kids,chickens,goats,oh my!

2007-06-09T18:10:00.000-04:00

i miss this blog.... anybody know how to change a blog address, but yet keep the blog?

nilam

2007-05-20T10:54:00.000-04:00

Our little girl is home and doing well. this will be the last post at this web address. we appreciate everyone's care, concern, prayers, and understanding. we are a very blessed family and so thankful to have nilam in our family. He is a wondrous God.

2007-05-15T22:34:00.000-04:00

UNO,DOS,TRES,....AND

2007-05-15T21:37:00.000-04:00

CUATRO COMES TOMORROW!! tomorrow we will officially have four children. but our happiness is mixed with sadness. praying for healing for little and big hearts.

two more days

2007-05-14T16:10:00.000-04:00

and i will get to hold my nilam.....cant quite put feelings into words.

i will be so totally relieved when both of my girls are home.....words cant quite convey the depth of that feeling either.

KYLEE DAWN!

2007-05-04T23:07:00.000-04:00

AND HERE SHE IS ......OUR DOG! MISS KYLEE IS 8 YEARS OLD AND IS A BLACK LAB MIX.....we are so glad she is ours!

FINALLY FINAL!!!!!!YAY!!!

2007-05-04T23:00:00.000-04:00

MY BIG BOY IS OFFICAL NOW!! (HES BEEN THAT WAY IN MY HEART FOR A LONG TIME NOW!) Aiden Clifton Yong Joon~ WE LOVE YOU!!!

Baby chickies....awwwww too cute!!

2007-05-03T16:37:00.000-04:00

isaiah's 4-H chickens just arrived. they were a gift from his grandma!

baby angel~josephine

2007-05-03T00:19:00.000-04:00

im getting spoiled with updated pictures, and i LOVE IT! come home soon baby girl.....

Daddy's boy

2007-04-29T00:31:00.000-04:00

MY SMART BOY

2007-04-28T18:25:00.000-04:00

Isaiah getting ready to go Academic Superbowl and "hanging out" with friends there.

They got third place in the interdiscplinary division in their class. WOOHOO!

Daddy, Papaw, and Anya

2007-04-27T22:22:00.000-04:00

this is a repeat picture, but wanted to share it with someone special. this is daddy, papaw, and anya!

one of ryan's roosters

2007-04-24T13:27:00.000-04:00

OUR SWEETIE PIE

2007-04-24T13:10:00.000-04:00

THIS IS OUR GOAT SWEETIE PIE!

BUDDIES

2007-04-24T12:47:00.000-04:00

anya and aiden were playing so nicely that i just had to take a picture! of course thirty minutes after this aiden had thrown sand at anya and they were both screaming! ...oh well!.... oh and btw, we are definately going to have to invest in a bigger sandbox very shortly...LOL

Princess Nilam

2007-04-23T12:10:00.000-04:00

PRETTY BABY!!!!!!

2007-04-17T21:49:00.000-04:00

CHECK OUT THOSE CHEEKS!!!!!!!!! josie was treated with the proper medication and put on high calorie formula and is being closely monitored. so happy shes going to be OK!!!!!THANK YOU LORD!!!!!!!

Nilam's quilt

2007-04-14T16:17:00.000-04:00

Grandma Margaret has made Nilam and Josie quilts. This is Nilam's.

PLAYING DRESSUP=)

2007-04-14T16:02:00.000-04:00

THIS IS WHY THEY DONT PICK THEIR CLOTHES OUT FOR SCHOOL!

wish it were me holding my girl

2007-04-13T16:40:00.000-04:00

in her pretty dress

2007-04-13T16:37:00.000-04:00

this is josie in the dress that we sent to liberia for her. she was still pretty sick here.

2007-04-13T16:32:00.000-04:00

this is my baby when she was so very sick. it breaks my heart to see her this way. i hesitated to post it, but i do think its important for people to understand what children in liberia have to go through.

Nilam Leah

2007-04-13T10:59:00.001-04:00

She is a beautiful 6 year old girl that was born in India. Anya is excited that she is going to have a roommate and we hope that they will get along well. We are looking forward to posting that our girl is home! We are asking for prayers for a smooth transition and good bonding.

a very eventful month

2007-04-13T10:55:00.000-04:00

in the last month : aiden started walking!! we got josie's I-171H approval! isaiah's academic bowl team came in second in the region!! and we found out who are fifth child is!

ANYA IS PROGRESSING IN SPEECH!!

