Saturday, February 27, 2010

This week has flown by! I did sit down several times during the week and was going to blog but something would come up or the pictures would not post. Emma has fully recovered from her dentist experience but she is still complaining of her ear hurting. She has not been running a fever so I made an appointment with our chiropractor and took hr yesterday afternoon. He said she had a few swollen lymph nodes and it looked like she was fighting an infection. She got an adjustment and did great. Some of you may think I am crazy for taking her to a chiropractor but when Sam came home he kept an ear infection. Our friend told us about taking her daughter for ear aches and it cleared right up. I was skeptical at first but we took Sam and he has not had an ear infection since. We are hoping that this helps. We had a pretty uneventful week until this morning. My washing machine broke this morning and that is a serious problem with this household. I am pretty upset. There is not a whole lot of wiggle room in our budget to purchase a new washing machine but I think we will go tonight and get one. I am already a few days behind on the laundry and the dirty clothes will take over the house if I wait a few more days. Well the big event today is that Sam is going to his first birthday party for someone at school. He got the invitation on Thursday and has just been beaming since. He said "Mom I have never been to a birthday party before!" It turns out that the little boy lives on the next road over from our house. He lives with his dad and sister. They just moved to the area back in the summer and I am not sure where the mom is in this situation. Jeremy is actually going to take Sam to the party and we are praying that it will be a good contact for our family. Well I better get Sam ready for his party before he drives me crazy. After the party I am taking the kids to the grocery store so Jeremy can work on his class. Here are a few pictures from last Sunday.

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Last night we took Emma to Logan's to eat for her Gotcha Day. We had so much fun. The kids are so good when we are at a restaurant and we are very thankful. After we ate we went to get Emma's present. She wanted a harmonica just like Sam. We went to Cracker Barrel to get it because we knew they would have one in the store. We pulled in the parking lot and Sam says "Um guys, we already ate". I knew he would say something like that. We got home and then got everyone to bed. Sam finally went back to school today but they started an hour late. I took all the kids with me to work and then they drove Sam and the other kids over to school when it started. I was only at work for about an hour and a half because Emma had a dentist appointment this morning. The appointment was made back in August when I took her for a check-up. This was the earliest they could get her in to get her tooth fixed. When we got Emma she had almost all of her teeth in and I noticed that first night we had her in Korea that something was weird about one of her teeth. It has continued to get worse over the past two years and the dentist was going to try and cap it. She also had a small cavity between her two front teeth. Well, when they got her back in the room this morning that determined that the tooth was just too bad to try to save. I had noticed the past few weeks that it really was looking bad so I was not surprised that they decided to just pull the tooth. I did however start to prepare myself for the drama that would follow this event. They fixed the cavity and then they came out to get me in the waiting room to tell me that Emma was in the bathroom and needed my help. I got to the bathroom and the child was in hysterics. She was hyperventilating and she was so upset she was coughing and gagging. I was actually not surprised by the break down, but it was upsetting to see her in such a mess. The nurses kept offering things to her to calm her down but the deal with Emma is that she cannot be bribed into feeling different then she is feeling at that moment. They told me it would be best if I was not in the room while they finished because she would not get back in the chair. I agreed and reluctantly went back to the waiting room. A nurse held her for a few minutes and then she calmed down. Chloe and I were in the waiting room about 2 hours and Chloe did great. Emma was finally done and the child looked like she had been in a fight and lost. Her mouth was still a little bloody, her bottom lip was swollen and she her face was red and her hair was wet from sweat. And of course she was just beside herself because of the things she just experienced. The nurse gave me some instructions and what she should do the rest of the day and then she said what I was dreading "PLEASE KEEP EMMA FROM SUCKING HER THUMB FOR THE NEXT 24 HOURS". The dentist was trying to be helpful when she said that Emma would probably sleep the rest of the day so that should help but it was the opposite of helpful because only sucks her thumb when she is sleepy or sleeping. I am pretty sure she sucks her thumb all night. She has done pretty good. When we got home she was laying down and in went the thumb. I told her to take it out and she did. I walk out of the room and when I walked back in she somehow had her blanket over her thumb (which was in her mouth) and I could not tell she was sucking her thumb. I think she was trying to fool me into thinking she was not sucking it. I guess she will be sleeping with me tonight so I can monitor her thumb sucking. It is really loud when she does it so I will be able to tell. Well that has been our day. Here a picture of Emma and Daddy at the restaurant and one of Emma missing her tooth.

