WHY NOT??

To answer a few questions... of WHY ISN'T ___________ providing this?

The answer, tho I hate it, is there all around. Medicaid is the easiest answer. We don't qualify. There is a medicaid waiver. I applied for that as well for the kids since I wasn't sure if we would qualify for medicaid or not. We didn't, but I don't know whether my application for the waiver is still on the books. It won't help us NOW though because I understand there is a 3 year waiting list to get on this.

School system... ah the lovely school system... Here is our progress with them.
December 07 called and let them know we were adopting a school-age child.
March of 08 called to tell them she's HERE
Supposed to be evaluated in May, they bumped it to June, her surgery canceled it again, finally had it in July.
IEP scheduled for September, had the IEP, PT and ST and OT were supposed to be evaluated. We are told the PT and OT have an 8 week waiting list. They NOW put her on it. We are told her ST eval was done in July and she doesn't qualify for speech services. Her "cognitive score" and her "speech score" didn't have enough deviation to qualify. In other words, since they said she's at a 9 month level cognitively, then it doesn't matter that she doesn't talk, sign, or use any other forms of communication because neither would a 9 month old. First off, I don't buy the 9 month thing... second, why won't you TEACH her to???
Ok, So November rolls around and I call and say "It's been 8 weeks, what's the deal with PT and OT?" I'm told they'll get back to me. A few days later I get a return call. "They thought she was returning to school in March and they were supposed to do the eval in March." "Um, no, she's not going to school at all this year-not until NEXT August, and it's now been the 8 weeks that I was told we had to wait." "I'm sorry, we'll put her back on the list." "So you're saying it will be another 8 weeks of waiting? You realize that's 4 MONTHS that she's not getting any services?" "Yes, we'll do what we can." "Well, IF she'd been put on the list 2 months ago already, when would her eval be? Make it happen..." "I have no paperwork to document that we said she'd be evaluated before March and they wrote it down as March in the meeting." "Ah, but I was there, and we said immediately, and that it would take 8 weeks." "Right." "So she needs to be evaluated ASAP." "Right." CLICK

Fast forward, I ask her PT and ST to send them their most recent evals of Emma. Still no word, that was about a month ago. Our staffing person is out for 8 weeks due to surgery and returns at the end of January. I'll be talking with her!!

On that note, though, they have NO intensive therapy equipment at the school, and the teachers aren't used to working with kids that have so much untapped potential at this age. Most kids come to them in "maintenance mode" and they continue to work with them. The school system therapists are not used to getting a child at an 'explosion phase' as I like to call it where they're doing something new every week... So I'm not sure that the school would best serve Emma anyway. Even if they get ST going for her they won't work on eating, and to my understanding they'll work on strengthening but not on WALKING either... which seems pointless!

I looked up the link that was suggested I try and tho I'm interested in the idea, there's no locations near me, I live in Central Florida.

Thank you all for your ideas and advice! I did call CMS and hope to hear back from them after the new year to find out whether we were approved to receive total therapies funded by them with our current providers (since all their providers are at least 45 minutes away!). It's a wild ride, but God is good in the end. ALWAYS.

So... anyone have funding options?

Here's where we're at...

Emma's PT for her to go 2x/week all year is a total of $32,340 MORE than our insurance covers. (they cover 20 sessions).

Emma's ST for her to go 1x/week all year is a total of $12,320 MORE than our new insurance covers. (again, 20 sessions).

ST I can see cutting back to every other week (tho I don't look forward to it because I do see her benefiting from the weekly ST).

PT I can't see cutting back on simply because she's made such HUGE gains in it and if possible we'd up it to 3x/week! I'd also love to get her into the intensive therapy, but again, $$ holds us back.

Our local ELKS isn't so local... I understand we'd have to drive an hour for therapies which isn't such an option right now, especially several times/week. Plus, they're "full" right now for PT anyway...

Medicaid/SSI isn't an option...

Anyone have suggestions that I might not have tried yet?? Grants? Anything?

Q&A #1

I'll answer more Q's as they come in, but here are the first 5...

markay714 said... So THIS is what you do when you don't have anything to blog about on a given day. Have your children already forgotten about their Christmas presents like mine have? Happy New Year!!!
LOL! I know I've slacked on comments so wanted to present the opportunity :) But yes, it's a good way to blog if you do run out of things to say!
My kids are enjoying their gifts still... but that may be because I put a LOT of their other toys away for a while :)

Lucie said...Are you planning on adding anymore children to your family? Are 4 cuties enough?
Hmm... that's a loaded question, isn't it??? Right now we know that our family isn't complete but we don't have plans to add any more today :) Tomorrow... might be a different story, who knows!

Jenn said... My questions are adoption related - my husband and I have been discussing it for about a year now as we battle infertility. In your adoption quest, did you look into domestic adoption at all? Whether for domestic or international adoption, any tips on where to start (specific groups/agencies, a really helpful website, books, etc). What sort of requirements did you have to meet?
Hi Jenn, we did consider domestic adoption and the 'kicker' for us was that there is a long waiting list in the US for children w/ Ds. Yes, there are a few in foster care but children w/ Ds don't come available very often. In addition, as soon as we heard the plight of the chilren orphaned abroad with special needs (institutionalized between 4 and 5 and a lifespan of less than 10 years), we knew that was where God was calling our hearts. In the future... domestic has always been an option, just depends on God's leading...