2007-03-16T16:21:00.000-04:00

I CANT LEAVE MY PRETTY GIRL OUT, SHE IS MAKING LEAPS AND BOUNDS IN COMPREHENSION AND SPEECH!!!!!!!!!!! =)

ISAIAH MADE THE HONOR ROLL!!!

2007-03-16T16:20:00.000-04:00

YAY!!!!!! INCLUDING 2 A+s IN MATH AND SCIENCE!! WOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

FINGERPRINT APPOINTMENT!!

2007-03-16T16:16:00.000-04:00

YAY!! WE GOT OUR APPOINTMENT FOR FINGERPRINTING FOR JOSIE'S I-600A!!! MARCH 29TH IS THE DAY=)

AMAZING AIDEN!

2007-03-16T15:52:00.000-04:00

Our boy is amazing!! It was very scary after he got his casts off and was sooooo weak and in pain from spasms. He could not do any of the things that he had been able to do. We were afraid that we had made a mistake with the surgery, but now he is getting stronger every day. He can walk with his walker, or one handed assist. His feet are FLAT to floor at a 90 degree angle to his legs and as you can see he is able to bend over and play with his truck!! He is our miracle boy! will keep you posted on how he continues to progress!

2007-03-12T13:03:00.000-04:00

this is where my girl is. its so far away. i wish i could just go and get her today, but adoption doesnt work that way. i got word this morning that she is sick and has lost weight. there is a gnawing in the pit of my stomach that wont go away. i am scared. praying that my girl will be ok and we can get her home soon.

my new job and a few odds and ends

2007-03-11T20:30:00.000-04:00

i love my new job (so far...LOL) the people have been very kind and welcoming. the lady that trained me the first night on the floor gave me a big bear hug when she met me!! i was like "WOW, THESE PEOPLE ARE REAAAALLLLLLY FRIENDLY!!" i used to work every weekend at my other job so i would have more days off through the week to take care of my kids and my hubby was off with them on the weekend. so this whole concept of having every other weekend off is COOOL!!!!! we went to church this morning, i got of lot of household stuff done this afternoon and then we cooked out! ive really been missing out on this whole weekend thing! although i missed my cousins wedding yesterday because i was so exhausted from working the night before...=( sorry amber!

our homestudy agency called to say that INS had contacted them about clarifying what age child and what country we were adopting from and they sent an addendum and they sent us a letter stating they wanted our social security numbers (didnt realize that they werent in our homestudy, but i do know they were on our tax papers..oh well) so i guess that means someone is processing (or at least trying to process our stuff). i am going to send a lot of things to grant places tomorrow to see if we can get a grant to help with travel funds.

found a cool website called "until they all have homes" dedicated to helping special needs children find permanent loving homes. TOTALLY AWESOME!!!!!!!

KIDS IN A FOXHOLE!!

2007-03-11T20:01:00.000-04:00

ISAIAH, ANYA, AND AIDEN KEPT BUSY ON THIS WARM MARCH DAY BY DIGGING A HOLE!! THEY WORKED ON IT FOR HOURS! WHO SAYS KIDS NEED EXPENSIVE TOYS TO BE HAPPY??.....LOL

Progress on many fronts

2007-03-01T16:13:00.000-05:00

Today is my birthday...woohoo! my husband asked what i wanted and my answer was "a nap" ...LOL doesnt that give you an insight in to my world.!! Aiden is very slooooooooowly getting stronger. he is still very uncomfortable at night in his bracing apparatus (looks something like a midieval torture device) which explains why i want a nap for my birthday! he wakes up about every 30 minutes crying and thats with pain medicine =(

we got a letter from homeland security stating they are processing our I-600A....YAY! whe should have fingerprint appt in about 3 weeks. and then 15 days to process that. then we should have approval. The people from our agency Acres of Hope are heading to Liberia this weekend. We sent goodies to go along (just hoping they get there in time befor they leave). Praying that they have a safe trip.

i start orientation for my new job next Monday. I am little nervous about that. I am glad that I have had this month off with Aiden though.

just a vent here at last...trying to get my husband to go the dentist is like pulling teeth!! ...no pun intended...LOL

a notice to all of my friends and family....i am not trying to avoid everyone its just been hard to go anywhere while Aiden was in casts and with trying to get everything together with josie's adoption (as in paperwork, funding..etc.) And now that Aiden is out of his casts its still hard to go anywhere because he is cranky alot because he is uncomfortable so we have been camping out at home this month. Usually if we have to go do anything one of us stays home with the kids and the other goes. again....my apologies....we have just had a lot going on.

