The weekend in review

-- Sienna's top toofers are coming in -- one has broken through (the girl now as 3! At 6 months!).  Their arrival has not been nearly as easy as her bottom toofers, and suffice it to say I have not had a lot of sleep the last several nights.

-- Sienna is sitting up like a champ.  Her neck is still getting better, and the PT has now released us from any more appointments.  It's been a long 4 months of sometimes 3 doctor appointments a week.  We will continue to go to the chiro appointments, but I'm hoping those will taper off, too.

-- We went to the family cabin in the mountain for the long NYE weekend with Tygh's sister and her husband and their 19-month-old son, who is Brae's cousin brother.  He is also adopted, and Brae adores him.  It was so great to get away with some family and ring in the new year together (even if we were in bed the second after midnight).

-- Here are some fun pics through the eyes of Americana: public sledding down a random hill off the highway = mass chaos.  I alone witnessed three separate incidences that probably all require some kind of medical treatment. 

 

Last week, Brae also attended his first professional basketball game with Tygh.  Tygh's company has courtside seats, so he took Tygh and a friend of Tygh's and his 5-year-old son.  It was a complete blast that Brae is still talking about (and wearing his jersey to bed each night).  If you know my son, he LOVES basketball.  It didn't get much better than this: 

Christmas by bullets, love from afar, and a Brae-ism

-- As the product of divorce, we travel all over God's green earth celebrating Christmas.  This year was no exception.  Four Christmases this year = lots of booty for the kiddos.

-- Yet, in it all, we kept reminding Brae that Christmas is Jesus' birthday.  Because Jesus is so special, we get to celebrate His birthday over a period of 4 days.  And the reason we give each other gifts on Christmas is because the 3 wise men brought presents when Jesus was born.  Giving gifts to each other is a way to celebrate the birth of Jesus.

-- Brae must have sang "Happy birthday" to Jesus about 10 times over the long weekend.  When I would ask him how old Jesus is, he replied, "Jesus is 2." 


--  When Brae woke up Christmas morning, he immediately started heading downstairs.  I had to yell, "WAIT! Don't go downstairs yet!", as I quickly finished getting dressed, raced downstairs after him, in search of the video camera.  "Don't come down, Brae! Mommy has to get the video camera!"  At that point, Brae was on the bottom step, but had not yet turned to see the tree or presents.  I jumped over him, and darted toward the camera.  Huffing and puffing, I turned it on, and said, "Okay, now you can come downstairs."  Brae smiled.  Then he gleefully climbed all the way back up the stairs and started s.l.o.w.l.y coming down the stairs again.  Cute kid -- he thought the big excitement was him climbing down the stairs.  ha ha!  When he did turn the corner on the last step, and saw all the presents that were not there the night before, he stopped dead in his tracks and his mouth fell to the floor.

-- Brae's birthfamily mailed to the agency a TON of gifts for him that I then picked up.  We feel so blessed that his birthfamily has sent gifts to him each year, and a card with all their signatures saying how much they love him.

-- Sienna's genetic family also sent her a TON of gifts that were so special to us and meant so much.  The best, by far, was a recordable storybook about Frosty the Snowman.  The first page of the book opens with them all wishing her a first merry Christmas with her family.  They say how much they love her and think of her and how they hope to meet her one day.  I still have yet to read the entire book, because I can't stop crying long enough to turn the first page.  We are so blessed to have extended families that love our kiddos so much.

-- Brae-ism: We are practicing putting on underwear the correct way.  The other day, I must have told Brae three different times that the flap in the front indicates the front of his underwear, and that the solid part in the back indicates the back of his underwear.  Yet, each time, he kept putting the underwear on backwards.  Finally, sensing my frustration, he pulled off his underwear, held it out in front of him, stuck his head inside it, looked around, and then pulled his head out.  "Mom," he said, "there's no map in there."  And then he walked away, naked.

Warning: You will cry.

