Test Failed

You know how when you dream about something that you are worried about, the real situation usually turns out absolutely fine. Well........

Victoria's 24 hour ambulatory EEG did not exactly go as expected. You know, 24 hours is a really long time. There's just gotta be a better way of keeping 22 wires hooked to a two year old. All day long, I tried to keep Victoria still and quiet. We stayed in the cool air conditioning. We went to eat at Waffle House because everyone is happy at Waffle House, right? (surprisingly, no one seemed to notice her little robotic head).

Victoria immediately figured out how to unzip the secret compartment and then push the button that she was not supposed to push! Only I was directed to push the button when I saw her eyes jerking left and right. I was supposed to record any episodes on a little chart, but all I recorded was: sorry, Victoria pushed the button again.

Did the neurologist really think I had time to stare into her eyes all day long? No, I was busy trying to keep her little fingers away from the darn button! I decided to keep her up from her nap just to make sure her fingers didn't do any more exploring.

 In the afternoon, she decided she was done and started tampering with the wires. Then turban fell off (they should have used duct tape)! This was not supposed to have happened! Panic City!!! Isabella quickly produced her silk sleeping cap and we thought all was well. They told me those connectors are stuck with a cement kind of stuff and there was no way those puppies were coming off.

A few hours later, I took off the pink cap and made a distressing discovery. Yep, every single one of those 22 little wires had jumped ship. They were all off her head! They weren't even stuck to her hair!

So, I had to do the walk of shame and turn everything back in to the doctor with only 8 hours of data recorded. The great news is we get to re-do the test again! Yipee! Next time, I plan on dreaming about scoops of ice cream in hot fudge sauce. 

Good Things Come in Small Packages

Several people have asked me how I choose Francesca and Victoria. Francesca always caught my eye on her photolisting on Reeces Rainbow, but I kept telling myself this was crazy, knowing how hard all the surgeries would be. After all, what did I really know about this child? How could I take such a risk?

Then, a miracle happened. A woman named Tracey traveled to the orphanage that Francesca was in to adopt her son, Kullen. Kullen has dwarfism. Kullen was in the same room as Francesca!

Tracey got to know Francesca. She took pictures of her. She was was to tell me all about her sweetness, all about her smile. I really believe that if it wasn't for Tracey, I might not have been brave to move forward with adopting Francesca (Victoria is a whole other story!).
Doesn't Francesca look so different?! 

Tracey and her husband have decided to adopt not one, but two children from China who also have dwarfism. By the way, Tracey has 14 children! She is amazing!!! Here is her blog: www.adozenreasonsandmore.blogspot.com

China is not like Ukraine. Ukraine pretty much has a "adopt one child, get the second one for cheap" policy. But with China, each child's adoption has the same cost, making it very expensive to adopt two children. 

Here are Rowyn and Zekiel, the sweeties that Tracey and her husband, George, are hoping to adopt. They need a mom and dad badly and the only thing stopping them from having a family is the cost of adopting. There are many medical issues associated with dwarfism, which is why orphan children with dwarfism are often overlooked.

My wonderful friend, Jen, (here is her blog), adopted the little boy in the picture above with Francesca and Kullen. She has organized a really cool auction to help raise money for Rowyn and Zekiel's adoption. There are so many cool things you can bid on, from handcrafted earrings to fuzzy flip flops. I am hoping to win the "kitty decoupage plate"! I may even give up my Oreos and chocolate to help bring home these sweet babies! 

http://www.goodthingsinsmallpackages.blogspot.com

Please consider donating to these sweet children! 

Just Some Little Bits



My only cake pan, so sad! Well, at least it gives me an excuse to go shopping.  When Isabella opened up the cupboard and the pan fell out, she looked up at me, shocked, and cried, "Who did that?" Hmmmm....it must have been that invisible creature who lives in our house and messes things up.

 

Ever since we had to trapse through a graveyard to see the fireworks on the 4th, Catherine has been very interested in graveyards. Today I found out why.

She asked me, "When we go back to the graveyard, can we get some gravy there?" Surely! Hopefully some mashed potatoes too!

I have been teaching my son to drive. Tomorrow I am investing in massive amounts to hair dye to get all the gray out of my hair. I actually let him drive on a real road today. The speed limit was 45 mph, but I made him go 25. We had a whole parade of cars behind us that were not amused.

Tomorrow at 9 am, I will be dragging five kids to the neurologist for Victoria to get hooked up for her amulatory EEG. I am thinking that perhaps we will stick close to home tomorrow.

and everyday I'm shuffling......



To Whom It May Concern:

Dear woman at the park,

Please don't give me the "sympathy" smile when you see my children. My children are not defective, they are just different. You don't need to feel sorry for them or for me. Sometimes a little wave or a friendly, "your kids sure are cute" would really be nice.

Dear waiter,

Yes, these children are all mine and no, I won't tell you which ones are my "real" ones. I don't think I have any imaginary children since the last time I checked.

Please refrain from asking me in front of them why their "own" parents didn't want them. I would be happy to talk to you about adoption and thrilled to answer your questions, but please remember that my children do have ears and they have hearts that can break, just like yours.

