When I was in the midst of jet lag, I made a promise to myself, and anyone who would listen, that if I ever felt normal again that I would never, ever complain about being tired again. Well, eventually I did feel normal again, but as for the promise, it has been filed with other such promises such as "I will exercise everyday this week!" and "Now that I've got this house cleaned up, I will never let it get that messy again!". I think I could have recovered from Tuesday's dark and stormy night if it weren't for Thursday's all nighter with Miss Measel Pants. It turns out that Piper is one of the unfortunate rare 1 in whatever million that actually gets a light case of the measels when getting the Measels vaccination. She woke up about midnight MISERABLE...high fever, aches, pains, and mad about it all, I don't blame her. Friday brought the spots. Spots from her neck to her toes. I literally watched them appear before my eyes. I called the doctor and she wanted me to bring her in. Piper's doctor was not there so we got to see her very young partner who had never seen this reaction before. She studied Piper from head to toe and then said she'd be right back. She came back in with another doctor, a nurse, and her big, fat medical book with photos. They decided it was the measels and sent us home with instructions to give her Benadryl and Motrin every 6 hours until Monday. She slept through the night last night and her spots are much lighter this morning. I think it's going to disappear as fast as it came on.
So, welcome to our pity party. We are tired - wa, wa, wa. There, I feel better just to getting that out of the way. I feel so much better that I just might exercise today or clean the house, or maybe, not. There are soccer games to attend and beautiful weather to be enjoyed.
Pre measels, Piper's one year check up was great. The doctor just kept saying how great she was doing. Her tiny little legs are finally looking a little chubby and she's put on 2 pounds since she's been with us, even with the flu and giardia.
I still want to post about Piper's wonderful Sip and See, but I've got to go cheer on the Supergirls in their last game of the season. So hopefully I'll get some time later today to sit my promise breaker self down and get those pictures posted.
Saturday, April 28, 2007
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
The night that lasted a week
I can't believe it's only 9am. I feel like a week has gone by since I went to bed last night. We spent the entire night without power and everyone but Piper (who slept right through it all), sandwiched together in our queen sized bed. Hunter couldn't sleep because he was so worried we wouldn't wake up without our alarm clock for school. Ella couldn't sleep because she just needed to talk about how the lights were out and how that made her feel. Every time, I'd almost drift off, Ella or Hunter would say something. "Mommy, what time do you think it is? Mommy, do you want me to tell you what happened when I woke up and my nightlight wasn't on? Mommy, I need to go to the bathroom. Mommy, why are the lights still not on? Mommy, do you think it's time to get up?(this one I heard just about every hour). And on and on it went. Miraculously, we woke up in time for school, still without power, and got Hunter ready for school. As we were walking back inside, a bird flew in the house! Only Ella, Piper and I were home. It took the birdie about 10 minutes to find the open door and fly out. So much excitement and all by 8:00 this morning. Our power finally came on just before 8am.
Notes to my commenters:
First of all, thank you for your comments and questions! I love knowing who is actually still reading the blog. I know quite a few of you are out there, but don't know who you are!
Isabella's mom: the bows - the one's on the left I got from a store called "Kid to Kid", the others are some I kept from when Ella was little. Kid to Kid is a resale shop, but they sell new accessories. Piper's hair is pretty crazy, sticks straight up, so the bows get a lot of use! Please let me know when you get your referral, I'd love to follow along.
Christie, my friend, I am experiencing waiting anxiety for you! I really cannot wait until you get your picture of Keira Joy. Christie and her husband are going to be such wonderful, fun parents. You can visit them at http://www.keirajoy.com/
I guess now that the power is back on, I have no excuse for not getting the laundry started...
Notes to my commenters:
First of all, thank you for your comments and questions! I love knowing who is actually still reading the blog. I know quite a few of you are out there, but don't know who you are!
Isabella's mom: the bows - the one's on the left I got from a store called "Kid to Kid", the others are some I kept from when Ella was little. Kid to Kid is a resale shop, but they sell new accessories. Piper's hair is pretty crazy, sticks straight up, so the bows get a lot of use! Please let me know when you get your referral, I'd love to follow along.