Adoption changes lives.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iexJtB57bkY&feature=share

A post of (more) pics

Sienna's 6 month stats (and more Brae stories)

Sienna's 6 month stats:

-- She is 27 3/4 inches (98th percentile).  She is actually 3/4 of an inch longer than Brae at this same age.
-- She weights 18 lbs, 11.5 ounces (90th percentile).  She is 2 pounds heavier than Brae at this same age. 
-- Her head is 17 inches circumference.  That is the 76th percentile.

All in all, a well-proportioned girl.  She has been in 12-18 month clothes.... for a while. 

She is sitting on her own for periods of time.  And she rolls, rolls, rolls.

Dr. said her eyes will probably stay the color they are (sky blue).  We are in trouble. ; )

She's starting to get a little more hair.  It's strawberry blond. 

We received a Christmas card from our donors, and their children's 3rd grade pictures.  The resemblance between Sienna and her genetic sister is ASTOUNDING.  If Sienna ends up looking anything like her, she is going to be a beauty (of course, we believe she already is). 

Her torticollis has greatly improved.  The PT thinks she may only need one more appointment.  She still likely has several more chiro appointments in her future, however. 

Brae stories:

-- We had a visit from Roto-Rooter the other night.  Brae stuffed an entire roll of ultra-thick Charmin toilet paper down the toilet.  That ended up being a $150 dollar lesson.

-- Brae only needs about 10-11 hours of sleep, total, in a 24-hour period.  He takes a 2-hour nap at his school.  Which means he only needs 8-9 hours at night. Which means he often likes to play in his room until about 9-10 p.m. at night (much to our chagrin).  Which also means that Mommy and Daddy are in bed before he is (!).  Sometimes, this poses a problem. Case in point -- it was 9:30 last night and Tygh and I had just climbed into bed.  We had heard Brae talking to his imaginary schoolmates in his room.  Then, about 10 minutes later, I hear Brae open his door.  Silence.  Silence for the next 5 minutes. 

More silence. 

Then, I hear a loud "HOLA!" from Flicker, his Handy Manny flashlight.  Brae is pointing Flicker right in my face, and has turned on the light right in my eyes. 

Me: "Brae, what are you doing?
Brae: "Mommy, I came to say good night and I needed a flashlight to come and find you."

Sigh.  How can I ever get upset with this boy?

Pictures galore!

Brae-isms Part....?? .... who knows... there has been a lot

-- 'Tis the season to teach my son about giving.  Sure, I try to do it year-round, but this time of year provides a wealth of opportunities.  I really wanted to do something very impactful, like serve at a soup kitchen, but I have to remind myself he's only 3 years old, and what really can he comprehend?  So, my work participates in the community food drives, so I thought that would be a perfect opportunity.  Last night, I sat Brae down and the conversation went something like this:

  Me: "Brae, you know when you are hungry, Mommy and Daddy give you food?"
  Brae: (nods)
  Me: "Well, did you know that there are some people that don't have any food? So, when they are hungry, they   don't have any food to eat."
  Brae: (eyes get very wide).  "No food to eat?"
  Me: "That's right.  Would you like to fill a box with some food and give it to the people who don't have any food to eat?"
  Brae: (eyes widen again) "Yes!"

So, for the next ten minutes, we filled up a box with food from our pantry, and I tried to explain to Brae that they would not want his half-eaten boxes of raisins.

-- Brae is Mr. Entertainer.  He loves to make people laugh.  Case in point -- were playing t-ball in the living room last night, and after he  hit the ball, he'd chase after it, carrying his bat.  Well, he tripped over his bat and totally bit it on the floor.  He just started laughing hysterically.  Then, he saw me laughing.  Well, that was way too much for him to handle -- he loved doing that.  So, for the next half an hour, he'd chase after the ball again, and then pretend to totally bite it on the floor again, and again, and again.  He just wanted to make his Mommy laugh. 

-- Brae: "Mommy, why does the moon follow us home every night?"
    Me: "Ummmmmm......"