Tuesday, February 16, 2010 Happy Gotcha Day Emma!!

Two years ago today our journey to bring Emma home finally came to an end. We left Seoul, Korea on Saturday, February 16th and got into Nashville on Saturday, February 16th. It was actually a pretty good trip with Emma. She slept most of the trip and was pretty pleasant. We flew from Seoul to Chicago without any problems. From Chicago to Memphis our seats were not next to each other and nobody would switch seats so Jeremy and I could sit by each other. Emma started getting fussy and by the time we landed in Memphis Emma was no longer pleasant and neither were we to be honest. Emma was throwing a fit the whole time we were at the Memphis airport. We finally boarded our last leg of the journey and landed in Nashville. The welcome we received was almost overwhelming. There were so many people who had come along to share our journey with bringing Emma home and we will forever be grateful for all their support. We were relieved that Emma was home but then came the hard part. The day Emma came home was indeed filled with joy and thankfulness but it was also filled with screaming and crying. The first night Sam came home he laid on my chest and slept most of the night. When he would wake up he would be sweet and cuddly, so this is what I was expecting. WOW was I ever wrong. Emma clung to me for dear life she would not let anybody else hold her or look at her. That first night home is probably one of the roughest nights I have ever had. She screamed most of the night and nothing would calm her down. Thankfully my parents had taken Sam with them that night because it was bad. It was actually bad for the next two weeks. Sam was very sick the weeks following Emma's arrival and Emma still would not let me out of her sight. She was opposite to Samuel in every way and it was a hard transition for everyone. To be honest there were many nights that I wondered what I had gotten myself into. She was something else and I was not sure how to parent her because she would be so difficult sometimes. As I think back to those first few weeks with Emma I still see them as rough weeks but I would not change them for the world. The day Emma arrived I have changed and have become a better person because of this little girl. She is so full of life and joy and words cannot express what a blessing she is to our family. She still has her moments, but that makes her who she is and we love her with all our heart. It is wonderful to watch her grow and to see her bold personality come out. I wish I could share all the things that make Emma wonderful and special but there is not enough room on this blog to do that.

Monday, February 15, 2010

We have another snowy day here. So that means we are stuck in the house again. We bought the kids The Chipmunks movie CD and the love it but I am rethinking my decision in buying it. They want to listen to it all day and it gets a little annoying. Well I was not going to post since I posted last night but I keep forgetting to share a story. I get asked many times about the kids and "if they are mine" or "are they adopted?" and other various questions and statements. Well last week when I took Emma to the doctor I had the weirdest conversation. The nurse that took us back was an older lady and from my first impression she seemed like she was new because she acted like she was unsure about what she was supposed to be doing. We got to the room and this is how the conversation went:

Nurse: Your children are beautiful. How old are they?
Me: Thanks. They are five, three, and two.
Nurse: So, what nationality are you?
Me: Huh, I am American.
Nurse: But your children look Asian
Me: They are Asian
Nurse: So, your husband is Asian?
Me: (a little chuckle) No, they are adopted from Korea
Nurse: What does your husband do for a living?
Me: (confused) He is a teacher
Nurse: Are you a teacher? You look like a teacher too.
Me: Yes I am a teacher
Nurse; Your hair sure is pretty
Me: (WHAT???) Um, thanks

It was so weird. I do not know if she was embarrassed because she thought I was Asian or what so she just started asking random questions. I am glad she was not giving any shots or anything important to my kids because I would have been scared. Anyway, I hope you all have a good day!

Sunday, February 14, 2010

Happy Valentine's Day!! We are having a pretty good weekend. Yesterday the kids and I went to the grocery store and then we just stayed home all day and played. Today was church and then we came home and we all took a nap. Samuel is running a low grade fever and complaining that his ear is hurting so I am not sure what is going on with him. I was up several times last night with him and a couple of times with Chloe. So, Sam and I were pretty tired today. We actually slept almost three hours today. They are calling for more snow tonight and tomorrow but thankfully we are all out of school. My plan is to get the laundry caught up and get my house cleaned again. Well here are a few pictures taken this morning.

