Typos ;-)

Have you noticed that I have a typo in pretty much every post I write?

It's true, 


I do.

I know it.

And, 

it used to bother me...

BUT,

it doesn't anymore...

I'm not a good typer

 and

 I'm a busy Momma. 

Together the equal= 

TYPOS! 

Many, 

many

 typos!

Soooo, if your lookin for perfection, and your on my blog...

You are lookin in the wrong place!

Please just read right over them or fill in the blank yourself!

No time for perfection here-

 just time for lovin Jesus

and

lovin the children!


No one has complained about my typos- 
I figured I just let ya'll know that it's just part of the blog!

FYI... and sometimes I pretend I'm a Minnesotan from the south and use words like ya'll and lovin and lookin...

Just go with it!

Okay!

Good!

Good! 

Thanks!


And here are some pics from last week for your viewing pleasure!

Karate is only a block away from T*rget and the weather was so nice we walked over while Sarah and Ellie were doing Karate.

I had to make sure I didn't buy too much or anything too heavy for my helpers!

They just love to help!
AND I love it when they help!

Luke has two bags of chocolate chips(for baking) in his bag!


and yes, I did run ahead of them and take pictures as they were walking toward me!!


I just think they are so cute!!

48 hours Post Op!

48 hours post op and they are already talking to us about going home!

His chest tubes came out today and he is taking walks.

He eats, he poops, he pees, he walks and needs very little pain med.

They can't think of any reasons to keep him in the hospital.

Sunday will most likely be the day.

Maybe Monday?

Did you know you can't lift a child who has just had heart surgery under the arms?

Me neither.

I found out (cringe) after I did it (cringe again).

They need to be scooped up with one arm under their body and the other behind their shoulders. 

It makes sense. 

NOW,

 I just need to make sure that none of the children try to lift Luke (and another cringe), once he gets home.

Thanking God for this little boy!!

(And for HIS handi work in the OR!)

Thank you to my wonderful friends and their children that stayed at my house while I went to the hospital!!

24 hours post op!

Countless tubs have been removed from this cute little patient!

He was very very happy to have the catheter out!

He is awake, alert but takes occasional naps.

FYI- if you happen to stand in front of the TV he will let you know-

move, move, can't see!

oops! so sorry!

Of course the nurses LOVE him!

They have never seen such a mellow 3 year old boy!

He is eating and drinking today!

Tomorrow the chest tubes may come out.

Once they are out the children can get out of bed and move about.

It was so good to see him this afternoon!

He called out,

"Mommy, Mommy" and gave me a big hug!

He was not happy with me when I left.

The nurse said "Tell Mommy I love you"

He said "no"...

He has the cutest personality.

I know he loves me and I know he is right, 

a mommy should be with her baby when he is in the hospital.

But... Daddy is there and I need to hold down the fort at home.

It was so wonderful to be with him!

Can't wait to see him tomorrow!

The nurses said that sometimes when the chest tubes are removed the children don't feel quite as good.

It's all a balance of pain meds, rest, a little activity and lots of time to heal.

We are so thankful for each day of healing

AND

so thankful for your prayers!

PRAISE GOD!

Hubby and I are a tag team. We have limited babysitting this week since our sitter is on spring break.

I was able to get to the hospital for a few hours to see Luke. 

I was quite nervous. The surgery went well but but but...

well, you know-

 mothers tend to worry...

I prayed and prayed for our dear boy.

Thank you, thank you, for your prayers and we will gladly accept more for his recovery.

When I arrived he was on a ventilator and an external pacemaker.

As the younger children said when they saw the pics- wow, he's hooked up to a lotta stuff!

Couldn't have said it better myself!

Within on hour of me being there he woke up, he was taken off the vent and the NG tube.

Next the external pacemaker was turned off and Luke's sweet heart beat on it's own! Within a few minutes it was in a beautiful rhythm!

PRAISE GOD!!

He was shaking his head yes and no and being his wonderful mellow self!

He is resting most of the time.

But woke up and had a talk with Daddy/ hubby.

They said about 3:00am the children tend to "wake up".

Hubby has the night shift ;-)

Oh, my goodness do I love this little boy!!

AND I know that he is very very loved half way across the world!

His O2 sat is 99% and all other vitals are looking good!

