Treated Like the Princess She Is!

A couple weeks ago Hailey wanted to get her hair cut. Avery desperately needed one but I knew would freak out so I made an appointment for both with a girl I found who I love. She also cut my hair and did a great job. Anyway took Hailey and had hers done and right at the end told Avery it was her turn and pulled out my leverage- chocolate. She sat really well for her cut, ate several Hershey's Kisses and all was well. We got home and Karis said she wanted hers cut short too, which I didn't believe because she has been all about growing it as long as a ballerina for months. I kept telling her once its cut it would take a long time to grow back.

In the meantime a neighbor friend (love how all our new friends are right in the neighborhood) told me about this great new children's salon. I thought, "I'm sure it is great but those places are so expensive." Well she showed me the price list and it was so reasonable. So I booked an appointment for little Miss Karis. Who by the way told me she wanted her hair to turn blond so she'd look more like Cinderella and wanted to know if there was a way to do this. I told her not at this point but maybe when she's older.

Anyway this place was so cute. Murals everywhere, they could sit on horses or in cars, cartoons playing, candy out. A paradise. Not only did she get her hair washed with yummy shampoo, she got her hair cut and braided and had sparkles put in it. After that she had her nails done! All for $15 and they were running a special so it was only $13. I was thrilled. I can't wait until Hailey needs her hair cut again because she will love it. As you can see, Karis was in her glory!!! And I convinced her to cut some of it off but leave it a little bit long. She was thrilled with the results and kept looking at herself all day in the mirror. In fact I even got her looking in car's mirrors as we were walking into Target. She would look, open her mouth really wide in awe of her beauty, and cover her mouth and smile and say, "I love it!" We'll start working on humbleness next month I guess.

Another God Wink

A few months ago I wrote about the term God-Wink. Where God does something and you just KNOW it is from Him. Well we have had a couple of those lately concerning Alex. The first one was a couple weeks after we moved in. We set up all the girl's bedrooms and then chose one for Alex. We don't have much in it yet but the girls know it is Alex's bedroom. Our house has an intercom system which took us about 2 weeks to even look at from all the craziness of moving. The day we decided to figure it out, with the help of the guy installing our vacuum which is another story, Scott and I opened it up together. All of the rooms were labeled. Do you want to know what the label on Alex's room was?! ALEX!! We both got tears in our eyes and I still do thinking about it.

Going to Haiti has definitely thrown us for a loop. There are a lot of details that make this a hard trip and a hard time to go. One of them is finances. With our move and the amount we lost on our house in E-burg and the expenses of moving to a new state etc, etc we were nervous about the money to go to Haiti. We were nervous but felt peace about it. On Saturday I booked the tickets...frankly it was more than we had even thought it would be. Most of you know Scott and I, especially Scott, likes to live off a budget. We plan for things like this. We wait to spend large amounts of money until we know we have it and still have some for emergencies. Well we didn't have a chance to do that this time so we knew we just had to do it.

We got the mail on Saturday and didn't open it but Scott opened it yesterday. Guess what? There was a check in the mail that we were not expecting from the escrow on our house in E-burg. Guess how much it was for? Very, very close to the amount we had just paid for our plane tickets to Haiti!!! Our pastor in Portland used to say,"Where God guides, God provides." We are so thankful that He is with us and working in even these details in our lives!

Avery At Three!

I think Three is going to be a good year for little Miss Avery. She is loving going to Preschool and is doing so well there. She is not nearly as shy as she has been in the past and the teacher says she plays with the other kids and talks when ever she is supposed to. Apparently she told them all about the night the power went out in E-burg and how worried it made her.

I love watching her walk into school with her backpack on. This is a small backpack but on her it looks so huge! She is always very selective about what she puts in it to bring to school. She is actually very selective about everything she does. She definitely pays more attention to detail than other members of the family. I am always amazed at how perceptive she is and the things she notices. Often she tells me things about people that just surprise me coming from a just-turned-three-year-old.

Avery has a strong, strong spirit but we have noticed that lately she seems to comply sooner rather than later so that has been nice. She makes a lot of noise but she will give in! As my sister Hannah said, "What she lacks in size she makes up for in spirit!" She is also such a loving girl. Always trying to help out or help her sisters clean up. It is really sweet to see. I'd write more but she is sitting on my lap as I type chatting me up!!

We love you Avery so much. We are so blessed to have you in our family!!

