First, an update on the total, since the matching donations don't show up on that :) When we began the matching money, the total was $3235. Now, the total (on chip-in) is $3500! A total of $265 has been donated, with matching money doubling that (another $265 means $530) brings the new total to $4,030! Keep up the great work! There's still a lot of matching money left!
Also, answers to a few questions about the child, family, and such...
Q: Is this Masha (9) from RR?
A: No, this is a little girl with Down syndrome named Masha, not listed on RR but with the Eli Project (click for info!)
Q: Does the family have a family sponsorship page?
A: YES! :) It's on the Eli Project website as the Dickinson family (click to link there!)
Q: Are YOU adopting Masha?
A: NO! :) The Dickinsons are friends of ours who adopted two beautiful children and came down to the national conference in Orlando this summer. We had the pleasure of meeting them and have decided to host this fundraiser because we believe in them and their ability to parent Masha! We also see the great need and want to 'pass it along' when we can to help other families to finance their adoption of special children just as others stepped up to help us bring our kids home!
Don't forget to SHARE the iPad post and donate while the matching money is available!
The Cornish Family... Chasing God's calling...
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Wednesday, February 09, 2011
Pictures…
All dressed up with a special someone to go out with :)
All of these pictures were taken INSIDE the hotel! Yes, literally INSIDE… Under a roof, climate controlled… It was really pretty and we spent a long time just walking through the atrium.
Will you be my valentine? A post for the husbands and fathers and everyone else that needs a neat gift for their Valentine :)
I haven’t kept it as any sort of secret that we’re raising money for the Dickinson family’s newest addition-to-be, little Masha. We’ve donated an iPad and are trying to raise first, the $5,000 for airfare for the Dickinsons to go over, then $1,000 for documents needed for Masha to come HOME! Right now we have a $1,000 matching donation which we’re hoping will break the $5,000 limit and begin to chip away at the document fees!
Here’s where those husbands and fathers come in…
It’s also no secret that it’s hard to find a good gift for a woman for Valentine’s Day. There’s always the traditional stuff, but sometimes you really want to think outside the box and get something that’s super-personal to her and that she’ll know you put your own heart into.
And here’s where the two come together…
Please consider a donation in honor of your Valentine! Donate NOW and it will DOUBLE (because of the matching gift). Not only that, but a week or two AFTER Valentine’s day, there’s even a chance that your generous gift would then turn into an iPad for you (*cough cough… or her…)!
If you make a note in the Paypal donation (not on the blog!) that you’re making this donation as a Valentine’s Day Gift, I will include your name, a very brief note, and your Valentine’s name in a post on February 13th! You can include a note with a link to this blog (now with the ‘easy address’ of www.mcornish.org !!) in your Valentine’s Day Card and your bride or daughter or other special person (hey, guys might like it too!) can find their name and a special note from you, knowing that they were a part of bringing home Masha.
Don’t wait! :) The matching money is available now!!
((And ladies, please don’t be shy in sharing this post with your men… everyone needs a little help sometimes! :) ))
Link to the Give-Away!:
http://cornishadoptionjourney.blogspot.com/2011/02/todays-tears-ipad-giveaway-and-more.html
Here’s where those husbands and fathers come in…
It’s also no secret that it’s hard to find a good gift for a woman for Valentine’s Day. There’s always the traditional stuff, but sometimes you really want to think outside the box and get something that’s super-personal to her and that she’ll know you put your own heart into.
And here’s where the two come together…
Please consider a donation in honor of your Valentine! Donate NOW and it will DOUBLE (because of the matching gift). Not only that, but a week or two AFTER Valentine’s day, there’s even a chance that your generous gift would then turn into an iPad for you (*cough cough… or her…)!
If you make a note in the Paypal donation (not on the blog!) that you’re making this donation as a Valentine’s Day Gift, I will include your name, a very brief note, and your Valentine’s name in a post on February 13th! You can include a note with a link to this blog (now with the ‘easy address’ of www.mcornish.org !!) in your Valentine’s Day Card and your bride or daughter or other special person (hey, guys might like it too!) can find their name and a special note from you, knowing that they were a part of bringing home Masha.
Don’t wait! :) The matching money is available now!!
((And ladies, please don’t be shy in sharing this post with your men… everyone needs a little help sometimes! :) ))
Link to the Give-Away!:
http://cornishadoptionjourney.blogspot.com/2011/02/todays-tears-ipad-giveaway-and-more.html
$3,235!!
I'm so excited to see we have $3,235 on the ChipIn for Masha! THANK YOU to everyone who has donated!!
We have had two off-line donations, one of which has donated as a MATCHING donation of $1,000!
How does that work? It means that every donor that donates beginning RIGHT NOW, your donation will count not just for the amount you donate, but DOUBLE that! If you give $100, the Dickinsons will be blessed by $200! If you give $500, they will be blessed with $1,000, and if you give even $10, they will be blessed with $20. Here's a way to let "every little bit" be stretched! Let's match this full $1,000!
As we meet this goal to bring Masha home, we've added another goal of $1,000 for Masha's Visa, passport, and medical evaluation in country! So as we bypass our $5,000 goal for airfare, then funds will go toward the 'paperwork fees' for Masha to come home :)
(*your 'chances' for the ipad will be reflected by the amount donated, not the amount 'matched'.)
Edited to add:
The link for the chipin (and I'm also adding it to my sidebar)
http://cornishadoptionjourney.blogspot.com/2011/02/todays-tears-ipad-giveaway-and-more.html
and DON'T FORGET TO SHARE!!!!!!! YOU'LL BE ENTERED INTO A DRAWING FOR A $25 GIFT CARD JUST FOR SHARING THIS ON FACEBOOK, TWITTER, OR BLOGS IF YOU LEAVE A COMMENT ON THE POST ABOVE! :)
We have had two off-line donations, one of which has donated as a MATCHING donation of $1,000!
How does that work? It means that every donor that donates beginning RIGHT NOW, your donation will count not just for the amount you donate, but DOUBLE that! If you give $100, the Dickinsons will be blessed by $200! If you give $500, they will be blessed with $1,000, and if you give even $10, they will be blessed with $20. Here's a way to let "every little bit" be stretched! Let's match this full $1,000!
As we meet this goal to bring Masha home, we've added another goal of $1,000 for Masha's Visa, passport, and medical evaluation in country! So as we bypass our $5,000 goal for airfare, then funds will go toward the 'paperwork fees' for Masha to come home :)
(*your 'chances' for the ipad will be reflected by the amount donated, not the amount 'matched'.)
Edited to add:
The link for the chipin (and I'm also adding it to my sidebar)
http://cornishadoptionjourney.blogspot.com/2011/02/todays-tears-ipad-giveaway-and-more.html
and DON'T FORGET TO SHARE!!!!!!! YOU'LL BE ENTERED INTO A DRAWING FOR A $25 GIFT CARD JUST FOR SHARING THIS ON FACEBOOK, TWITTER, OR BLOGS IF YOU LEAVE A COMMENT ON THE POST ABOVE! :)
My surprise!