Therapy is NO FUN!

2007-02-28T01:24:00.000-05:00

Aiden is out of his casts now. The Shriner's staff was amazed at how well he did and how much he wanted to move after getting them off. He definately charmed them! Last night was really rough though. His legs were used to being in one position for so long that they spasm and are very painful when he bends his knees and when we do therapy=( I was crying right along with him today. It made me feel so horrible to cause him pain, but we have to get through this painful therapy period to get to the other side. The doctor said she would not be surprised if he is walking independantly at his 3 month check up. We are going to work our butts off to try to make that happen. I think he thought he was going to walk right away when they came off but he is so very very weak. He started crying and said...me no walk!! I bit my lip and then sucked it up and gave him a pep talk. Not promising that he will walk, but promising that we will try VERY HARD. It just sucks to see your child in pain..... really bad.

my girl

2007-02-23T22:48:00.000-05:00

the agency sent us several pics of josie. she looks so sweet in every one. you can see that josie has strabismus in this picture. she may have to have eye surgery. we will have to see.

more progress!

2007-02-23T14:07:00.000-05:00

i absolutely LOVE this picture!! i think it shows great personality! we had already been "approved" for Josephine's adoption but we now have our certified approved homestudy in hand. this afternoon i will be mailing it to our agency for dossier to go to Liberia and to BCIS to complete our file for I-600A. Its a good feeling to have that completed. Our referral fees are PAID..WOOHOOO! now we just need to fundraise for travel/escort money. cant wait to hold my baby girl....

Our African Angel

2007-02-21T12:05:00.000-05:00

Our little princess, Josephine Chea (or Josie Chea, as we call her). She was born 4/29/04 and is waiting for us in Liberia, W. Africa. We are adopting her through Acres of Hope adoption agency. They truly have a heart for God and children. We have sent off our I-600A and are currently waiting for our fingerprint appt. with BCIS. Josie also has cerebral palsy like Anya and Aiden. We cant wait to get our baby girl home to start therapy so she can get stronger. WE LOVE YOU JOSIE!!!

2007-02-21T11:56:00.000-05:00

Aiden could not go out and play in the snow, so Isaiah and Anya brought the snow to him!! He had so much fun! and thoroughly enjoyed putting his cold hands on his brother's face!

2007-02-21T11:45:00.000-05:00

This is a picture of Aiden at Shriner's Hospital with Daddy standing by. It was very difficult seeing him in pain after surgery, but the nurses worked very hard to get him comfortable.

Our trip to Shriner's Hospital

2007-01-15T03:35:00.000-05:00

Aiden was a little trooper at our visit to Shriner's Hospital in St. Louis. The traffic on the way was quite scary, but then again we come from a town of 300...no kidding. They found that his hip is displaced from the constant pulling of his muscles. They said we need to release his tendons or the ball of his hip will come out of the socket and require more complicated surgery later and jeopardize his walking with his walker. It seems that this is the best thing to do, but it makes me very sad to think of him going through surgery and enduring casts with an attaching metal bar...=( its only for a short time.....and the benefits will come. more flexibility, less stiffness, better posture and.....in the future...possible walking with out support. aiden will be ok in this world whether or not he walks unsupported or not. he is smart, funny, strongwilled, and beautiful...ok handsome! but i do hope for my boy that he will walk. his surgery is january 30th. please keep my baby in your prayers...

a sad but honest post

2007-01-09T00:24:00.000-05:00

i sit here at my computer crying after everyone else is asleep. im crying because i saw a new picture of a little boy that i love dearly but i have lost. he was our foster son whom we intended to adopt. i love him so much but because of his condition he could not stay with our family. he had to go where there was more help for him. as all who know me or who have read this blog know that we have adopted twice before. im not "hardwired" to love a child temporarily...its forever in my heart...and it nearly killed me to let him go. thats why i am not a good foster parent. adoptive parent-yes foster parent-definately not. i held him, brushed his tears away when he was sad, calmed him when he was angry, encouraged him to eat when his medicine took his appetite away and hugged him when we said "goodbye" i thought i was doing better until i saw this new picture and it all came rushing back. he is wearing a shirt that we bought him. since i cant tell him in real life, i will tell him in cyberspace...."mama loves you, i pray for you every day and i hope you find your forever family very soon." im also saying a prayer for foster parents and children in the foster care system tonight. may God bless you. little hearts know that Your Father above loves and cares for you.

waiting is hard

2007-01-06T20:12:00.000-05:00

waiting for w-2's is like watching paint dry or waiting for water to boil...ugh....