Can we have another-

PRAISE GOD!!

I am at home now. 

Abby is starting her 2nd chelation at home. We are so thankful that we can do this at HOME!!

Have a mentioned

THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME!

It Went Well!!

Praise God! 

The surgery is over and it went well!

Whew!

Can't wait to see him!

Good To Go!

He is healthy and good to go!

The pre op went smoothly.

Surgery is scheduled for 7:30 am.

And yes, that is a semi fake smile for y'all!

He's no fool...

He knows what's goin on...

He and we would prefer this not be necessary...

And no amount of bribery is going to make this all better...

not even a freezy...

But, oh my isn't he just the cutest little guy in the world...

well, not counting your little guy... 

of course!

Please pray!

The Doctor said...

that after this surgery Luke will have a normal activity level and life span...

Can you believe it?

Only GOD!!

TRULY, ONLY GOD!

If you have followed him, you know his surgery in Israel was nothing short of a miracle!

Praise be to God!

I will update you tomorrow- Wednesday 3/28.

A Fun Weekend

Luke, Luke look at Momma...

Hellooooo, excuse me. 

Luke look over here!

Very funny, Luke...

Thank you Luke!

It was so nice to do something fun with the children! We went to the zoo last weekend!

Abby and Luke loved it- it was their first time!

There was quite a crowd looking at the bears but the children are good at making their way through the crowd and getting a front row view!

Oh my, I love them so much I think that even the backs of their heads are adorable!

Abby has forgotten how to smile and Sam keeps shutting his eyes- he's trying so hard not to that he ended up crossing his eyes!

Luke loves to be lifted up for a better view!

And yes that is a bruise on his check.

He got it right as his two black eyes were healing!

He tends to lead with his head  ;-)... as he falls...

Oh dear Lord - thank you for these blessings!

The zoo never seems to get old!

  

I love to look at the world from the eyes of a child!

Everything is so amazing! So full of wonder and excitement!

Yes, we will need to watch him like a hawk after his heart surgery. 

It will take 6 weeks for his chest to heal.

Wednesday(3/28) is the day of surgery and he is very healthy... right now... and hopefully will be then, too!

Ellie is doing so well. She is learning to read. 

It's slow go but she is making nice progress!

It was a beautiful and fun day!

Our little rule breaker and climber almost made it into the prairie dog cage!

The monkey bars are really hard and the children come home from China with no muscle development.

Ellie and Anna have worked hard in gymnastics to be able to do this!

Although I did not get a picture- Emma can do it too!

We are so proud of all of the children!

Once he is all healed up he will join in the family activities-

gymnastics, swimming and karate.

I am planning on putting Luke in preschool next fall. Just 2 afternoons a week.

I love homeschooling but I also love preschool and want him to have the experience.

YES, he fell and landed right on his forehead. And yes, that is a Dora bandaid he is sporting... it's the only bandaid I had ;-)

Once again, loving the zoo with the children!!

A God Moment!

This happened in early March as I was preparing for Sarah's birthday.

As usual I was busy...

I had a few moments to myself and felt so thankful for that time!

I had no time planned for others.

 I would run my errands and pray during "MY TIME".

Like I said, I had no time for others...

It wasn't part of MY plan.

BUT, guess what?

My plan doesn't matter...

Because God had his own plan.

(I love it when he does that!)

(Blesses us with his plan, that is so much better than our plan!)


I stopped at the local party store to get a few things for Sarah's birthday party.


The clerk was so nice and friendly. 
She was not your average store clerk... she had many piercing and well, she was different from me.


I had seen her before and we were always pleasant but this time she wanted to strike up a conversation.


Did I mention I had an agenda, a plan for the day. I really wasn't planning on talking to anyone. 
Instead, I would pray my way through the day.
I really love doing that!


She began with talking about the children. 
They have been there many times and she remembered them.


She asked... "why did you adopt?"


Oh Lord, please forgive me...


I immediately thought of how I could begin and end this conversation as quickly as possible.
PLUS, I was tired of others asking and me muddling our way though our reasoning...


So, I kept it short and sweet


"It was a God thing,"
I said,
"We felt called to adopt."


figuring the conversation would pretty much end right there...


