Gotcha Anna!!

Well, one year ago today Annie and I were sitting at the US Embassy in Guatemala. We waited for about 3 hours to get Anna's visa, so we could come home. We left the next morning. The embassy was full of little Guatlings and parents dying to take their little ones home. Anna was so good and spent most of the time in my baby carrier, right on my chest. I was so excited to finally complete out last hurdle!!

It is hard to believe it has been a year. Anna has changed so very much. She has put on about 10 lbs and has really come out of her shell. She is still the sensitive little sweatheart she was back then, but she definitely has a spunky side now that she isn't afraid to show. I am totally in awe that God has intrusted this precious baby girl to us. There is no way that I can express in this blog all that Anna means to us. We are so incredibly blessed. We love our little Anna and on this 1 yr "Gotcha Day" we are especially thoughtful about all she means to us. We love you baby girl!!

Again, the pictures have issues, but I will do the best I can..........

The first 3 pictures are recent ones of Anna:









These last two pictures were taken a year ago. The one of Anna and I was taken on Embassy day (so exactly one year ago). She had just woken up from the car ride home and I wanted to get a picture before we changed our clothes. This other picture is the first time Leah and Logan met their little sister!

Just a little rondomness....

I have no clue why my pictures are so wonky. Sorry, but I am too lazy to try and figure what the problem is.

Anymore when I go to take a picture, Gideon totally cheeses it up. It is so funny. Half the time I am not even planning on taking his picture, but I do anyways because he is cracking me up so much. In this first little clump of pics, I was trying to get a picture of the girls' kinky hair. I braided both the girls' hair into tiny braids and when I took it out yesterday, well it looked so funny I went to get my camara.

Also in this clump is Madeline sleeping in the high chair (insert major frustrations right here). We have been having major issues with Maddie sleeping where and when she should (please pray for this situation if you think of it). Madeline can, will and does climb out of EVERYTHING. Don't want to nap? No problem, just climb out of the pack -n- play and bother Anna who is being a good girl and is trying to go to sleep. Don't want to stay in the play area? No worries, just hop over the gate and go upstairs and try on all your flip flops. Our normal discipline methods are completely uneffective here. In the last day or so we have discovered "the chair." She hasn't figured out how to get out of this yet. So, we had the typical nap time experience and Maddie ended up in her chair, where she fell alseep (I knew she was tired!).













How funny is this picture of Gee (above obviously, ugh, why do I have to be so technically ignorant?)! He is the man of many faces! He does these kinds of looks all the time, I was just lucky I caught one.

Ok, these 2 pics are so funny to me. A little back story first. About a month ago I saw Annie doing this to her baby. I said "are you feeding your baby?" and she said yes. I thought is was adorable, but I wasn't really sure if she realized what she was doing. Then on vacation she did it a couple more times and now her and Maddie frequently nurse their babies. I am happy to see both my little girls share my passion for nursing, but I am a little confused as to where they picked it up, especially Anna. It has been quite some time Madeline has been nursed and while I have 2 sil's who nurse they don't see that all that often. Oh well, it is what it is and I think it is quite adorable.

CHEEEEEESE!

Vacation cont......

This will probably be shorter than my original vacation post, but here it is....

Vacation was super!  We had an awesome time.  We went to the 4X4 beach in the Outer Banks (Corolla).  We had a big house and had tons of room for our family and our extended family on Ryan's side.  It was relaxing and exciting all at once.  The beach was wonderful and the 4X4 beaches added a little "excitement."  

The kids did great.  Leah and Logan loved the ocean and the sand.  Logie became quite the boogie boarder.  The 3 little ones loved the sand and liked the water to varying degrees.  Madeline loved the water if I was right there with her.  She would ride the waves all day if I were holding her hand.  Anna did not care for the water.  I was impressed that she had no problem heading into the water at first, so I don't think she was so much scared of it, I just don't think she liked it.  She'd usually go into the water whenever we asked her, but she'd always want right back out.  I think Gee liked the water, but he never voluntarily headed into it. 

I noticed something about Annie this past week.  She is such a lover and really seems to have a big heart.  I noticed her going out of her way more than once this past weekend to help a cousin/sibling, even if it took her out of her comfort zone.  Like running into the waves to get Gee the shovel he dropped.  She just hops right up, like it is second nature.  Another thing Annie does these days is say she's sorry.  "I sorry mommy,"  "I sorry Dami" (to be interpreted as "I sorry Jami (aunt)"), she apologizes for just bumping into you or walking by you, anything really.  Very cute and funny.

