What today should have been...

Today - September 1, 2011. (Well, it's after midnight now, but I've been distracted w/ a fussy baby - Rachel - and Pat and Isaac returning from the Packer game. Fun!) Anyway, today was Noah's due date. Today should have been spent holding a brand new baby or anxiously awaiting his arrival. That just wasn't meant to be. God had other plans. BIG plans that included bringing home this beautiful baby boy.

Elijah, Jonathan, Rachel

Of course Jonathan will never replace Noah. How could he? But I will admit, the distraction that the paperwork and trip to bring him home provided was a welcome one. I know many would still say it wasn't a wise choice to jump in so soon, but I KNEW the Lord wanted us to bring him home 4 or 5 days before we found out we lost Noah. Noah opened our hearts and minds to a 7th child. How could we say "no"? How do you say "no" to God's call on your life? You can't, at least for not very long. Ask Jonah about that one...

So today was a tough day for me. It was compounded by the fact that a friend of mine was at the hospital going through delivery of 20 week baby. :-( Please pray for her, her husband, and her family and 4 children.

As I was thinking about what to post tonight, I remembered that I never posted photos from the memorial service we had for Noah, or about the blessings we received that week. First, if you are not familiar with it, Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep is an absolutely wonderful organization. Professional photographers volunteer their time to come and take photos of the baby that has already gone to see Jesus. Then the family receives a CD of the photos...all totally FREE of charge. I knew of this organization beforehand, and I was so thrilled when the nurse asked if we wanted someone to come in. This was an amazing blessing for us! I'm glad the hospital staff is "clued" in to this organization now.

There is no footprint too small to leave an imprint on this world.

My wedding ring on Noah's foot...

Secondly, we were also told that day in the hospital that the 2 funeral homes in the city offer their services FREE of charge for miscarried/still born babies. I had no idea that they did this!  I was so happy to hear this too. After having a couple of early miscarriages, I remember being "jealous" of a friend that got to have a funeral for her baby lost at 16 weeks. What a strange thing to be jealous of, huh? But if you've ever lost a baby early, you understand. I feel a service helps make the baby "real" and that his life mattered. Of course a baby matters at ANY age, but having others come together gives some closure too. Hard to explain unless you've been there, done that. We were also overwhelmed and humbled by friends who brought us meals during that time. It took me awhile to recover physically and it was hard to motivate myself to cook, so the meals were a true blessing. We are so grateful for the love shown us during that time.

"Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted." 

Matt. 5:4

So, we did have a memorial service or funeral if you will for Noah. It was very small. Just Pat's mom and the Gibson family - our pastor and his family at the funeral home. It was a very special time and as you'll see from the photos below, it wasn't all serious.

Pastor Dan sharing his message that really touched me. I wish now we would have recorded it. One of the things he shared was from the book "Heaven is For Real", chapter 17. The book is about the time a little boy spent in Heaven and came back to tell about it. It's a GREAT book. But what PD shared was about how he met his little sister in Heaven, his sister that his mom had miscarried. Very touching indeed!

I got 8 white roses in Noah's memory...one from each of us.

A dear friend brought us this cake a couple days before the service. How thoughtful! We served it after the service. The missing part of the heart?  On Elijah's fingers. :-)

Daddy and Elijah

Birthday buds - Ben and Isaac share a birthday in April!

Birthday buds - Jake and Anna share a birthday too! What are the odds, huh? :-) Only God.

Sarah and Ashley - No, they don't share a birthday!

Rachel is not enjoying the lovin'.

Blue frosting...we all had blue lips and tongues! Well, some of us more than others...

Our family of 8 on April 2nd...soon to add Jonathan. 

My sweet Noah...I will always love you and miss you dearly.You will always be in our hearts. I look forward to the time when I can meet you and your other siblings in Heaven someday. In the meantime, have fun playing with Jesus! We love you!

"Cradled in the arms of the Lord, wrapped in His joy & love, I wait until we meet again, together in heaven above."

Videos!!!

Here are the videos from that go with the last post.. They weren't done uploading when I accidentally hit publish. :)






Make sure to turn the playlist off at the bottom of the blog, and if you are getting this in email, you have to click on the link that says My God is Lord at the bottom of the email to get to the blog.