As far as where to start, if you're thinking special needs, then of course I recommend Reece's Rainbow! This ministry is for INTERNATIONAL adoption of orphans with a wide array of special needs (though Ds is their 'main' focus). For domestic adoption, look in to your local department of children and families, or go to a website like www.adoptuskids.org which has a photolisting of available kids in most states.

"The Connected Child" is a great book for bonding with adopted kids, and "How to Talk so Kids will Listen and Listen so Kids will Talk" is also highly recommended! There are so many books out there about adoption but bonding is a VERY important part of the process and a good place to start reading.

For both domestic and international adoption you have to pass a homestudy which is basically making sure you can physically, mentally, and financially support yourselves and an additional family member. For International adoption you also must meet income requirements set by the USCIS based on your family size WITH the additional child/ren that you plan to adopt. (This is the reason we won't be able to do another international adoption any time soon, we no longer meet the income requirements since Im not working). Clean criminal history is a must as well. Different countries have other stipulations but they're all different depending on the country- some will adopt only to married couples, some with an age cap, some with an 'age difference' cap between parent and child. Again, if looking for a child with special needs, some of these things can be bypassed.

Please e-mail me if I can answer other questions for you or even if you just want to chat about it! mkp1982@hotmail.com


Rachel said... How have Emma and Micah done with attachment? Have either one struggled or did they do pretty well? Do you think they are fully attached?

I don't know that I'd say they're "fully attached" since we've still been home less than a year and things could still arise, but neither has had many struggles with bonding. We've been very careful from the very beginning to facilitate bonding with the kids and especially with Emma since she is older. We have definitely had moments of "uh oh" and "aha!" with Emma but she knows who her Mom and Dad are and is doing well bonding :)


JennyH said... I can't scroll down her picture on the left side of your blog. I couldn't on the other lay out either. But I see your kids cute pictures then I think I see "welcoming in 2009" Is there going to be more cornish's?
LOL! Um... that's all it says!! "Welcoming IN 2009"... you know... the YEAR :) No plans to welcome new Cornishes in 2009. Those photos are part of the background and it doesn't scroll... maybe one of the new ones I make will be scrolling... we'll see!

Colds and ear infections

Micah seems to ALWAYS be congested (I thought this is because he was aspirating but he continues to be and I HOPE he's not aspirating the thicker stuff he's getting now...). He doesn't have any fevers with it. Just an occasional cough on again off again runny nose. He's also getting a few molars right now so that could have something to do with it as well...

Brianna, on the other hand, doesn't generally have any congestion but on the day before Christmas eve she started with a little cold. She had a low grade fever but with Tylenol she was fine. Fast forward to the day after Christmas and she had a slight fever again. Then the night before last she was awake every hour all night long crying and thrashing. She went potty, we thought that might have been the problem but it continued.

That night I slept in her bed just to calm her each time she woke up. Around 7:30 I went to Mike and he got up with Micah and I went back to bed. I slept until 9, she slept until after 10! She sat with Mike a minute and he found the culprit... thank God for ear tubes! Her ear had just a little yellowish discharge coming out so a little more Tylenol and some ciprodex and we'll see whether we were able to avoid yet ANOTHER trip to the doctor's office with her at the very end of this year...

At nap time Brianna didn't want to nap, cried... so we put her out with K to watch Beauty and the Beast. Around 3:30 she climbed up on Mike's lap in the glider and then transferred over to me in a rocking chair and in 10 minutes she was OUT COLD. I put her in bed and she slept until 5:30.

Last night she went to bed fine (no meds since morning) and slept all night. In fact, K got up when Mike was taking a shower and played on the porch for a bit and the other three were QUIET (except an occasional cough) until.... 8:30! WOW!

Now of course they're all up and going and ready to get going :) Brianna seems much more like herself this morning so here's hoping she's starting to feel a bit better!

Go ahead and ask!

I've been pretty bad about getting blog comments and answering them lately... so here's your chance... ask me (just about) anything :) I'll post a blog with the answers to your questions in the next week sometime.

Help another little one (like Emma) home?

There's another little girl with a family going back to get her soon that has a significant heart defect with pulmonary hypertension.  This family is one of EXTREME FAITH and is walking this road to bring her home even knowing that these things are there.  Another family met her a year ago and she was too ill to even travel.  Now, she's doing even BETTER and we are hoping and praying that God has another MIRACLE in store in healing this little one's heart and lungs and giving her a long and happy life as a DAUGHTER, part of a FAMILY, living, learning, and growing as a testimony of HIS grace.

This family had a snag in their adoption which has required them to use up their adoption money allotted during their first trip out there and now they're headed back to Ukraine in January to bring home "Mattea Olena" and they need to raise more funds.  Someone graciously donated their ticket!  But there is more that is required on this trip.

Please consider helping this family bring home their newest daughter.  Check out THEIR BLOG and donate to their Paypal.  They're doing a give-away with the donations, but seriously, it's not about that.  It's about getting a little girl that deserves a chance at life -home to the family that sets that sparkle in her eye to glow...