BUT, it didn't...
and once again God made himself so evident.
and once again, I was so humbled by HIM...


She began by telling me she was adopted.
(if I had a tail, it would have been right between my legs at this point)


She said that she and her sister were from Texas.
Her mother and her father were also "called to adopt".


BUT, God told them their daughter would be named Sarah.


Her mother searched all over the local waiting child list for a Sarah.


BUT, there were not any Sarah's.


Their agency mentioned two girls that were waiting in Texas.


The Mom made it very clear- no, no they aren't ours...


but then she went home and something inside of her said


look at those two girls from Texas...


The next weekend her and her husband drove to Texas to meet these two little girls.


She was Tanya and she had a big sister. They were 5 and 7 yrs old.


They met and the next thing you know they were driving back home with two little girls in their back seat.


As they were driving back to MN. the mom asked the girls-
 since you will be changing your last name would you like to change your first name, too?


Tanya, immediately answered YES!


 I would like my name to be Sarah... 


WOW...


WOW...




Okay... Lord


I had my agenda...


BUT your agenda was so much BETTER!


HE HUMBLES ME EVERYDAY!


Needless to say, 


that was an awesome GOD moment!


Have you had God moment?


I would love to hear about it!


Put it in the comments OR blog on it and let me know!

Junior Bridesmaid!

Back in the day, it was a simple telephone call.

Of course it was a dial phone that was plugged into the wall that we called on!

Nowadays they are more creative and have more fun with asking friends and family to be in the wedding party!

Sarah was thrilled and of course answered YES!

All the children will have special dresses and tuxes!

They are so excited!

Everyone is enjoying the wedding plans...

and they loved the cake!

Making life work!

Abby had her port put in on Thursday morning. It is a short surgical procedure but she needed to go through recovery before coming home. The site is very painful for  48 hours. We kept her medicated for pain.

The home health care nurses came in the evening and set up her chelation.

The back pack was heavy and her site was sore.

We had her take it EASY and REST.

The good news was by the next morning the bag was significantly lighter because it had infused overnight!

She did better and better each day!

On Saturday eve the nurse came back and unhooked it.

I am an RN with an expired license. I may learn how to do this without having to have a nurse visit and then again, 

I may not.

Sometimes it's just nice to be Mom...

As a nurse- once you learn it, it is so simple and doable.

BUT the whole experience is rather emotional and... well...

SHE'S MY DAUGHTER...

All the nurses, Drs and support staff are so kind and helpful. They really try to make it work for us.

I am so thankful, if we had struggles with medical staff- I think I'd have to cry.

The challenges are so great already.

The other children were so kind and so helpful to Abby.

It is heartwarming to see them help her!

Luke stayed inside and played with her while the others took a break and enjoyed the nice day.

We are constantly evaluating his cough- hoping and praying to get his surgery successfully done and get him on the road to recovery!

Abby was looking much better by Saturday evening!

We celebrated St. Paddy's day with green frosted cupcakes!

They were tasty and messy!

Emma has been doing better lately!

More smiles, a little more talking and just seems to be more content!

We are going to LOVE the port and having the treatments done at home!!

SO THANKFUL!

Donor Requirements

I just want to clarify-

When a person volunteers to be a bone marrow donor they cannot specify who they want to be the recipient.

This is what happens-
You sign up to be a donor-
they send you a kit, and you swab the inside of your cheek and send it back, and then they put you on the registry in case you are a good match for anyone needing a bone marrow transplant!
(Thank you Alison and D for clarifying this!)

The info then goes into a national registry.

When a match is found they contact the potential donor(maybe it will be you?).

The donor and recipient need to match in 8 different categories (not sure what they all are) however I do know one category is ethnicity.

So Abby needs a donor that is Asian, preferably Chinese, blood type B positive, and whatever else is in the list, needs to match.

The closer the match the more likely it will work.

If the donor and the recipient only match in some of the categories the chances of the bone marrow transplant working decrease significantly.

You can donate in hopes that it will go to Abby BUT if it is not Abby's life you are saving it may be someone elses.

It is really a worthwhile thing to do!

An exact match can potentially 

SAVE A LIFE!


Even a really good match can save a life! 


The donor has to be 18 yrs- 59 yrs old.


