handsful

I thought I’d NEVER get these shots posted. The site that I use to edit and post photos to the blog CHANGED all of their settings and procedures and it’s not letting me copy/paste photo urls like it used to. Grrr… WHY did they change something that wasn’t BROKEN? I’m frustrated. But, I managed to figure out how to copy/paste the HTML code so here they are.

The big kids in action, last week in their Power Up Clubs. There are 12 pics, with 3 each of P, E, M and A. You’ll have to find them, since it would take too long to add captions under each code. Grrr again.

Enjoy. I’m going to send another nasty nice email to that certain photo site…

Oh, how we love this little guy already! 

My friend Denise (see sidebar…Denise-Seth) is in China right now, adopting her 2nd child from China, Seth.  You may remember Dylan being in his birthday pictures back in March.  She graciously offered to try and meet Dylan, and take pictures of him if they were allowed to visit the orphanage. 

I was so excited to see these…I mean, he’s SMILING!  He was cute in those other pictures, but seriously??  I can barely stand the cuteness now! 

Seeing the pictures makes me so happy, but it also makes the waiting time seem that much longer until we can get there. 

Denise not only took the time to get all these pictures for us.  She also talked to him, spoke to the orphanage workers for us, gave him a hug for us.  It brings tears to my eyes.  I mean, she’s there adopting her own child and she went to such lengths to give us these precious gifts.  I’m so thankful. 

I’ll share more detail in another blog…for now, more cuteness. 

He’s happy.  The nannies he’s with seem to care for him. 

I think our next care package should include a shirt that fits better?  I guess pants are optional.  :)

Most days, we’re told we have our handsful (hence, the name of our site).  Yesterday, we had a houseful!  We braved the unknown and gave an open invite to the whole Jr. High at our church.  We wanted to give the kids a chance for one last bash with their friends before we move.  They began trickling in around 1pm. 

And, by 2:30 or so, we had a crowd.  Randy did a rough count at some point, and came up with about 75. 

We all gathered in the kitchen for some games.  We chose a few of the Minute to Win It games, from the tv show and made them girls vs guys. 

Stack Attack

Defying Gravity

Hanky Panky

Paper dragon

Randy’s made up game…

Junk in the trunk

Ping tac toe

Stick the landing

Games can be messy. 

Somehow, after calculating the girls and guys times, we had a tie.  “Okay, everyone go swim!”

Some went involuntarily.  Here, Ethan is being helped into the pool by some very kind 8th grade boys.  Awwww…notice brother Payton at the bottom smiling. 

The girls safely out of the 8th grade boys way. 

Apparently, our pool is still a little chilly.  A few brave souls decided the pond behind our house was much warmer. 

Abbey, far right.  Payton and Ethan swam across, too.  Marley is too much like her momma…either too chicken or too smart to try it. 

No, they aren’t wearing black socks.  Ewwwww….

I mean, really.  Would you want to swim in this gunk?? 

it does have a practical purpose…camo. 

Everyone who dunked in the pond was required to hose off / jump in the pool to “cleanse”.  I’ve not heard of anyone with pond sickness yet. 

How about some nice pictures??

Lainey and Nate

Abbey with homeschool co-op friends, Sarah, Brendan, and John

Ethan and Reese.  Or, I called them the “two guys with brown shirts and shaggy hair”

Abbey posing with Lindsey and Delaney

Lisa, David, their daughter Lauren, and Kristen (her husband Gregg was also there).  They are also Jr. High leaders with Randy and graciously helped us supervise the crowd. 

Marley spent some the day hanging out with her friends in the front room, playing “Sing It”. 

Marley (with her blow-pop stained lips) and Jasmine have been friends for years. 

Funny how no one is behind us in the pool…I think they were all in the pond. 

The grand finale of the party…ready, set, GO!

Girls vs. guys, of course

Great shot, Abbey!

Is there anything more fun than silly string?

Okay, ya’ll break it up!

The party was crazy, loud, tons of fun, and…did I mention loud?  Three kids ended up spending the night with us.  Thankfully, they all woke up early enough for us to get to church on time.  :)  We were all ready for Sunday cat naps today!

I know our kids will remember this party for a long time.  Any amount of noise and exhaustion is totally worth that.

