Wordless Wednesday

I made a decision today....

It has been a while since I have spent very much time on the computer!  Between going back to work, all the kids going back to school then finding out 3 days before school started that they (5 of them) had to switch schools,  3 birthdays and hosting a 50th Anniversary party for my in-laws it has been quite busy around here!!  I even planned to go private for a while, but haven't found the time to do that!!

However, I did make my way over to Reece's Rainbow a little while ago.  I scrolled through the posts and found this one!!  It, of course, made me cry.  It made me uncomfortable to look at the pictures. It made me angry that children should live in such conditions.  It made me think!  It made me act!  I am going to continue to act on behalf of the children.  I can safely say that we will be sponsoring more, advocating more and obviously there WILL be a Lambert #10.....but we've known that for a while....  :-)

What will you do???

It is time....

I would really love to share about our experience this summer proving respite care for N. He is such a fun loving, bright and determine kid!!  We have had so much fun with him and I know he has with us.  He tells me daily how much he likes being here with us.  So, I am going to go private for a while so that I can share openly and honestly.

If you would like an invitation, please email me or leave a comment!!

Hope y'all are having a blessed weekend!!

Haiti...

The time to leave is fast approaching!! I am excited to be going on this adventure!! Yet, a little apprehensive as well. I have been working out and dieting to hopefully be more prepared for my stay. We will only be eating 1 meal a day and working hard and in the heat. I'm sure I will miss my air conditioning most of all.

My friend, Robyn, over at Love is all We Need held a donation drive and collected 60 POUNDS worth of donations!! Isn't that AMAZING?? She has a ministry called Teeth to Toes that she and her family started.

If you still would like to donate anything feel free to email me for my address.

Thank you for all the donations that have already been sent!! You guys rock!!!

Love,

Happy Birthday, America!!

Wordless Wednesday

Let's talk respite care

Have you ever taken in a child for respite care? Or, sent your child to another family for respite care?

Did you know that respite care is an option if you have a child that is having a difficult time and it is disrupting the family and everyone needs a break??

I have learned that many people do not know about respite care. It can be a great resource during a difficult time. Personally we have had children come stay with us for respite care and we have sent one of our children to another family for respite care.

I have read blog, emails, yahoo groups, etc. about children being disrupted for various reasons. I wonder sometimes if the family got help before hand?? Did they know anything about respite care?? Would they have decided to disrupt if they had a chance to have a break from the child, a respite.

Respite care can be a way for a family to have time to reflect, pray, consider their options and decide what the best plan for the whole family would be.

It can be however long or short the family needs. Sometimes a weekend would be helpful and sometimes it may take months. It can be with a relative, trusted friend or willing family across the country.

Sometimes families reunite and live happily ever after, sometimes the families reunite and realize that it is not going to work, sometimes the family will decide during respite that it is not appropriate for the child to return at all. The respite family will often times adopt the child or help find an experienced family to adopt the child.

In our case, our child came home and things are good. The respite time gave us a chance to look at our family, the issues and make a plan for our family to reunite and help our child work through their issues. I am thankful that we were able to utilize this resource for our child and our family.

Feel free to contact me if you need respite care for a child. I know of several GREAT families that are willing to help!! Respite care might save your family!!!

Friday we are getting a young man for the summer and my kids are EXCITED!!!!

Love,

My Girls....

I wanted to share a little about my girls....I usually give little snippets, but not the whole story when it comes to my kids. I thought I'd share a little more here since I have been asked quite a few times lately and receiving more emails with questions about them. I'll start with our oldest daughter....

Marissa Anne

She is in her early 2o's (and funny about her age) living on her own. She is a paramedic and a student. She is contemplating going to Fire Fighting school, but is currently on a volunteer department, where she started when she was just 17! She is also the first female to serve on their board!!! Go Rissa!!! She lives about 5 hours away, but I still go and see her about 1 time a month!! I think she is just GOREGOUS!!

Emilea Victoria

She is finishing up her sophomore year in high school. She just got her drivers license a couple of weeks ago and has been running errands daily!! She is in the school band, on the Honor Roll and a Latin student! She really enjoys Latin, so we are taking a trip together next March to Italy & Greece!! Emilea traveled with me to China in 2007 to bring Rubea home. She is such a blessing to us and her siblings. We think she is BEAUTIFUL!!!