On Monday night at about 7pm when Michael was off at a leadership team meeting at the church I decided that we needed a getaway. It had been a rough week for us and we needed some time to refresh ourselves, some time to talk without the kids, and a really GOOD night's sleep so we can keep on keeping on.
And so... I found our credit card reward points and went about looking for a hotel in Orlando for us to get away for the night. I found one- a night at Gaylord Palms for $38 after using our rewards! Then I called up my parents, and Mike's parents, and arranged a babysitter as well. I texted Mike during his meeting to see if he could get Tuesday off and go in late on Wednesday. He got off noon to noon, and I was good with that!
On Tuesday morning I brought the kids to school, played with the 3 at home and packed an overnight bag for Michael and I. I arranged for Mike's mom to come at noon and keep the 3 at home, my mom to pick the other 5 up from school and drop them off, and for a babysitter to meet them at the house at 2:30 to help Mike's mom out. The details of that ended up not quite working out as well as planned... but everyone survived so I guess it did work. Then at 8:45 or so my mom went to the house to relieve Mike's and she and my dad stayed the night, got the kids up for school and hung on to the 3 at home until 9:00 when we got home this morning!
Though it's not the "well oiled machine" that it could be, it WORKED.
Michael and I went over to Orlando, had a quick late lunch at Chipotle, wandered around at a shopping plaza, checked into the hotel and changed clothes for a 'fancy' night out. Then we walked around at the hotel visiting the different atriums that are there and just getting to talk and relax! We went to IKEA, all dressed up, and walked through there leisurely (not somewhere we usually go with all the kids). Last on the agenda for the night was dinner at Crave using a gift card I'd been given by Mike's mom for my birthday to pay for part of the meal. All in all we had a great day! We went back to the hotel and watched an episode of Castle (if you've never seen it, it's a good one!) on the computer then went to bed by about 10:30. We slept ALL NIGHT LONG, got up about 7:30 and headed back to town by 9:30!
We were ready for a refresher, ready for a full night's sleep (Lynae has been getting up several times at night and occasionally another will as well, and Brianna is up every morning at 4/5:30am!). We knew that if we don't intentionally make time for each other, that we won't just "find" it. It's a rare commodity around here!
The kids, tho I hear it wasn't smooth sailing, all survived :) So did our parents and babysitter, and we are better for it!
This was our 'early Valentine's get-away' and not just a lot of fun, but a necessary part of life with lots of little ones.
In an "ordinary day" a lot of things happen... and being able to prepare some of those ahead of time and then set them down and 'forget' about them for 22 full hours was quite a blessing.
A HUGE Thank You! to both of our sets of parents for taking care of the kids for us to get the reprieve!
And so... I found our credit card reward points and went about looking for a hotel in Orlando for us to get away for the night. I found one- a night at Gaylord Palms for $38 after using our rewards! Then I called up my parents, and Mike's parents, and arranged a babysitter as well. I texted Mike during his meeting to see if he could get Tuesday off and go in late on Wednesday. He got off noon to noon, and I was good with that!
On Tuesday morning I brought the kids to school, played with the 3 at home and packed an overnight bag for Michael and I. I arranged for Mike's mom to come at noon and keep the 3 at home, my mom to pick the other 5 up from school and drop them off, and for a babysitter to meet them at the house at 2:30 to help Mike's mom out. The details of that ended up not quite working out as well as planned... but everyone survived so I guess it did work. Then at 8:45 or so my mom went to the house to relieve Mike's and she and my dad stayed the night, got the kids up for school and hung on to the 3 at home until 9:00 when we got home this morning!
Though it's not the "well oiled machine" that it could be, it WORKED.
Michael and I went over to Orlando, had a quick late lunch at Chipotle, wandered around at a shopping plaza, checked into the hotel and changed clothes for a 'fancy' night out. Then we walked around at the hotel visiting the different atriums that are there and just getting to talk and relax! We went to IKEA, all dressed up, and walked through there leisurely (not somewhere we usually go with all the kids). Last on the agenda for the night was dinner at Crave using a gift card I'd been given by Mike's mom for my birthday to pay for part of the meal. All in all we had a great day! We went back to the hotel and watched an episode of Castle (if you've never seen it, it's a good one!) on the computer then went to bed by about 10:30. We slept ALL NIGHT LONG, got up about 7:30 and headed back to town by 9:30!
We were ready for a refresher, ready for a full night's sleep (Lynae has been getting up several times at night and occasionally another will as well, and Brianna is up every morning at 4/5:30am!). We knew that if we don't intentionally make time for each other, that we won't just "find" it. It's a rare commodity around here!
The kids, tho I hear it wasn't smooth sailing, all survived :) So did our parents and babysitter, and we are better for it!
This was our 'early Valentine's get-away' and not just a lot of fun, but a necessary part of life with lots of little ones.
In an "ordinary day" a lot of things happen... and being able to prepare some of those ahead of time and then set them down and 'forget' about them for 22 full hours was quite a blessing.
A HUGE Thank You! to both of our sets of parents for taking care of the kids for us to get the reprieve!
Tuesday, February 08, 2011
Comments
Please note: Comments are on 'moderated' to avoid spam messages from going through. If your comment hasn't shown up it means I read it on my phone and haven't 'moderated' on Blogger yet. Comments after yours may show up if I read them on my computer and hit 'publish' (phone makes me login every time which is annoying!). So please know your comments will show up the next time I login and moderate, and I'm sorry for the confusion :)
Monday, February 07, 2011
The surprises continue
Today we saw the orthopedic doctor for Wesley (and YES, I'd double booked myself but it did work out!).
And of course there was another surprise, since that's just the way things go with newly adopted kids with little medical history and when I haven't got a ton of knowledge about their condition. I will be the first to admit that I know little about CP aside from the fact that I am ready to LOVE and willing to LEARN as much as is needed to help Wesley live a good, happy, healthy, and adventure-packed life! :) I didn't go in totally unprepared, but there's only so much that a book can teach you.
If you have CP or have a child with CP, you'll likely read this and say "yeah, could have told you that!" but I wasn't expecting this, and I'm just on the beginning side of any research, so I'd love to hear if there's "another side" to the story (reasons why not to head on how we're at this point planning to).
Today at the ortho the doctor said that since Wesley scissors so badly, his hips are (as we thought) completely dislocated. His adductors are also so tight that he recommended surgery to release those as well as to relocate both hips. We discussed the idea of leaving the hips dislocated, him saying that we have no idea if it's been 2 weeks, 2 months, 2 years, or even 5 or so years that they've been out. He said that often times if the hips have been out for years, there's very little success in putting them back in. In most cases, the femur has to be broken and the hip socket 'reformed' and it's a pretty lengthy and intricate surgery.
Then he said about 1/3 of patients with dislocated hips have some sort of pain associated with it during their lifetime. He suggested that 'most' of those cases are of kids with a higher cognitive ability, and from seeing Wesley interact with his environment (he was shredding the paper on the exam table), he guesses that Wesley is very aware of his body and surroundings and would be concerned that the hips would become a source of pain at some point.
Then we talked about the surgery. Lengthen the adductors, check on the hip to see if it is 'formed enough' to relocate, then do the corrective surgery to relocate one or both hips all in the same surgery. If only able to do one, the second would be done in 3-6 months. After surgery, about 6 weeks in a Spica cast (shown here). I can't even begin to imagine having him in that in July and August in Florida!