Emma had a similar defect and could be the SAME one (won't know until they get Mattea to a US doctor) and I can't say enough how much of a change there has been after that surgery for Emma.  Will you help them home?

He's back!

Tonight we went to church and since it's the week between holidays the church doesn't have children's programs this week or any Sunday School.  The nursery is still open for kids birth- 5 years, though, which includes all of my kids and we left both the boys and took the girls with us (Emma always comes with us right now and Brianna has a cough so we didn't leave her).  Due to lower projected attendance this weekend they had just one room open in the nursery with all of the kids.  So K and M stayed in the same room.  We made sure to tell K that he was to be a helper to the teachers (somewhat so he'd help... somewhat so he wouldn't mind staying in the room used for 1 yr olds!).  We knew there was no way for us to really enjoy the church service with ALL of the kids with us.  (We tried that on Christmas eve-- with 2 extra sets of hands-- still don't recommend it!)

So during church the girls were good.  I'd brought a few board books, an 'invisible ink' coloring book and pen (similar to color wonder) and Brianna's "lovey" (blanket w/ a bear head that she loves).   Emma is used to hanging out and does pretty good most of the time.  Toys are generally projectiles for her if they don't make noise... which would be pretty bad in church :)  Brianna surprised me by pointing to a boy on a slide in one of the books and saying "whee!" repeatedly :)  Awesome, except maybe not at church :)

After church we got into the car at 8:45 (they've been going to bed between 7 and 7:30 here lately...) and on the way home Kristopher starts telling us, unprompted, about his time in the nursery.  He said that he didn't do anything except play with Micah the whole time.  Micah threw the ball and he'd go get it and bring it back to him.  Micah had one diaper change, wasn't fussy any, and only once did another kid take the ball they were playing with.  When he did, K told the teacher and she got it back for the boys.

Sounds simple, but it was so refreshing to hear him talk sweetly about his brother and to know that they spent a little over an hour just playing together :).  Kristopher was commenting about how Micah must love him when he is putting his hands on K's face (in the car) and I mentioned that Micah loves it so much that he has a big brother and a friend to play with.  We've also given K the "big boy title" here lately that he's Micah's protector at night time (because we were having issues otherwise) and K commented that he's going to always protect Micah too.

Then Kristopher started in on another whole topic which surprised Mike and I pretty well.  He said he wants us to go buy 2 more brothers and 2 more sisters (um... we talked to him about his terminology and he now has at least heard that you don't buy people, you adopt them, but yes, it does take $$!).  He wants his new brothers to share in his room and maybe if it's girls they could share his room too (which we then explained how there's a girl's room for the girls anyway...).  We don't have any adoption plans right now, but we have talked with K on and off casually about an additional sibling "some day" and he's always been pretty sure that "2 and 2 is enough" (and I think some others would definitely agree!).

It was interesting to hear his chatter about more kids though, especially since we didn't mention it this time.

When we got home he was his sweet self, got his pj's on, brushed his teeth, read in his room, had a bedtime story read to him, prayed with his Daddy, had a few more minutes to read, then when the timer went off he willingly had his light out and only came out once to tell us he was thirsty.  Then he went to sleep. 

I know it was late, he was tired, routine was WAY off, and yet... that was my boy.  The one that left me in late August and has only resurfaced for short glimpses before he does something impulsive or ignores instructions or breaks something or whatever else he might have up his sleeve.  THAT was KRISTOPHER.  HOW CAN I KEEP HIM???  I love this little guy so much and it breaks my heart to see him struggle so much with impulse control and listening.  Tonight, though... whatever it was... he was ON.  RIGHT ON.  Hmm... maybe we should have him eat Peanut Butter and Fluff every night for dinner (yes, I let him have it!).  He was pretty good earlier in the day when we shopped at Waterford Towne Plaza earlier too.  And for that matter... this entire day's been pretty good.  He woke up around 7 and played NICELY until about 8:30 when M, B, and E got up. Yes, he came in and talked to me every 10 minutes or so and no, I didn't really sleep after he was awake, but he did a great job finding something quiet to play with in a room away from the sleeping kids (right outside my bedroom, but I much prefer that!), and even delivered the toy that kept talking to our bathroom counter when asked to do so.

Yeah... it's been a really nice day all around.  Which brings me to... he's been MUCH better this entire break than what we were dealing with during school.  Definitely a marked improvement.  He's had tons of time with Mike and I, he's had opportunities to do neat things like the hotel in Orlando and all the Christmas festivities.  He has done very well in everything but we've still had our moments almost every day when we **sigh** and say "he's FOUR."  Except today.

Now, can this next week ALL be like that?  Can this be the 'new normal'??  He said/did several things today that made me know he's listening and trying but tonight just took the cake.  He's here.  He gets it.  He's still my same Kristopher.  I can't wait for tomorrow so we can have another great day.

Please don't stop praying, we know God is working on all of us each and every day and I know that I need it just as much if not more than Kristopher does!  Praying tomorrow is another nice day!

So much to say...