Kaylea Lynn

Kaylea is our Thai Princess and came to us in 2006 at the age of 5.5 years. We knew when we accpeted her referral that she had Arthrogryposis Multiplex Congenita(AMC), Scoliosis and bilateral club foot (partially repaired). The AMC and scoliosis have caused her to need many surgeries and procedures in the past 4 years. Since coming home she has been diagnosed with RAD, attachment issues, failure to thrive, eating disorder, feeding disorder, asthma, celiac disease, hiatal hernia, tetherd cord, reflux and malnurishment. Since coming home she has required a g-tube to help her gain weight as well as a trach placed for easier intubation for surgeries. She is by far our most medically needy child and even receives nursing services 12 hours a day. Kaylea weighed 24 lbs when we adopted her 4 years ago and was 36 inches tall. She FINALLY weighs 37 lbs and is 44.25 inches tall!!! We are thrilled that she is finally growing and thriving and her labs no longer show that she is malnourished!!! We are so thankful that our prayers are being answered and she is finally HEALTHY!!!!! Isn't she ADORABLE???

Rylea Joy

Rylea has been home the shortest amount of time, about 1.5 years, but make no mistake, she is definitely in charge around here!! Or, so she thinks!! She is our only child from Vietnam. Rylea is 5 years old now and EXACTLY (to the day) 10 months older than Rubea. She has Cerebral Palsy, more specifically Schizencephaly, that affects all 4 limbs. She also has issues with vision & speech, bilateral club foot (repaired) and has pituitary issues as well. She is unable to walk at this time, but we are not giving up on her. She does get around the house by crawling, scooting, rolling and demanding to be carried! She is definitely opinionated and LOVES attending school. She has had no attachment issues since being with us. She is so much like Ethan it is amazing! She went from her crib to her daddy and never looked back! She is certainly the *Joy* in our lives!!! We think she is just the CUTEST!!!!!

Rubea Grace

Rubea was the youngest child that we have adopted. She was just a few days shy of being 22 months when Emilea and I took her from that dark & crowded waiting room in China, October 2007. I cried the minute I saw her....thankfully my new best friend, Shelly, was there to tell me *it will be ok*. Rubea may have been 22 months old according to her birth certificate, but she was no where near that age physically, socially, emotionally or psychologically. I knew the second I spotted her in the arms of her orphanage director. She was being held like a new born baby and her cry was just as weak. Thankfully today she is a very strong, healthy, smart 4 year old!! She has Spina Bifida and will likely never walk. She also has scoliosis (and got her titanium ribs 1.5 years ago), tethered cord (repaired), club feet (repaired) and Holoprosencephaly. She has an AWESOME power wheelchair that she loves and handles beautifully. She attends school, that she also loves, and is in class with Rylea. She is now talking in sentences (they were unsure if she would ever talk), naming her ABC's and numbers, colors, shapes, animals, body parts, etc. She is very near being on target for a child who is 4. Her weaknesses for the most part are due to her physical difficulties!! We know she will face some challenges as she ages due to SB, but we are certain she will handle them all with *Grace*. She is very PRECIOUS to us!!!!!

Those are my girls!! Thanks everyone for asking about them!!

Look who's straight!

Kaylea recently recieved her long, long awaited titanium ribs! We are just thrilled with the outcome of her procedure! It is quite an invasive surgery and she had some major movement of her spine and ribs, but she did great in the hospital and only ended up staying a week!!! Thankfully she was only in the PICU for 4 days and then moved to *the floor* for 4 days!!

Unfortunately the hospital blocks blogger, so I was not able to blog during our time there, but now the we are home and she is settled, I have more time to share her experience and her

x-rays and pictures.

This is the side view. You can see the large hump on her right side is now MUCH smaller!! Isn't it just amazing??

In this view you can see how much they were able to straighten her spine!! We are amazed at just how straight she looks now!!

This is her spine the morning of her surgery!!

This is after the surgery and under the 3 white bandages are the incisions!! Look how nice her spine looks!! :-)

She looks sooo much taller to me and is looking more like a *9* year old young lady every day!! John just measured her and she is 2.25 inches taller!!!! WOW!!! She had to wait 3+ years to finally get her ribs due to her weight being so low. I blogged about her eating issues a while back. She is doing better, but still uses purging as a control tactic. We are scheduled to have her evaluated at yet another hospital in Dallas next month!! Our G.I. doc on base finally decided that she needs some outside help, but of course had to the top dog at the base hospital to get approval. However, he was able to accomplish that in a matter of a few days, so he has earned back some of my trust!! IF, she is admitted to the program it will be 6-8 MONTHS before she gets in. However, they have a great reputation and their program is in-patient, so I feel like it will be worth the wait.

