2 years HOME!

This is the little boy we called Elijah two years ago:

It's hard for me to believe he's the same child!


Happy 2 years home Elijah! We love you!!!

Merry Christmas!!!

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

I hope you had a wonderful day celebrating the Savior's birth!

So much heartache around the country this season, yet through Jesus, we can have HOPE and JOY!

Christmas Eve 2012

Pied!!!

I know...shocking...TWO posts in one day!  I copied this from Sarah's blog What It Means to Love. I'm so proud of hers and Rachel's fundraising efforts...but this video...I double-dog dare you to watch it without laughing out loud! :-)

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Remember this post??

Well guess what! Lilly has been over the $500 mark for awhile, but today Owen made it! His AT total now is..

They are both now over $500, so Rachel and I were pied. My little brother Elijah wanted pie on his face too, so he grabbed a handful and smeared it all over. :)

But guess what!! There's more!! Guess who else hit their AT goal today??? LILLY! She MADE HER ANGEL TREE GOAL OF $1000 thanks to a challenge that was set up!!

Do you want to see Michelle, the RR donations coordinator get pied?? Help us get Owen to $1000!! We only need about $500 more! That is soo doable!

THANK YOU SOOO VERY MUCH TO EACH PERSON WHO DONATED TO LILLY AND OWEN FOR ANGEL TREE SOO FAR!! You rock!!!

Go here to visit Angel Tree!

12.12.12, Sarah, Opie Taylor and MORE!

If you have been reading for awhile (well, at least 13 months), you may remember that I like these fun dates. The last two - 10.10.10 and 11.11.11 were significant for us in the adoption world.  On 10.10.10, our amazing church family held a benefit for our family to raise funds for Elijah's adoption.  On 11.11.11, we completed Jonathan's readoption with a court date.  What does 12.12.12 bring us in our adoption world???  Ummm...nothing.  :-/  Maybe we'll talk about adopting again...we'll see. :-)

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It's been quite awhile since I've posted anything on here about the boys, or any of the kids for that matter.  Sorry about that! Unfortunately, today will not be the day for that.  We are having fun with Christmas preparations and I'm trying to not get too stressed out about things. The boys have both had ENT check-ups and Elijah has had his vision checked. No big news there. I'll update more on that soon hopefully.

I'm so, SOOO very proud of Sarah!!!  She is currently in the middle of a 3-week stint helping to provide childcare for a large adopting family.  The family is adopting none other than sweet Maxim that I mentioned a few times here! She flew alone and even navigated O'Hare by herself!  I miss her terribly though. I can't say it's been easy for her, but she is learning a lot and is grateful for the experience.  You can peek in on what she's been doing HERE. It would be great if you would leave her an encouraging comment or two.  Stay tuned for a very, VERY funny video.  I'll let her post it on her blog first, but you will NOT be able to keep a straight face...I promise.

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Wanna see "Opie Taylor" in the flesh (if you are local)???? :-) Well, come to the "Mayberry Miracle" this weekend!  Our dear son, Isaac, has been working hard on playing the role of Opie in our church's Christmas production, based on the Andy Griffith show. Go HERE for more information. The Friday night performance is sold out and a few tickets remain for Saturday at 2pm and 7pm. So don't delay! This play is very well written and produced, and shares the real reason for the season.


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For all you homeschoolers out there! Please check out this AMAZING sale that ends tonight!!! Even if you only use a couple of things from this extensive collection, it will be well worth the $12 bucks.

Sunglasses!

Sarah here...

We have a couple pairs of sunglasses floating around, and the littles, esp the boys, like to put them on and wear them. Good times! ;)

I am noticing that a lot my posts with pictures or videos of the boys happen to be in their chairs. Hmm... Maybe that's because they are restrained somewhat so the pictures aren't blurry, and because we often have the camera or iPad handy (Grandma, it has the ability to take pictures, pretty neat what technology can do, huh? hehe).

Emotion Signs with Elijah

Sarah here...

Tonight we were practicing emotion signs with Elijah at supper. I'd say he has all the dramatics for them pretty much down. ;)
*For those of you viewing this in your email, you need to click "My God is Lord" below this post to be taken to the blog, then you can watch the video from the blog. The video does not come through emails.

And THANK YOU soo much to every who bought books!!! We raised nearly $100 for Lilly and Owen! :)

"Countdown to Christmas"

Create new memories that your family will cherish for years!