Friday Fun and Avery's Stats

Avery had her dr. appointment on Friday. I LOVE her doctor. She is so nice and so knowledgeable. The pediatrician's office is amazing. There is a train that goes around the top near the ceiling, big traffic lights, and an airplane all just in the waiting room. Each exam room is a theme and decorated and has toys to match. We were in the beach room. At the end of the appointment you get a token to put in the ball machine. They have all these really cool bouncy balls but not the tiny ones that kids can choke on. I think that is a great prize. Anyway Avery put her token in and out rolled her ball- orange and black. She took one look at it and said, "I don't want this ball!" She threw it and it went flying down the office hall. Nice. Thankfully the nurse was humored and let her trade in for another ball. This time she got one with a puppy in the middle so she was thrilled.

Weight- 25 1/2 pounds (5%)
Height- 36 1/2 inches (50%)

On Friday we went to Hailey's School Carnival. It was so fun and so crazy. There are 791 students at her school and I think everyone was there including all of their family members. I helped the first hour in the food booth which turned out to be a great job because it was in the cafeteria where it is air-conditioned. Hailey's teacher was with me so that was lots of fun. She is hilarious and has lots of energy.

The highlight of the carnival for our girls was the hair salon booth. We actually stood in line for probably 30-40 minutes with the sun beating down on us. I was actually wishing for a little E-burg breeze. It was over 90 degrees and so hot. When we finally got our turn they each chose to have their hair dyed purple and/or pink. It was cute. Don't worry Grandma, it all washed out the next day! We also ran into one of Hailey's new friends so she went around with us for quite awhile to the game booths. It was a great night!

Quotes Of The Day

I can't remember if I have said this one yet but Hailey says it all the time:
"When I am a mom I am only going to have 2 kids so our car doesn't get so messy." (Umm....yeah because our car was so clean when we only had two kids!)

And from Karis today:
"Mom, some time could me and Avery just open the door and be free?"
Me: "What do you mean?"
Karis: "Like open the door and leave and be free from you?"
Me: "Absolutely not."
Karis: "OK"
(Good to know she thinks I hold her prisoner here.)

And another from Karis. We were talking about how Avery loves the color green and she said, "Well, of all the ugly colors green is the prettiest." (Anything that isn't pink or purple constitutes an ugly color to Karis.)

Avery Turns Three!

I know I probably say this every Birthday of one of the girls but I can't believe Avery is 3! Really? Three years old?! That's not a baby anymore. We don't have a baby here anymore? How can that be?! Since the pictures are once again out of order and I seriously could use a blogging lesson on that I will just highlight our fun day below each picture. And what a fun day it was. Avery definitely knew it was her Birthday and she was in very good spirits!

Here she is after everyone got home this afternoon. She and Karis waited all afternoon for Daddy and Hailey so that she could open her presents. It was so cute, a couple days ago Hailey and Karis really wanted to wrap all her presents. So they did. They put them each in a gift bag so it was perfect for all of us. A lot less work for me and easy for her to open. She ended up getting a doll like her sisters have. Being the youngest you tend to get things at a younger age. But she is ready I think. She plays so much with dolls and has really wanted one with hair. She takes really good care of things also so I figured she might as well start enjoying the doll a year or two earlier.
I attempted to make a large cupcake cake. The picture on the pan was way cuter. I definitely learned a few things so hopefully next time it will be cuter. The frosting is green because that is her new favorite color. She is so into green.
In the morning we dropped the girls off at school and then we went to Krispy Kreme. Chocolate maple bars are one of her absolute favorite foods so we had to indulge. Oh and I bought a darling dress for her this summer at the sale when I went with my Mom. Saved it for today and pulled it out for her to wear. "Umm..take it back Mom, I want a shiny dress." That's what she said. Is Karis her big sister or what?! So she goes and finds one of Karis' old ballet outfits that the tutu is all torn up and wears that! I couldn't have that, so we went shopping and I let her pick out her own new ballet outfit. This would be her first that is hers first. Man. It must be tough being the youngest girl! :)

For lunch we made our own pizzas-another of her favorite foods. She had so much fun spreading the sauce and fixing her little pizza and then she ate really well too.

Here she is in her new ballet outfit. I really hope she wears clothes after this and doesn't follow Karis' lead. Karis got a ballet outfit and if you all remember literally wore it for over a year. Like I would do the week's worth of laundry and have NONE for her except underwear and the ballet outfit. Please let this child be inclined to wear some normal clothes also!!

After presents we went out to a great Italian restaurant here. I thought Avery would get some noodles of some sort but no...she had cheese pizza! She loved it though! It was such a fun day. Tomorrow I will highlight her stats. We have her 3 year appointment tomorrow. But for now I just have to say I love this girl so much!! I kept kissing on her all day today thinking how incredibly blessed we are to have 3 healthy, beautiful little girls. One more thing- everyone who I told that it was her Birthday today said, "Oh- are you two?" Poor girl....the size of a 2 year old. I am hoping tomorrow she weighs in at at least 26 pounds!!