And yet no words to express it.  Seriously, I thought I was going to type up a post about our holidays and accompany it with photos as I have with other events in the past, but I just don't have it all together.  So many different thoughts swirling in my mind.  This was the first Christmas with Micah and Emma home.  It's also bitter sweet as I hung the stockings for "Aleksa and Dylan" (our names for them) who last year we thought would be joining our family... and now both are in mental institutions in Ukraine with no family still :(  My heart just breaks for them and there have been so many reminders through things we did last year this time to prepare for our trip to get them.

A year ago today we got our travel date!  What a blessing it was to know we would be going to Ukraine for an appointment with the State Department of Adoptions!  And yet today I don't really even feel like it was the same trip- that excitement was all part of getting Sasha and Misha (their real names) and all of that excitement was cried out in that lonely hotel room in Korosten in late January.  We allowed the excitement to build again during the week of a "breather" in Kiev while waiting for our second SDA appointment, but the anticipation of leaving... the exciting trip there, the joy of our first SDA appointment, my birthday- spent with friends at a pizza joint in Kiev... all of that just feels like part of the "failed" part of our trip.  It's not an exciting thing to celebrate the anniversary for.

So though I've had a WONDERFUL Christmas, a GREAT time with family for the past 3 days, and I am SO BLESSED to have the family that God has given me... it's so hard to come to this blog and write out all those wonderful things while also remembering that this is the same place that I was writing the anticipation of our near travel just a year ago.  Bittersweet.

It's also such a wonder that the Internet connects us so very well with all different people and reading on different blogs or message boards about families who had NO Christmas celebration due to the loss of jobs or other similar circumstances just breaks my heart.  Doing the little bit that we can is just that... a little bit. And so many families are hurting right now.

Now you know why my heart is heavy... but the joy is still there in every moment of this past 3 days!  Here's a little about our Christmas celebrations:

Christmas Eve we spent with Mike's parents and their friends at our home.  We had a great dinner then a rushed through gift exchange along with quick-changes of clothes for the kids in order to head out to church.  Then back to the house, put the kids down for the night, a nice slice of pie and a glass of wine with Mike's mom and we went to sleep to await Santa's arrival.  The kids each liked their gifts from Grandma and Grandpa as did Mike and I and we especially loved that they were very practical gifts with one toy for each of the kids and other things like a huge box of diapers and popcorn.  They gave Kristopher Mickey Mouse's Clubhouse which he absolutely LOVES, Brianna also got a piece from that set that is a band, Emma got a Nintendog that moves its head and wags its tail, and Micah got a little guitar with Elmo on one side and Cookie on the other that plays music.  They each really like their gifts :)

After exchanging gifts with grandparents, we gave each of the kids their Christmas eve 'gift' which is always a new pair of pajamas to wear that night.  We have sometimes done Christmas outfits but this year we decided there was no need for fancy clothes- they each had something they could wear and that was just fine with us.

On Christmas morning after the kids had 'warmed up' to opening gifts from the night before we had them each open their stocking in the family room (Santa doesn't wrap things in the stocking) before going in to the other room to unwrap their other gifts.  Santa usually leaves pretty practical things in our stockings too- like new toothbrushes, toothpaste, and this year each of the kids got a toy cell phone with a different character on it.  They all love those :).

Then on to see the Christmas tree and they each opened their one gift from Santa.  Kristopher got "a knight in shining armor" which would be HIM... but he got the costume with a breastplate, shield, and a sword that lights and makes noises.  He's yet to take anyone's head off with it and we're about 36 hours out so we're doing pretty good...  Brianna got a toy with 12 'wheels' which each have 4 pieces of a story on them.  You change them and press the button at the end and it will read them to you.  Kind of hard to describe, but Emma loves it! :)  Emma was brought a new tub toy which pumps water up to the top then helps two little characters slide down a slide.  She loves bath time.  Brianna loves the toy :)  And Micah was brought a new swing for outside (or our indoor hooks) which he already loves and will also be shared quite a bit between the three little ones. 

This year everything could have been labeled "Kristopher" or "E, M and B" because they pretty much all traded toys as soon as they were unwrapped!

Mike and I began when Kristopher celebrated his first Christmas with a "3 from us" rule.  The reasoning behind it is that Jesus got 3 gifts from the Magi, how many more do our children need to celebrate his birth?  I couldn't even tell you who ended up with each gift, but they all like the gifts that everyone received and we've had a lot of time to work on Kristopher sharing and not taking things from the other kids this past 2 days.  A perfect time for those lessons to be learned- when EVERYONE has new toys that are interesting to EVERYONE else... 

Even with just 3 gifts from 'us' and one from Santa, it was still a 'big' Christmas between the 4 kids.  Most were small items like a "jiggler" (vibrating animal on a stick- used for oral motor therapy), a bumble ball, a book called "I can, can you?" which features children with Ds in each of the illustrations, and a few other little things.  Kristopher got a soccer goal for playing outside, and some Mickey figures.