DS Group Outings - Picture post!!!

Sarah here.... We've had lots of fun the past few days with our local DS group! Friday, we had a playdate at the Zoromski's house (where Isaac, Elijah, and I stayed part of the time mom was gone, so Elijah made himself right at home!), and today (Saturday) a picnic at a local park! Since this blog has been a little sparse with pictures lately, I'll spare you all the details, and let you see what you really came here for! :)

The Playdate

"Enough pictures sissy, I'm playing!"

The only picture I got of the three of them looking (for the most part) the same way! Elijah, Lilya Z, and Ruby Z!

I LOVE this picture! :)

The Picnic

They had a kids music singer there, and Elijah, as you can tell from the picture, was enthralled.

Miss Ruby! I don't remember what happened but she came running back to mommy all happy! :)

He had some serious guitar moves down! And yes, still wearing his tambourine necklace! :) He got mad when we tried to take it off, then he threw it because he was mad. Go figure!

They had a big splash pad at the park with fountains squirting up all over for the kids to run through.

Happy kids! Love this picture! A great smile from Elijah and Rachel in the background! :)

Rebekah

On the move... again!

She wasn't expecting the water to squirt up in her face! :)

Little man eating... beautiful blue eyes!

Playing tag with his buddy Braden!

Had to put this in here from the way home! :) Luv this boy!

Videos to come! They are still uploading....

"Pretty soon..."

That was a quote from a precious 5 year old boy, Joshua. Last night, he told his mama that he wasn't going to see Jesus overnight, but it will be "pretty soon".  Breaks my heart! Please pray for this special family.

I've been following his story for several months now. His family adopted 2 girls w/ Ds last fall. Their bio son, Joshua, was born with spina bifida, as well as many other medical issues. Please visit the blog set up in support of them http://helpparkerfamily.blogspot.com/ . You can follow their CaringBridge page by clicking on Joshua's photo with the paint brush.

I can't fathom the depth of their pain right now. Please pray for the Lord to give them peace and comfort. Thanks!

Jonathan's Heart

Jonathan was a trooper in his visit to Dr. F, pediatric cardiologist, on Friday at Children's Hospital. (Same doctor Elijah saw back in Feb.) He had an echo done right away, and did great laying there while the tech took 100+ "photos" of his heart. He just got antsy at the end. Then we met with the nurse and then the doctor.

So, we have GOOD news and news.  Not good news and bad news, just news. :-)


The News:
* J does still have a PFO and a PDA. (I'll explain those down below.)
* His PFO is larger than "normal" and possibly bordering on an ASD. Usually, PFOs close up on their own, but in kids with Ds, there is the potential for it to get bigger. He goes back in 6 months just for Dr F to listen to him and then in a year for another echo to make sure it hasn't grown.


The Good News:
* J does not need "urgent" open heart surgery now or ever!
* J does not need any type of heart surgery right now, and possibly never!
* The defects his heart still has are the "best kind of heart disease" a child w/ Ds could have. (Doctor's words :-))
* The PDA is pretty small and Dr. F could not hear it.
* The PFO is in a "good" place. If it needs to be closed up surgically in a couple of years (age 3), it is a cath procedure, not major surgery. The PFO can cause extra pressure in the lungs. This is of particular importance in a child w/ Ds as their muscle tone is lower, and this causes the tongue to sit back farther in their mouth, esp while they are sleeping (why they snore more and Jonathan definitely does). This also causes extra pressure in the lungs. So, the combination is worth keeping eye on.

Praise GOD!!! Great news overall!!!!!! Thanks for praying! And thank you Lord for answering prayers!

An interesting note: Jonathan was listed on RR as having a PDA and a PFO. I think it is pretty rare that the medical diagnosis a child is listed with is accurate when examined in the US. This is no fault of RR or even the facilitators that list the child. Medical services are just not the same over in Ukraine as they are here. It is just more difficult to get an accurate diagnosis. His profile did say he needed "URGENT" surgery, but after researching PDA/PFO before going over, rarely are these heart issues in need of urgent surgery. When my facilitator talked to the orphanage director in April, the director said J needed surgery, possibly several. When we got there in June, J had been to the cardiologist in May and did not need to come back for 6 months. Confused yet? :-)  Bottom line is he is doing well and is cleared for 6 months!