Friday, February 12, 2010

February 12th is forever apart of my life. When February 12th rolls around I start to become filled with a variety of emotions. February 12, 2004 after 11 months of cancer treatments I sat at my doctor's office in Columbia, SC and was told there were no other treatments for me. The only way to get rid of the cancer was to have a complete hysterectomy. I was devastated. I remember being angry and was pleading with the doctor to try something else. With tears in his eyes he said he had already done more then most doctors would have done. We left the office and I remember crying harder then I ever had in my life. We got in our car and drove back the hour to our house and could not believe that this was happening. I was so upset and I needed to be with my family. My parents were going to be in St. Louis for the weekend at my sister's house so Jeremy and I bought our plane tickets and headed to St. Louis. You know the rest of that story. February 12, 2008 we boarded a plane and finally headed to Korea to pick up our sweet little Emma. It is actually crazy that it has only been 2 years since we left for Korea. It is weird how when you are going through the adoption you focus on all the things you are missing while your child is not home and you think you will always dwell on those moments, but I promise you once you hold your child you really do not think much about all the things you missed. Emma is three years old and I feel like she has been home for three years. Every day we are making new memories and we are so blessed to have her in our lives. Well Jeremy and I are going on a date tonight. Janna should be here any minute so we can go. Here is a picture of my three Sweeties.

Tuesday, February 09, 2010 ANother Snow Day

We had quite a weekend. Samuel's fever continued to stay around all day on Saturday. We were having a worship service at church Saturday night and I was pretty bummed that I could not go. I decided to keep the kids home that night and it is a good thing I did. Jeremy left about 4:00 to get things set up. Sam had been laying on the couch most of the day and had only eaten a few things. About 5:00 Sam stood up and started crying and then grabbed his throat saying it hurt. It took me about a second to figure out what was about to happen. I grabbed his blanket off the couch just in time to catch most of what he was throwing up. Unfortunately all of it did not make it on the blanket and there were two big spots on my living room carpet where Sam had thrown up. As I said, Sam had not eaten much but he had eaten some Valentine cookies that had red food coloring in them and we had given him orange Tylenol for his fever so I had two big RED stains on my carpet. I felt so bad for Sam but I was also in a panic about my carpet. He got sick two more times Saturday night but this time he hit the sink and the toilet. After I knew he was feeling better I started to really work on the carpet. I found some laundry stain spray but that was not making a difference. I pleaded to my Facebook friends and one of my friends told me to try to use baking soda, vinegar, and hot water. I sprinkled baking soda on the spots and then poured the water and vinegar on the baking soda. It made a really cool bubbling effect that the kids thought was neat and I was just praying it worked. It sat over night and thankfully it has faded and can barely tell where it happened. Sunday morning I stayed home with Sam and Emma but thankfully Sam's fever stayed gone most of the day. Sunday night I went to church and Jeremy stayed home. We then had about 15 teenagers over to watch the Super Bowl. We debated about having people over because of the sickies, but I had already purchased all the stuff for party. So I sanitized everything and thought it would be OK as long as Sam did not get in any body's face. Sam's fever came back Sunday night so we kept him home from school yesterday. Most of our teenagers were out if school yesterday so one of the girls stayed the night Sunday and stayed with Sam Monday. I went to work and then the sent me home at noon because they did not need me for the afternoon. I was pretty aggravated. I got a babysitter because I knew I could not call in and then I was only there for 4 hours. I came home and put the kids down for a nap. After they woke up I had to go to the bank. Yesterday afternoon it started snowing again here and has continued to snow all night and is still snowing. Jeremy and Sam's school district closed but my work was STILL open. Well I was not going to drive in this mess and Jeremy did not want to get all the kids out when they would probably send me home early anyway. I feel horrible about calling in but I know I have a legitimate reason. It is just crazy that they are open. I am trying not to worry about it but I still feel bad. I just figured that the $40 I made today was not worth risking my life:) So, we are all home today. I am going to finish my project that is due Thursday and maybe do some reading just for fun. Since I started my class I have not been able to read the books I have been wanting to read. Well here are a few pictures I took this morning of the snow and then one of Sam with his hair spiked up.

