handsful

We took Dylan to Shriner’s in Greenville, SC for the first fitting of his new leg…new and improved leg, actually. This one has a working knee. It works like a regular knee. When you step down on the heel, the knee is locked. When you roll the foot and put pressure on the toes, the knee bends. It’ll take him some getting used to, but I think he’ll love it!

I attempted a couple of videos…click to see :)

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The appointment went long! It alternated between his “test drives” and Crissy and India tweaking, tightening, making sharpie marks on it, trimming it in the back, etc.

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Like last time, the leg will be finished (and covered in Dylan’s choice of Disney Cars design…) and sent via UPS in about 3 weeks. We’ll be in contact with them to let them know which address to send it to! We don’t want his LEG forwarded!!

Yes, the knee does bend when you step on the toes! He’ll figure it out or do a lot of falling. Probably both.

Forgive the fuzzy photos, we only had my iphone. Amazingly, I don’t look as dead as I felt here…bad cold is going on for-ev-er!

Can’t believe he needs a new leg after only 6 months. But, his little leg had thinned out so much, that it was basically knocking around in the now-too-large socket. And, we are excited about the knee. :)

(Taken as we drove by…again. I’m sure the current owners think we’re stalking at this point.)

Have I mentioned we’re moving? To be exact, the new house will be OURS in 13 days. And, we’ll officially move in our house in 22 days. To say I’m excited seems so completely inadequate. I’m incredibly thankful that we found this house, and that we get to make it our home. I’ll never take owning a home for granted again.

I’m also very grateful that we’ve been able to rent this house. We’ve SO enjoyed living on the lake, being able to swim or jump in the boat for a spin whenever we wanted. But, as nice as that’s been, this house has never really felt like home…it’s just where we’ve lived.

Will we miss living here? Yes, but mainly because of the water. We tried to find a home that would 1) fit us and 2) was on the water. However, people with houses that fit those criteria are VERY proud of them and aren’t exactly giving them away.  And, we’ve grown accustomed to frivolous things like eating.  So, we found a house that fits us well, and has the bonus of being on some acreage. I’m beyond grateful…and, did I mention I’m excited?

What will I not miss about living here? Silly things like not being able to open the pots/pans cabinet if the dishwasher is open. Bumping the freezer door into the pantry, and the coat closet door into the bathroom door. Not having a garbage disposal. The boys extremely tiny room – and the fact that they’re in the basement which means all their “stuff” flows out of said tiny room. The fancy (i.e. irritating) light/fan switch in our bedroom, and the fact that the door sticks and makes a huge thud when opened at 3am by a child who needs to potty. Silly, little things, I know.

What am I looking forward to? Space. Inside and out. I can yell (ahem) at my kids and not a soul will hear.  Walking out the back door could turn into an all day nature walk.   A family room with enough seats for ALL of us at one time. Having all the kids bedrooms on the same level. Being able to decorate (since this is a rental, we’ve hung a total of 2 things on these walls), pick curtains, paint rooms if we want (and we do want!). Getting our grill and other things back (we currently have 2 rooms of storage in Florida…we travel to get those prior to our move).  Room for a garden!  A separate school room (our first!)…and, so much more.

Slowly but surely, we’re becoming over-run by packed boxes around here.  It’s a beautiful thing – and we’re grateful.

2/19/2012

2/24/2012

They look ready for this, right?

Maybe not.

Too bad, kids, the time has come to help our orthodontist put his own kids through college.

Braces for all 3 – at one time. Honestly, we’re getting a great deal. Having triplets has had it’s perks. Free diapers when they were little…discounts on braces now. Plus, they were having a February promotion of a big chunk of money off EACH set of braces. EACH! So, we jumped in.

We invaded the place bright and early. Since it was going to take HOURS of waiting in a boring waiting room, my friend Kelley graciously agreed to take Lainey and Dylan to the mall across the street.

I was equipped with my iphone, bible app, and journal. And, my kindle. Ocassionally, I glanced up at an incredibly old re-run of Rosanne. Did we ever really think that was funny?

The first patient finally showed up…

And, the second…

Finally, Ethan…

Total time at the orthodontist? 3+ hours. Total time they’ll be in braces? 22-26 months. Each.

Today is Day 2, and they’re definitely feeling better than they did Day 1. Ibuprofen is still their friend, and the food is still soft. (though, they did wrestle with pizza today at co-op, since the teacher surprised them with it!) The first week is the hardest.