Ok, if you know what a PDA and PFO are, you can stop reading. If not, I'll try to explain it.

Both the PDA and PFO are natural openings that a baby needs in the womb. They normally close up w/in a few days of birth. http://www.chw.org/display/PPF/DocID/34305/router.asp explains it this way:

Fetal circulationThe normal circulation of a fetus while in the uterus follows a slightly different path than after a baby is born. While in the uterus the placenta acts as the lungs, therefore less blood passes into the actual fetal lungs. There are two structures within a fetal heart that allow this "bypass". One is the patent ductus arteriosus or PDA. The PDA allows mixing between the pulmonary artery and the aorta as it is a passageway between these two major vessels. The other is the patent foramen ovale (PFO). The PFO is a hole between the two atriums. It allows mixing of blood between the two right and left atrium. The PDA and PFO allow a right to left shunt, which directs blood away from the lungs and directs this more oxygenated blood to travel to the body.

The pressure in the lungs of a fetus is higher than that in the body. This increased pressure encourages the right to left shunt also. After a baby is born the pressure in the lungs decreases as the vessels in the lungs begin to relax. The pressure in the body increases after birth. This change in the pressures allows more blood to flow into the lungs. These factors, the changes in pressure, are what cause the PDA and PFO to eventually close. The final closure usually takes several days.

Clear as mud? Here are a few more links with more details but still in layman's terms.

HERE is a link about the PDA with a diagram. (If you decide to research this further, do yourself a favor and be sure to type PDA heart defect in your search engine. :-))

HERE is a link about an ASD (which by the way, that is what Elijah was listed with).

HERE is a link about the PFO.

HERE is a link about the catheter procedure to close the PFO. Fascinating!

Let me know if you have any questions. I put lots of info in this post, as it was posts like this one that I read on other adoption blogs that helped me, so maybe this will help someone too!

Fundraiser Friday - Help Andriy Come Home!!

Sarah here... Repost from my other blog - Matthew 18:14. Used with permission... obviously since it's my blog! :)

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I know I have posted about this family before, but they deserve another post! So again, meet the Burlingham Family!

And the sweet little boy they are trying to bring home -

Andriy! Andriy is visually impaired, completely blind in one eye, almost completely in the other. Please read my other post about them to hear about what special ties I have with Andriy!

But they are having an unbelievably hard time fundraising to bring him home, and they are having and unbelievably AWESOME fundraiser to help bring him home! So when you enter their giveaway, it all adds up and Andriy gets to come home. So come on world, let's rally around this precious family and bring Andriy home!!! Here are the things you have the chance of winning when you donate!

18 items

$5 = 1 chance

$10 = 3 chances

$25 = 10 chances

$50 = 30 chances

The amount to raise on their chip-in is how much they need to be fully funded - $16,400. Can you help lower that number???

They also have some other awesome fundraisers going on like the Leaf Your Mark fundraiser (it's such a cute  idea!! They have 120 thumbprints left!!), a Puzzle fundraiser (it's a beautiful puzzle! They have 446 pieces left!!), a T-shirt fundraiser (I have one, and it's absolutely AWESOME!)! It's all at their blog - Just One more 4 us!?, so go check it out!!!

Ready, Set, Go!!!!! Let's bring Andriy HOME!

Lots of fair projects and two teething one-year olds...

Yep, we're still here! A dear friend at church reminded me today that I haven't posted since Jonathan's birthday. I didn't even know anyone was still reading, so Anita, this one is for you!  :-) (Sorry, it got a little long, so Anita, you'd better read it all!) The title of the post pretty much sums up my last couple of weeks. But the county fair is now over. I'm so proud of Sarah, Anna and Isaac for all of the hard work they put in. They all did a GREAT job!!!

