My little big boys

They are not big. They are not little anymore either.



Jordan and Thomas. My little big boys.

Let me tell you about Thomas for a minute. He has always wanted to become a doctor. Not just any kind of doctor, but a Family Doctor specifically. I can't remember a time when he wanted to be anything else. He insists that he will never change his mind.

From time to time we drive past the local medical school and he always refers to it as his school. The little kids even call it Thomas's school.

Now, I'm not making this kid out to be some sort of saint, because he has plenty of flaws. As we all do. But, he has such a tender and sensitive heart. He is easily affected. The good thing is that he is open to talking to me about it. I remember one time a few years ago when he came to me in tears. He didn't know why he was crying, he just felt like it. Boy can I relate!!

So now that you know a little bit about Thomas you won't be surprised to hear what he did today. He did some odd jobs today for a lady that we know from church. When he came home he said that he earned $15 and then he handed me $5. I asked him what it was for. He said it was for Alec and Zhenya.

That just brought tears to my eyes. I shouldn't have been surprised, though. This is the same kid that stayed up late helping us clean house on the night before our adoption home study. He was scrubbing the bathroom floor that night and I could hear him chanting to himself, "it's worth it. It's worth it."

Yes, he gets it. The hard work, the sacrifice, the tears. It is worth it to save the lives of Alec and Zhenya and bring them home to be a part of our family.

When will I learn?

I'm 40. Not a spring chicken anymore! So when will I learn?

1. If you go to the grocery store in your old sweats, with no makeup on, you are certain to run into old friends.

2. The E on the gas gauge really does mean empty.

3. Every day starts with poopy diapers. Just get used to it.

4. I have the very best friends. I know I don't deserve you. You know who you are!

These little guys...

These little guys are about all I can think about right now.

We leave on July 11 to travel to their country to meet them. I have less than three weeks to get my act together. Good thing I work well under intense pressure, huh?

I need to:
1. pack - for a whole month
2. shop - I have no decent clothes to complete job #1
3. write - instructions and plans for my children at home. been putting this one off. may need to ask for help.
4. fund raise - we are about $3500 short at this point. Enchilada orders are pouring in, thank God, but may need to get more creative.

Visit me over at Psalm68. I have a couple of little giveaways going on over there. I'm having trouble keeping up both blogs right now, so please bear with me. Busy, busy, busy!

Ralph's wish.

Please ignore the dirty mirror! Ralph just LOVES to steal someones drink and sit in front of his mirror. He likes to watch himself drink! He also loves to kiss his reflection. Hence, the gooky glass!
Today the Make-a-Wish wish granters came over to our house. Yep, Ralph is getting a wish! Since Ralph does not even know who Mickey Mouse is, he would not wish to go to Disney World. Could you imagine sending our whole family? Ridiculous.

Ralph's greatest desire seems to be to "go!" Going outside to play is what turns this kid on. He needs a safe, enclosed place to play. We'll be working with the wish granters to come up with just the right thing. He's going to be sooooo happy when it's ready. Can't wait!!

Ralph - Cardio Update

Ralph is three. He is fun. He has a mind of his own. He is a diaper escape artist. He totally cracks me up!

He gets medicine at 11pm. Here is what I found last night when it was medicine time:

He had shorts on when I put him to bed, but they were obviously not snug enough!

This is what I found this morning when I gave him his 7am meds:

Do you see him? Under the sheet? I'm laughing just thinking about it now. The sheet was still secure at all four corners. I can't imagine how he got under there without ripping a corner of the sheet off. That boy!

Ralph had his cardiologist appointment yesterday. He's a little rock star at the cardio office. All the ladies fawn over him whenever he shows up. Yesterday was no different.

EKG time first. It is always mildly humiliating...the things we have to do to get him to sit still and not pull wires when he gets his EKG. Bubbles, silly dances, anything to get his mind off the wires stuck all over his chest. This time wasn't so bad.

Then came the echo. We took a walk down the hall to the echo room and they already have a Sesame Street video playing. Ralph wanted to watch the video, but he didn't want to lay down to do it! I convinced him but he kept scooting around.

I used to keep my eyes glued to the echo screen, trying to see if I could guess what the doctor would say about the size of his heart and the pulmonary pressures. But, I came into this appointment very confident that these things were improving, so I only snuck a quick glance.

We don't have to wait long for echo results upon returning to our room. Ralph's heart is less large than it was five months ago. Good news! Especially since he has been off his diuretics for about that long.

Ralph's pulmonary pressures have not improved. They are about the same as last time. This is NOT what I was expecting. It's not terrible news, but it is enough to take the wind out of my sails.

Here is the reality: Ralph has pulmonary hypertension. It is a chronic, often progressive, disease. He can grow out of it, sure. He might not. At this point in time, we cannot afford to let his pulmonary pressures increase at all.

I've been sloppy with his medication schedule, thinking that he was doing just great. Well, no more of that. He is back on a strict 8 hour schedule. And his dosage has gone up, since he is growing.