And so... We made an appointment for 2 months from now to go back into the office, and decided I'd go home and talk it over with Michael. The ortho said he is comfortable with whatever decision we make and since he IS newly home, he's comfortable waiting as long as we want to in order to do the surgery. It's not like it's a new problem that wasn't there for the foreseeable past.
After talking it over, we know surgery would likely be scheduled for April/May if we call tomorrow and say "go". And that puts him in casts until (worst case) June. With the possibility of a need for another surgery in the fall. That seems (weather-timing wise) to be a good timeline... So we think we'll go ahead and do this now.
If you have any info on the surgery, questions we should ask before committing, knowledge of the length of time in the hospital after surgery, or any practical tips to dealing with the spica casts or post-op hip patients, I'd love for you to share your knowledge!
As I said, we weren't really expecting this appointment to be a "let's schedule a major surgery" visit, so we want to get our knowledge base together before committing to it right away.
Also, for bonding and attachment and such... I am comfortable doing the surgery in April/May. It is approximately the same timeline we did Emma's surgery in (home March 08, open heart surgery August 08) and though he's a VERY different kid, I have at least some bearing of how things may be at that point post-placement. That is also about the timeframe that we left James in (to go to Ukraine) and again, he was very much bonded and "a part of the family" at that time.
Any advice, questions I should ask, or other info I wouldn't think to even ask you for?? Thanks in advance for continuing to cover our family in prayer!!
**PS: Wesley is NOT in pain right now with his hips out. He also is not even irritated laying on his side and prefers to curl up (fetal) and lay on his side to sleep. We are thankful that it's not causing him pain right now! Also, fixing his hips will allow him to do weight-bearing which he cannot do with his hips out. Even if he doesn't ever walk, it's still much more healthy for him to be able to do weight bearing exercises and really... who KNOWS what he may be capable of once he has the opportunity!! :)
And of course there was another surprise, since that's just the way things go with newly adopted kids with little medical history and when I haven't got a ton of knowledge about their condition. I will be the first to admit that I know little about CP aside from the fact that I am ready to LOVE and willing to LEARN as much as is needed to help Wesley live a good, happy, healthy, and adventure-packed life! :) I didn't go in totally unprepared, but there's only so much that a book can teach you.
If you have CP or have a child with CP, you'll likely read this and say "yeah, could have told you that!" but I wasn't expecting this, and I'm just on the beginning side of any research, so I'd love to hear if there's "another side" to the story (reasons why not to head on how we're at this point planning to).
Today at the ortho the doctor said that since Wesley scissors so badly, his hips are (as we thought) completely dislocated. His adductors are also so tight that he recommended surgery to release those as well as to relocate both hips. We discussed the idea of leaving the hips dislocated, him saying that we have no idea if it's been 2 weeks, 2 months, 2 years, or even 5 or so years that they've been out. He said that often times if the hips have been out for years, there's very little success in putting them back in. In most cases, the femur has to be broken and the hip socket 'reformed' and it's a pretty lengthy and intricate surgery.
Then he said about 1/3 of patients with dislocated hips have some sort of pain associated with it during their lifetime. He suggested that 'most' of those cases are of kids with a higher cognitive ability, and from seeing Wesley interact with his environment (he was shredding the paper on the exam table), he guesses that Wesley is very aware of his body and surroundings and would be concerned that the hips would become a source of pain at some point.
And so... We made an appointment for 2 months from now to go back into the office, and decided I'd go home and talk it over with Michael. The ortho said he is comfortable with whatever decision we make and since he IS newly home, he's comfortable waiting as long as we want to in order to do the surgery. It's not like it's a new problem that wasn't there for the foreseeable past.
After talking it over, we know surgery would likely be scheduled for April/May if we call tomorrow and say "go". And that puts him in casts until (worst case) June. With the possibility of a need for another surgery in the fall. That seems (weather-timing wise) to be a good timeline... So we think we'll go ahead and do this now.
If you have any info on the surgery, questions we should ask before committing, knowledge of the length of time in the hospital after surgery, or any practical tips to dealing with the spica casts or post-op hip patients, I'd love for you to share your knowledge!
As I said, we weren't really expecting this appointment to be a "let's schedule a major surgery" visit, so we want to get our knowledge base together before committing to it right away.
Also, for bonding and attachment and such... I am comfortable doing the surgery in April/May. It is approximately the same timeline we did Emma's surgery in (home March 08, open heart surgery August 08) and though he's a VERY different kid, I have at least some bearing of how things may be at that point post-placement. That is also about the timeframe that we left James in (to go to Ukraine) and again, he was very much bonded and "a part of the family" at that time.
Any advice, questions I should ask, or other info I wouldn't think to even ask you for?? Thanks in advance for continuing to cover our family in prayer!!
**PS: Wesley is NOT in pain right now with his hips out. He also is not even irritated laying on his side and prefers to curl up (fetal) and lay on his side to sleep. We are thankful that it's not causing him pain right now! Also, fixing his hips will allow him to do weight-bearing which he cannot do with his hips out. Even if he doesn't ever walk, it's still much more healthy for him to be able to do weight bearing exercises and really... who KNOWS what he may be capable of once he has the opportunity!! :)
Mercy, Love, Headaches, and why we drive a 15 passenger van…
I couldn’t help myself in having a little fun with the title of this post :). As you can imagine, I’ve told the “brief” version of our adoption story about 9 million times in the 6 weeks we’ve been home and I’ve been out and about with our newest children.
In telling our story, I’ve learned more about myself. Interesting how that works, isn’t it?
In explaining our first adoption of Emma and Micah, the explanation came easily. We had a daughter with Down syndrome, wanted to adopt, decided to adopt special needs, and headed to “the least of these” where the children wouldn’t have another way of being a part of a family since so few people were ‘into’ international special needs adoption. After all, why pay $25,000 to adopt when you can do so for free here in the US and even receive a subsidy to help with their care.
Our second adoption was of James and was also fairly easy to explain. I’d been advocating for children overseas and here a child becomes available here in our own ‘backyard’ (two hours away). Though we hadn’t been looking to grow our family quite so soon after having Lynae (she was 3 months old), we felt called to do some foot work and put our name in, knowing that we had plenty of love and that it was in God’s hands if we were ‘chosen’ to parent James or not. (In the foster system a team determines the child’s family, you don’t just “pick” a child and adopt him/her.)
Our third adoption—not quite so easy. I feel like I may as well say “I was sitting naked outside under an apple tree when a fruit plunked me on the head. I picked it up and saw that it was none other than—an apple. I knew just then that we were supposed to leave our 6 children for 8 weeks and travel around the world to bring home two more kids that are not only disabled but also older than most of our other kids.”
Of course that’s not what happened (those of you that know me couldn’t get past the “naked” word…).
I may as well say “I was running laps for my half-marathon when God showed up in the form of an armadillo and started talking to me right there in the street. He said “Meredith, I command you to raise $20,000 in the next 6 weeks and do something unheard of for me… Go adopt 2 more children from the East”. So I went to my husband who said he had a similar encounter with a squirrel and the rest was history.”