Blessed by infertility.

We celebrated our 6-year wedding anniversary this last weekend.  Six years of joyfully bumpy wedded bliss.  By far, our biggest marital "struggle" has been infertility.  When we got married, we had no idea that we would be blessed with at least one confirmed miscarriage and years of infertility.

That's right, I said blessed. 

I say blessed because without infertility, we would not have experienced the joy of adoption.  If you have never experienced domestic adoption, and been on that wild ride, you cannot relate to the whirlwind journey.  It is a ride.  It is thrilling, exhilarating, desperate, painful, anxious, nervous, climactic, a bring-you-to-your-knees encounter to the very core of who you are.  Everything you've ever thought about life and the loss of life (abortion, miscarriage, child neglect) is challenged. 

I say blessed because without infertility, we would not have come face to face with our need for God.  During our struggle, we've never been more angry at, scared of, in awe of, delighted by, and humbled by our Maker.

I say blessed because without infertility, we would never have been given the lens through which you see miracles take place. 

I say blessed because without infertility, we would never have had so many tears shed, fights, bitter silence, sob-filled hugs, or cling-to-eachother moments. 

I say blessed because without infertility, we would have never taken our journey to NEDC and Tennessee.  We would never have met Jennifer and Dave.  We never would have got to experience the miracle of life, frozen, in a petri dish, thawed, transferred, and given the chance to grow into a beautiful baby girl.

Sure, we could have been blessed by getting pregnant easily, and carrying to term without any complications, and giving birth to beautiful children.

But, then we would not have Brae and Sienna.  The only way for Brae and Sienna to come to be ours was through infertility and adoption. 

And, we wouldn't have it any other way.

Our six years of marriage has brought us incredible blessings.

Witness to a miracle, b-ball, and so proud...

-- This last weekend, I witnessed a miracle.  In Brae's room, there is a large, heavy glass globe covering his ceiling light.  Kind of like this:
Brae and Sienna were rolling around on the floor, beneath the ceiling light.  I was sitting near them, leaning against the closet.  After watching them giggle and play, I decided it was time to get Brae dressed for the football game he was going to.  I pulled Brae away from the center of the room and toward the closet.  And then I swept Sienna up right alongside me so she could watch as I got Brae dressed.

Then... within seconds after swooping the kiddos to my side, this ceiling light crashed to the floor and broke into a thousand pieces.  It broke in the EXACT place that both Sienna and Brae had been seconds before.  It was such a loud sound, we were all shaken.  The glass scattered all throughout the room, except none in our direction. 

Seconds earlier, my son and my daughter were lying on their backs, giggling, staring up at that very light.  I cannot stop replaying the "what-ifs" in my head.

I immediately fell flat on my face in prayer and thanksgiving.

I went to Bible study that night and told what had happened.  One of my favorite remarks was, "Can you imagine what was going on in the spiritual realm right before? That Satan and his demons were chuckling, just waiting for the light to crash on your babies? And yet, God and His angels were not going to let that light crash until you had swept those babies out of the way."

Wow.

-- I've said it before, and I'll say it again.  Brae is a basketball phenomenon.  This last weekend, we went to a birthday party that was held at an indoor arcade place, of sorts.  They had a pop-a-shot basketball game, which we ended up spending all of our tokens on.  Brae played for probably 20 minutes, and by the end, he had gathered a small crowd of onlookers around him, marveling at this little boy, with his stance, jump shot, and swooshing in basket after basket.  I was so proud.

-- And speaking of so proud, my husband just got a huge job promotion at work!  I know how much a man's career means to them and their self-esteem, and I could not be prouder that my husband has put his heart and soul into his job, and it is being recognized and rewarded.

I am thankful and blessed.

The power of prayer. And Brae-isms.

