3 Month Update

Well it's been three months since my surgery and I am down 45lbs!!! I am feeling really good and so far I am pleased with my progress :)

News on Addy but it's gonna have to wait until tomorrow or another day in October for 31 for 21!!!

Hmmm

Yesterday was a busy afternoon. After school I took Addy to her orthopedist to get her new shoe inserts. I haven't taken a pic yet but they just slip into her shoes and she seems to actually like them! She is overly sensitive on her feet and just won't do anything with her shoes and Sure Steps on. She stood immediately with the new inserts in :) We went back to her eye doc again to have her glasses adjusted. She is constantly pulling her glasses off and she is all broken out behind her ears. The adjustment seemed to have helped some but I'm taking her back tomorrow. She is still pulling them off and her right ear is being pulled forward. She has been doing so well with them too, I'm just hoping that we don't develop some bad habits by not making her wear them while she's all broken out.

Addy FINALLY got into a feeding clinic!!! I could never find anyone in Springfield that focuses just on feeding. Thankfully her PT has a client that goes to a place in Springfield and focuses solely on feeding!! Yeah!! I had no clue they even existed this close to home. I hadn't really discussed her feeding issues with her ped since I didn't think there was a clinic close. I guess I should have asked! He immediately sent a referral and we go tomorrow for an evaluation! I was told to take her favorite foods, that's pretty easy I won't have anything to take!! I am going to take in some baby carrots, spaghetti sauce and her pretzels. Not that she really likes them but she will let them get to her mouth. I am so excited to see if they feel like we can make some significant headway with feeding soon!

Steps!

Things have been so busy around here that I just haven't taken the time to blog! Shame on me!! Last week Addy was standing between Scott and I, we both really didn't realize she was standing alone until she took two steps! We both looked at each other in amazement!!! It was awesome! Has she done it again? Of course not!! Addy is the type of kid that when you do something once, no need to do it again for a very long time! She is standing much better lately. These pix show her against the couch but she kept leaning away from it by herself, woo hoo!! She gets new inserts for her shoes tomorrow. Her Sure Steps are starting to rub and she downright refuses to bear weight in them 90% of the time. So we are going with a very small insert, we'll see if that changes anything!

Last week she bent the tar out of her glasses. We've had them adjusted but they still aren't right so when I go to Springfield tomorrow for the Ortho doc we'll run by her ophthalmologist as well. She is pulling her glassess off since they are digging into the side of her head, I can't say that I blame her!

This weekend Scott had a bunch of buddies over for a computer gaming party so I drug my scrapbook stuff upstairs and had a good ole time! I couldn't find Addy, lo and behold she had snuck into Cooper's room. I think she was pretty proud of herself!

Visit

(Jake took this pic, thanks buddy!)

I LOVE these visits!!!! I just got back from a wonderful dinner with Charissa and her family! I am so thankful that they took time out of their trip to stop for a visit with us! I know they were tired and worn out and had a long drive home still, but they took time out for little ole us!! Blogging has been such an amazing way to meet people! I love reading everyone's blogs and I hope that people enjoy reading about my family as well. 99% of the people that read this blog read it because of Addy and that is why I started this blog. Addy has been such an amazing addition to our family and none of us can imagine our lives without her. She has touched each and everyone in our family in a positive way. Adoption is such a gift, I would have no life without it. Looking at John and Charissa, you just feel love and acceptance when you look at their children. They are all so amazing!

Simeon is a favorite of Addy's (I've mentioned her love of boys!), Liesel, is such a little mother and is so sweet! Jude is quiet and so smart! He and Jake are quite cute together! I couldn't get a pic of that though, Jude says it embarrasses him (aww!!), there are really not enough words to describe Hope.

She is one of the cutest little things I have ever seen! She is so funny and was loving carrying Addy around, it was too sweet! Addy is laughing in this pic, she's not upset even though it kinda looks that way!

Precious Ava cracks me up! I got some of the best smiles and hugs and kisses from her!!! She is a pure miracle!! The newest crew, Zoya and Joseph, seem so happily adjusted to their new family. Zoya is so sweet and loving!

She gave me the best hugs! She is so so tiny! She is tinier in person than I think she looks in pictures. She poses so well for the camera, too precious!!

