Some new pictures!

Here's Annie loving on her baby that Aunt Sue got for her (she got Maddie and Annie one and they LOVE them).


Ok, so the boy actually likes hats. He wore this for a couple hours.

Annie cheesing it up wearing her baby in my mei tai (no worries though because I made her one in her size for Christmas!)

So, we went to Chuck E Cheese fo Maddie's 2nd birthday and Annie was NOT impressed with any of the rides. The poor girl still panics if we drive over a bump too fast!

The kiddos just chill'in with their peanut butter sandwiches and drinks!

Gideon LOVES his chair. He sits in it at least every morning. It is funny though because he can't get out on his own without flipping it. So, he just whines when he wants out. (Look at the poor boy's rosey checks, he's not use to Ohio weather).

Just Checking in!

Hey guys, I figured I'd drop a line here at the blog since it has been a while.

Things are really going pretty well. Gideon had to go to the lab and radiology yesterday. Fortunately we just went to our local hospital, so it really didn't take too terribly long. He had a chest xray as a follow up to his TB test. He also had more blood taken seeing they didn't get enough while we were in Cincy. The blood draw was a nightmere. The poor boy tenses up when we even just set foot in a dr.'s office, let alone having someone poke him. And the lab tech was aweful!! Don't get me wrong, she was very nice, but she could not hit his vein. He was so worked up he was literally sweating. The thing is, she just kept digging and digging. Finally I told her that he had enough and needed a break. So, I consoled him for a bit and then she tried his other arm. She only had to dig a bit and finally she hit it. It was very tramatic...for us all!

Annie is still doing well, although she is still struggling a bit with sleep stuff. Gideon has a hard time with sleep also, but he seems to be getting better, Annie, not so much. Regardless of the sleep stuff, the kids are a pure joy! I can tell Gideon is loosening up and if giggly more often and that is lots of fun. He still detests baths, although he loved the pool in Guatemala. He screams bloody murder!

All three little ones here "no" about 20 times a day and they all respond differently. Madeline takes it in stride and goes along her merry way. Annie cries for like 10 seconds and looks at you like you have completely broken her heart. But then she is over it just as fast. And Gideon, well, he will just break down and one "no" can often times start an hour long whine. I will say though, Gideon is the least high maintenance though when it comes to such things. You tell him "no" 2 or 3 times and he's pretty good about staying away, at least for a while. Annie and Maddie on the other hand they will push your buttons all day. They are little stinkers!

Thanksgiving was great! We really enjoyed being with our families. I personally just loved having all my kids with me. Last year this time, Annie and Gideon were just a glimmer on our eyes, a hope. And now, well, they are our children in every sense of the word. Indeed, we have so much to be thankful for.

Well, I will post more later, but it is time for me to be off!

Until later,

Julie

Welcome Home Party!

So last Saturday we had a "Welcome Home" party for the kiddos. It was a lot of fun. It was pretty cool to finally be celebrating our newest little ones and our completed family! It was especially great to see our family and friends show up to help us celebrate!


Here's a picture in front of our house before the party.


The yummy, yummy cake.

Gideon, a little wiped out.

My brother Nick getting some grub.

Sweet Annie!

Opening a few gifts.

First Snow!

Well, Annie and Gideon got their first look at snow today. Although it was pretty sparce (ok, ok, you could barely see it) it made an impression on me as their first snow. It will be fun to see what all 3 of the little ones think of the snow this winter!

Also, I need to post pictures and tell you about the kids' welcome home party. I just don't have the time right now.

Julie

Some more misc. pictures,

Annie in her "cage." Check out her cool hair do!


Maddie wrking hard on that apple.


Dirty faced Gideon.

Our pretty "big" girl again.

Julie

We've been home 1 week (kind of).