No, that’s not quite it either :).
Instead, we felt that God said “who will go” and we said “send me Lord!” And He provided, and He blessed, and He brought us signs and wonders that left NO MISTAKE that He was there with us and leading the way every step of it.
MERCY. Yes, it was mercy that brought us to Wesley. And it was LOVE that brought him and Aleksa home. And it’s a HEADACHE some days having 8 kids! And yet, I wouldn’t trade ANY of our kids in for even a week worth of good sleep :). God planned for us to drive a 15 passenger van, and I’m so glad we were able to hear that call and listen!
Thank you to...
Kim and Raymond whose generous contribution well-covered the gap to break the 50% mark! You will be put in for 5 'extra' chances at the iPad! A huge thank you to EVERYONE that has donated, big or small! We have had 49 contributors up to this point. Yay!
I also wanted to note that if you donated, say $10 this week and can do another $15 next week, we WILL COMBINE your donations so you get the most 'chances' for the ipad (notice that the chances increase more than 'just' double for higher donation amounts). Please make a note on your contribution or post a comment so I know to look for your duplicate name!
I'm excited to share that we are at 55%! It's only MONDAY, my friends! Let's see if we can meet our airline goal this week :) I'm all for having God out-do my "high expectations" and do His own work instead!!
http://cornishadoptionjourney.blogspot.com/2011/02/todays-tears-ipad-giveaway-and-more.html
Don't forget to repost and be entered into the gift-card drawing! Please use the link above to share!
***Also, wanted to say "THANK YOU" from Masha and the Dickinson to the 27 people who donated in honor of Masha's 4th birthday on Friday! You will each be given extra entries! I included in this count people who donated in the 'wee hours' of Saturday morning since I don't know what time zone you're in and you obviously hadn't slept yet :)
I also wanted to note that if you donated, say $10 this week and can do another $15 next week, we WILL COMBINE your donations so you get the most 'chances' for the ipad (notice that the chances increase more than 'just' double for higher donation amounts). Please make a note on your contribution or post a comment so I know to look for your duplicate name!
I'm excited to share that we are at 55%! It's only MONDAY, my friends! Let's see if we can meet our airline goal this week :) I'm all for having God out-do my "high expectations" and do His own work instead!!
http://cornishadoptionjourney.blogspot.com/2011/02/todays-tears-ipad-giveaway-and-more.html
Don't forget to repost and be entered into the gift-card drawing! Please use the link above to share!
***Also, wanted to say "THANK YOU" from Masha and the Dickinson to the 27 people who donated in honor of Masha's 4th birthday on Friday! You will each be given extra entries! I included in this count people who donated in the 'wee hours' of Saturday morning since I don't know what time zone you're in and you obviously hadn't slept yet :)
Sunday, February 06, 2011
Uh oh
I think I’ve double-booked!
See these two days of calendar entries?
I have NO IDEA why PT eval is crossed out and written the following week. I don’t remember doing that (but it IS my writing!). I made an ortho appointment for Wesley on the 7th (the other thing written is Michael has a leadership team meeting). Now… I wonder if I had my dates off, or if I really DO have Aleksa’s PT eval tomorrow morning (at 8:30) AND Wesley’s ortho appointment (an hour away) at 9:55? That’s cutting it tight! Hmm… Guess I’ll find out in the morning!
We're almost halfway!!
The fundraiser is almost halfway on the chip-in! If you are the donor that breaks the halfway point, I'll throw in an extra 5 'chances' at the ipad!
***Please note, the chip-in widget sometimes doesn't post real-time. The person that breaks halfway will be based on when donations post to the donor list that I access through the chip-in site. If there are two within minutes that both would break it I'll award it to both!***
THANK YOU for spreading the word, and REMEMBER TO REPOST THIS! You can repost (the link below) up to 2x/day and leave a comment on the iPad give-away post to be entered into a drawing for a $25 gift card! Blogs, FaceBook, and before I failed to mention (but several of you did it anyway...) Twitter! :) Repost the link below and leave your comments there!
http://cornishadoptionjourney.blogspot.com/2011/02/todays-tears-ipad-giveaway-and-more.html
The family's financial need is well over the $5,000 goal, and we would be very glad to see their plane tickets AND MORE covered through this give-away!
***Please note, the chip-in widget sometimes doesn't post real-time. The person that breaks halfway will be based on when donations post to the donor list that I access through the chip-in site. If there are two within minutes that both would break it I'll award it to both!***
THANK YOU for spreading the word, and REMEMBER TO REPOST THIS! You can repost (the link below) up to 2x/day and leave a comment on the iPad give-away post to be entered into a drawing for a $25 gift card! Blogs, FaceBook, and before I failed to mention (but several of you did it anyway...) Twitter! :) Repost the link below and leave your comments there!
http://cornishadoptionjourney.blogspot.com/2011/02/todays-tears-ipad-giveaway-and-more.html
The family's financial need is well over the $5,000 goal, and we would be very glad to see their plane tickets AND MORE covered through this give-away!
When we moved bedrooms around
the one thing we weren’t so sure about was where we were going to have the “big kids” put their things where they could play without their things being distributed throughout the house. Kristopher is into Lego’s and play sets like Playmobile and neither of those are good for the younger kids to be able to access. Brianna loves her doll house, but if it’s not in a contained area then it just gets scattered. The other girls are showing interest in the doll house, too, and she’s learning to share with them :).
The idea was that we would put 4 boys in one room and 4 girls in the other. The ‘guest’ room would then be used for storage and for the kids to have their play things that wouldn’t be disturbed too badly. But then Lynae ended up still not sleeping through the night (she used to but hasn’t much since we got home from UA). So… Emma moved rooms and Lynae stayed in the 3rd bedroom. That really took away the idea of using it for the older kids’ play things since Lynae naps and they wouldn’t be able to go in there much of the time.
Yesterday I started making plans :). You know how plans go… they go from “I have a thought” to “it’s done, come see!” in about 24 hours if they’re really doable!
And so… we have two new play areas. Both are in the girls’ room, since none of the 3 girls in that room take naps. There’s a crib set up in there for Lynae to eventually move to, but since that’s not happening at the moment… we modified it a bit :)
As you can see, Brianna is HAPPY AS A CLAM to have her dollhouse all set up and a place she can play! Now, we just need 4 more kids for it since she’s got them all named… and Aleksa, Emma, Micah, and James are missing… :) There’s a grandmom and a babysitter, 4 kids, mom, and dad, a cat and a dog (no- we don’t have animals!)
As for Kristopher… he’s enjoying his new “fort.”
Not sure exactly where he is? Here’s another view:
This ‘loft’ was built for extra storage since we have 10’ ceilings when my parents owned the house (they built it and I grew up here… we bought the house from them about 3 1/2 years ago). The storage area was reinforced so that it would hold my dad’s weight and with the knowledge that a custom-sized mattress would make it a fun bed for a kid one day. Well, bed it’s not, but for it is! My mom reminded me of that the other day and we had just one bag with baby blankets and a bin with some of Kristopher’s toys up there.
We’re ready to play!
Saturday, February 05, 2011
TODAY is MASHA's Birthday!