See how great she looks!!!!

I have asked about having her trach removed, but none of her docs feel that it is a good time to do that procedure. Suddenly, everyone feels that this was a good option for her, but I'm not feeling it! We continue to have nursing services 12 hours a day, and I am finally getting use to having someone here all the time! The g-tube....well, that will be in for quite a while. At least until she successfully completes the eating/feeding disorders program! That is the scoop on Kaylea!!

Mother's Day!

I have many reasons why I like being a mom... my top 9 are.....

Marissa Anne

Johnathan Harvey

Emilea Victoria

Jackson Robert

Ethan George

Kaylea Lynn

Owen Thomas

Rylea Joy

Rubea Grace

Happy Mother's Day!!! Wishing each of you a blessed day!!

Going to Haiti

WOO HOO!!!!!!!

I am going to HAITI!!

In August!!

I am going with a group and we will be working in a *tent city*.

I am soooo excited!!

There will be a lot of work to do and I am ready for the challenge!!

One of the things we will be doing is handing out birthing kits to the pregnant mommies!!

This is the list of items needed for the kits:

1 shower curtain

1 bar of soap (hotel size)

1 pair of sharp scissors

1 shoe lace (sterile)

3 pairs of sterile gloves

30 alcohol swabs

4 gauze squares (4x4)

1 Receiving blanket

1 pair of newborn socks

1 onesie

4 maxi pads

2.5 gallon zip lock bag

The shower curtain, onsie, blanket and socks should be lighter weight so purchasing these items from the dollar store is best.

Other items needed are:

Soccer balls, footballs, basketballs (must be inflatable!!!)

Please NO solid balls that can’t be deflated!

Water Purification Tablets

Cough MedicineTylenol (adult/Children) PILL FORM PLEASE NO LIQUID

Diarrhea Medicine

Anti-Acid Tablets (Tums)

Yeast infection cream

Neosporin (generic is fine)

Bandages

Lice cream

sterile gloves

beef jerky

Tuna/sardines

Spam (ect.)

All medicine should be in pill form if possible. Liquid is too heavy to carry and can leak!!

We also need monetary donations to purchase rice in Haiti

AND

school tuition of 15 children $150. for the year

(includes books, uniform and classes)

If you would like to donate birthing kits or any other items on the list for me to deliver, please email me and I will send you my address!! I am hoping to have 2 suitcases full of donations!!

Blessings,

Carla

Wordless Wednesday (Wheelchair Swinging)

Thirty....

I am a bit overwhelmed with that number!

Do you want to know why??

That is the number of times per week that one of my 6 younger kids will have

therapy!! 5 of them will receive Speech Therapy 2 times per week, 5 of the will receive Physical Therapy 2 times per week and 5 of them will receive Occupational Therapy 2 times per week!!

THIRTY. APPOINTMENTS. PER. WEEK.

That is a LOT of appointments!! I'm not exactly sure how

I will do it! I may have to take up residence there. So far they have not scheduled 2 or more kids at a given time! But.... we haven't got them all scheduled yet. We should have a schedule by the end of the week! So, if you wonder why I am not on FB or blogging....I am probably sitting the waiting room on the 3rd floor!!

Pop Star Pink....

....is the color of Rubea's new power chair!! This thing is AMAZING!! I just know it is going to be great for her!! She will finally have some independence!! We are over the moon excited for her!!!!! Pretty fancy don't you think???

I just can not believe the technology of this awesome ride! She can put the seat all the way to the floor enabling her to join in *circle time* at school with her friends.

Or, she can raise it up to be at eye level with her friends and siblings! This allows her to be at their level while going down the hall or taking a walk.

Check out her name on the back of the seat!! :-)

She can lay back and take a nap!! Of course she probably never would!!

I love that she is at the same height as Ethan when she raises the seat up!!