Saturday, February 06, 2010

I took Emma to the doctor yesterday and she ended up having an ear infection and possible strep. The doctor did not do a strep test because she would be treating her with antibiotics anyway. She said her throat looked red but it was her ear that was making her hurt so much. I had to take a three kids with me and I am just amazed sometimes how behaved my kids are in public. They were so good. They did get a little restless toward the end because the doctor kept us waiting in the room for over 45 minutes! Our regular doctor was not in yesterday so we had to see someone new and I do not know if it was a situation where they were just working us in. We got out of the doctor a about 5:00 and then we headed to Wal-Mart to get Emma's medicine. I put her prescription in and then Jeremy met us and we went and got something to eat. We are trying to do better about eating out but I had no idea what time I would get home and it was nice that he could take the girls home and then I could get somethings that I needed to get done at the store. Emma seems to be feeling better today but Sam woke up this morning with a fever. It has been running as high as 102.5. He says his stomach hurts but nothing else. Other then the fever he seems to be fine. So I am praying that what ever he has is just a little virus or something. Ok well I said yesterday that I had a funny story about Sam. The more I think about the story I think it is more sweet then funny. Ok here it goes. The first of January Sam had a snow day and he had to come to my work for the first time. He had only been at his new school for two days and he happen to become good buddies with a boy that is in the after school program at my work that happens to be in his class at school. Well Sam talks about this little boy all the time and they are good friends at school. On Wednesday Sam had to go to work with me and on the way home we were talking about his day. I asked him if his friend was there. I am usually gone by the time the school kids get there so I am not familiar with the kids. Sam said he was there and asked me if I saw him. I then told him that I did not know what his friend looked like and if he would describe him to me. This is how the conversation went:
Sam; "well mom you see his left leg is hard"
Me- "What do you mean his leg is hard"
Sam-" Mom you know how Jesus made me and he made my skin different from you and dad. Well Jesus made (friend) with a
hard leg"
Me- "Sam does he have a fake leg?"
Sam- "What?"
Me- "How do you know his leg is hard? DId he show you his leg"
Sam- "No, mom. One day his pant leg was up and I saw that his leg was hard and shiny"

Sam is at the age where sometimes he adds things to stories or maybe he does not quite know what is going. It was quite an interesting conversation. The next day when I got to work I asked the office about this little boy, I did state that I had a crazy question just in case Sam had totally made this up. Well indeed this little boy has a prosthetic leg. We had a laugh about my conversation about and how observant Sam was and then I started thinking. It made me so proud that Sam did not even think about the fact that his friend was different. He has talked about this boy for weeks and never once mentioned his leg. I pray that Sam always keeps that sweet attitude and I realized how much I fail at accepting people for who they are.

Friday, February 5, 2010

Well I was going to post yesterday but things got really crazy so I am sorry that this post may be all over the place. Yesterday Sam finally went back to school so our morning was a little rocky. I got to work and found out that I had to work until 3 so I had to call Sam's school and let them know that he needed to come over with the other kids that come to my work. I do not like having to do that because I like to be able to tell Sam before hand if there is a change. I also did not like that I had to work later because I needed to study for my class last night and it just makes getting home and getting back out the door so much harder. So I was in the two year old room and I was told that the girl I was covering from would be a few minutes late. Well the few minutes ended up being 40 minutes. So I got home about 4:00 and I had to rush around. The kids needed a bath and I needed to get Sam's clothes together for Homecoming. I did have Jeremy stop at Wendy's and get some chicken nuggets. I just felt exhausted and I was starting to question my decision to go back to school. I left at 5:00 in the pouring rain and I ended up getting stuck in traffic and was 15 minutes late to class.I was so sad that I missed Sam last night but he did great and you can see from the pictures he looked so cute. I got home about 9:00 and got to bed about 10:00. At about 12:00 Emma wakes up screaming. She actually did this the night before too. She said her ear was hurting. I gave her some medicine and she went back to sleep. I, however, could not get back to sleep for the second night in a row. Both nights I was so sound asleep when she woke me up screaming that I guess the sudden jolt of waking up messed up my sleeping. Emma seemed to be a little better but she is still not feeling well. This morning when I dropped her off at her class she just cried and cried, something she never does. I went to the office and told them that I was going to try to get Emma into the doctor. I called but they could not get her in until 4:00 today. My work did let me leave at noon since she was not feeling well. I then decided to go ahead and pick Sam up early so I did not have to go back that way before the doctor. The girls are napping right now and then we will be heading out in a few hours.
Well there was something that I have been thinking about and I was going to share yesterday so I will share it today. I have started walking a few miles a day trying to get prepared for the Go 10 Walk in June. There is a setting on my Wii that I can just walk and it tracks how far I have gone. I have been listening to my Ipod and just walking in the living room. Back in December I purchased Steven Curtis Chapmans new album called Beauty Will Rise. Many of you know about the tragic accident involving his son and their 5 year old daughter. This album is about his daughter and the pain and confusion they have been dealing with over the death of their daughter. It is an album of questions but also an album about hope and God's faithfulness. It is almost difficult for me to listen to the songs because the sorrow is almost too much. Their daughter was adopted from China and there are many songs that I cannot help but picture the faces of my sweet children. There is a song on the album where one of the lines says "I can't wait to see you smile again, The one where your eyes disappear along with all my troubles". So you can see why the songs are a little difficult to keep from crying. Well there is a song on the album that has been a great encouragement to me and I keep singing it to remind me. The song is called "He is Faithful". Part of the lyrics that have really gotten to me are the following:

