OUR BLOG IS MOVING!!!

Ok, so I have created a new blog.  I plan to post exclusively in the new blog, but I will leave the link up on here for a while.

Here's our new site:

www.ameriguatopia.blogspot.com

Come on over and see us!!!

Julie

PS  It appears you will have to cut and paste the new site, but you can do it!  Go on, do it now before you forget........

The Story Behind the Craziness!

I wanted to take a moment to explain how Ryan and I came to our decision to adopt again.....

While we were going through the adoption of Anna and Gee we very much considered that "it" for us.  5 was a good number and we agreed on that.  About month or so after Gee came home I mentioned to Ryan that I thought it would be cool to do it again.  You should have seen the look he shot me.  As amazing as our adoption experience was, the previous 3 or 4 years had been pretty rough on us.  We had to work harder than the norm to build our family and we were both exhausted.  So, after bringing it up a few times over a few months, we decided to pray about it.

We prayed about the possibility for 7 or 8 months before any decision was even made.  It seemed like every time Ryan and I would discuss it, we'd hit a brick wall in some way or another.  After a while I started to think that it just wasn't going to happen.  Adoption is obviously a major decision and I 100% believe that Ryan and I both needed to feel God move us that way or we ought not do it.  Well, pretty much "ought not doing it" became where we were at and I just decided we needed to be done with it and accept it was not going to happen.  Well, about a week after that conclusion was made, Ryan came up to me and said "he was really considering adopting again."  I tried not to get my hopes up, but that was really cool.  From then on out it just seemed our conversations led more toward another adoption than away.

We have had some big issues to consider, but we finally got to the spot where we were ready to dive in.  To be honest, I sit here amazed we are even at this point.  It is a beautiful thing to arrive in this spot, where I feel like both Ryan and I 100% want this.  We are just so excited!

Julie 

Out of the mouth of babes........

Ok, this is totally unrelated to our big adoption news, and I will post about that later, but.....

The three little ones were watching some cartoons this morning and it was on Nogin (pretty much the only cartoon station we watch).  Well, Nogin does this little blip about Barack Obama All.  The.  Time.  About how he is the first AA President and how historic that is and then it goes in to what kind of music, food, etc. he likes.  Well, this morning our dish reception got briefly interrupted and it "paused" the T.V. during the Obama blip.  I walked in and Madeline said "Brock Bama Broken."  Hmmmmm, I think I have a wise 3 year.......

Julie 

Big Announcement.........

Well, Ryan and I have some exciting news to share for those who actually still check in on us here ............

We are adopting again!  I don't have the time to go into all the details right now, but we are excited!  We are headed to Ethiopia this time.  Right now we are pulling together our massive piles of paperwork and we hope to have all that done in the next 6 to 8 weeks.

In the near future I will add some more details about how we got to this point and what kid of process we are looking at.  

For now though, you know more than most of the people we know in real life.  :)

Keep us in your prayers!

Julie

Gideon update

We took Gee to the Dr. today for  a well child visit and I was pretty happy with his stats.  His weight (fully clothed) was 26.6 lbs.  That's not too bad and it put him right at the 10th percentile for weight.  I can take that.  I was happy with his weight, but I was very pleasantly surprised with his height.  I know he has gotten taller, but he is in the 60th percentile for height.  It was a pretty accurate height check also.  He had very low profile shoes on and I even thought the nurse was measuring him a little short when she was actually doing it.  Our Dr. agrees that Gee probably has some sort of food intolerance/sensitivity due to his frequent, nasty smelling poop, but that is a very hard thing to figure out and sense he seems to be growing well, I think we are just going to continue watching it.

Ahhh, my little man Gee.  He really is growing up.  He was so good for the Dr. today.  I remember when he use to whine when he even saw a Dr.  He let the Dr. check all he needed to check and even almost smiled a few times.  Which reminds me.....  Gee does the cutest little "I am not going to smile," smile.  He can be so stubborn, but you can just tell he wants to smile sometimes, but won't for whatever reason.  That is what he was doing today.  So cute!

Julie

Madeline is bilingual!!!

Actually, she is trilingual (is that a word) if you count the dozen or so words she knows in Spanish.  Anyways, she speak English and Annerish.  Anna talks A LOT.  I can understand probably 80% of what she says, but that other 20% has me baffled.  That poor girl, I will have to ask her over and over again to repeat herself and then I still usually can't get it.  Well, it seems now that Madeline has become her interpreter of sorts.  Now Madeline will chime in and say "no mommy she wants X."  This is happening more and more and it is just funny to watch.  It is also very sweet to see my girls so close!

A potty update.......  Gee is doing not too bad.  To be honest, I have had to run lots of errands the last couple days, so we haven't been all that focused on it.  While when been home he's only had one big accident and he has pee'd on the potty a few different times.  So, all in all he is doing good.   It is way to early to tell if he knows he needs to sit on the potty BEFORE he actually goes, but at least he's not afraid of the potty.  And, he is learning how being a big boy works.

Julie 

Potty time????

So Gee is my only one not potty trained yet.  I feel pretty fortunate that my other 4 were pretty "easy."  I hate to use that word because I all too quickly remember the times when I unknowingly stepped in a puddle of pee or had to clean up poop smear.  I have had my share of messes (i.e. see last post).  In hindsight though, things went pretty good.  Right now Gideon is the only one draining our budget of diaper/pull up money.  :)

At one time I would have stressed about having a 2 1/2 yr old that cared nothing about using the potty.  I stressed a lot when Leah was small, I stressed a little with Logan but then I came to realize that I was working way too hard at it.  I think I had gotten caught up in the whole idea that people are just lazy if their 2 yr old cannot completely go diaper free.  A little judgemental, I know.  Now I am more laid back about it.  I really do try and look for signs that the kids are ready first.  Fortunately all the kids have done really well and have all been trained (through the night and all) by 2 1/2 ish.  I guess Gee is the exception to that rule.

I am still not seeing the "signs" I would like to see with Gee to get him started.  Although, he is seeming to know when he poo's better.  I am just sooooo tired of the poop.  No exaggeration, Ryan and I have probably changed 3 to 4 poopie diapers a day for the last week and a half.  That is NOT normal (but I will not go there).  That fact and the fact that he is "old enough" to be using a potty, has prompted me to get our little potty chair out and give it a try.  We now have a potty station for him, all prepped with reading material and a jar of M & M's.  I took his diaper off about an hour ago and I am going to sit him on it every 20 minutes or so.  We will see how it goes.  I hope he is more ready than I am thinking.  I am going to give it a few days and if at the end of that time I have cleaned up more poo and pee than I care to mention, back to diapers it is.  I will try to not feel like a failure and move on with life.  

Wish us luck!

Julie