She is learning how to use the buttons. She is really catching on and learning how to get around in her environment. She LOVES the independence. Until now she completely relied on us to move her, position her, etc. She has a manual chair, but is not strong enough to move herself around. I fear in a month that she will be able to run from us!! lol

This is her first venture out of the house with it. It goes fast enough that the kids have to run to keep up with her. In the house we slow it ALL THE WAY DOWN!! She has had such a great time outside *running* with the kids!! We are truly blessed to have such great insurance so our kids can have the equipment they need to be successful at being independent!!!

Priceless....

$200.00 for gas (1100miles)

$75.00 for snacks

$37.00 for candy

Witnessing a mom meeting her son and daughter for the first time....PRICELESS!!

Our first sighting

Introductions

I am so excited that I was able to witness first hand my friend Vickey meeting her new son (13) and her new daughter (11) for the first time!!

Getting to know eachother

The transition was smooth and the bonding is going great!! These two kids are very resilient, bright, funny, loving and so very trusting!

Sisters!!

As long as I live I don't think I will fully understand how an adopted child is able to trust their new family and be so adaptable! These kids are no exception. They were excited to meet their new family and went with us without ever looking back!!

Things are going BEAUTIFULLY!!! All the kids are all thrilled to have eachother and mom & dad are having a blast getting to know the newest memebers of their family!!

~Sisters forever~

Congratulation Coupland Family!!!

We love y'all

Amazing...

We have been contacted several times over the past 2 months concerning some children being disrupted and families needing respite care.

One of the families disrupting has 3 children they were looking to place. The children are 15, 13 & 11. Not the easiest age group to place. We had just agreed to adopt another little boy through a disruption, so we decided to adovocate for the sibling group.

My friend and fellow adoptive mom of many and her family have taken in and fallen in love with the 15 year old girl!! YAY!!! So, on to finding a home or homes for the 13 & 11 year olds.

A few different families considered one or both of the children, but in the end decided not to move forward at this time.

Knowing the situation that they were in was really taking a toll on my heart! I prayed daily, sometimes much more often, to find a family for these kids. I knew they needed to be with a family or families that would love them uncondtionally and provide them with the love & respect that they deserve.

John and I had already said we would take one or the other if we could just find a home for the other one.

Finally, last week after much prayer, we decided we were just going to take both children. Their home life was detiorating and they needed a new family NOW! So we started preparing to bring these precious children into our home. After all, what is 2 more when you have 8 at home, right?? :-)

Friday while talking to my dear & precious friend she said to me, *Carla, don't you have enough on your plate right now? What about you? Are you taking care of yourself?*

Of course, I started explaining to her that we would all be fine, these children need a home!

Then she says to me *We will take them. I'm serious!*

In all my searching I had never thought to ask THEM!! Though I should have realized when she asked me a thousand questions about adoption and was reasearching adoption on the internet and sending me links and information.

I had been focusing on families who had already adopted. The whole situation makes sense to me now.....this was God's plan all along. I love when he surprises me like that!! My friend and her husband are amazing parents! I am over the moon excited that I get to go with them next weekend to meet their new son and daughter!! I get to watch this miricale unfold!!!

We have been in constant contact all weekend....John and I have loved every minute of listening to them as they plan what they will do to rearrange their home, what clothes they will buy them, which kids will share rooms, etc.... It has been as much fun sharing their excitement as it was each time we have adopted!!!!

Congratulations Coupland Family!!!! You are truly BLESSED!!!!!

CNY, Tet, Valentine's Day.....

Johnathan, handsome!!

Emilea, pretty girl!!

Jackson, looks so shy!

Ethan, just being himself!

Kaylea, cute as ever!!

Owen, look at those beautiful eyes!!

Rylea and her cute little mouth!!

Rubea, what a sweet smile!!

We did not do much on Sunday to celebrate all the holidays of the weekend....Rubea just had surgery on Wednesday and was not feeling well. The kids did get dressed in their outfits and let me snap a few pics of them though! It is funny, to me, that very few of them can smile naturally for the camera! Bless their hearts, they tried! I managed to get one of them all together, too!!

Or, should I say...I am posting the one that is the BEST of all of them together :-)

I cooked a huge meal with dishes from China, Thailand and Vietnam. They ALL ate like they hadn't eaten in a week. We made fried rice, Vietnamese stir fry, Thai lemon grass chicken and a chicken soup along with jasmine rice!!

Oh, and yes I realize my boys need hair cuts...they are letting their hair *grow out* Ethan looks like he is straight out of the 80's.

Hope all of you had a wonderful weekend!!!