This is not what I wanted my family to have to deal with when I'm out of the country adopting Alec and Zhenya. I need to put together a little check sheet to make sure the important things like medication get done on time. I'll put that on my list. To make a list.

My wasted day.

Oh what a day. I had a doctor appointment today. I might tell you about it sometime. I'm fresh out of teenagers at home so I was going to drop a few children and a stroller at the zoo with a friend. I was getting ready to leave when it dawned on me that when the guys took the van to the shop to have the AC looked at again, they took the carseats and stroller with it.

I had a 30 second panic attack and then I pressed on. Ruby still fits in an infant seat. I found something else for Ralph. The zoo trip wasn't going to work without a stroller; I wouldn't do that to a friend. It's a good thing it didn't work.

I arrived 15 minutes early. While checking in, with Ralph on my hip and Ruby in the baby seat, I was informed that the doc was running 30 minutes behind. I had a bad feeling about this. Long story short...we were there 2 1/2 hours. Right thru lunch. The receptionist did feel sorry for me and brought us some crackers and bottled water. What a way to waste a day.

When I got home the house was 83F! Last night was so cool and comfy that we had turned off the AC. The poor dog was miserable! The kids at home were smart enough to play in the basement where it was a little cooler. I just felt bad for being gone so long, nearly 4 hours.

Tomorrow...guess what? If you said another doctor appointment, you win!

Ralph is going to the cardiologist for his six month check. Actually it's only been five. I moved the appointment up since James and I may be out of the country next month. I'm hopeful that the doctor will make some additional medicine changes and I wanted to do this before we leave. I'm hoping that the changes will make it easier to care for him while we are gone.

Ralph is only on one medication these days. I'm looking forward to the day when he is on NONE!

How's it going?

Now that it is summer and we are spending time at the ballpark I keep running into old friends and acquaintances. Do you even want to know how often we have baseball games? Every.stinkin'.day.

I get asked, "How's it going?" a lot. So I am obligated to tell them how it's going, right? Of course. So I tell them about our adoption adventures. I mean, it is a big deal and it's pretty much consuming our lives right now. That and baseball! :)

If you didn't know, I'm keeping a blog about all the adoption matters. I try to compartmentalize my blogging, but we are getting very close to the travel stage and the adoption stuff is getting intense.

If you want to know how it's going head on over to Psalm68.

Goodbye Richard, hello potty!

This morning I put my second son on a plane for California. Actually, I hugged him and watched him walk off into the security check. He's working with the maintenance department of a Christian camp outside of Fresno.

I know that he is going to have a great summer. He'll have plenty of free time to enjoy Gods creation and train for his upcoming cross-country season at a higher altitude. He won't have any small children to look after, dishes to wash, or...I was going to say laundry, but he will still be doing his own laundry!

One small problem. He took my camera. Honestly, the camera belongs to him. I've just been using it so much and for so long that it seems like it's mine. I promised photos of Ralph and I don't have them yet!

On a brighter note, Ralph is acting so grown up lately! He is using the potty regularly during the day. Soon, I'll bet, he will be dry all day long. It is so cool to watch him finally "get it" when I ask him to go potty. He such a little champ!!

Tomorrow is another (busy) day.

I hope you had an enjoyable holiday weekend!

On Monday, I took the opportunity to take a three hour drive to go see my mom and grandma. It was the one day that we had no ball games, nothing going on at church, and dad was at home - very important because I was not about to take everyone with me this time! I took Richard, Rose and Ruby.

I took Richard because he is leaving for California on Saturday morning. He'll be gone all summer working at a camp outside of Fresno. When he gets home in August he will only have two or three days before he needs to report to his college. I'm not even sure when I will see him, since I may be in Europe in August! :(

I took Ruby with me because she needed to show off to her great-grandma. They haven't seen each other since Christmas. Ruby has grown a bunch since then and is walking now. She is just plain fun!

Don't ask me why I took Rose, because sometimes I even wonder! Her nickname is boo, as in boo-hoo if you catch my drift. She just loves her grandmas, so I guess it was a good thing to take her. She did cry all the way home, though. It must be hard to be a seven year old girl.

We got home really late on Monday night. I couldn't get to sleep right away because I was really wired from driving. Tuesday morning came very early. I really wondered what went on when I wasn't here. Mainly because of what I found in Ralph's diaper that morning! I appeared that Ralph had eaten a bunch of sawdust the day before. I'm not sure if I even want to ask.

This morning was an appointment bonanza. Three children, four appointments, four different forms to be filled out! It's good to get things done in an efficient way like that. Next week is different with an appointment or meeting on each day of the week. Not really looking forward to that. It really messes up my day.

I'm a little disappointed in our summer so far. I was looking forward to doing some fun things together. So far I've lost total control over the house! Maybe I'm just having a bad day. I'm still worn out from my day trip on Monday. I've got zero energy today.

Well, I think I'll go to bed early tonight. Tomorrow is another day.