MOPPING.....IM IN HEAVEN!!!!

2007-01-02T00:56:00.000-05:00

i have had the flu of one sort or the other for two weeks.....today i FELT GOOD!!!!!!!!! WOOOOOHOOOOOOO!!! i mopped my floor and thoroughly enjoyed it.....either that or im delusional from dehydration from the flu...haha j/k i really did enjoy it. im the type of person that thoughts roll through my head day in and day out constantly. some are deep, some are irrelevant..and some are just strange! but while mopping tonight after the kids went to sleep my brain took a rest while the mop sloshed back and forth back and forth....i just enjoyed feeling well enough to mop and it didnt require much thought....it was a nice break for my brain and good exercise for my body and my floor is no longer sticky!!! thats what you call a win/win/win situation=)
Thank You Lord that im well and able to mop my floor today!

my resolutions...

2007-01-02T00:47:00.000-05:00

spend individual time with each family member and try to appreciate them every day
exercise at least 30 minutes 3 times a week
drink more water and less coffee....ugh
try to do things promptly.....in other words quit procrastinating!!
read God's word every day.....this should have been #1
keep my kitchen floor unsticky...yeah right!
work steadfastly on our adoption, but do not let it become my sole focus where every minute hangs on news about it. appreciate my kiddos that are here while working toward our baby girl
be more patient and consistent with toddlers........and preteen!
give myself a break when im not perfect and remind myself that im doing my best

It is possible to miss someone you have never met

2007-01-01T00:28:00.000-05:00

i miss her. i long for her, yet ive never held her in my arms. i wonder if she is ok, if she is lonely or sad or has had enough to eat today. she is our baby in liberia. i love her already, but we are still a long way from her time wise and distance wise. i can not wait until we have our w-2's so we can file our taxes and get our refund to pay her fees. she has cerebral palsy too and needs treatment badly. they are having some long waits for passports too, so hopefully by time we get our adoption train a moving that will be going smoother. i say a prayer for all parents that are waiting for children that are far away from them and for the children that are waiting for someone to love them like only a mommy and a daddy can. i also pray for parents that have had to give a child up for reasons that only they truly know. on this new years night im also praying for my friend tahir who is serving in iraq. be safe buddy! im off to watch the ball drop with isaiah...
WISHING ALL A PEACEFUL, SAFE, AND LOVING NEW YEAR!

2006-12-31T21:57:00.000-05:00

well, it let me post one picture at least but not the next...ugh.... i am not puking any more ....Thank you God for phenergan!.... but i feel WIPED OUT!!!! thats when it gets hard having kids, especially toddlers, when the adults are sick . ryan and i were both sick, but at least isaiah was still well and able to supervise anya and aiden when we were stuck in bed , but then he got it too!!! i willed myself better (or at least made myself get out of bed) and stopped the destruction of the house!! they were having a blast getting into stuff as daddy layed on the couch helplessly watching and saying, you guys get out of that! but it fell on deaf ears....LOL looking forward to next week being a puke and snot free week for everyone!!! (sorry for those with weak stomachs) and just fyi the picture i was trying to post had nothing to do with our ill weekend...LOL

Aiden walking with walker

2006-12-31T21:47:00.000-05:00

well, blogger is letting me add pictures to my page, but just now with my posts....go figure? anyways, i posted a picture of our aiden walking with his walker. Our boy is so smart!! It makes me sad for him when the other kids are running around playing and he cant keep up because of his cp. i dont show him that im sad we just find something else fun for him to do. My greatest hope is for him to walk independantly but even if he never takes a step on his own its my job to help him to be ok with who is on the inside and to help him find out how to maneuver through this world. he is such a happy little guy and i want him to stay that way whether he is able to walk independantly or not.