We’ve lived in North Florida for almost 5 1/2 years now.  When we moved here, we anticipated staying around 2 years, and then returning to our home state, North Carolina.  God kept us here longer, and we are extremely thankful for the life he made for us here, especially our friends and amazing church family. 

In March, Randy received an unexpected call from a job recruiter trying to fill a job here in Florida.  Randy politely declined…approaching existing customers representing ANOTHER company wouldn’t really fly.  Making conversation, he said it was a shame he wasn’t looking for someone in the NC area.  The recruiter perked up, telling him that they were actually hoping to fill the same position in the Charlotte area even sooner than the Florida position.  Hmmm…

Randy went through the interview process, which involved flying down to Ft Lauderdale for a face-to-face with the executives.  He was offered the job a few days later…so, after much thought, even more prayer, getting advice from mentors, and talking with our kids, we’ve decided that God is moving us to Charlotte. 

And, when I say “God is”, I mean it.  Recently, Randy’s job has not been going as well as he’d like.  The economy in N. Florida, especially for the sales field, has been very slow, and we had already been in discussion and prayer over what God was doing in our lives right now.  What changes were we going to have to make?  How would we downsize/make ends meet?  And, with our impending adoption - how would we afford it?  We had stepped out in big-time faith, knowing that God called us to Dylan…certainly he’d provide.  We just didn’t know how. 

If Randy could design his own job, this one would be it.  Amazing.  His last paycheck included commissions for past sales he was not expecting.  Amazing.  He received three times the amount he expected back in Paid-Time-Off reimbursements.  We now have money needed to make improvements/repairs to our house before putting it on the market.  Amazing.   So many other littles things that have come together, giving us peace that this is truly our path right now. 

We are sad to leave Florida.  We are sad to say goodbye to the friends we’ve made, and Randy and the older kids are hurting when they think of the relationships in the youth/junior high that will become “long distance”.  But, we have promised our kids that we will make many trips back here - we’ve already planned to bring them back for our church’s Power Up Clubs at the end of the summer.    We’re also excited about this move…we love NC, and are happy that we’ll now be about 2 hours from family, instead of 7.  The kids are looking forward to SNOW.  I am, too.  The smaller areas around Charlotte look wonderful, and are very homeschool-friendly. 

We know that God has the right place for us.  A church that we need (and, maybe, needs us).  Friends to be found.  We’re trusting.

Two years ago today, we saw our daughter’s sweet face.  We were sent 3 precious photos, including the one above.  We had waited so long to see our Lainey, a child that we somehow already loved!  Today, Lainey is a joy and the absolute most perfect child that God and China could have gifted us with. 

Taken today :) 

Happy Referral Day, Lainey!

What we’ve been up to these last precious days of summer vacation :)

Tired but happy, Abbey LOVED her week at the church and working all 14 clubs that she helped lead!  We are extremely proud of her…last year, we couldn’t have paid her to participate in Power Up Clubs.  The thought scared her to death.  This year, she couldn’t imagine NOT doing it, and it shows how much she has matured both mentally and spiritually.  She can’t wait for next year! 

Power Surge (our end of PUC extravaganza at church) was a huge hit with all the kids, especially Lainey.  She rode down a water slide, had her hair sprayed with red streaks (kinda hard to see), and slurped down a whole BLUE snowcone! 

Ethan takes guitar lessons during the school year at our homeschool co-op on Fridays.  For the summer, our friend Steve came over every Monday night for one-on-one lessons.  EJ absolutely eats and breathes the guitar, and he’s been practicing A LOT.  Steve has mad skills, and Ethan soaked it all in.  He learned so much this summer, we’re so glad that Steve had the time to work with him! 

Speaking of guitar, Abbey is taking a beginner class at co-op this year.  Ethan is trying to give her a jumpstart!

someone’s hair FINALLY grew long enough to squeeze into pig tails!

She’s shoutin’ it from the rooftops :)

No, we didn’t get another dog…we’re dog sitting for our friends so they can spend their last days of summer in the Florida Keys.  Cammie is a cutie, but Jack keeps looking at us like “is she…uh…staying?” 

There is more I could post, but it’s been a llllooonngg day, so I’m closing this post.  Yawn… Happy almost end of summer, ya’ll. 