After opening gifts here and getting dressed, we all headed over to my parents' house to meet up  with 2 of my brothers and my sister and SIL.  Our other brother and sister didn't make it this year.  We exchanged gifts there then had a big lunch with everyone.  My mom loves shopping for clothes for the kids and gave them each several really cute outfits that will fit them soon (a few for now too).  Each of the kids also got one 'big' gift from my parents.  Kristopher was given Leapster 2, Brianna got a Magic Touch which is a touch screen for the computer (she can do some of the games but can't work a mouse yet, this is AWESOME for kids with delayed fine motor skills!), Emma got a swing (yay, our outdoor swings both need to be replaced and now we can replace the two we have that are falling apart!), and Micah got a neat ride-on toy that has an adult height push handle and a 'cage' that makes it so he won't tip over off of it.

My sister (Elizabeth) made some really cute board books for Brianna.  They are blank but are sold with stickers to print and make your own pages.  She and I took photos earlier this week and she had the Family and the 'We eat' books finished.  Brianna LOVES the Family one!  She flips through it and names everyone off.  It's very cute :)  Of course she had something for each of the other kids too including a Leapster game for Kristopher, a magna doodle for Emma, and a book that sings nursery rhymes for Micah.

David and Erin (bro and SIL) gave the kids 3 containers of play food for their little kitchen!  They will enjoy those, especially K and Bria right now but E and M will get the benefits of throwing the food that K and B put together and deliver to them :)

After coming home on Christmas day we put all the kids down for a late nap and woke them a half hour after we'd wanted to be at Mike's parents house.  We just couldn't wake them earlier on Christmas especially since Brianna has a bit of a cold and needed to sleep.  We headed over there a bit late (but they weren't waiting on us for anything) and visited with all of Mike's extended family including his two aunts and their families and the kids' Great Grandma.  We stayed there until past bedtime then came home to eat dinner and go to bed. 

Today we spent a majority of the day in PJ's playing with toys and hanging out as a family, then baths and off to naps for three of them.  Kristopher watched a movie and played with his toys for a bit then he and Mike went for a walk out at the Enchanted Forest.  They walked 1.8 miles then came home for a change of clothes.  We were invited over to my parents' house for dinner with them and Elizabeth so we went over there at 4:59 (we were late getting there yesterday morning too and we said we'd be there at 5 tonight!).  We had a nice time visiting, eating, and just hanging out.  Mike brought Christmas photos to share on his computer.  Before we knew it we were getting the kids into their pajamas and packed into the car to get home and head to bed again.

It's been a full 3 days with a lot of visiting and a lot of family.  I love this time of year when we get to see everyone and spend time together.  It was nice that most offices were closed today and Mike was able to be home even though he doesn't have any more vacation time to use since he took that 4 week trip to Ukraine earlier this year... He works Monday and Tuesday and then 1/2 day on Wednesday next week but gets next Friday off as an 'extra' holiday next week as well.  What a blessing.

I hope you've had a wonderful and blessed Christmas filled with family, friends, and a reflection on the birth of that tiny baby who came to the earth so humbly...

New backgrounds :)

I'm playing with my blog backgrounds over the next few weeks :) I had a Christmas one up for about.. um.. 3 days :) And now it's on to a New Year's one. A few more surprises over the next few months as well (already have them made, so I hope I can remember to change them over!). It's so much easier to change these now that I can FTP in to our home server and host my own images :) :) SOOOOO nice!

If you read on a feed hop over to see the new backdrop before it changes! :)

Christmas 2008

Here's a little slideshow as my first attempt of something from SmileBox.  Let me know if you like it!  It was pretty easy to put together and I think the layouts are cute :)

 

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One more sweetheart has come home!

I'm so excited! Not that I'm not happy for EVERY child that comes home, but this is one of the sweethearts that I had the pleasure of meeting and advocating for. I'm so glad "Mary Darina" is now home safely with her family! They got home on Christmas day, what a wonderful Christmas gift!






One more button down!

What it's all about

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

So many successes

This picture looks very unassuming, a baby's hand on a tray.  But this represents, to us, so many successes.  First, the pink color of the skin and the pink nail beds.  Now you know whose hand it is :)  Second, the chunk on that little wrist and fingers!  Third, the pincer grasp she's about to use to pick something up.  And last, the piece of corn on the tray that those little fingers are about to pick up and not only successfully deliver to her mouth, but the fact that Emma is eating a complete menu of table food- not through a bottle, pureed, or even mashed, but in their WHOLE form... chewing and all.

I ran across this photo from Christmas eve when going through pictures tonight.  I couldn't help but share :)  I realize I just bragged on this little sweetheart last week with her montage, but wow, I love this photo :)

The Modern Day Mary

Can you even imagine...?

It wasn't a "normal" thing for angels to appear and talk with people when Mary was told by the angel that she would give birth to a son. She was just a young girl and had hopes of marrying Joseph. In that time it would make her probably 14 or 15 years old. Today's "Mary" marrying young might be an 18 year old young lady. To have an angel appear I can't even imagine that in and of itself. The descriptions of the heavenly beings in the Bible don't portray cute cherubim with their diapers and wings. No, they're generally huge and in my own mind quite intimidating. Maybe God chose to use something more calm to tell Mary of her impregnated state... or maybe not. After all, the first words out of his mouth were "Do not be afraid."