So, that's about it when it comes to vacation.  Great fellowship, great beach, great food, great house, what more can you ask for?

Julie  

I HATE junebugs!

Let me preface by saying I HATE junebugs!!!  You know those noisy little beetle like bugs that fly at your windows and crunch when smushed.  I think my issues here date back to when I lived at home and they always seemed to get into the house and bang up against our windows at night.  I would lay in bed petrified that one would attack me.  So, they just bug me (no pun intended :)).

Well, just a few minutes ago Gideon was putting something in his mouth (can you tell where this is going?).  I said "Gideon, come here and let mommy see what you are putting in your mouth."  So, he proceeded to hand me a half eaten junebug.  He laid it in my hand and I screamed and dropped it.  The two girls looked at me like I was crazy and my dear, dear boy started to hysterically laugh (no kidding).  In hindsight it was very funny, but maybe that is because the junebug is safely in the trash!

FYI - we have our post placement visit tonight with a social worker.  This is a required follow up to check on Anna and Gee.

Also FYI - I weighed Gee last night and he was 25 lbs even.  I was so excited, we cheered.  Now, he is normally higher in the evenings, but regardless of when we weigh him, he has never seen 25 lbs!

Julie 

Hello Again

Ok, we are back from vacation and I just wrote a 5 paragraph post and it is gone now.  I will have to repost vacation info later because I don't have time to now.  Here are the pics though:

Madeline, my niece Kayla and and Anna chilling on a beach chair.

Four little princess' and one prince (ummm, that is a Kilt on Gee).

Annie initially enjoying the water with papa.

Gee and his "best buddy."  My poor little niece (her and Gee are 2 days apart), she is always s excited to see Gee and he is usually less than enthusiastic.  Also, this pic is pre hair cut.

Eating dinner at a local spot by the beach.

The wild horses that run freely on the 4X4 beaches of the Outer Banks.

Gee post hair cut, by the pool.

Annie and Katelyn strolling the beach.

Gee and his beach hat.

,

Some picture!!

Well, we are back from camping and gearing up for our next trip. We leave for that one next Thursday. We are going to the Outer Banks and I am very much looking forward to it. We are leaving a day early so we can check out Williamsburg.



Here are some pictures from our fishing trip to Canada:


Gee is so funny. Sometimes when you ask him to smile he goes into a panick coma and just stares at you, other times he does this:



The 3 amigos in their boat gear!

A very unhappy Annie. She was in time out under the boat glove box. Pretty pathetic looking eh?

Ryan's mondo catfish!

Gee and mommy. He LOVED the boat, although this picture certainly does not show it!

The 3 little ones playing under the glove box. I set up a "tent" for them that you can't see.

Daddy and Gee. This was Gee's absolute favorite spot!

My little life vest beauty!

Until later!

Julie

Home and leaving again, plus a Gee update

Well, we are back from our trip to Canada.  We had a really great time and the kids were amazing!  They all loved the boat after they got the hang of walking around in it without falling.  The weather was good, although we had a 25 degree temperature swing from the beginning of the week to the end of the week.  The fishing was the best ever!  Our boat alone caught around 115 fish and that is mainly just Ryan fishing.  As always we enjoyed being with our extended and immediate family, but it is good to be home.

We leave this Wednesday afternoon for another camping trip.  Yes, I am feeling a tad overwhelmed, but it's all good.  Things might be a little crazy between now and when we leave, but once we get there I am sure I will have time to chill.  Right now I am washing tons of laundry and trying to get the camper packed.

We took Gee to the GI specialist again today.  Ryan went with me.  Pretty much we are just going to let things be with Gideon right now.  I am not sure how I feel about this.  I mean I am happy that there are no major problems staring us in the face, but I still feel something is off.  They are going to get his stool one more time and do 4 or 5 different tests on that and they are going to start some sort of meds to help with his constant poo-ing.  The Dr. wants his weight monitored for the net 6 months.  His weight is in the 5th to 10th percentile and his height is in the 5th.  The Dr. said he was glad to see Gee follow a growth curve, even if it is at the bottom of the scale.  He said the Gee seems very happy and healthy and for now I think he is just willing to except that this is just who Gee is.  I want to accept that also, but I guess I am just a bit skeptical.  But I am content enough to just do what the doctor says and see how things go.

I want to add some vacation pictures, but I haven't uploaded them yet.  Here are some ones from the last few weeks:

Gee's new hat.

Anna cheesing.  Do you see her boo boo on her chin?

Anna and Madeline "loving on" Gideon.

This was taken right after he got up.  I don't think he was feeling the love.

Until later......

Julie