On Tuesday, Randy and the big kids went white water rafting.  Since Lainey wasn’t old enough, I stayed back with her.  My friend Patricia lives in Banner Elk, so it gave us a wonderful opportunity to see her and her family.  She has 3 almost grown sons and 3 beautiful daughters from China.  You’ll have to wait on the pictures from this day :) 

Wednesday was our busy, busy day!  We got a slow start, but managed to do everything we had planned.  I’m counting on at least a few days of exhaustion when we get home from this vacation…there is always the recovery period! 

First stop, Mast General Store in Valle Crucis.  We went to two, the main store and then the annex Candy Barrel.  I could have spent the whole day here.  So much history, so much to look at and buy…lol.  We came away with a few things at the main store, and then headed for the candy.  If you’ve never been here, picture what a candy store must have looked like back in time.  Barrels and barrels and…of candy.  There are baskets at the door and you fill them to your hearts (or wallets) content.  You could go nuts in here if you have a sweet tooth (or a whole mouth full, like me).  The fun is seeing all the brands you remember as a kid…BB Bats, Mary Janes, Whistle pops, those little wax bottles with the sweet liquid inside, candy cigarettes (the kids were a little dumbfounded on that last one).  It sure brought back memories of when my dad would give me $1 to walk up to the corner store for candy.  I guess I can blame him for my love of sweets. 

Linville Caverns came next.  We weren’t sure what to expect, but we all ended up loving it.  Well, except Randy when he realized they were taking us down this extremely narrow passage that had only one way out.  He bowed out of that part.  Close spaces wig him out.  The highlight for the kids was “total darkness”, when they turned out all light sources so we could see how dark it is.  Completely dark.  Nothing, not even a hint of light.  Freaky! 

I carried Lainey in the Ergo since it would have been hard for her to walk and back carriers weren’t allowed.  She LOVES the Ergo and gets giddy with excitement when she sees it. 

Abbey saw a store with this sign, so we had to get Randy’s picture under it.  He loves to talk to the kids in a Scottish accent.  Weird.  They crack up. 

EJ was so looking forward to his time at the Grandfather Trout Farm.  They stock the ponds and provide all the equipment you need, clean, and ice pack the fish.  We were there for quite a while and only getting nibbles.  Lainey used the time to learn the fine art of rolling down a grassy hill. 

Finally, right as I was focusing this shot he yelled out “I’ve got one!”.  See the line pulling?

His first Rainbow Trout…the boy could NOT stop smiling.  We had trout for dinner :)

At the trout farm, there was also gem mining.  They loved the process of finding the cool rocks. 

The last stop of the day was Hawksnest.  During the winter months, this is a snow tubing place (years ago, it was a ski resort…when Randy and I were dating, we came here with friends for Midnight Skiing).  They are now in the process of adding a huge system of cables for zip lines!  They had 4 lines open, with plans to open a total of 14 next week.  Since Randy took the big kids rafting, I had the pleasure of zip lining with them.  I was a little nervous…heights aren’t really my comfort zone.  To say the least.  But, I have to say.  It was AMAZING.  I’d do it again in a heartbeat.

Is it possible that anyone looks good in these things?

We did 4 runs, each one longer and higher.  The last one was 2000 ft. long! 

One of our guides was impressed with how aerodynamic Marley was.  We joked she was like an arrow shooting through the air. 

EJ flying through the trees!

On the last run, Payton had a very concerned look on his face!  He assured us he was fine and loved it. 

Favorite shot!  The guide said Abbey was a natural and asked her if she wanted a job :) 

Randy had the easy job of juggling picture taking, video, and Lainey.  The kids will love being able to watch the videos of themselves! 

We ended our day with a delicious trout dinner (thanks, EJ) and a boys vs. girls game of Pictionary (after Lainey went to bed).  A fantastic day.

Taken Sunday morning, from our balcony…

We’re having such fun here, and taking full advantage of the 5 full days we have.  On Sunday, we started our day at Banner Elk Stables.

This place had dogs and cats EVERYWHERE!  The kids loved that.

Abbey

From the back, Marley, other rider, Ethan, Payton, and guide.

Kinda fuzzy, but here is Randy and Lainey.  Ever tried riding a horse and taking pictures at the same time?  Ain’t easy.