She probably was quite hesitant to tell anyone of her encounter aside from her close friends and, of course, Joseph. How scary to approach your fiance and say "I'm pregnant by God, the angels told me so..." I can't blame him for wanting to kindly leave her at first. After all, who would believe that story? But God spoke to him as well and assured Joseph that he was doing the right thing in marrying Mary and that indeed this child of hers had been planted by God himself.

Then the census... for a young man of maybe 20 to take his new bride that is now almost 9 months along in her pregnancy and huge and uncomfortable on a trip to his father's city of birth had to have been quite a trek. Not to mention poor Mary herself riding along on a donkey and having labor pains! I didn't even want to take the bumpy roads in the car to get to the hospital when I was in labor with Kristopher and I simply cannot imagine being on a donkey and having contractions. Maybe they stopped a lot? Is that why they arrived so late and didn't get there early enough for a room in the Inn? They do say that horseback riding brings on labor... :)

So then to hear that after a long ride on the back of a donkey and in the midst of labor that there's nowhere to go with a soft(ish) bed to lay down on and instead to be brought out to where the animals are kept... In those times they often didn't even have freestanding buildings to house the animals and instead used carved out hills like caves for them. I'm sure the stables had been cleaned fairly recently because of the expectation of so many guests for the census, but even still the smell would have been horrible and the surroundings of the travelers' horses and donkeys and maybe some milk cows and a dog or two... Not exactly a place for a laboring woman to lie down and rest.

Not only that, but this was Mary's first child. A young mother birthing her first child with her new husband in a cave. Were Joseph's family members nearby? Did the inn keeper's wife and daughter help deliver Jesus? Were there other guests aware of her situation? Did no one offer her a clean bed and a place to stay in their stead? But Jesus came in to the world and immediately was looked upon as the illegitamite son of a girl who lies to cover up her sins (by saying he was in fact the Son of God)... that is, if she told anyone...

But the scriptures were fulfilled, the angels proclaimed the birth of the Christ child to the shepherds in the fields and they came to bow down to him. Herod ordered the kings to find this baby and to tell him where this child could be found so that he could "worship" him... but they later were told that Herod planned to kill the child and took another way home. By the time the kings found Jesus he was back in his hometown and probably close to 2 years old. That's one of those things that we don't really think about when placing the kings in the Manger Scene at Christmas time.

But after Jesus was born, the scared young girl, her new husband, and a sweet new baby boy then made their way back to their hometown by donkey. I'm sure that wasn't a pleasant trip either, having just given birth and not having modern medicine in the real "nitty gritty" of giving birth. Every labor pain was full force, there were no epidurals. Each push to bring forth the baby wracked pain through her body and as a young mother she likely was small. No episiotomies, no stitches, no ice packs or tylenol. And then let's hop back on a donkey and go back. Piece of cake. Did Jesus nurse easily? Did Mary have to figure out how to nurse him while riding the donkey or were they able to stop and rest every hour or two? Not to mention the pain that often comes in those first days of bringing a baby to the breast... Did Mary have to endure all of this while out on the road with only Joseph to aide her?

Often times I read through the story of Jesus' birth and it becomes so second nature that I can rehearse it almost word for word to the Biblical account. But when we really stop and think about what it meant for Jesus to be born in with the animals by a young mother miles from home and to be paid down in the manger which just moments before had the horses eating from it... the REAL picture of Jesus' birth and the lowliness of His beginnings is so much clearer.

May God Bless you this Christmas and place in you a renewed spirit of Hope, Faith, and Love as the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ is celebrated across the land.

Merry Christmas from the Cornish Family!
With love from Michael, Meredith, Emma, Kristopher, Brianna, & Micah

A letter from Santa

A few weeks ago Kristopher received a letter from Santa in the mail. We happen to live 10 minutes away from "Christmas, Florida" and this cute fundraiser was held I believe by Mike's cousin's school to do letters to Santa. Grandma decided to send one to each of the 4 kids and asked for names of friends, teachers, and people. Sure enough a few weeks later four letters arrived stamped from Christmas, Florida and inside were letters from Santa. Unfortunately, the plan went a bit askew when I opened the second letter to read and realized before beginning that each letter was exactly the same as the last! So I put the three little ones' letters away saying I'd read theirs to them later and Kristopher was happy as a clam to have heard from the Big Guy.

A few days later I found out that he had surfaced the other letters and asked someone else to read them to him... Not realizing they were all the same (and probably not knowing the impact that would make...) they complied and I heard about it later that Santa's notes to each of them were all the same. Oops...

Kristopher and Brianna went to a breakfast with Santa and received this letter so we didn't really do anything else or attempt a Santa photo this year (we knew Emma would flip out... maybe next year...). In fact, with Kristopher's recent behavior issues we've reminded him that "he'd better watch out, better not cry, better not pout..." because Santa was coming. Last night we went to our local mall (hall is more like it since you can see from one end to the next...) and I was surprised to realize that Santa was there complete with a line of kids ready to sit with him and have their pictures taken.