Christie, my friend, I am experiencing waiting anxiety for you! I really cannot wait until you get your picture of Keira Joy. Christie and her husband are going to be such wonderful, fun parents. You can visit them at http://www.keirajoy.com/
I guess now that the power is back on, I have no excuse for not getting the laundry started...
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Some babies come by plane
http://www.davidclapp.com/main.htm
Love these photos...makes me wonder what Piper will look like when that crazy hair of hers grows out!
Go to "some babies come by plane"
Love these photos...makes me wonder what Piper will look like when that crazy hair of hers grows out!
Go to "some babies come by plane"
Monday, April 23, 2007
Trying to get all 3 kids to take a good picture together is proving to be quite the challenge. I haven't given up yet, but do plan on taking them to have their pictures taken professionally very soon. When I look at these pictures I just think, "how did this happen?", how did Hunter and Ella grow up so fast, how did we get so blessed? It is just so amazing to me how Piper fits into our family, she was definitely the missing piece. I knew I missed her before I knew her, but I never dreamed how much I would love her.
Last week I had to take Piper to get some blood work (7 tubes worth!), and it all came back normal. Her pediatrician likes to run every conceivable test on babies who are adopted internationally, and it all came back normal! I hated for her to have to go through it, but a tootsie roll pop did wonders, and the guy who took the blood was really good. We were so excited that the results came back normal and she won't have to have blood drawn again anytime soon.
Coming soon...pictures from Piper's "Sip and See"!
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
A bittersweet goodbye
Tomorrow, April 18th, we will say goodbye to Piper Grace's first year of life as she turns 1 year old! I am filled with dueling emotions. On one hand, I am truly overjoyed that Piper is here with us to celebrate the day she born 1 year ago and I want to throw the biggest party this town has ever seen. On the other hand, I am grieving over the lost time of this last year, that we were not there for the first 10 months of her sweet, precious life. I cannot help but think about what her birth day was like a year ago and my thoughts turn towards her birth mother, who carried her for 9 long months. We may never know the circumstances surrounding Piper's beginnings, but I know her birth mother chose to give her life and that her decision to do that, has given us the most beautiful blessing, who daily fills our home with love. We love this little slice of heaven so much, there just aren't words to describe what she means to us. She is life, she is joy, she is God's ultimate gift. We are not worthy of such a gift yet He blesses us beyond our wildest imaginations, not because of who we are, but because that's just who He is. A giver of undeserved grace, a grace so huge, we couldn't earn it if we tried. All I know to do is say thank you. Thank you, Lord, thank you.
As you can see from the pictures Piper has been busy, very busy. She's got a lot to do and learn each day and she makes the most of every waking moment. I have to say, I am in awe of little PG. I hope I can be more like her when I grow up. She has opened her heart to us and shares her love freely. She is a survivor and a lover of life. To know what she has been through this last year, and to see her now, it is one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. I just can't get over the fact that we get to experience this and watch her blossom.
Some words from a song I heard yesterday expressed my feelings perfectly:
(Remembering You by Steven Curtis Chapman)
"I found you in the most unlikely way
But really it was you who found me
And I found myself in the gifts that you gave...
From the first moment
when I heard your name
Something in my heart came alive
You showed me love
that no words could explain..
A love with the power to...
open the door,
to a world I was made for"
and then the chorus are words I'd like to say to Piper's birth mother:
"And I'll watch as the cold winter melts into Spring
And I'll be remembering you
And I'll smell the flowers and hear the birds sing
And I'll be remembering you
And I'll watch as the sun fills the sky that was dark
I'll be remembering you"
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Could you speak up please?
Why, no I can't! ( in a frog whisper) Losing your voice when you have 3 kids is quite a lesson in patience and humility.