Digger, my horse.  He was a hungry thing, stopping every now and again for a quick  bite.  This picture is the only somewhat proof that I was riding!

Better shot of Randy and Lainey…and, their horse Charlie.  Payton’s horse was Walter (my dad has always wanted a dog named Walter…), Marley’s was Tootsie (my grandmom used to call ME Tootsie…), EJ’s was Kidd, and Abbey’s was Ginger.  I know you were dying for the names of the horses.

Horse riding was fantastic…it was so relaxing to just meander through woods and up and down hills with the breeze blowing.  Everyone loved it!

Today, we went to Grandfather Mountain and did some serious climbing…pics tomorrow :)

Lainey proudly showing off the sticker Dr. M gave her on Tuesday.

Lainey had an appointment with a new ENT this week, to check on her ear tubes. Turns out her left one is still in and working, but the right one had fallen out and imbedded in some wax. He used a torturous looking device and pulled it out. Lainy winced and whimpered a bit, but she was so brave :) The ENT said her ears look fine, no fluid, so there shouldn’t be any need to replace the tubes when they both fall out. Great news.

I thought I’d do a quick medical update on where we are with Lainey’s cleft, future surgeries, etc. Hang on, this gets long…

Like I’ve mentioned before, Lainey is an on-going patient in our areas Cleft Palate Clinic, and is seen once a year by a team of professionals who make decisions about her ongoing care regarding her cleft issues. Her last clinic was this past February, and I got a call sometime later tellling me their recommendations based on everyone’s evaluations and their discussions about her case. Seems there is some disagreement among the team on when to repair her fistula. Backing up, her fistula is basically a hole that opened up in the middle of her hard palate, shortly after her palate repair last May…think of the seam in the backside of someone’s pants splitting - it always happens in the middle, right? Where it’s the tightest…Bad visual, huh?

The fistula makes it impossible for Lainey to build up air pressure in the her mouth for sounds like “p” and “b”. Thankfully, even with the fistula, she can blow air out (i.e. blowing bubbles) and suck through a straw, though it’s hard for her. The lead speech therapist on the cleft team thinks her fistula should be repaired now. We recently had a meeting with her plastic surgeon (who did her cleft surgery) and his recommendation is the wait 6 months and see what speech progress she is able to make between now and then (she has speech 1x per week for an hour), and re-evaluate her then. His reasoning is that she doesn’t have enough speech yet to determine whether she may or may not need an additional surgery, called a Pharyngeal Flap surgery, which he would prefer to do at the same time as the fistula repair. P-flap surgery is done when the child has hypernasal speech, which is common for cleft kids.

Are you still with me? Today, when we were with her regular speech therapist, we discussed whether she sounds hypernasal now and she (and another therapist that she called in to also listen) decided that she isn’t overly nasal at all. Good news. The therapist also said that she didn’t see any harm in waiting the 6 months that the plastic surgeon recommended…the same position that the ENT also agreed with on Tuesday.

To throw another thing into all this is a device called an obturator. Think of it like a retainer, that fits onto the teeth and has a piece that completely covers the palate - like a false palate. That would “fix” the air pressure problem without doing the surgery right now and allow us to not lose time on her speech development in the meantime. My next call is to the dentist, to see what he thinks about this option. I’ve talked to other moms of cleft kiddos who have had these with great results. I just don’t want to put Lainey through anymore than needed, but also want to take advantage of all the time we have to improve her speech.

If you happen to be in our “boat” and have dealt with these issues before, I’d LOVE to hear you take on it all. Obviously, we want to do what’s best for Lainey. Her speech is improving, but MUCH slower than we anticipated. Maybe we were naive, thinking she’d just start talking our ears off after the surgery - we’d heard stories of cleft kids who did just that. Lainey’s sign vocabulary increases almost daily (her favorites right now being “now”, “I love you”, and “potty”). We get mixed opinions on that as well. Some frown and think we’re having her rely on her signs too much, others are happy to see her communicating AND vocalizing at the same time (which is always our emphasis - that she approximate the word WITH the sign). We have never regretted teaching her sign…can you imagine the hissy fits we’d be getting right now otherwise??

Okay, I’m done…thanks for hanging in there. It’s nice to have you to bounce all this off of ;)

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