As we walked by we reminded Kristopher- Santa's right there, he knows whether you've been bad or good and he might not bring you a gift if you're not good! To this Kristopher replied "He won't know if no one tells him." Um... ok smarty pants, but that guy that just walked by might be one of his elves, and he might even ask Jesus to tell him since Jesus sees everyone and is always nearby. Kristopher still wasn't going for it. No look of belief as I tried to convince him he needed to be good for Santa to bring him a gift. Finally, the truth came out of him. "Santa doesn't know I've been really naughty because when I saw him and when he wrote me a letter he didn't say it, he said I was on the 'nice' list and always would be!"

YIKES!

So... why behave when it doesn't matter? Yes, I'd LOVE for him to decide he wants to be good for the sake of being good, but sheesh, can't he at least be good because of the fear of no gifts from Santa??? LOL

So last night this little elf got to work and made a nice little letter from Santa which was stamped and post-marked (with pen) and placed on Kristopher's sink. It said how Santa heard us talking and he was hoping that Kristopher was going to get better and that's why he didn't mention his misbehavior. It also said that the celebration of Jesus' birth is a great reason to be good, plus it's one of Santa's rules- you have to be good to get a toy from Santa! It went on a bit about how good it was to see Kristopher out caroling and ringing bells the other night and how he's got K's letter asking to be a knight for Christmas. It ended out with saying that K's gift is set aside and Santa hopes that K will be good so he can be added on the 'nice' list and Santa will be able to bring him a new toy in just a few more days.

Kristopher was so good today. Think that did the trick? LOL

That's gonna leave a mark!

I'm finally getting the folding chairs put away after our party here on Saturday. Emma decided this morning that they make a cool noise when falling over on the tile (not once but TWICE, so I know the second time was on purpose!). Thankfully no one was hurt (and I seriously thought the first time was a fluke and wouldn't happen again... shame on me I guess...). Until I went to put the chairs AWAY. Walking through the house with one chair under each arm wouldn't be such a difficult task for most people. Unless there are little ones around!

I stepped up the thresh hold from the porch to the family room and raised the chair above Micah since he was in the doorway. A simple "excuse me" works for Brianna and she'll move out of the way but Micah's not there yet. I lifted the chairs and wouldn't you know...

I had rolled up my jeans to give Emma a shower (after the second chair tumble) and hadn't unrolled them yet and somehow... somehow the chair got caught in my pants and I started to fall over! I couldn't reach out and grab anything but did avoid landing on either of the nearby children. My toe got stubbed (likely jammed since it still hurts) and I landed with all my weight on my bicep area on the top of the metal folding chair. OW. I seriously was waiting for the CRACK but thankfully I caught some of my weight on the other arm and leaned in to the back of the couch a bit to catch the remaining balance that still wasn't there...

It's been about 10 minutes and the big red mark is still there and the blue bruising began almost immediately. OUCH. Luckily neither of the little ones is hurt and the chairs are now safely stowed in the office!

This was all after my oh so fun bath experience with my two youngest who love to take baths together. They are both young enough that genders aren't an issue and both are oblivious. I can sit at the end of my couch and watch them in the tub while they play (after being washed) and have Emma and K in here with me. Until I heard a noise. A BAD noise. A grunting noise. And I was too late... the deed was done, the water was emptied, the kids were RE-scrubbed, the playtime resumed. Until I went to get them out. And I discovered it. The SECOND poopy child. When is he going to learn to make noises to alert us of his hind-end happenings?

Two children, six baths, a shower for Emma after (was DONE with tubs..).

LOVE this song :)

I've seen it a few times before but this is a new video of it and this one I don't think is broaching any copyrights (others were) Enjoy!!



The Mom Song from Northland Video on Vimeo.

Despite his seeming disconcern...

Kristopher truly has a soft heart for his sisters and brother! Yesterday when Brianna was knocked over by the dog (whose owners we did get ahold of that night and let them know that in the future I will be forced to call the pound if I'm home alone and the dog is coming into my garage and messing with my kids while I am having to do things....) Kristopher was hollering from the van and later told me that Brianna fell hard (I didn't see the dog approach) and he was sad for her to be hurt. He also has wanted her to follow him around and play with him the past few days. Of course Brianna's been a bit reluctant but...

Kristopher is always quick to tell me if Micah has spit up or if someone has a arunny nose or needs help or has something/is somewhere they shouldn't. Our little man doesn't have this responsibility (we don't get on his case if he doesn't tell us) but he has taken it upon himself to do so.

It's nice to see that today he is loving and caring for his siblings as though he actually likes them :) Maybe that second letter from Santa did the trick...? (more on that later!)

Wow!

I think it's an honor to have pretty much anyone read my blog.  Seriously, it's just my ramblings about life in general and my kids and I'm sure to many people that's just plain BORING.  That said, getting an award for my blogging is especially neat because it means that not only is someone reading, but they're enjoying it too!  Imagine my surprise when over the past week I was nominated by three different people for this award!  Thank you April, Michelle, and Rachel!

One of the rules for this award is that I have to post 5 of my "fabulous addictions".

1. Caffeine- 'nuff said
2. adoption- doesn't exactly need an explanation either, does it...
3. my KIDS- yep, love 'em! (and Mike too ;) ).
4. CHOCOLATE- (also contains #1 as an added bonus!)
5. blogging- my release, my journal, and my resource (all of you)!