Back Home!

Most of you know already that Karis ended up in the hospital this weekend. She started complaining of a sore throat on Friday and then started throwing up Friday night. I took her to the Urgent Care and had her tested for strep and it came back negative. We went home and she continued to throw up over and over through the night and the next day. Those who know Karis know when she is sick she looks really, really sick. So I figured this would be like every other time where she looks half-dead and then an hour later perks up and starts dancing around again.

Well that never came. The entire day Sunday I gave her 2 teaspoons of water every 10 minutes. (Since our girls have had the flu it feels like hundreds of times, we are experts in getting them re hydrated. This is a way to "trick" the stomach where you get some fluid in but it is such a small amount they usually won't throw it up.) Well Karis continued to vomit. I started to get really worried and decided to take her back to urgent care. Scott stayed home with the girls. Urgent Care wouldn't treat her though since they figured she needed an IV and they don't do those on pediatrics so they sent us to the Emergency Room. On the way I was hoping I wasn't being too overly concerned and that they would just look at her and tell me she would be fine.

As soon as we got there though she must have looked really bad because they took her back right away. The nurse kept saying how good it was I had brought her in. She had lost 3 pounds from the day before! They drew blood and started her on an IV. She continued throwing up even after we were there, and twice in the car on the way. Then they gave her Zofran through the IV. I thought we would head home because she quit throwing up although she seemed so out of it to me. Well the doctor came in and said her blood work showed she was severely dehydrated and would need to be on an IV for the next 24 hours. I was really shocked it had gotten that bad so fast. I am so thankful for good medical care!!

So they took us to the pediatric unit. I stayed with her through the night, let me tell you there wasn't a lot of sleeping that night. They kept her on the IV until around 4 PM but started her on foods. She kept them all down which was so great. Then Urgent Care called and told me the culture they ran came back positive for strep! Poor girl. Yesterday was quite rough. Lots of moaning and crying and sleeping. Every time someone walked in the room she would get so nervous. They drew her blood 3 different times so by the 3rd she was crying as soon as she saw the lady, "I don't want another poke, I don't want another poke." She was so good though, laid there and let them do what they needed to do but just cried and cried. It was very sad.

I can't imagine how stressful it must be to have a child in the hospital over and over. This was not a fun experience. The nurses were so great though, gave her a blanket that she got to keep, a Cinderella puzzle, a stuffed animal, and they played movies all day long for her. There was even a play room but she lasted about 5 minutes and then was laying on the floor in there. I must say today she is much better. Not herself but so much more with it. We got home around 7:30 last night. I was so relieved they let us go. The Dr. gave me the choice. Karis had been begging to leave and I think just being home has helped her feel better and not so nervous. She has managed several times to remind me that Grandma said she could go pick out a present from her today so we are going to go this afternoon and do that. Grandma said to pick out whatever she wanted so that should be interesting. Please pray she continues to get better and that I can motivate her to take her antibiotic. She is really resisting this!!

Avery's Preschool Celebration

Even though Avery's Birthday isn't until next week she is having her preschool party today. Her teacher has to be gone all next week so Preschool is cancelled. In a way I am glad because that way she can be with me all day on her Birthday! Anyway we made chocolate cupcakes per her request. I let her decorate the tops with little M&M's since those are her favorite candy. One of her other favorite foods is pretzels so we made purple chocolate covered pretzels to take to her friends at school. She had so much fun helping me and she did a great job! She is making really funny faces now when the camera comes out, as you can see by the pictures. That is something each of the girls have done around this age- make what they think is a cute face but really looks quite silly!

Karis' First Day

So last but certainly not least, Karis had her first day of Preschool today. Unfortunately it was only for an hour and the parents could stay, which meant there was no way Karis would let me leave. I don't mind that as it was nice to meet the other kids and parents and see how the teacher does things but all Karis would do was cling to me the whole time. I finally got her to sit down and color and work on a little puzzle. Even at circle time she wanted me right near her. I know she will do so much better without me there and her little personality will come shining through. I kept reminding her that on Thursday I would not be able to stay.

I did the classic backpack shot before we left- as you can see she chose a princess backpack. I'm sure no one is surprised by this! She looked so cute and was so thrilled to get to wear her new dress.

I am thinking Tues/Thurs mornings are going to be a little stressful trying to get to 3 different places by 9:05. Someone is always going to have to be a little late I guess.