Usually they would check the family members first for a near match BUT since Abby is adopted that does not work for us.


Thank you to those of you that have inquired about donating, have prayed, have contacted others of asian decent, and have spread the word!


She is such a precious little girl and she is such a gift from God!

The Donor Search IS ON!

We went to the play "The Secret Garden" today! I was so happy to be able to go since I was originally supposed to be at the hospital with Mr Luke.

(BTW the Drs made a good choice. He is continuing to have an even deeper cough, runny nose and low grad fever- we will be going to the DR tomorrow, so they can listen to his lungs!)

The play was fantastic! We had previously read the book (abridged version) and saw the movie!

The children were able to follow along because they knew the story!

Abby has done so well for the last 2 1/2 weeks!

She is making great strides with learning and attitude since her dental work has been done(no more rotting teeth) AND since the parasite is gone (she was on 3 different antibiotics in order to get rid of it)!

She is like a new person and it has been such a blessing!

This little girl is such a great little girl- her true self is beginning to emerge and OH MY- do we love what we are seeing!

About 2-3 days ago she started to say-

"Momma, I'm tired"

"Momma, I'm tired"

Before that she was keeping up with everyone and was not missing a beat!


There has been a dramatic drop off in her energy level.
I'm not sure if it is her hemoglobin or if she is coming down with the family cold... or both.


Hubby is with her now at the hospital. She is getting a transfusion overnight and then a port put in - in the morning.
They will return home around lunch time and then a nurse will come to our house and begin the chelation process through the port.


We are so thankful to be able to start doing this at 
HOME SWEET HOME!


It will be best for ALL the children!


Thank you Jesus!!

As you can see in the pic our little Abby is completely out of gas...

She declined gymnastics today and sat with Mom instead...

AND now for the most important part of this post-
 They have started to search for a bone marrow donor for ABBY!!


THANK YOU JESUS!!


At this time there are enough caucasian people on the list...


BUT


NOT


ENOUGH


PEOPLE OF ASAIN DECENT...


Thank you to the many families that have offered!
The problem is-


The donor must be 18 years or older.


PLEASE encourage the Asian (especially the Chinese) population near you to volunteer to donate!


They will put them on the 


NATIONAL BONE MARROW REGISTRY.


Whether or not they will be called to donate- only God knows...


BUT please please encourage them!


ABBY'S life depends on it!


They are truly giving the gift of life!


I have sent a letter and photo album of Abby with her forever family to her orphanage.
In the letter we asked IF by chance they know of any family members...
 I know it's a huge "shot in the dark" but we had to try...


Miracles DO happen with GOD!


We also encouraged others in China that knew Abby to get on the 


NATIONAL BONE MARROW REGISTRY

 OH PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD!

Spring Has Sprung!

We have been blessed with beautiful weather!

It's not all bad not having surgery today!

It was such a nice day- 65 degrees! 

 And it was such a pleasure to finally enjoying the fresh air and some outside play!

We still have some left over ice and snow on the north side of the house.

So then... what do you do?

You go sledding!

In shorts!

All of the children were filled with a refreshing energy!

It was such a blessing!

In fact Ava even...

learned to ride a bike today!

She was so ready and eager to try!

This is Ellie's bike.

Her bike is actually smaller BUT with training wheels.

We still need to figure out the bike situation at our house!

It's a little wet and sloppy BUT so so much fun!

I think we will have quite a few new bike riders this year!

Anna and Abby are quite bonded!

It is so cute... except when anna decides she wants to wear Abby's outfit!

Then Abby is totally baffled and comes up to me with a questioning look and says "Anna"?

Everyone is cheering Abby on! She can ride a tricycle BUT a bike is new to her!

It's all in the pedaling!

Ava also learned to jump rope today!

She was thrilled with her new talents!

We were too!

YES, Luke is looking quite short!

What a cutey!

He does have a cough, a clear runny nose and a low grade temp.

The Doctors made the right choice.

We are rescheduled for Wednesday, MArch 28th.

IF he is not doing GREAT by that time we will once again... reschedule.

God has a plan and we need to trust him.

Emma has smiled so much today!

Which of course makes me so happy!

The weather and activities have agreed with her!

We sat outside on the front patio and I read to the children!

Ahhhh, what a wonderful life it is!