I started losing my voice on Easter afternoon. I wasn't feeling that bad, just got hoarse and thought it was allergies. By Monday afternoon I thought I had caught one or both of Piper's flu bugs and had very little voice. My throat was raw and hurting pretty badly. By Tuesday afternoon it was extremely painful to swallow or attempt to talk. Tuesday night I went to an after hours urgent care clinic and was diagnosed with strep throat. Today is the first day I feel like I might live through it. I never knew strep could be so very painful.
I have never been without a voice for this long and it's been frustrating & difficult. It's one of those things you just completely take for granted until its gone. I never realized how much I talk and much I miss it when I cannot do it without intense pain! Talking is the main way I connect with the kids and I have felt so bad to not be able to carry on a conversation with them or read them a book. Piper just looks at me with a puzzled expression and I feel so bad not being able to talk to her. My mom came over yesterday to help and I felt much better that the kids had someone to talk to them and read to them.
Yesterday Hunter came home from school with a permission slip for me to sign for a field trip. I whispered to him and asked if he wanted me to go on the field trip. "Will you have a normal voice by then?" I shook my head yes and he said, "well, then, yes I want you to go."
I also realized I do a lot of needless talking and that sometimes being quiet is a good thing. When you can't talk you have a lot more time to think, and that's a good thing! One thought that crossed my mind was, what if we only had a certain amount of voice to use each day? What would I choose to use it for, what would I choose to not use it for?
Proverbs 21:23 "He who guards his mouth and his tongue keeps himself from calamity."
James 1:26 "If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless." whoa! I am praying the God would use this experience to help me and give me self control in this area. Oh, how I need help!
Piper Update
Obsession - Compulsive preoccupation with a fixed idea
She is a girl obsessed with walking, if only she had the strength and balance. She spends her days looking for a pair of hands to hold onto so she can walk the house. That is ALL she wants to do, and I am not exaggerating! Every once in a while she will accidentally get distracted by something for a few minutes and then it's like she suddenly remembers, and she's looking for some hands to walk her. I have never seen a child so determined to walk. It's pretty amazing as she did not want any weight on her feet when we first got her. I don't think she'd ever had any weight on them and her muscles were just very weak. Now, she will just keep going and going and going, even when its obvious her legs are getting tired, she will not stop. That's our girl!
I started losing my voice on Easter afternoon. I wasn't feeling that bad, just got hoarse and thought it was allergies. By Monday afternoon I thought I had caught one or both of Piper's flu bugs and had very little voice. My throat was raw and hurting pretty badly. By Tuesday afternoon it was extremely painful to swallow or attempt to talk. Tuesday night I went to an after hours urgent care clinic and was diagnosed with strep throat. Today is the first day I feel like I might live through it. I never knew strep could be so very painful.
I have never been without a voice for this long and it's been frustrating & difficult. It's one of those things you just completely take for granted until its gone. I never realized how much I talk and much I miss it when I cannot do it without intense pain! Talking is the main way I connect with the kids and I have felt so bad to not be able to carry on a conversation with them or read them a book. Piper just looks at me with a puzzled expression and I feel so bad not being able to talk to her. My mom came over yesterday to help and I felt much better that the kids had someone to talk to them and read to them.
Yesterday Hunter came home from school with a permission slip for me to sign for a field trip. I whispered to him and asked if he wanted me to go on the field trip. "Will you have a normal voice by then?" I shook my head yes and he said, "well, then, yes I want you to go."
I also realized I do a lot of needless talking and that sometimes being quiet is a good thing. When you can't talk you have a lot more time to think, and that's a good thing! One thought that crossed my mind was, what if we only had a certain amount of voice to use each day? What would I choose to use it for, what would I choose to not use it for?
Proverbs 21:23 "He who guards his mouth and his tongue keeps himself from calamity."
James 1:26 "If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless." whoa! I am praying the God would use this experience to help me and give me self control in this area. Oh, how I need help!