Jonathan continues to do very well. His top two front teeth have almost worked their way through. But, I'll admit, he's not really all that cranky about it. (Just some extra gnawing on things when he can keep them up to his mouth. The shoulder straps in his high chair are a favorite.) Rachel on the other hand....well, all four of her eye teeth are coming in at the same time. She seems to be pretty much done now (3 out of the 4 are through), but it left us with more than one sleepless night, right before the fair started of course. :-)

Jonathan visited our most wonderful pediatrician the day after his birthday. She couldn't find a single health issue!  Praise God!!! (We got a little ointment for a spot on his nose that she thought might be impetigo and also ointment for his eye infections, but his eyes have stayed clear!) All of his blood work came back great. All of his stool samples came back negative! (I'm really a pro at collecting those now...had to do it 3 times with Elijah while dealing with morning sickness...this time was easy! :-) And I bet you are all thrilled I shared that, right?)  Elijah was positive for h.pylori so I'm very glad to not have to deal with that again. The doc listened to his heart and didn't hear anything, so that was encouraging too. He will see the pediatric cardiologist on Friday. I'm believing for great news at that appointment too.

Oh, also on the medical front, J weighed in at 20# 12 oz and measured 30 1/4"!!! This put him at 20% for weight and 65% for height - on the "typical" child charts!!!  His OFF the top of the chart for height on the Ds chart and above 75% for weight! YAY!!!!!  He's a big boy! I've never had a child near the top of any chart. :-)  I know, I know...it's not a competition or anything, but considering he weighs only about 3 pounds less than Elijah did when we brought him home (and they are almost 3 years apart) and that Rachel is barely on the bottom of the chart for weight, it makes this mama's heart glad we don't have to think about how to "fatten him up". :-) I do think he has gotten a little longer though since we got home, just from the way his clothes are fitting. He'll go in for a follow-up appt in a couple weeks.

His siblings continue to adore him and the older girls are still fighting discussing who gets to hold him next. Rachel and Elijah continue to give him and share their toys. For the most part, the younger ones have stopped acting out, and are back to "normal" in that area. I know it is an adjustment for everyone. Elijah didn't nap for the first 3 days Jonathan was home, but is doing fine now. Stuff like that. This has been the easiest transition BY FAR I've had in adding a child to our family. He's not moving and getting into things, but yet doesn't require the lengthy feeding times that a nursing newborn does. He's not beating Rachel over the head either, so that helps too. :-) Mealtimes are still a bit tricky w/ getting Jonathan fed, but we're getting through it. Rachel and Elijah are fairly independent eaters now, but continue require "supervision" so the food goes where it is supposed to go - in their stomachs! LOL

Personally, I'm a bit overwhelmed with everything, but I was reminded more than once today that I need to continue to look UP to my God and my Lord. Jesus has not and will not leave me...it is I who have allowed our relationship to become "distant". God is WAAAY bigger than my perceived "issues".  As Pastor Dan said today, we need to  "Keep the Right Focus". Amen and amen!!! (This post gave me some much needed perspective too!!!)

Ok, onto some picture fun!

This is Elijah picking up candy during our town's annual parade. :-) He got the hang of it very quickly!

Isaac, Rebekah and Anna were in the parade too. Thanks Ben for asking them! They had a blast!

Isaac getting his cool duct tape bag judged at the fair. He also brought a crocheted scarf, a seed collection, beautiful photos of flowers around our yard, and "letter" photos of his initials. He did a great job!

Anna is getting her crocheted dishcloth judged. It was her first crocheting project and I'm so proud of her for finishing it!  She also brought in a cloth bag she sewed, a picture she colored, a sewn pillowcase, 2 exhibits of photography, banana bread, and chocolate chip cookies. She received blue ribbons on everything except the slightly under cooked cookies on which she received a red ribbon.

Sarah did an awesome job on all of her exhibits too! She received "Best of Show" in Advanced crocheting on these three dishcloths. Congrats, Sarah!!! So very proud of her. She had numerous other crocheting exhibits too.

Sarah received a "State Fair" selection on this blouse and skirt she sewed!  She had an apron and pillow case she entered as well. She had hopes of both sewing and crocheting more items, but time got away from her. Our summer was far from "normal", so that didn't help either. She also had numerous entries in photography, foods, knitting, and youth leadership. 

Our newest American citizen at his very first parade sporting his "Team USA" shirt. :-)

Yep, total cuteness!