Happy Birthday sweet Masha-- your parents are hurrying to get you home soon!
A link to their blog: http://www.thenewdickinsonfamily.com/
And today, as a special 'gift' to Masha, Every donation made will get EXTRA ENTRIES for the iPad!
That means that TODAY ONLY
$10= 2 entries
$25= 6 entries
$50= 14 entries
$100= 30 entries
$150= 47 entries
$300= 96 entries!!!!
Don't wait!! :)
A link to their blog: http://www.thenewdickinsonfamily.com/
And today, as a special 'gift' to Masha, Every donation made will get EXTRA ENTRIES for the iPad!
That means that TODAY ONLY
$10= 2 entries
$25= 6 entries
$50= 14 entries
$100= 30 entries
$150= 47 entries
$300= 96 entries!!!!
Don't wait!! :)
Did you read to the end?
Not sure if you caught this part, so I wanted to post it again :) PLEASE post the link (below) to share about the give-away of the iPad! You can post (and comment) twice every day between now and February 25th!
For every comment you will receive an entry for a $25 gift card :). Now, who doesn't want $25 for free? AND help a special needs orphan at the same time? Seriously, doesn't get much better than that!!
Post on Blogs and/or Facebook and comment back on the iPad give-away post to let us know!
For every comment you will receive an entry for a $25 gift card :). Now, who doesn't want $25 for free? AND help a special needs orphan at the same time? Seriously, doesn't get much better than that!!
Post on Blogs and/or Facebook and comment back on the iPad give-away post to let us know!
Shelley Bedford has donated a $25 gift card for Target (or another store if there’s not a Target near you!). Every person, whether or not they have donated to the iPad giveaway, can earn up to TWO ENTRIES PER DAY by posting a link to this give-away on their blog and/or FaceBook! Yep, you could get $25 for posting a link :) So… leave a comment here with a link to your blog post or letting us know you posted it on FB for EACH TIME that you do! (Winner’s links will be verified). Encourage your friends to post as well!
USE THIS LINK:http://cornishadoptionjourney.blogspot.com/2011/02/todays-tears-ipad-giveaway-and-more.html
IPad give-away and Gift-card give-away end FEBRUARY 25th!!! So HURRY!
Friday, February 04, 2011
Today’s tears (iPad giveaway and more!)
I tried really hard to post about Wesley’s birthday without any tears. I might have succeeded. Maybe…
Then I tried to hold them back as James signed “More” to me and, though he wouldn’t touch the cup, he trusted me to give him just enough. And he drank the full 3 oz of Pediasure and filled his belly up just a little bit. I might have succeeded. Maybe…
But then, I started making lunch for my kids and thinking about Wesley and how HUGE it is that he’s no longer an orphan! I was praising God for that, and trying not to let any tears slip through. And I began thinking about this iPad giveaway post… about sweet little Masha (click the link to learn more about her on the Eli Project site) that’s still there in an orphanage waiting to be transferred to the mental institution where she would spend the rest of her life… inevitably shortened by the lack of care and nutrition generally available.
And I turned on the radio. Actually, I turned on Pandora (Internet radio) and selected my “Matthew West” channel… And this song is what came on as the first “random” song. Then, the tears just came… (it’s short… I promise!)
But Masha will be an orphan NO MORE! She has a family that is on their way to get her! Their dossier has been delivered and they may travel as early as next month! And Masha will know the love and security of not just any family, but one which I hold a special love and admiration for.
The Dickinson family (follow that link to view their Family Profile at the Eli Project who they’re adopting through!) stepped out in faith to adopt a child with Down syndrome who just so happened to be the little boy that was posted on my refrigerator as my very first “prayer child” through Reece’s Rainbow. Now named Marcus, (in the halo above) he’s in the very best family! They didn’t have any children with special needs, but are friends of the Malones and through their son Eli saw the joy and delight… and the need for homes. You’ll also remember the Malones as the ones in UA RIGHT NOW adopting the sweet TINY 6 year old with Down syndrome and a colostomy, and as the parents who are loving “our” sweet Misha—now Micah—who we met during our first adoption trip for Aleksa.
So can you see the fondness I have for both of these families already?? Even more love for the Dickinson family came when they visited Orlando for the National Down Syndrome Convention last summer and spent some time with us here at our home and at our hotel in Orlando. It was just the girls of the family- Meghan, Taylor (who is celebrating sweet 16 today and shares her birthday with Wesley!) and Macy. Macy was an ‘unknown’ referral they received when they went for Marcus and she, too, has Down syndrome.
Now, as I said, they’re on their way for another sweet child named Masha who will join their family very soon!
And once again, I’m writing to you all because there is a NEED, but one you can FILL! They are in need of finances for their trip…
It’s been no secret that I really really would like an iPad for our family :). It’s one of the new techno gadgets which I know benefit kids with special needs—and let’s face it they’re really handy for Moms and Dads and typical kids too :). But more than I need an iPad, little Masha NEEDS a family.
And so… this is a give-away for a brand new iPad to one of the people who donates to the Dickinson family through this ChipIn (or, if you have a large donation please email me about sending a check so there are less paypal fees! meredithcornish at gmail dot com). We will wait a while longer for our ‘own’ iPad because we believe God provided this money for an iPad for us to help the Dickinson family bring Masha home!
Our goal, lofty as it is, is to pay for the Dickinsons PLANE TICKETS to go get their Masha and bring her home! That means that we are setting out to raise $5,000 for the Dickinson family!!
Here’s the details: (ALL donations are tax deductible through the Ukraine Outreach/ Eli Project!)
$10= 1 entry
$25= 3 entries
$50= 8 entries
$100= 20 entries
$150= 35 entries
$300= 80 entries!!!!
Ok, there’s more… Because this is a high goal (but with God all things are possible!!) we need some help with publicity. No question that the more a giveaway (and a need!) are “out there”, the more people will see it and be able to pitch in (and get a chance to win an iPad!). So… those of you with blogs and/or FaceBook, we have another give-away for you!
Shelley Bedford has donated a $25 gift card for Target (or another store if there’s not a Target near you!). Every person, whether or not they have donated to the iPad giveaway, can earn up to TWO ENTRIES PER DAY by posting a link to this give-away on their blog and/or FaceBook! Yep, you could get $25 for posting a link :) So… leave a comment here with a link to your blog post or letting us know you posted it on FB for EACH TIME that you do! (Winner’s links will be verified). Encourage your friends to post as well!
USE THIS LINK: http://cornishadoptionjourney.blogspot.com/2011/02/todays-tears-ipad-giveaway-and-more.html
IPad give-away and Gift-card give-away end FEBRUARY 25th!!! So HURRY! Donate, repost, link, and bless sweet Masha who needs to come home quickly!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY WESLEY!!!!
To my Wesley on your very first Birthday in a FAMILY!
Son (it gives me great joy to call you that!), you have brightened our days and already begun to teach us new things about people's abilities and strengths. You make us laugh and you drive us crazy :) Everything a little SIX year old boy should do for his parents!!