Piper Update
Obsession - Compulsive preoccupation with a fixed idea
She is a girl obsessed with walking, if only she had the strength and balance. She spends her days looking for a pair of hands to hold onto so she can walk the house. That is ALL she wants to do, and I am not exaggerating! Every once in a while she will accidentally get distracted by something for a few minutes and then it's like she suddenly remembers, and she's looking for some hands to walk her. I have never seen a child so determined to walk. It's pretty amazing as she did not want any weight on her feet when we first got her. I don't think she'd ever had any weight on them and her muscles were just very weak. Now, she will just keep going and going and going, even when its obvious her legs are getting tired, she will not stop. That's our girl!
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Friday, April 06, 2007
I got a letter from whom???
Piper's U.S. Citizenship Certificate arrived in the mail today! Along with it came a large white envelope that read:
A MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES
Inside was a letter signed by George W. Bush. We read the kids the letter at dinner time and the above picture was taken when we showed Piper her Cerificate of Citizenship. I think she liked getting a letter from the President and it made her really popular with her brother and sister. Hunter kept asking, "How did he know that we adopted Piper?". The letter is actually quite touching and had me feeling really patriotic. I'll post it when I'm not having to hold my eyelids open with one hand while I type with the other.
Friday Photos
Pretty, flu and all
Here comes trouble
Steroid boy...about to get caught
She's mad...sweet successThe Flu x 2 + boy on Steroids = Lord, help us all!
Hunter is on day 4 of steroids for his allergies and a really bad cough that wouldn't go away. Picture 6 year old body with a 15 year old attitude with 13 year old girl emotions....yikes! Yesterday was a day for the record books. After attempting to keep Piper, who couldn't nap or eat very well b/c she is so congested, somewhat happy throughout the morning, Ella came home from preschool with what appears to be Piper's flu (which one, we do not know). I am praying she didn't give it to anyone at school. By about 5:00 Ella was truly miserable and asked if she could go lay down in her bed, I knew she must be truly sick. She laid there for about an hour and half, completely still listening to her music. Meanwhile, Hunter went to the refrigerator to get some leftover pizza he just KNEW was in there (it wasn't). Scott had gotten pizza on Tuesday while I was at the doctor with Piper and Hunter had about half a piece of crust left over that he knew had to be in the refridgerator Thursday after school. I told him we didn't have any pizza but that was just not acceptable to this ravenous steroid taking boy. He melted down right there in front of the open refrigerator at the injustice of it all. In the middle of it, Hunter's teacher called trying to sort out a situation that had taken place during recess that day. Apparently one of the little girls in Hunter's class convinced a group of them that there was a man parked in a red car next to the playground who had a gun. She also convinced them not to tell a teacher because it was a secret. The scary part was that they listened to her! After talking Hunter down from the pizza incident I attempted to figure out what Hunter thought happened at recess, not as easy as you might think. When Hunter is on steroids he has a really hard time focusing and staying still long enough to complete a thought. It is something that really has to be witnessed to understand. I believe Hunter saw a red car and the part about the man and the gun, no one saw but the little girl who got them all going. By the time we got everyone to bed last night, I felt like I'd run a marathon. Hunter is home from school today for Good Friday and we can't really go anywhere because Ella and Piper are sick. Well, I take that back, I just collected Piper's stool sample that we need to take to lab to check and see if her Giardia has resolved. That will be our outing for the day unless anyone wants to invite us over...anyone?
I didn't think so!
I didn't think so!
Tuesday, April 03, 2007
The Flu... x 2
Please pray for Piper. She went from her morning crawlfest to afternoon misery, and by 5:00 pm had tested positive for two strains of the flu. After some Motrin, she was back to her happy crawling self before she went to bed tonight. I am just so glad that she is here with us so that when she is sick, we can hold her and take care of her.
She is crawling!
Thank you Papa Roman and Mama Linda!
Get out the baby gates, pick up the legos...Piper Grace is crawling! She is very proud of her mobile little self. She also took a step while I was holding her up by her hands, another first.
On Thursday the Dr. told me very confidently that PG was a week away from crawling. "No way" I thought. I can't believe this is same sack of sweetness that could barely sit up 5 weeks ago.
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