A friend reminded me of something the other day…when Marley, Payton, and Ethan were little, I decided I’d get myself braces. I knew, down the road, that we’d be faced with putting braces on their sweet, tiny faces, so I figured I’d go ahead and take care of myself. Looks like “down the road” has arrived!

We glanced up, while waiting for the elevator, when our guide casually said “and, here’s the baby from Bengbu”.

You were so brave, holding in your emotions, until we laid you down to change your diaper…and, you whimpered softly.

I looked at you on the way back to the hotel, and you looked at me. Both of us with looks of “okay, now what” on our faces.

Fast forward…

It’s been 4 years since that day we “met” you at the elevators. Since that day you were brave, and we were both unsure of the future.

Today, you’re very self-assured, very brave and VERY spunky. Back then, your “language” was 2 vowel-like utterances. Today, you’re a speech therapy rock star, working so hard and making HUGE progress. We understand you most of the time…amazing.

You have a very strong personality…most of the time, that’s great. Sometimes, it’s a challenge. But, we’re up for it. And, you’re worth it.

There are many things you love at age 5. Your bike, your gummy bear vitamins, Curious George, skinny jeans, the swingset, food (too many to narrow down…), running, and staying no more than 12 inches away from mom.

You know that mom and dad made a long trip to China to get you. You know that the big kids grew in my tummy. You know that you did not. One connection you’ve not quite made yet…so, where did you grow? How did you come to be?

This book should help her make that connection, and in a very beautiful and loving way. I’m looking forward to / nervous about – reading it. We’ll be reading it today.

Last night at her celebration dinner (she wanted Taco Bell, we convinced her to upgrade to a Mexican restaurant…), she flipped through the pages and pointed to the cast of characters. I told her “that’s you”, “that’s mommy”, and “that’s China mommy”. She asked no questions, just smiled at each page.

Her China mommy gave her her beauty, her laugh, her stinky feet. I’ll give her comfort when she’s sad, high-fives when she’s happy, love forever.

Happy 4 years, Lainey-girl. We love you. Always.

Thought I’d share some randomness that I found on my cell phone…

This won’t excite you as much as it did me. Years ago, I was at my sister-in-law’s house and she gave me a Mrs. May’s almond crunch bar. It was very simple…almonds stuck together with sweetness. Since then, I’ve been on a quest to find these things (she couldn’t remember where she’d bought them), but to no avail. Then, on a random trip to TJ Maxx, I’m standing in line and look to my left. Oh my! Yes, I bought them, and yes, they are wonderful. If you find them near you, let me know!

Okay, I’m cheating here…found this photo on FB. But, it’s so cute I had to share. This is the North Meck Testify group from about a month ago. A great bunch of kids. Ethan is in the middle right (getting crushed), Abbey middle left (crushed also), Payton is in the back, 2nd from the left, and Marley is front, 2nd from the right.

Here are the “littles” in our homeschool co-op. This was their Valentine’s brunch :)

Co-op again, this time middle school history. That day, the kids were having a debate – communism vs. capitalism. It was very interesting!

Lainey and Dylan were super excited on Monday, to find out we were headed to Hollyn’s house for a playdate. Hollyn and Dylan are “prosthesis buddies”…hers is on the right, Dylan’s on the left. They played their hearts out (here, they are busy cooking with rice) and then we had a yummy lunch. What’s even more exciting is that our new house is MUCH closer to Hollyn’s house! I see many more playdates to come.

That’s it. Other than the 2,135 pics of Lainey sticking her tongue out. I’ll be deleting those :)

And, in case you’re counting, we move exactly ONE MONTH from tomorrow!

Pics from last Saturday’s homeschool dance…

We only did a little bit of posing before we left. And, it had to be inside (which explains the terrible lighting), because it was FRIGID outside and the wind was blowing at near hurricane speed. Well, it felt like it.

The trips with their friends, Ethan (yes, another Ethan…) and Kylie

Getting the giggles…

Then, we brought them all together (Abbey had gotten dressed at her friend’s house) for a shot. We took about a dozen, this was the best of the bunch.

Some of their friends were running late, so we missed getting their picture. I’ve emailed the gals in charge of the dance, to see if they’ll share the pictures they got during the dance. Can’t wait to see those! Maybe I’ll share a few…

One last one..

Happy Valentine’s Day :)