Joseph was very tired and hungry but was such a joy! I'm so glad I got to see him, he is gorgeous!! He gives the cutest thumbs up sign, loved it!!! John and Charissa, thank you so much for spending time with us again! It made our night!

Football Season!!

Jake hasn't played football since first grade and he was ready to go back! Our kids aren't allowed to play tackle until third grade and that didn't even entice him last year but he was all for it this year! He looks so cute! We have had an unbelievable amount of rain recently and the playing field was a swamp! No one thought I would be able to get his pants clean after this but I did!!



It started raining at the beginning of 4th quarter so Addy and I headed to the van I think she may have been happy about that!!

Happy Labor Day

Well, we thought we would go down to the lake for a day of fun in the sun! We did get some of that done today! However, we encountered this (notice the date!)...
so no boating or tubing :( We were pretty bummed but thought oh well, we'll just play on the Waverunner then. Nope, the battery was dead :( So we just played on the dock for a couple of hours. It was too hot for Addy so we didn't stay too long. She does fine on the boat, we have a breeze! It was nice to spend time with most of family today (Jarika spent almost 24 hours with us during her long weekend!) During our ritual of applying sunscreen Addy rubbed it into her eyes :( poor baby, it was not fun for her at all!

Jake learned how to do a backdive and I LOVED watching Cooper jump in, that is such a HUGE accomplishment for him!!! Back to work/school tomorrow, bye bye summer.

Little Techie

Addy loves to get on my laptop when I'm not around to protect it. She's too cute! I should have grabbed the video though, her fingers were going 90 to nothing!!! Guess it doesn't matter since I still don't have my software to upload videos on my computer :) (that was a hint to Scott)

I was Tagged!

I was tagged by Stephanie at A is for Aiden for the Life is Good award. Stephanie and I "met" through our blogs a couple of years ago. I'm hoping we'll meet IRL someday, we only live a few hours apart!

1.If you blog anonymously, are you happy doing it that way; if you are not anonymous do you wish you had started out anonymously so you could be anonymous now?
I do not blog anonymously, I'm not sure why you would blog anonymously, but to each his own! I wouldn't want to be anonymous, I enjoy talking about my life.

2. Describe one incident that shows your inner stubborn side.
I'm not stubborn!

3. What do you see when you really look at yourself in the mirror?
Hmm, just me trying to look and feel better.

4. What is your favorite summer cold drink?
Ice water with fresh lemon squeezed in it.

6. Is there something you still want to accomplish in your life? What is it?
Yes. I really want to adopt another child with Down syndrome. Hopefully an international adoption.

7. When you attended school, were you the class clown, the class overachiever, the class shy person, or always ditching school?
I was just an average, typical student. Too chicken to skip school, too shy to be the clown and definitely not an overachiever.

8. If you close your eyes and want to visualize a very poignant moment in your life, what do you see?
Looking into my Dad's eyes the night before he passed away and telling him how much I loved him.

9. Is it easy for you to share your true self in your blog or are you more comfortable writing posts about other people or events?
I am quite honest on my blog, however, there are things that I hold back since I never know who is going to read it. There is an issue that I am struggling with that I would love to blog about but it could upset some people so I avoid it. I really just enjoy writing about my kids, they are my world.

10. If you had the choice to sit and read or talk on the phone, which would you do and why?
I love reading and talking on the phone but I would definitely choose a book. I will read just about anything.

Now to tag 6 people.....

Courtney

Rochelle

Heather

Denise

Alicia

Sarah

Hello September!

September greeted us with more than 8 inches of rain so far!!! It has been pouring all day!! Addy and I had to go to Springfield for her appointment with the neurosurgeon and we were both soaked to the bone by the time we got to the door! I always have extra clothes for her, too bad I didn't have any for me!! Anyway, we got great news!! Addy does have AAI but she only has a 2mm gap and she requires no intervention!! We do have to be monitored yearly so we will have repeat x-rays next August. Thank goodness!!! I really didn't want to have to put her through another surgery, she has had enough!!! She is doing really well on the potty too! She is having 1-3 accidents per day. I don't think that's too shabby!! We are probably just catching her but she does ask to go once in awhile. She even asked to go yesterday at school when we were waiting for PT to start and she went! I hadn't ever put her on any potty besides hers so I was pleased!!! The is the little creek behind my house. Not so little right now and more rain is coming!!!