Do you long to make this holiday season the best ever? Do you wish to escape from the commercialism that hounds us from every corner? Do you want to slow down this Christmas and enjoy the holiday as they did in the good old days?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, then I would like to offer you a wonderful book that will brighten your family's Christmas. Countdown to Christmas has family friendly stories and activities for every day from December 1st to the 25th. Imagine your family reading a Christmas story each day and then participating in a fun activity together. This will be made simple for you with Countdown to Christmas! The book is broken up into daily sections. Each day has a story and an activity that will take about 30 to 45 minutes. (Scroll down to find out more about the book and how you can order it. But please hurry, orders are due this Friday, November 16th!)

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Our family (among others) was offered the opportunity to sell this special book as a fundraiser.  I have a copy of the book here and we're really looking forward to starting it on December 1st.  We will make $10 on every book we sell...BUT we will be donating that $10 to Lilly and Owen's Reece's Rainbow Angel Tree account. Sarah and Rachel are Owen and Lilly's Angel Tree Warriors. We thought this would be a fun way to help them out.

This is Lilly!

This is Owen!

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More about the Countdown to Christmas book...

You can find out more about the book HERE and view the Contents and a sample chapter. This video below is very helpful too. (Do NOT order the book from her website though.) Many of the stories are from the 1800s, so the language may be a bit different than what you are used to, but I think that adds to the charm. We have used the "Countdown to Easter" book in the past and have enjoyed it as well.

To order, you will need to send me $25 as a personal gift at deut4.9@gmail.com through Paypal (or give me check/cash if you are local). If you need help doing that, please let me know. Also, be SURE to put your mailing address in the comments, so I can pass that on to the publisher. She will then mail your book out in time to begin your "countdown" on December 1st. That's it! Lilly and Owen will each receive $5 in their grant funds for each book sold and you will have a wonderful book to celebrate the Christmas holiday. Remember, I need to have the orders by this Friday, November 16th. Thanks so much for your support!

Eating Elijah's Toes!!

Elijah started doing this today - sticking his toes in tiger's mouth, and acting like it hurt.

I (Sarah) was prompting him to do it again on video, but originally, he did it all by himself.

He cracks me up!

*For those of you viewing this in your email, you need to click "My God is Lord" below this post to be taken to the blog, then you can watch the video from the blog. The video does not come through emails.

Rachel says...

Sarah writing...

Rachel (while looking out the window) - "I found a big blue turtle under the hamper!!"

The garbage can lid under the camper :)

The other day, when Isaac was pretending to beat her up (he didn't actually touch her), she says - "Isaac, did you break me?"

And a couple weeks ago she asked me to butter her toothbrush with toothpaste.

Just now she was looking through a magazine and asked:
"Rebekah, what do you want for Christmas?"
"Dad to grow a beard!"
"What beard? I don't see any in here!"

Love this girl!

Taken Aug 2012... wish it was still warm enough to wear that!

Signing "Signing"

Unless you have a child that loves Signing Time (ST), this makes no sense to you.  But, as you saw yesterday from Sarah's post here, Jonathan is now enthralled with watching Baby ST. This is NEW!  I'm so happy.  No, not because it is a free babysitter. I'm happy because I'm hoping it will help him start signing, and much more importantly, communicating, 

So, today, he walked up to the tv and signed "signing" by rolling his hands around in a circle. YAY! Go Jonathan!  Now, granted, I'm not looking forward to when he asks for ST all.day.long like his big brother, but hey, at least he will be expressing his desires, right? ST was/is a HUGE help for Elijah to communicate with us and I'm hoping it will help Jonathan too. Jonathan is now signing "milk" more regularly now too. :-)

Chunky Monkey: Officially Addicted

Sarah here..

The Chunky Monkey is addicted to Signing Time.

Today he was woken up early from his nap by an unnamed-whistle-blowing-sibling, and was in a cranky mood. I turned on Baby Signing Time, and he sat there quietly for the whole thing (30 min), and half-way through when it started over! Then he came to find me with a smile on his face. Nothing like a little Signing to Time to cheer you up!

I have to say - Rachel Coleman is the boy's favorite baby sitter! And, after the initial fee, she babysits for free on short notice!

Jonathan's New Sign

Mr. Monkey has a new sign! Watch the video to find out what it is!

*For those of you viewing this in your email, you need to click "My God is Lord" below this post to be taken to the blog, then you can watch the video from the blog. The video does not come through emails.

Please pray for this family...

I can't even imagine... :-(

http://www.abcactionnews.com//dpp/news/region_south_hillsborough/riverview/body-of-missing-10-year-old-girl-found-in-pond-near-riverview-school

Happy Birthday R & R!!!

(Has it really been a week since I blogged? Oops! A huge thank you to Sarah for uploading this photos for me, even starting the blog post for me. Without her, you would probably never see pictures of my kids! Thanks Sarah!)