Dear Doctor,

Please don't be offended when my daughter doesn't make eye contact with you or smile at your attempts to engage her. Don't make quick judgements like, "she seems very distant." Everyone has a story and the beginning of my daughter's story was pretty difficult, so she isn't very trusting and open, especially of people wearing stethoscopes.

Greetings mom at the grocery store,

I don't really know if my kids are going to be cognitively normal. Since your kid is licking the lid of the bleach, maybe you can't predict your kid's future either. My kids may not all be rocket scientists (well, except for maybe little Catherine, she may take over the earth), but I am sure they will be kind, loving and grow up to help others.

Hiya kids at the playground,

I know some of my kids look a little unusual. Please don't whisper about them and point and laugh. Just come on over and ask them to play in the sand and get to know them. You might make a new friend.

Hi stranger on the street,

Thanks so much for telling me how beautiful all my children are and treating them just like everyone else. You made us have a great day!

Sincerely,

Me

I'm Baaaaccckk!!!!!!!

The title is definitely to be said in the Jack Nicholson voice from "The Shining". I may be turning into a crazier version of Jack Nicholson after being without any computer or television for two weeks with all six kids at home. Scary!!!!!

I honestly didn't think I was ever going to get back to you guys. Today when I called the "Geek Squad" and they calmly told me that after 99 hours, my data was only 30% recovered, I kind of cracked up a little bit. It was raining again. The kids were skating in the family room. Victoria was throwing dog food. I made an executive decision.
"Everyone, get it the car, we are on a mission to get my laptop (and we're going out to eat too, because no one, including me, liked my version of Stroganoff with spagetti noodles).

The sad news is my little netbook, with all my cute stickers plastered on it, is no more. The exciting news is now I have a real laptop like the cool people do. I think I look real professional sitting in my bathroom typing my blog now.

So, let me fill you in on all the latest. I had to get quite creative to satisfy my brilliant children's quest for knowledge. Luckily, I have a vast amount of fancy, high tech, educational child appropriate supplies. First, we got out the balloon from the Mexican restaurant (you might think that since I had no computer that I would have been inspired to cook more. Well, you would have been wrong.)

Victoria kept herself amused for a long time, shuffling herself across the living room. Especially since I kept moving the balloon.

 Elliot had his 18th birthday. I have mixed feelings about him being considered an adult. Mostly, they are scared feelings.

Since I enjoy giving myself migraines, I scheduled a dentist appointment for all six kids on the same day. Can you guess who had a cavity? That would be the grumpy one on the right.

I brought out a fun game I like to creatively call "Bottles and Lids"."  Of course, Catherine is wearing her bathing suit, again.

Victoria is really putting her legs closer and closer together.

The kids did some stretching exercises. I participated by eating Oreos.

The kids begged me to let them do some schoolwork, so I had to oblige.

We drew with chalk, but not so much on the sidewalk.

Someday soon I really gotta give little Catherine a tutorial on how to smile for a picture.

Pink hair again.

We bought some cool goo at Wal-mart. The goo turned the water into a slimy wonderland.

Shocker-roooo, Francesca hated it!

Just in case anyone decides to buy this stuff, it does stick to hair for quite a long time.

 Here's something really exciting. I organized every single closet in my house. The bin aisle has become my favorite place at Target. It's better than browsing the cookie aisle. We even got our books out from under the bed and arranged them on these cool white things called shelves. As you can see from Catherine's dancing, it was a real party (actually, I think she was trying to run away and hide before I made her organize something).

This is Victoria's version of peek-a-boo.

Check it out! Now that we actually folded the laundry, I found the July 4th shirts for everyone to match! This was truly remarkable. Now, I know some of you might worry that since I have a new, real laptop, that my laundry may suffer, but don't fret. I am willing to sacrifice for you all.
Victoria was pretty freaked out by the fireworks. She mostly burrowed her head in my neck the whole time. Francesca, surprisingly, wasn't impressed. I'm sure if the fireworks had been made of whip cream, we would have had a situation on our hands.

Of course, every holiday must be celebrated with a cake. I actually had blueberries for the stars, but some rotten son of mine ate them, so we had to use blue sprinkles. Luckily, I always have large quantities of sprinkles.

The girls designed a lemon-aide stand. They made $5.00 so far, which is almost as much as it cost me to buy the lemon-aide and the cups.

Francesca is learning to dress herself. I am so proud!

Victoria is learning how to throw everything. She even said "uh-oh" afterwards. Pretty impressive. Her EEG didn't show anything, so now we get to do a 24 hour, at home, EEG. I can't wait. I can't imagine how I am going to keep all those little wires attached to her head.

Francesca organized these books. She was so proud of herself. Besides unloading the dishwashers, this is her favorite thing.

And finally, more stretching. So, there you have it, now you are all caught up with our thrilling lives. Hope you all are doing well!!! Did anyone miss me?

Computer Woes Continue

This is Catherine's friend Carol again. Poor Catherine is still computer-less but the end is in sight! She's had to buy a new computer and the Geek Squad is in the process of transferring all her data off her net book onto her new computer. Cross your fingers and toes that she's back entertaining us with her blog in short order!!