2006-12-30T09:11:00.000-05:00

ohhhhhhhhh im so sick!!!!!!!! i was just getting over the respiratory stuff and now im vomiting!!!! when will it stop????????? this is one of the disadvantages of being a nurse...you get to hang out with all of the new viruses going around! i did get to hear about a really cool place last night that im going to put my application in to. its called Home of the Innocents. it is a nursing care facility for disabled children and also a safehouse for abused and neglected children. i had TWO people tell me last night that i belong working there. i had never heard of it before. dont know if i will get the job, but wont know if i dont try. i do have 7 years of ICU experience. apparently some of the kids are on ventilators. and i have the experience of having 2 kids with cerebral palsy. right now, i try to treat my patients like i would want someone to treat my children and that would be even easier if all my patients WERE children. only thing its a much more longer drive than i have to work now and i dont know what the pay would be. got some checking in to stuff to do!

2006-12-29T05:03:00.000-05:00

well for some reason i am having trouble uploading pictures. since im new to the land of blogger i have no idea why! and here i was so proud that i had got those pictures on my page. well enjoy them, cause i dont know when i will be able to put more on...LOL my sister brought me the coolest presen!! her husband works for a sign company called 2 sign guys and he lasered a world with children holding hands around it and our name onto a 180 lb. stone.. it is so awesome!! i would love to put a pic of it on my blog but #1 as i said before my pic putter onner is being stubborn and #2 i had decided not to put our last name on the blog for security reasons so i guess that pretty much puts a damper on that one. i have been sick with with a sinus infection and bronchitis and i was coughing so much i had to take some codiclear and that stuff makes me have the weirdest dreams so i got up and thought i would hang out here. hope the rest of the western world is sleeping better than this tonight.....and hope the eastern world is having a good day at this point in time.

Daddy, Papaw, and Anya

2006-12-28T14:40:00.000-05:00

i love this picture!! it shows anya's pure joy hugging her papaw! i am so thankful for the support that my mother and father in law have given us during our adoptions. it has been immeasurable. the joy the kids have brought them is immeasurable too! family is so great. we all have our ups and downs, but i dont know what we would do without them. ryan has so much respect for his dad and vice versa.

my "kids"...LOL

2006-12-27T22:13:00.000-05:00

this picture is from this past summer. Isaiah and I had to bottle feed our baby goat Sweetie pie. At one point i even had to give her tube feedings. We didnt think she would make it, but shes fat and sassy now!!

Aiden

2006-12-27T21:44:00.000-05:00

Aiden is our spunky little spit-fire!! He is very verbal and it is reported by his pre-school teacher that he is the top of the class! Aiden was also born premature and has cerebral palsy. He is in therapy and we are getting ready to go to Shriner's Hospital for Children in St. Louis for treatment for his legs. He currently is able to walk with hand held assistance or with a walker. We are looking forward to working with Shriner's and helping our boy achieve to his greatest potential! We love you Aiden!!!

Anya

2006-12-27T21:32:00.000-05:00

this is our pretty girl Anya. She was a preemie and as a result developed cerebral palsy. She has come so far in the past 3 years!! We are so proud of you Anya Mae!! She continues in speech therapy and has done very well in her developmental preschool. The sky is the limit for our girl!

Isaiah

2006-12-27T21:05:00.000-05:00

this is my son Isaiah riding in his go-cart with his best friend (isaiah is in the passenger seat). We homeschooled Isaiah up until the last semester of last year when he entered the public school arena. He is doing very well in public school and was just voted student of the month and received a random act of kindness award. we are very proud of our boy!

My very first post.....woohoo!

2006-12-27T18:26:00.000-05:00

yes ladies and gentlemen i have joined this century! i have now entered the realm of "blogger"......no really, no need for applause....please, please... =)
my family and i had a very very good Christmas. A friend of ours is in Korea meeting the daughter that she has patiently been waiting to adopt...YAY!!! COME HOME SOON CHLOE JANE YOON JIN!!
and we are sitting on the edge of our seat waiting to be able to get our tax refund so that we can pay the adoption fees for the child we long for in Liberia, W. Africa. I am a 32 year old mom to 3 (not counting our Liberian angel). As my title implies, we also have goats and chickens!! we just added these lovely animals to our abode this past year. the kids love them!! and when im stressed out there is nothing like sitting outside petting a tame goat to calm your nerves....no really, im not KIDDING....get it??kidding,goats (kids) haha yes i crack myself up...LOL have to to stay sane=)
Two of our children were born in S. Korea. i feel so blessed to be Anya and Aiden's mama and to have had the opportunity to see Korea and meet her people. Our oldest son, Isaiah is growing into a fine young man....i cant believe my baby boy is a pre-teen.....ugh...
well i guess this is it for my first post. riveting, i know...*sarcasm* i hope all is well in your world tonight..God Bless , Rachel