My beautiful two youngest daughters celebrate their birthdays just two days apart. Rachel came home from the hospital on Rebekah's 3rd birthday. She still believes it's the best birthday present she'll ever have. :-)

We invited family and a few friends over on Sunday for cake. Sarah and her BFF, Rachel, made the awesome birthday cake on Saturday afternoon. It was FOUR layers with homemade butter cream frosting. Yum!!!

Rachel is 3 and Rebekah is 6!

We lit half of the cake first and sang to Rebekah, then did the other half for Rachel.
I love Elijah's reaction when we sign "Happy Birthday". As soon as we are done, he claps and  blows as hard as he can, whether he is near any candles or not! :-)

The beautiful 4 layer cake!!! It almost didn't fit on the plates.

 The girls' brothers got in on the fun too of course!

Rebekah was very excited to have her own duct tape so she can make creations just like her big sister, Anna.

$6 for 6 years old from Gma and Gpa

A new bike! She learned to ride w/o training wheels this summer. She's very excited! 

After the guests left, the training wheels came off and the kick stand went on - outside of course.

Rebekah G and Rebekah B

Rachel G and Rachel B

Nana (friend from church) and Rachel

The birthday girls with their grandparents

with Mom and Dad

Hearts

I'm shamelessly copying this from Sarah's post the other day. She's a MUCH better blogger than me! Here is a little bit of info on heart defects found in children with Down syndrome. I had never seen this before, so it was interesting to me.  Please check out the rest of Sarah's post too! SO many children with heart problems need families!!!!!!

Ds Fact - (source) The overall incidence of congenital heart disease in the general population is 0.8 percent. The incidence of congenital heart disease in children with Down syndrome is up to 50 percent.

The types of heart defects in children with Down syndrome can be broken down into three broad categories:

1. Atrioventricular septal defects 
2. Ventricular septal defect (VSD), atrial septal defect, or patent ductus arteriosus
3. Other complex heart disease

Atrioventricular septal defects (AV Canal) is greatly over-represented in these children, making up approximately 60 percent of the congenital heart disease found in Trisomy 21. For comparison, AV canals account for only 2.9 percent of the congenital heart defects in the general population.

Ventricular septal defects, atrial septal defects, and patent ductus arteriosus comprise another 20 percent of the congenital heart disease associated with Down syndrome, although these defects are much more common in the general population compared to AV canals.

Other complex congenital heart diseases including Tetralogy of Fallot andhypoplastic left heart syndrome comprise the rest of the heart disease seen in Trisomy 21.

In addition to the heart defects associated with Down Syndrome, isolated elevated blood pressure in the lungs (pulmonary hypertension) is seen with higher frequency in patients with Down syndrome. This high pressure may be related to malformation of the lung tissue, although the exact cause is not known.

The higher pressures may limit the amount of blood flow to the lungs and therefore decrease the likelihood of symptoms of congestive heart failure seen in babies with complete AV canals or large ventricular septal defects.

However, since the pulmonary hypertension can become irreversible, particularly if these large holes are not surgically corrected by a year of age, children with Down syndrome and AV canals or large ventricular septal defects are often referred for surgery earlier than a non-Down syndrome child with the same heart defect.

If the baby does have evidence of high pressures in the lungs, it may complicate postoperative management and hence prolong the recovery time.

James 1:27 Music Night

(You can click on the flier above to enlarge it.)

If you are local, please mark your calendars for Saturday, October 27th at 6:30pm!  Please join us at our new church facility for the James 1:27 Music Night Adoption Benefit.  Our good friends, Mike and Lisa Ott, are adopting a boy, Jimmy, from Ghana. Jimmy's story is a long and wonderful one that only the Lord could have orchestrated. His story actually intertwines with Jonathan's story, but that is a post for another day. :-)

Mike and Lisa also lead worship at our church on occasion. On Mother's Day (well before the Otts knew they were adopting Jimmy - I knew it, but they didn't LOL), they sang "Always Enough" by Casting Crowns. The words were put to a slideshow. The slideshow moved me deeply...(yes, I was crying - hard). :-) Sarah put the slideshow into a video w/ the song. As always she did a great job. I hope you take time to watch it. You will recognize a few familiar faces (Tabitha - Jonathan's twin and daughter of my heart, Maxim, and Lilly). All of the photos from Africa are from Mike's mission trip to Ghana to help build churches. Jimmy is the boy lying on the ground next to the van, as well as sitting on Mike's lap. To some, it may seem a bit odd to put photos of Ghana and waiting orphans w/ Ds together in a slideshow, but in our church, they go together perfectly!

Please pray for the Otts as they have taken a HUGE leap of faith to adopt Jimmy. (They are currently awaiting USCIS approval.) Thanks!