When we first laid eyes on you our hearts were touched and we began praying that God would bring you a family. One family loved you enough to provide the financial means for another to do it, and we praised God for that!! We knew your time was short and prayed and searched for someone for you. MANY people did! You touched hearts that you and I will never know about!
Then, there was your Daddy. He came and said "he just needs someone that can get TO him, and to raise him. That shouldn't be so hard to find." It wasn't long before he then said "Why not us?" We were conflicted because of our large family already... whether it was feasible to really go get you. We knew that we could take care of you and there was no question that we could wholly love you.
One morning we went to church and asked God to speak to us through the sermon or through another church member. We hadn't told many people that you were on our hearts because we knew the reactions would be very mixed and we needed consult only from a few trusted friends and family members (who we did share and ask them to pray).
During the church service Pastor Richard said this: "Some of you will leave this service and have to make a decision about something big. The answer that you're looking for is that you need to take the narrow path, the hard path. The wide path isn't the one for you." Ok-- so that's the jist of it... I have the actual words written elsewhere in this blog but that's the general idea.
That someone was us.
We came home, prayed, and then wrote an email to commit to your adoption. We'd already called our social worker. We'd already contacted people to care for our other kids during travel. Now the paper chase began.
In 6 short weeks God brought our dossier together and the paper pregnancy was coming to a close. I left for the mission trip to Ukraine to minister to birth families raising kids just like you and our 3 other little sweet Ukrainian kiddos. The amazing events that began at the very onset of that trip- before I even left the Orlando airport- brought us so much more confirmation that you were meant to be a part of our family. God was using our obedience to say YES to you to also bring your sister home. I won't tell her story here, because today's all about YOU! But you were the beginning, the catalyst, that brought her home too!
On September 19th I got to see your face for the first time and hold you in my arms! I learned for the first time that the news about your bad vision might have some bearing. I still didn't believe you were completely blind, or even as significantly impacted as you are, and I'm very glad I didn't know. Not because you wouldn't have come home... no, you were ours as soon as God confirmed it! No, because I would have worried so much more about how we would all adjust to the difficulties that were coming for us, for you. I would have wondered how we'd cope. But without knowing that you couldn't see... you were "just Wesley." Sweet happy little boy with only 'issues' that we were "comfortable" with.
Today, knowing that you don't see me in a clear way ... knowing that we have an added thing to overcome and to learn about... I'm 100% ok with it. Why? Because I already know you, and I already love you unconditionally.
I wonder, today, if it has been a very rough day for a mother in Ukraine. The one that carried you in her womb and who dreamed of being your mother. The one without a husband to name, without the knowledge that we have about people with disabilities. The one who went home from the hospital and probably told her friends and family that you had died. The one who, on this day, may be remembering the tiny and sick little baby that she walked away from.
Wesley, you were born by a mother who probably loved you before you were even born. She was likely scared when you arrived 10 weeks early and when you came out blue and not breathing. She, no doubt, grieved you as if you had died- because to her you had... and she was told in no uncertain terms (as were the orphanage workers) that you would be dead within a matter of a few weeks. But you were a survivor! And God placed you in her womb knowing that you would one day be our son. God planned your days out for your benefit and ours, and we are blessed by His great plan and that he entrusted us with you!
When I picked you up from the orphanage in Ukraine, a new life began for both of us. I was now your mom. You were now my son. I loved you so much, and you weren't quite sure who I was or why I'd taken you. You were waiting to go back to the orphanage, back to familiar, back to your safe place where you'd lived for almost 6 years. But instead you had me. You didn't know where you were headed after this next birthday, or that the future for you was nonexistant once you were transferred out of the baby house. You didn't know what the inside of the awful mental institution that you were set to be transferred looked like. I hope you never knew what it was to be tied to your bed or to go days without food. For you, I tool you out of everything you'd known and loved. For me, I kept you from danger and from pain and eventually death.
When our two realities collided we both had to adjust! You're learning what a mom and dad are, and what it means to be in a family! I'm learning who YOU are. Specifically. Purposefully.
"Just one of the guys" your bib said yesterday! I love that saying, because I do believe that as you learn and grow, you'll become "just one of the guys" as you blend in to our family, community, and your own new friendships that you'll form! But you have a purpose, you, specifically, and you will always be special in your very own ways which we are learning about day by day.
As we, together embrace this next year... as son, as mom, as dad, as family, with LOVE, I can't wait to see the great things that we have to learn about you and the great things that you will teach us.
I love you, Wesley Thomas! Happy 6th birthday my son!
Son (it gives me great joy to call you that!), you have brightened our days and already begun to teach us new things about people's abilities and strengths. You make us laugh and you drive us crazy :) Everything a little SIX year old boy should do for his parents!!
When we first laid eyes on you our hearts were touched and we began praying that God would bring you a family. One family loved you enough to provide the financial means for another to do it, and we praised God for that!! We knew your time was short and prayed and searched for someone for you. MANY people did! You touched hearts that you and I will never know about!
Then, there was your Daddy. He came and said "he just needs someone that can get TO him, and to raise him. That shouldn't be so hard to find." It wasn't long before he then said "Why not us?" We were conflicted because of our large family already... whether it was feasible to really go get you. We knew that we could take care of you and there was no question that we could wholly love you.
One morning we went to church and asked God to speak to us through the sermon or through another church member. We hadn't told many people that you were on our hearts because we knew the reactions would be very mixed and we needed consult only from a few trusted friends and family members (who we did share and ask them to pray).
During the church service Pastor Richard said this: "Some of you will leave this service and have to make a decision about something big. The answer that you're looking for is that you need to take the narrow path, the hard path. The wide path isn't the one for you." Ok-- so that's the jist of it... I have the actual words written elsewhere in this blog but that's the general idea.
That someone was us.
We came home, prayed, and then wrote an email to commit to your adoption. We'd already called our social worker. We'd already contacted people to care for our other kids during travel. Now the paper chase began.
In 6 short weeks God brought our dossier together and the paper pregnancy was coming to a close. I left for the mission trip to Ukraine to minister to birth families raising kids just like you and our 3 other little sweet Ukrainian kiddos. The amazing events that began at the very onset of that trip- before I even left the Orlando airport- brought us so much more confirmation that you were meant to be a part of our family. God was using our obedience to say YES to you to also bring your sister home. I won't tell her story here, because today's all about YOU! But you were the beginning, the catalyst, that brought her home too!
On September 19th I got to see your face for the first time and hold you in my arms! I learned for the first time that the news about your bad vision might have some bearing. I still didn't believe you were completely blind, or even as significantly impacted as you are, and I'm very glad I didn't know. Not because you wouldn't have come home... no, you were ours as soon as God confirmed it! No, because I would have worried so much more about how we would all adjust to the difficulties that were coming for us, for you. I would have wondered how we'd cope. But without knowing that you couldn't see... you were "just Wesley." Sweet happy little boy with only 'issues' that we were "comfortable" with.
Today, knowing that you don't see me in a clear way ... knowing that we have an added thing to overcome and to learn about... I'm 100% ok with it. Why? Because I already know you, and I already love you unconditionally.
I wonder, today, if it has been a very rough day for a mother in Ukraine. The one that carried you in her womb and who dreamed of being your mother. The one without a husband to name, without the knowledge that we have about people with disabilities. The one who went home from the hospital and probably told her friends and family that you had died. The one who, on this day, may be remembering the tiny and sick little baby that she walked away from.