I am waiting for the rescue
that I know is sure to come,
cuz You are faithful.
Yes You are faithful.
I've dropped anchor in Your promises,
and I am holding on,
cuz You are faithful.
God You are faithful.


When I hear this song my mind goes back to two periods in my life where my foundations were shaken, The first one is the two year period of having cancer and waiting for Samuel to come home. The second was when we were waiting for Emma to come home. This past year some things have happened that truthfully I still cannot believe they are happening. There have been times this past year that I almost pretend that nothing is wrong because facing the problems is just too painful. This past year things have not been specifically directed at me or physically happening to me, but the reality that my core foundation of who I am and the people that have been in my life since the beginning of my life has been shaken. I think the past few weeks I have started to feel the effects of certain situations and it has wounded my heart and spirit more then I was admitting. Yes, I know, maybe that is a little to heavy. I say all of that to say this. God was faithful when I had cancer. God was faithful and brought me the sweetest little guy. Maybe my situation is not as severe as the Chapman family but God feels are pain and our hurt whatever we are facing. I was really thinking about this yesterday because it was two years ago yesterday that we finally got the call that Emma was ready to come home. I am so thankful that God takes hopeless situations and gives hope.

Well I hope you did not mind me sharing that. I have a really funny story about Sam but I will share it tomorrow since I have already filled this entire page.

Tuesday, February 02, 2010

Is anybody else in complete shock that we are already in the month of February?? We have had quite a week and weekend. We were snowed in all weekend. Jeremy, Sam and Emma did venture out Saturday afternoon to Jeremy's parents house. His parents have an enormous hill in their backyard just perfect for sledding. They made plans to just stay the night over there Saturday night. I know everyone wanted me to join them but I just wanted to stay home and rest or do whatever. I did get some work done on my class and Chloe and I had some one on one time. Jeremy and the other two kids got back Sunday afternoon and and found out they would be out of school on Monday. I, however, had to go into work yesterday. Jeremy drove me because our roads were still HORRIBLE. On the way home from taking me to work Jeremy's truck actually swerved off the road and he and the kids were stuck in a ditch for a few minutes. Thankfully he was able to get unstuck on his own and without any damage. He, Sam, and Emma were pretty shaken up but Chloe just laughed the entire time. She thought the ride was fun. The roads had cleared some by the time they had to come back and pick me up from work. After work we all came home and took a nap and it felt great. Emma has not been sleeping well the past two nights, translated, we have not slept great. Last night she got in our bed at 12:30 so Jeremy got on the couch and left me with a very restless child. Oh, and Jeremy and Sam had another snow day today while I went to work. It was actually a pretty good day and I am thankful that I seem to out of my foul mood that I had been in for a while. After work today we all went to the grocery store and then grabbed some Chinese food for supper tonight. While we were in the grocery store I got a call from the county saying that Sam would not have school again tomorrow. So far Jeremy has school so I will be taking all the kids with me to work tomorrow. I am not sure why Sam is out of school tomorrow, but oh well. Sam is actually excited about going with me tomorrow. Well here is a picture of Sam playing in the snow this weekend and one of Chloe just being sweet. I guess you will notice her poor little mouth. Her lips chap so easy and her lips have been splitting at the corners. We have been putting medicine on them but every time she laughs or screams:) they bust open.