Well, today marks 1 week that we've been home with sweet Gideon. All in all he is doing well. He struggles a little to go to sleep and he gets pretty whiney at times, but those are minor issues in the grand scheme of things. He also seems to be attaching pretty well to me. He prefers me over anyone else, but he goes pretty easily to Ryan, Leah, Logan and Rick. He seems to like men. It is so funny because if someone comes up to him he will shake his head "no" if he doesn't want to go to them. Even if they are just talking to them. He will also shake his head "yes" appropriately. For some reason Gideon and Annie do the same head shake. They both will get a really serious look on their face and their eyes get real big and they shake their heads "yes." For some reason it cracks me up!

Gideon seems to be pretty healthy. He eats well and drinks like 3 or 4 bottles of formula a day. He only has 7 front teeth so he is unable to eat some of the things the girls can. When I am feeding them I have to cut things into 3 sizes for each of the little ones. Gideon has his big appointment with Dr. Staat next Wednasday, so we will find out more when all those tests come back. Poor Annie, she is going to go back to Cincy with us and she has to get more blood drawn. They couldn't milk enough from the poor girl the first time. We also have to look into getting her started on her TB meds.

In general things are great, even though I am kind of exhausted. I have been struggling with some bug since we came home and I think it is kind wearing me out. Also, we went camping last weekend. Crazy? Yes, but lots of fun and we had a beautiful weekend. I do feel though that we are just now getting to relax and settle into a routine.

Here are some pictures:

A cute picture of sweet Maddie.




Leah, looking so old (and beautiful)!



Ok, Annie seriously looks way too old in this picture!

Ok, this is like our 4th attempt at a good family picture..... Oh well.

Annie listening to daddy's I phone on the plane

Maddie taking a little snooze on the way home!

Mommy and Gideon.

All the kids in their OSU shirts!

Logie and Gideon wrestling at the airport in Guatemala.

We are home!

We flew into Columbus about 1/2 hour early yesterday, arriving around 5:00. The flights were pretty good. The first leg was great because the flirght was only about 1/2 full and we had our pick of seats. The second leg was packed, but we had the bulkhead seats and that was helpful. My mom and niece and brother met us at the airport. When then went to a local restaurant to eat and met my aunt and uncle, my grandma and some cousins. It was great to see everyone! We were all pretty tired though and about 1/2 way through the dinner the 3 little ones started breaking down. It had just been a long day.

The ride home was miserable. We only had the two car seats in because I originally thought I would just hold Gideon on the way home. Well, I was feeling increasingly worse all day and I didn't want to sit in the back where I knew I'd get car sick. Oh and to add here, Ryan was/is sick also. We both have some sort of yucky cold and just plain exhaustion. So anyways, I put Gideon and Annie in a car seat and Maddie in the back with just a regular seat belt. She did fine staying put, but she literally cried and called for me the whole 45 min. ride home. It was sooo frustrating, but she had just reached her max. And then we heard from Leah and Logan about 20 times "mom, can you make Maddie be quiet, we are trying to watch a movie." (Gesh, if I could "make" a child be quiet I think I'd be a millionaire right now). Gideon fell asleep in his car seat pretty quickly and Annie just sat there in some sort of exhaustion coma. About 1/3 of the way home Gideon threw up all over the place. It was a total mess. He doesn't have a fever or anything anymore, I just think his little belly had too much for the day. A lot of new foods and he even got some whole milk instead of formula. So I striped him down to his diaper and sat in between the two bucket seats with him. Of course I got car sick and the smell of throw up did not help any. I was so glad to get home, as I am sure everyone was.

Sleep wise everyone did great. I can't remember the last time I was that tired. Fortunately the kids slept great. Maddie woke up about 7:15 and Gideon and Annie slept until about 8:00. All three of the little ones are running around munching on a highly nutritous pop tart. I am going to work on my mountains of laundry. We also need to pick up our dog and Leah and Logan has piano. I should probably fit the grocery in here somewhere also. If will be a busy day I am sure.

I will post some pictures as soon as we get some transferred.

Julie