Powerful Stuff

Has it been that long?????

By now I am sure there is virtually no one still following this blog, considering it was November the last time we posted anything. But, just in case there is still life out there somewhere, here are a few pictures from Christmas. It is a tradition to ice cookies at Aunt Candy's house on Christmas Eve. This, of course, was Claire's first Christmas and she was a little unsure of the whole process as you can see. We also always take a picture of the kids in front of Grandma Grayson's Christmas tree.

The boys had a great Christmas this year; they got the Wii they asked for. Claire was happy with the wrapping paper (typical).

Hope everyone is doing well.

G

November already?

I know, it has been awhile since our last post, but following a viral attack in our house, soccer, football, and Halloween, we are back on track.

At the beginning of October Keaton got sick, running 103-105 temps for 5 days. He did not have anything major, just a virus. He got over that on Monday, and sure enough Claire was quick to follow. Hers however turned out to be a bigger deal. I laid her down for nap on a Thursday with a 100 degree temp and when she woke the thermometer read 106.2. As Garrett and I are realizing we are going to have to take her to urgent care, she began to have a seizure. The boys have never done that, so it was pretty scary for us. She had a total of 4 seizures that evening, and we spent several hours in the ER. Our doctor has diagnosed her with febrile seizures. We will now know what to do and what to look for. She is now fine and as energetic as ever! She just had her check up last week and is doing great. We are almost caught up on her shots and she is growing faster than ever. She now weighs 19 lbs, and is walking, talking, and "arguing" like a true toddler. She says mama, dada, bubba, eat, nana, papa, cheese, and night night. She is so fun!

The boys are doing great as well. For Halloween Keaton was a cowboy, Easton was Dash from the incredibles (although he would not let me take a picture of him), and Claire was a fairy princess. Football is over for Easton and soccer is over for Keat. We are enjoying some down time in the evenings before basketball starts in a few weeks. It is getting cool here, and I love it.

Things for Garrett and me are going fine. He has applied to the doctoral program at MU and we are looking forward to hearing about that. He took a test called the GRE a couple of weeks ago, and he did well. We are eager to see what happens.

I have been busy making bows. I started making all Claire's bows, hats, bibs, burp cloths, etc.. Then people started ordering them for their own kids. Now that "business" has really taken off. I have made and sold over 200 in the last 6 weeks. It is something I LOVE to do, and it allows me to make a little money on the side as well.

I hope all of you are doing well!

Happy referral day Claire!

One year ago today, at about 11:00 am we got a call that would change our lives forever. We were told of a 9 week old baby girl in AnGiang Vietnam that needed a home. She was ever so tiny, and had some possible health problems. We spent the day speaking to our pediatrician, looking over her records and feeling like we were walking on clouds. We had decided early on not to tell the boys about her until we had officially accepted her. I went to pick Easton up from school that afternoon, and he was carrying a piece of paper. He got in the Tahoe and said, "Look mom, I drew a picture. It's the road to Vietnam." Of course, I broke down into tears. (we still have that picture).

That evening our social worker came by the house and brought us the first pictures we would ever see of our little girl. She was perfect and we knew she would be a wonderful addition to our family.

Our adoption process seemed rough, and many things were changing in the adoption system while we waited on Claire. During our 6 mth wait, there were many great experiences and many frustrating experiences. Some of you have been following our journey from the beginning and know that there at the end we got a little frustrated with our adoption agency. (They too were experiencing changes) Yet through all that frustration I know we would not be where we are today without them. (We would use Dillon again). Things may have not always gone the way we had planned, but they love the kids they place. They ALWAYS have supported the families they work with, and they continue to answer questions and provide AWESOME post placement services to their families.

We have also been so blessed by an AMAZING social worker! She has so much invested into her job, supports her families and even is a part of international adoption in her extended family. We appreciate her so much.

Claire has been officially ours now almost 6 months (on the 29th). She enriches our daily lives, and completes our family. She is an amazing little girl! She has grown out of the health problems she was born with (they were very minor), and is a busy 14 month old. We would not have it any other way!

Football has started!

Easton had his first football game this week. He had so much fun. (oh and it helps that they won their game). He loves sports!

Keaton had his first soccer game of the season as well, but my camera battery was dead. We will catch him next week. He scored a goal!

Fun pictures from the weekend.

Our little ray of sunshine! 14 months old tomorrow!