Wesley, you were born by a mother who probably loved you before you were even born. She was likely scared when you arrived 10 weeks early and when you came out blue and not breathing. She, no doubt, grieved you as if you had died- because to her you had... and she was told in no uncertain terms (as were the orphanage workers) that you would be dead within a matter of a few weeks. But you were a survivor! And God placed you in her womb knowing that you would one day be our son. God planned your days out for your benefit and ours, and we are blessed by His great plan and that he entrusted us with you!
When I picked you up from the orphanage in Ukraine, a new life began for both of us. I was now your mom. You were now my son. I loved you so much, and you weren't quite sure who I was or why I'd taken you. You were waiting to go back to the orphanage, back to familiar, back to your safe place where you'd lived for almost 6 years. But instead you had me. You didn't know where you were headed after this next birthday, or that the future for you was nonexistant once you were transferred out of the baby house. You didn't know what the inside of the awful mental institution that you were set to be transferred looked like. I hope you never knew what it was to be tied to your bed or to go days without food. For you, I tool you out of everything you'd known and loved. For me, I kept you from danger and from pain and eventually death.
When our two realities collided we both had to adjust! You're learning what a mom and dad are, and what it means to be in a family! I'm learning who YOU are. Specifically. Purposefully.
"Just one of the guys" your bib said yesterday! I love that saying, because I do believe that as you learn and grow, you'll become "just one of the guys" as you blend in to our family, community, and your own new friendships that you'll form! But you have a purpose, you, specifically, and you will always be special in your very own ways which we are learning about day by day.
As we, together embrace this next year... as son, as mom, as dad, as family, with LOVE, I can't wait to see the great things that we have to learn about you and the great things that you will teach us.
I love you, Wesley Thomas! Happy 6th birthday my son!
James
Here's answers to a few questions about James:
Q: Does he have any other way of drinking that you can just give him that and let the bottle disappear?
A: NO. He could, it's not a matter of function or know-how. It's a matter of will. And he has a very VERY strong one! It has served him well in life, and will continue to as he "advocates" for himself! But in this case, I admit I wish his will was just a BIT LESS :).
Q: Does James eat any food so you can give him a cup with the food and just see what happens?
A: Not really. He eats a few cheerios or a few jars of babyfood, but recently he's been having more reflux (again) and he's been on JUST Pediasure. We give him 'pleasure tastes' of food and try to help him learn to move them around and swallow nicely, but generally they come back up along with the Pediasure. So, for now, the Pediasure stays down... it's just Pediasure!
Q: Some of your stories of how to say goodbye to the bottle: We cut the bottle nipple and told our kids it was broken/ We were told the Easter Bunny needed them for baby bunnies/ We got a new gift and that replaced the bottles/ We had a special time buying new big kid cups and wrapped them, etc...
A: All of these are GREAT ideas, and if it was a different child, I'd try some of these! Unfortunately, though James is 4 1/2, he doesn't really understand that one thing is replacing another. For instance taking him shopping for sippy's or a toy he wouldn't get the connection between that and the bottle. Also, who knows what kind of cup he'd choose, or whether it's even one he could figure out how to use... But I love the creativity here! The cut nipple we MAY try, simply because it may make him not want the bottle, but I'm not sure that it would be any help in getting him TO take any of the other cups...
For now, we are giving James a choice of a sippy (which has no spout and just pours right out, so he only has to tip it for now, not figure out how to suck it out) and a straw cup (with a regular disposable straw, or sometimes a juice box with the tiny straw, but nothing with a valve like regular sippy cups). He has Pediasure in each of them and they've been on his tray for Lunch, Dinner, and now Breakfast. He will occasionally pick one up, act like he's going to drink, then put it down. He knows HOW to do these, but has only done them one or two sips at a time ever... because he's stubborn :).
I went to the GI doctor yesterday and also had speech therapy for James. Both agree that he needs to just have it put in front of him and left, with h im in his chair, and he'll decide to drink it after a while when he's really hungry. Until then, he'll ignore it. So... that's what it is for now. He's not so happy about it, but he's not upset either... unless I try to help him take a sip :) Then he's furious! LOL It's actually almost comical how quickly he can trade between playing and realizing what's happening and being MAD.
And so... I look forward to posting a picture of my BIG BOY with his new big boy CUP whenever he decides that he would like to drink!
(PS: We are monitoring for dehydration and he has a mini-button (gtube) so we will give him water as necessary to keep him hydrated if he decides not to drink for an extended period of time. No worries, he's not going to starve!! But he also won't be getting the bottle back. YES, I have to keep telling myself that because if he doesn't drink I have NO idea what we're going to do if we don't just give it back! LOL)
Q: Does he have any other way of drinking that you can just give him that and let the bottle disappear?
A: NO. He could, it's not a matter of function or know-how. It's a matter of will. And he has a very VERY strong one! It has served him well in life, and will continue to as he "advocates" for himself! But in this case, I admit I wish his will was just a BIT LESS :).
Q: Does James eat any food so you can give him a cup with the food and just see what happens?
A: Not really. He eats a few cheerios or a few jars of babyfood, but recently he's been having more reflux (again) and he's been on JUST Pediasure. We give him 'pleasure tastes' of food and try to help him learn to move them around and swallow nicely, but generally they come back up along with the Pediasure. So, for now, the Pediasure stays down... it's just Pediasure!
Q: Some of your stories of how to say goodbye to the bottle: We cut the bottle nipple and told our kids it was broken/ We were told the Easter Bunny needed them for baby bunnies/ We got a new gift and that replaced the bottles/ We had a special time buying new big kid cups and wrapped them, etc...
A: All of these are GREAT ideas, and if it was a different child, I'd try some of these! Unfortunately, though James is 4 1/2, he doesn't really understand that one thing is replacing another. For instance taking him shopping for sippy's or a toy he wouldn't get the connection between that and the bottle. Also, who knows what kind of cup he'd choose, or whether it's even one he could figure out how to use... But I love the creativity here! The cut nipple we MAY try, simply because it may make him not want the bottle, but I'm not sure that it would be any help in getting him TO take any of the other cups...
For now, we are giving James a choice of a sippy (which has no spout and just pours right out, so he only has to tip it for now, not figure out how to suck it out) and a straw cup (with a regular disposable straw, or sometimes a juice box with the tiny straw, but nothing with a valve like regular sippy cups). He has Pediasure in each of them and they've been on his tray for Lunch, Dinner, and now Breakfast. He will occasionally pick one up, act like he's going to drink, then put it down. He knows HOW to do these, but has only done them one or two sips at a time ever... because he's stubborn :).
I went to the GI doctor yesterday and also had speech therapy for James. Both agree that he needs to just have it put in front of him and left, with h im in his chair, and he'll decide to drink it after a while when he's really hungry. Until then, he'll ignore it. So... that's what it is for now. He's not so happy about it, but he's not upset either... unless I try to help him take a sip :) Then he's furious! LOL It's actually almost comical how quickly he can trade between playing and realizing what's happening and being MAD.