-- I am in two small Bible study groups.  We meet on a regular basis.  At each meeting, we state our prayer requests, and then we pray for one another.  My prayer request for the last several weeks has been healing for Sienna's neck.  A week passed after our last meeting.  No real progress.  In fact, I thought we were slipping backwards.  And then, the next week came.  Seemingly out of nowhere, her neck started to improve.  She started holding her head up straight.  She started showing incredible range of motion.  In fact, Tygh and I would look at each other in disbelief.  It's like she just "got better" on her own.  What we believe, in reality, is that God answered our prayers and healed our baby girl.

-- Part of the concern with her neck was delayed physical development.  And yet, this last weekend, our baby girl, at barely 5 months of age, has started "sitting" on her own for about 20 seconds at a time ("average" age is 6 months).  She's also started rolling... and rolling... and rolling... all over the room.  It is her way of getting from one place to another.  We feel so blessed.

Braeisms:

-- He's doing great going #1 in the toilet.  #2 is a different story.  But, he tries. Oh, the boy tries.  This last weekend, he wanted me to leave him to his business to try #2.  So I went to the kitchen.  About a minute later, I hear him screaming.  I run to the bathroom.  The boy has f.a.l.l.e.n into the toilet.  I just see his feet sticking up in the air.  Ha ha ha! I tried so hard to muffle my laugh.  Then, I thought to myself, do I have time to go run and get my camera? No, I thought.  That would probably not be the "good Mommy" thing to do.  So, I helped him up, and encouraged him to use his toilet seat next time.

-- Brae: "Mommy, where did the moon go?"
    Me: "It's hiding behind the clouds."
    Brae:  (Long pause).... "Mommy, is the moon going to count to 10 and then come and find me?"

-- I am a University of Oregon Duck fan.  Tygh is an Oregon State University Beaver fan.  This last weekend, as we (I) was rooting the Ducks to victory over Stanford (while, ahem, the Beavers choked.... again....), I shouted to Brae, "Brae! Say GOOOO Ducks!" He looked at me cross-eyed.  "NO! Mommy! GOOOO Beavers!"  .... Clearly Tygh is having more of an influence than I am.  

Brae's 3 year stats

We had Brae's 3 year appointment today.

Stats:

--75th percentile for weight
-- 70th percentile for height

Dr. observations:

-- He was very impressed with how well Brae talks.  Brae was the typical clown and had the dr. in stitches the whole time.
-- He was very impressed that Brae is bilingual.
-- He said Brae is very intelligent,very outgoing and sociable.

(Okay, seriously, don't ALL doctors say ALL these nice things to their patients? I can't really imagine a dr. saying, "Gee, your child is pretty dumb...")

-- He gave us some good tips for battling the bedtime temper tantrums.
-- Brae showed off his Spiderman underwear.

Cute Brae story: This morning, as we were rushing around the house to get to the doctor, I put Brae in his bathroom in front of the mirror.  I gave him his toothbrush with toothpaste on it.  Brae really wanted to call Daddy on the cell phone and tell him that he wanted to go golfing with him. 

Me: "Brae, here, you brush your teeth and I'll go get the cell phone."
Brae: "No, Mommy.  You brush the teeth and I'll go get the cell phone." 

Hmmm.... he must have seen great grandma take her teeth out one too many times.

Kiss my butt and Botox for baby

Brae story:

Whenever Brae has had a boo-boo, I've always kissed it and magically it just gets better.  He really believes in the healing power of my kiss.

So, it was no wonder when the other day, he slipped on the hardwood floor and went straight down on his bum.  He picked himself up, pulled down his pants, and his underwear (yes! underwear! not diaper!), and called out my name.  "Mommy!"  I came rushing down to find him backing his bum up to my face.  "Mommy! Kiss my butt!"

*****
At last week's physical therapy appointment, the therapist said that if Sienna's neck has not dramatically improved by 6 months (1 month from now), she would recommend a physiotherapist and possible Botox injections in her neck.

Seriously? Injecting Botulism in my daughter?

I think we'll be getting a new physical therapist.