 

Now... I have to nominate 5 blogs for this award.  This part is always much harder (because there are always so many that are deserving)!

1. Cathy! my "online" friend way before blogging and her sweet family :)
2. Stephanie, who I did "meet" through blogging and I'm so excited for her newly expanding family :)
3. Lacia! another of my "pre blogging" friends, whose beautiful threesome keep her busy and I LOVE reading their stories :)
4. Linda, a wonderful single mom to many who is newly home and awaiting her invitation to go get her two new Latvian daughters!  She's now "back" to blogging after almost a year of struggles and hoops in the adoption arena.  If you hop over, be sure to find her posts on Colleen!
5. RK, mom of one adorable little one (that I admit reminds me of Brianna!) and soon to be one more! 

Ok, so if any of those want to accept their award, here are the rules:

1. You have to pass it on to 5 other fabulous blogs in a post.

2. You have to list 5 of your fabulous addictions in the post.

3. You must copy and paste the rules and the instructions below in the post.

Instructions: On your post of receiving this award, make sure you include the person that gave you the award and link it back to them. When you post your five winners, make sure you link them as well. To add the award to your post, simply right-click, save image, then "add image" it in your post as a picture so your winners can save it as well. To add it to your sidebar, add the "picture" gadget. Also, don't forget to let your winners know they won an award from you by emailing them or leaving a comment on their blog.

Dog attacks and lost gifts

This morning I was trying to get my kids out to the van and had Kristopher buckling himself in, Emma already settled, and I went back up to the front door to grab Micah (waiting by the door inside) and walk with Brianna down to the van. I grabbed up Micah and took three steps and my heart DROPPED. There was the neighbor's dog JUMPING on Brianna, laying on the concrete crying!! I ran over with a 25 lb weight on one hip and grabbed her up while shooing the dog back and trying to make sure I didn't shoo him over to the van (with the big doors open because only half the kids were inside!).

When I was about 3 I was pinned to a fence by a doberman pincer and it was biting my face when my dad came out after hearing me scream. I was going to say good morning to my grandparents in their motor home I believe. Then when I was around 6 or so I was pulled from a porch and drug around by a german shepherd. I haven't had very good experiences with dogs and was FEARFUL of them for a very long time. Admittedly, all the way up into my later teens I didn't dare go around large dogs.

So seeing my tiny little 21 pound lightweight of a child being jumped on by the neighbor's dog had my heart racing quickly! She was ok, though didn't want to be put down (understandably) and I couldn't get into the van while holding both kids (or I might kill myself, together they're almost 50 lbs.) so I walked across the street with one on each hip and knocked on the door, rang the bell... no answer... of course. By this time Brianna had calmed down and I was able to set her up on the seat (and close the door so she couldn't fall out) and then get Micah buckled in then her. Now I was late meeting my sister at Wal-Mart to grocery shop.

Uneventful as shopping trips go (haha, they're NEVER uneventful when you go with 4 kids and need food for a good 2 weeks since I don't want to shop a big trip until after New Year's!) we then came back to the house and continued to work on a Christmas gift that Elizabeth is doing for my little ones but needed help to do.

Later in the evening (MUCH later, like 10:15) Elizabeth came back and helped me wrap up Christmas gifts since I hadn't wrapped a SINGLE THING until then. While wrapping I realized that there was no gift from Emma to Micah. What had she gotten him anyway?? I can't remember... since I bought them ALL :) But we had K buy gifts for each of the kids therefore we did gifts from each of them to the others too (little things).

I 'robbed' my Christmas stocking stuffers the other day when we had our Christmas party here because one of our group couples brought their two little friends with them to the party. Since all the other kids had gotten small gifts from others in the group, I didn't want them to be left out and I knew I had a little doll that was "from Santa" for Emma's stocking that she likely wouldn't play with much (but it matched Brianna's so I bought them both) and I had a ball for each of the boys that was also a stocking stuffer. The thing is, I took the ball out of Kristopher's stuff and set it aside, got the doll out, then couldn't find the ball! So... I took the ball out of Micah's stuff and wrapped them each up. Now... I have dwindled the 3 little stocking stuffers down to two for three of the kids.

Not a big deal.

Until I realized that the other day when I'd bought cool little toothbrushes for two of the kids that you press the bottom of them and they light up as a 1 minute timer for brushing... I put them somewhere "safe". As in "safe from being found again by ME before Christmas". I have no idea what I did with them. And yes, those would have been stocking stuffers. So... the kids' stockings are going to look pretty bare on Christmas! Oh well... I don't think they'll really notice once they start to open the things that are wrapped under the tree.

And one day... when I clean out the closet really well... I'll find that other ball and the toothbrushes (which will no longer light up in year 2012~)! I bet they'll be even more glad to have a 'surprise' gift then they would have been to find them on Christmas morning- what do you think?

Yesterday we went to two nursing homes and sang Christmas carols to the residents. I'm glad we had the opportunity to go and afterward we went back to my parents' church (that hosted the outing) and had potatoes and visited with their friends. An unusual treat- I haven't been caroling since we were kids and used to go around the neighborhood house to house!