And so... I look forward to posting a picture of my BIG BOY with his new big boy CUP whenever he decides that he would like to drink!
(PS: We are monitoring for dehydration and he has a mini-button (gtube) so we will give him water as necessary to keep him hydrated if he decides not to drink for an extended period of time. No worries, he's not going to starve!! But he also won't be getting the bottle back. YES, I have to keep telling myself that because if he doesn't drink I have NO idea what we're going to do if we don't just give it back! LOL)
Wednesday, February 02, 2011
Tomorrow is...
Bye Bye Bottle Day!!!
Ready or Not, James... Here we go...
Micah has been off the bottle for ONE WEEK! Now that there's no one else on the bottle (for James to see), it's HIS turn too! We tried to do them together, but James is VERY resistant. He'll be getting checked out early from school tomorrow and home on Fri for a long weekend with Mom and Dad to learn how to get his nutritional needs met in some way other than an infant bottle. After all, Monday he will be exactly 4 1/2 and that's plenty old to be sucking on a bottle ;).
We also see GI tomorrow morning for Wesley, so I will ask him about any suggestions he has so we can avoid tube-feeding as the alternative to bottle feeding. I *hope* it doesn't come to that, though!
What ideas do you have for saying "goodbye!" to the bottle??
Ready or Not, James... Here we go...
Micah has been off the bottle for ONE WEEK! Now that there's no one else on the bottle (for James to see), it's HIS turn too! We tried to do them together, but James is VERY resistant. He'll be getting checked out early from school tomorrow and home on Fri for a long weekend with Mom and Dad to learn how to get his nutritional needs met in some way other than an infant bottle. After all, Monday he will be exactly 4 1/2 and that's plenty old to be sucking on a bottle ;).
We also see GI tomorrow morning for Wesley, so I will ask him about any suggestions he has so we can avoid tube-feeding as the alternative to bottle feeding. I *hope* it doesn't come to that, though!
What ideas do you have for saying "goodbye!" to the bottle??
Tuesday, February 01, 2011
Does he SEE??
Today I took Aleksa and Wesley to the Opthalmologist. This is the one appointment that I have been looking forward to the most for both kids, second being Wesley's PT eval where I learned what stretches to do for him. The next two are Ortho (Thursday) and GI (next week) for Wesley where we'll also get some answers for him.
Today we got quite a few answers, though.
First, Aleksa. She's near sighted, fairly significantly (a script almost double Emma's), and will be getting glasses immediately. We went ahead and picked some out there in the office and when I bring my other 4 kids to their eye appointments later this month, they will bring the new glasses and 'fit' them to the kids at that time. I'm glad to hear this is what's going on with her, since it answers some questions about her depth perception and going down stairs and ramps and such. She seems like she'll wear the glasses fairly well! Here's hoping...
Now, Wesley.
Wesley is blind.
Although we were told this months ago before we adopted him, we knew that Wesley was able to follow us around a room and follow objects up to about 3 feet away with good accuracy. He seems to be able to distinguish people even without their voices present. It seems like he can actually see pretty well.
But he can't.
Wesley's optic nerve has "severe atrophy and is misshapen" on both eyes. In addition to that, he is significantly nearsighted. Here's some info straight from PubMed Health website about the optic nerve:
"The optic nerve carries images of what we see from the eye to the brain."
"Optic nerve atrophy causes vision to dim and reduces the field of vision. The ability to see fine detail will also be lost. Colors will seem faded. The pupil reaction to light will diminish and may eventually be lost."
"Damage from optic nerve atrophy cannot be reversed. The underlying disease must be found and treated, if possible, to prevent further loss."
We were told that Wesley may have "I can see you waving 3' away" vision, or he may have "I can count your fingers 2' away" vision. But even with glasses he's not likely to have any better vision than that. Realistically, he should be completely blind based on the way his optic nerve looks. Obviously... he's not :).
As far as preparing for "life" with Wesley, we should focus on bright distinctive colors with high contrast that are close up for anything that we want him to learn. Using a communication device may or may not be feasible, but something with broad ranges of possibilities of size, color, and contrast will likely be a possibility.
We were also told that glasses may or may not even help him. And he hates them. Passionately. The mommy in me that wants to be able to do the best that is possible for him really wants to try the glasses. Maybe he'll see more. Maybe he'll get used to them too. And if not, then we have wasted $100 but gave it our best shot. So, that's what we'll do.
Time for reality. Next is orthopedic doctor on Thursday where I'll find out if his hips are dislocated or not and if he can do weight bearing in PT or not. It will make a huge difference on what direction we go from here with PT and what type of orthotics we get him, etc.
Now we have 4 kids in glasses. When we have the other 4 kids' vision evaluated later this month, do you think we'll have 5 or 6? We shall see...
Today we got quite a few answers, though.
First, Aleksa. She's near sighted, fairly significantly (a script almost double Emma's), and will be getting glasses immediately. We went ahead and picked some out there in the office and when I bring my other 4 kids to their eye appointments later this month, they will bring the new glasses and 'fit' them to the kids at that time. I'm glad to hear this is what's going on with her, since it answers some questions about her depth perception and going down stairs and ramps and such. She seems like she'll wear the glasses fairly well! Here's hoping...
Now, Wesley.
Wesley is blind.
Although we were told this months ago before we adopted him, we knew that Wesley was able to follow us around a room and follow objects up to about 3 feet away with good accuracy. He seems to be able to distinguish people even without their voices present. It seems like he can actually see pretty well.
But he can't.
Wesley's optic nerve has "severe atrophy and is misshapen" on both eyes. In addition to that, he is significantly nearsighted. Here's some info straight from PubMed Health website about the optic nerve:
"The optic nerve carries images of what we see from the eye to the brain."
"Optic nerve atrophy causes vision to dim and reduces the field of vision. The ability to see fine detail will also be lost. Colors will seem faded. The pupil reaction to light will diminish and may eventually be lost."
"Damage from optic nerve atrophy cannot be reversed. The underlying disease must be found and treated, if possible, to prevent further loss."
We were told that Wesley may have "I can see you waving 3' away" vision, or he may have "I can count your fingers 2' away" vision. But even with glasses he's not likely to have any better vision than that. Realistically, he should be completely blind based on the way his optic nerve looks. Obviously... he's not :).
As far as preparing for "life" with Wesley, we should focus on bright distinctive colors with high contrast that are close up for anything that we want him to learn. Using a communication device may or may not be feasible, but something with broad ranges of possibilities of size, color, and contrast will likely be a possibility.
We were also told that glasses may or may not even help him. And he hates them. Passionately. The mommy in me that wants to be able to do the best that is possible for him really wants to try the glasses. Maybe he'll see more. Maybe he'll get used to them too. And if not, then we have wasted $100 but gave it our best shot. So, that's what we'll do.
Time for reality. Next is orthopedic doctor on Thursday where I'll find out if his hips are dislocated or not and if he can do weight bearing in PT or not. It will make a huge difference on what direction we go from here with PT and what type of orthotics we get him, etc.
Now we have 4 kids in glasses. When we have the other 4 kids' vision evaluated later this month, do you think we'll have 5 or 6? We shall see...
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