Sarah used her little brother as a subject for some of her photography entries. He didn't mind the grass this time, nor did he mind the cat.  The next day though, he wanted nothing to do with the grass. :-)

He loves any orange baby food (carrot and sweet potato) w/ or w/o meat. Not so fond of anything green. We are still working on adding textures to his diet. I can see glimpses of his emerging stubborn side when I encourage him to try new foods/textures....ah yes...we will get there. :-)

Happy First Birthday, Jonathan!!!

The Lord has blessed us in AMAZING ways so Jonathan was HOME for his first birthday!  He turned ONE last week.  So awesome!  It is pretty rare an orphaned child in Ukraine is in their forever home before they turn one. We count this as an incredible miracle. Thinking back over the past 3 1/2 months, it blows my mind how the Lord worked to get him home so quickly. Our court hearing naming us as Jonathan's legal parents was exactly one day shy of 3 months from the day we found out that we lost Noah. 3 months...when the Lord wants to move, HE MOVES!

Let's review how HE did this - not how we did it. God gets all the glory for this! (I know you want to see birthday photos, just scroll down and come back - this is important! :-))

The timing of Elijah's post-placement report on the day we found out about Noah, working with our new facilitator that was willing to keep up with the speed at which we wanted to go, awesome support from our homestudy agency for a speedy quick homestudy update, favor in obtaining dossier documents, Luke fetching our apostilled documents from the Sec of State office in Madison, Max hand carrying our dossier over, a travel date issued from the SDA a shocking week "early", being able to visit Jonathan for the first time on a Saturday, the city social worker coming back to the office 2 days early, court on a Saturday instead of waiting out the holiday until the following Wednesday, red one-day passport and everything else that needed to happen on Gotcha Day (oh ya, I still need to post about that, don't I??? LOL), and smooth sailing at the embassy.  Whew! TO GOD BE THE GLORY!!! We were home with 5 days to spare before his birthday. :-)

Ok, on to the photos! The lucky boy got 2 little birthday parties. One on his birthday, and the second one after church with the Gibsons (other family and friends couldn't make it).

On his birthday:

His shirt says "I'm the Birthday Boy" :-)
Yes, Elijah and Rachel still adore him. Praise God for that!

 

He loves his oatmeal baby cereal! He improves with his eating each and every day. I'm finding out  his "ability to move the food to the back of his mouth and swallow is directly dependent on if he likes the taste of it or not...hmmmm....

Elijah sat well on my lap while I fed him. But look where Little Miss Monkey is....

Yes, this is the same bowl I'm feeding Jonathan out of!

Guess she still likes the baby cereal!!!  Lil' turkey!

"Happy Birthday to me!"

"Yep, I'm total cuteness!"

And yes, Rebekah has as much personality as it looks like here. :-)

Oh, remember this cute guy? :-)
He now says "CHEEZZZE" when we say smile!

Elijah wasn't diggin' the cake and ice cream though. I ate it for him. LOL

Jonathan is simply adored by all of his siblings.

Second birthday party!

Ben practicing to be an uncle! :-)

Jake practicing to be a DAD! He'll be an awesome one!

Elijah enjoyed the very delicious cherry cheesecake from Jake and Ashley's benefit much more than the other cake. Don't blame him! It was wonderful!

Jonathan checking out his very first birthday present from Auntie Debbie and Pastor Dan. Thank you so much!!!

But there is something else VERY significant about this last photo. Can you tell what it is? Go ahead and look, I'll wait. :-) Don't see it? Really, it's what you don't see that is significant. Nothing is holding him up while he is sitting there!!! Anna was very close to catch him in case he toppled, and he did eventually. But this is HUGE!  Just one month ago, he still had head control problems and was not anywhere close to being able to sit even with minimal support. Truly amazing what love, stimulation and not laying on a hard wooden playpen day in and day out can do for a little guy. Hmmm...imagine that....

And just to leave you with a little Elijah fun! Auntie Debbie had put of those (I can't remember what they are called) things that you blow into to make the paper unroll on top of Jonathan's present. We gave it to Elijah to try. At first he sucked it like a straw, but after we showed him to blow out, he was doing well with it!  WAy too cute!!! Well, pretty quick the end got pretty mushy, as it didn't have a plastic tip on it. Here he is trying to blow it with a mushy end. :-)

Daddy trimmed the end off for him. Success!!!!