and everything went well. All the children were home and the Lord worked a miracle--everyone behaved and played quietly so we were actually able to speak to the social worker! It went well. I really like our social worker-he makes everything so easy on us. He said he may even bring his daughter with him on his next visit. He and his wife adopted their children from Guatemala when they were infants. His daughter is 12 now. Anyway, if you're in PA, I'd recommend him--Henry Deni/Southern Latitudes Adoption Services. And we'd also appreciate prayer for our court date on Friday at 10:50 a.m. On April 22, Josephine will have surgery to repair her closed tear duct. It is outpatient surgery. The next week, Leona will go to the ENT for them to check her perforated eardrums. That's all for now--I have to wipe a hiney! The joys of motherhood! Have a blessed day! |
|
Well, today was another interesting day! To fill everyone in, Josephine decided that she wasn't all that thrilled with hearing after all!! I think it got a little overwhelming for her after a while (one day!). So we have been taking the hearing aid out for a while every few hours. She has been pretty good about it. Yesterday, she was yelling in her usual "AHHH, AHHH!" to get my attention (this can get particularly annoying), so I told her my name was MAMA (she has said this before she had her hearing aid)-and I told her I knew she could say it. She giggled with embarrasment. I went to make a phone call in another room and heard her say MAMAMMAMAMA many times (she does not like to use her voice in front of people!). Anyway, today I decided to see what other sounds she could say. So we started with the alphabet/phonics (you know "a" says AHHH). I decided she needed motivation to use her voice and thought about stickers but ultimately decided pennies would work better-she gets excited to have money to put in her purse. So, I am about 9 cents poorer but Josephine can say the sounds that A, B, W, and M make. Of course, no one sitting at the table could look at her while we were doing this and she kept giggling A LOT but I think she did well for her first try! I had another ultrasound last Friday. The baby had a heartbeat which I even got to listen to. Amazing you can hear your baby's heartbeat when the baby is only the size of a grain of rice. "Fearfully and wonderfully made" ---Amazing! The area of bleeding got a little smaller and I have had no bleeding. I will have a repeat ultrasound in 4 weeks. I am praying that the area of bleeding will be gone! Thank you for your prayers! |
|
Well, today Josephine had her two appointments, one for the cardiologist and one for the audiologist. The cardiologist said her heart is fine, perfectly normal, just an innocent heart murmur. She got her hearing aid today. She loved it so much that I wasn't sure she would take it off to go to bed. She was a bit sad when she was rolling around on the carpet and accidently turned the volume down! She was so amazed at the things she could hear. Things that we all take for granted each and every day! A door slamming, feet stomping, birds chirping, a car starting, music, voices.... all previously unheard (for the most part) for her. She was so excited! So now for the cute story! She held a pencil up to her aided ear and looked a bit confused and shook her head "no". No, you can't hear a pencil! Eric and I were talking and we looked over at her and she was holding a box of taco shells up to her ear. Then she held her ear up to the box of tissues. I couldn't help but laugh-it was just so cute. Imagine, not having any idea that a pencil, taco shells, or tissues don't make noise or that a car or stomping your feet do make noise. She was just going from one thing to another to see what made noise and what didn't. I'm sure tomorrow will be full of surprises for her! The audiologist did another hearing test and wasn't certain how accurate it would be because of her "hearing" being so new. She was not sure if she would be able to pick up any speech or not. She said time will tell and what happens at home would be more important than what the test said. She did turn towards the audiologist when she spoke her name is a loud voice (although not overly loud or shouting). So we will see! |
|
I went for my ultrasound this morning. It showed a very tiny fetus that was pulsing (the tech thought it was probably the heartbeat) and a yolk sac. The due date was off by about 5 days they thought. I was not as far along as they thought. They did find an area of blood next to the sac (not RIGHT next to) that they said could reabsorb or could cause bleeding. Please pray that everything would go well (no bleeding) and the baby would continue to grow and be healthy. I will have a repeat ultrasound in about 1 1/2 wks. Thank you! |
|
I am finally able to load a picutre! YAY! So here it is-Josephine, Leona, and Sam playing with the kitchen set. I loved this picture of Josephine with the doll on her back-African style! It was one of those rare moments where everyone was getting along! If you look closely, you can see that I got brave and did more cornrows in Leona's hair- I think there were 9 of them going into the ponytail. It stayed in for almost a week. Josephine also had 4-5 cornrows but I don't think you can tell from the picture. I guess I'm slowly learning! The funniest thing happened this week. Maybe I am just crazy but isn't it a "mommy thing" to "kiss" boo-boos and make them all better? Sydney (age 1) who still sleeps with us woke up in the middle of the night saying "Kiss my butt!" --At first I wasn't sure what was going on but it became evident that the poor little thing had a bad diaper rash and wanted Mommy to make it all better with a kiss (we used cream instead!)! So innocent!--All the older kids thought it was quite funny when I told them in the morning! I had another blood test to check on the pregnancy hormone levels. It was 630 last week and exactly one week later it was over 8000. I will go for an ultrasound tomorrow morning. Thank you all for your prayers! |
|
Today Josephine had her Opthamologist appointment. It went well. Her vision is very good and much to her sadness, she did not need glasses |
. Ever since coming home, her left eye has been constantly watering. This was part of the reason for our visit. Our family doctor thought that perhaps she had a blocked tear duct, however, it turns out that the lower tear duct in her eye is closed. There is no hole in it like there should be. She will have to have a short procedure (although she will need to be asleep, as it will include a needle VERY close to her eye!) to open it back up and insert a plug to keep it open until it heals. The only drawback is that there could be a more serious problem in there and the doctor won't know until he starts the procedure. He said she could have been born with a deformed tear duct system and if that is the case, she will need to go to Children's Hospital to have reconstructive surgery. We are praying that the first scenario is what will happen and all will go well with the short procedure. She will first need to be cleared for the eye surgery by the cardiologist. We are meeting with them next Monday along with the hearing aid appointment. If all goes well, the surgery will be on April 22. |
Today I realized how much Leona has been learning since she has been doing school work. She came not knowing how to write her name, she didn't know any letters and only some numbers. In just 3-4 weeks, she can write her name pretty well, knows some letters and is quickly becoming better at writing them, and knows her numbers 1-7 and how to write them (it took soooooooo long to learn how to write a three-I thought I would go crazy!). She only drew scribbles but after I drew a picture of our family, she decided to do the same. She did very well for her first "real" drawing! She has since mastered glasses and kids on a swingset (all since last week!). She is beginning to understand addition on her own. She had 5 cans of tuna (that is a Liberian favorite!) and got one more out and said now there is 6! Even though we have only been doing "book" work for about 15-30 min. each day, she has practiced on her own at other times. Now for the newest family news-we found out this week that I am pregnant! I had a blood test to confirm and they said the hormone levels are appropriate for 5 weeks of pregnancy. They will test again until the level is 5000 and then they may do an ultrasound. I am a little nervous since experiencing my first miscarriage in Dec. Prayer would be appreciated! |