Pictures... I love'm

Our tree...and FOUR stockings!! :)

lil update

Adia went to the Dr. this week to get clearance for her MRI on Wed.... she is a whopping 15.5 pounds at 11 months! :) 2% weight, 10% height. Our lil tiny girl. So cute. She is happy and growing and we all love her to pieces!

P.s. Madison saw a plane and said "Mommy, are they all going to pick up their baby sisters too?"

Pictures to Purchase....

Ask and you shall receive.... We finally got pictures up from Africa, Rome and Jonathan's landscapes up for sale. We have been asked a ton of times to do this, so here you go!

See our site HERE!

If there was a picture you had in mind to purchase that I did not load, let me know and I will get that taken care of. Thank you!

This will help us pay off our remaining Adoption expenses too! Enjoy!

P.S. If you were in our travel group...your goods will come some day, it is still something we plan to do.

Progress and Play

Adia is making great progress in her ability to use her left arm and leg....if you watched her other video, she practically would drag her left arm and now she is almost doing a full arm over arm movement! See.....

What else do we do outside of therapy!? Lots, and I was in a picture mood to prove it .

Walks...

Cooking...

Baking...

Gardening..

Reading...

p.s. I just finished this book and it was awesome. Go read it too :)


A very sweet lady from church wanted to make Madison and Adia dresses. She let me pick out the pattern, fabric, buttons....everything. It was so fun. She brought them over the other day and I was in pain over how cute they turned out. She had to take Madison's dress back to bring it in a little bit, but it looks similar to Adia's... Too stinking cute - Thank you Kristi!!

Another friend sent me these cute dresses for the girls. Cutest fabric design. These were made by Poppy Dip. A lady makes these to raise money for their adoption fund. :) Thanks Tammy!!!

We are so filled with thankfulness for all the people who care for us...everyone from friends to family to people I have never met all over the country. Your kind words, prayers and contact is a blessing!

Updates...

We had our in home 3 moth post placement meeting with our social worker yesterday. It went really well and she had very kind words to say about our family and Adia's attachment to us. That was great news.

Today we had our first in home Physical Therapy with OC Regional. They were so sweet and do a really good job when working with Adia. Basically they needed to assess where Adia was at and explained the process further for me. Nancy said that Adia is at about a 6 month old when it comes to her motor development but when it comes to everything else she rated her at a 9-10 month old. That was great news too...she also told us she really thinks Adia will be able to walk, maybe with a slight limp, but she was very confident she would be able to walk independently. She said Adia has good control over her left upper arm but is not sure she will be able to regain full function of the hand. She said Adia would probably use it more as an assistant then able to use it on its own. Will she be able to play an instrument, tie her shoes, type.....it may be modified, but she seems to have the fighting spirit to try :) Nancy said her leg will need to be braced and maybe even splinted when she sleeps to stretch out that left leg. They loved Adia and asked if they could steal her... I hear that often! :)

Sounds like OC Regional will not be doing her Therapy though...CCS will be picking that up which means we wont have in home therapy and I will need to take Adia in 2 times a week for Physical and Occupational therapy. I have my first meeting with CCS next week to get a better idea of what they will be doing and how often.

Adia was such a little champ and melts everyones heart. I have to also give Madison some serious props for how well she is doing with this. She was such a little lady while they were over and sat near us and colored in her books. Adia is getting a lot of attention and Madison is handling that really well. She is such a great big sister for Adia. What a blessing. :)

Rome - Better Late than never!

We could not believe we were actually about to board our plan to Rome...one stop before Africa! Our lives were about to change forever! Here are some of my favorite pics from the trip to give you a glimpse into our time in Rome... I wish I could post them all :)

Let me check my planner...

We have been so busy! Life, photography, friends, listening to Christmas music….and LOTS of appointments.

On Thursday Adia had 3 back to back appointments.

1st was Occupational Therapy – Went well, it was more evaluation then anything really. But, the lady did give me some great pointers on how to relax Adia’s leg (abnormal muscle tone gets very stiff) and foot. She also mentioned that Adia will probably need to be braced and wear special shoes to hold her foot flat and her toes unclenched. Overall, it was helpful and she raved about Adia’s cognitive abilities and was encouraged by what she is able to do.

2nd was Physical Therapy – Was awesome this time. We had a different lady this time and she was very energetic and more aggressive with Adia. She really worked her abilities and was so great with her. By the end of the 45 minutes, we saw improvement with Adia’s use of her left arm! So, we will need to continue bringing awareness to that for her and hopefully it will get as useful as possible!

3rd was a Speech and Swallow Evaluation – She needed to be seen for this to make sure she was no aspirating when she was feeding. Vickie watched her drink her bottle, eat her food and did all these checks with her mouth and tongue. At the end of the session she said.. “ I am sorry to have to say this., but Adia is doing great and everything seems perfect…I wont need to see her back and she does not need therapy in these areas”. Vickie was actually sad that she was not gong to get to spend more time with our sweet Adia.. She “melted her heart”. So that is great news and one less thing we/she will need to work through.

Next week we have our 3 month post adoption visit with a social worker and Adia’s first in home therapy session from OC Regional. I look forward to both of these things and will update you on the outcome.

Adia continues to be so happy and fits just perfect with us. Madison loves her and is doing really great with her.

P.S. Someone asked about her schedule…She is on a feed, wake, sleep schedule. Up at 8am - she is taking 2 naps about 1 to 1.5 hours long during the day and sleeps 11-12 hours at night. She has 4 feedings during the day, 3 of them with stage 3 baby foods and formula, and one at 7:30pm of just formula. Then down for bed at 8pm till morning! THANK YOU BABYWISE! It has done me good with both Adia and Madison. J (nice plug, right?)

Well, that is what we are up to….chugging along and thankful for Christ and His grace. We trip out all the time that Adia used to be in Africa...she was once in an orphanage. Now she is here..with us..our house..our love! Wow.It never gets old thinking about her beginnings.