Friends, Fun, and Settling In

This is the girl's newest activity. I think I remember doing this as a kid! Gracie of course has to get in on the action. They like to be pushed off so they go faster. I decided to give it a try but it hurt!! Kids are amazing! Here is the new play structure. We bought one that can be added on to so next year we plan to add either a rock wall or something. The girls like how it is a little playhouse at the top. Our backyard needs a lot of work still but Scott is thrilled. He has all kinds of plans. We can't believe how much more time we have not having to take care of 3 acres!!! We have down-sized in a huge way as far as yard goes but we like it. It helps that there is stuff so close to walk too also.



Also here is Hailey with a new friend. How cool is this? The little girl who lives on the other side of the street about 4 houses down is in Hailey's class and was also new this year! Her parents are really nice and she seems like a great little girl. She came over for a few hours yesterday. The girls are loving the idea of neighbor kids who can just come over. I think I like the idea.....as long as it doesn't get to be an everyday occurrence. I like the girls to just play with each other some days so that their bond is always stronger than bonds with friends if that makes sense. I just don't want them to always think they need to have a friend to have fun.



We also had 2 other play dates this weekend so I am feeling really good about potential friendships. Both had girls Hailey and Karis' age and both went so well. They played and played. I am so glad how easily the girls seem to be making friends. Even Avery has a friend from preschool she wants to have over sometime. I have enjoyed getting to know the moms too.

We are definitely beginning to feel much more settled in here. This is our first weekend without a major project so we just decided to lay low and enjoy. Scott and I both have a cold so we skipped church today. I am really liking the feeling of our subdivision. After being in a very small neighborhood with 3 acres each I wasn't sure how I would feel about living really close to people again but I like it!

Also if anyone is still reading I wanted to point out that my wording in the adoption post may have sounded wrong. No one said anything to me about it but as I was rereading where I said, "thinking of all the reasons this was a bad idea" I was referring to visiting Alex and then leaving him, not about adopting him. I figured you all knew that but it bothered me when I reread it so I had to point it out!

Alex

We have some news with our adoption. We found out yesterday that we are now required to go to Haiti to meet Alex and then meet with the Justice of Peace. We will not get to bring him home at that point but will still have to wait several months. Frankly this was hard news to take. For a number of reasons this is very hard for us. We will need leave our girls and I struggle with having to leave them. I really, really struggle with meeting this precious boy who is our son and then saying good-bye not knowing how long it will be until we see him again.

I never knew adoption could be this hard. As I was having a pity party yesterday thinking of all the reasons this wasn't a good idea the thought kept coming to me that we are our Father's children and look how far He went for us. That's what love does. You go as far as you have to go for someone you care about. We made a commitment to be Alex's parents. We didn't say only if we get you in a year, if it costs less than x amount, if it is convenient for us. Frankly parenting anyone isn't any of those things. I know when we have him home this will not seem so bad but right now it feels very bad. It hurts to see him grow up in pictures. It hurts to tell our girls over and over that no we can't go get him today. And it will hurt to hold him and then get on a plane without him.

I don't consider myself a strong person emotionally but I know God led us here and He will get us through this. I know He is protecting our boy physically and emotionally and He is working all of this out for good. I know there is a way bigger picture that we can't see and that God is moving and He does hold the orphans close to His heart. I just need to remind myself of these truths over and over. We don't know when we are going yet but I will keep you all informed. I am so excited to hold him and love on him even if it is only for 3 days. We plan to take him some presents from the girls and it will be fun to actually see him open them. Also I'd like to get a digital video camera so I can put videos of him online for all to see. This is his recent photo: Please keep praying for him and for us!!

Avery's First Day and The Baking Center

Sorry for the randomness but I am highlighting two unrelated topics in this post. You know I can't just sit around and blog all day long!! Anyway one of my favorite parts of my new kitchen is this area. The realtor called it the "appliance garage". We call it the baking center. Everything I need to bake is right there and then when I am done I can close it all! Love it!! And then we have this exciting day. Avery started Preschool! Most of you know that I am not really into sending the girls to preschool except for the year before school starts. Not because I think there is anything wrong with it but because I didn't see much of a need for it. We do tons of social stuff, story-time, crafts, etc. And plus it costs money! Always the bargain shopper I am it was hard for me to justify. Well last year Scott and I started talking about having Avery start preschool for a variety of reasons. She is sooo introverted that she was constantly clinging to me during every social situation. This gets very wearing. She also is a very determined and persistent little girl which leads to lots of crying and fit-throwing during this toddler stage. Also very wearing!

So after talking to lots of people who know her well we decided this would be a good thing for her. I felt horribly guilty considering she's not even 3 (although she will be in 17 days) but my friend Kate gave me a good perspective. She said since she has a September Birthday she will be home a year longer before going to college than most children so therefore really we get extra time with her not less! Thanks Kate!!

I dropped her off this morning. She is going to a little preschool that a neighbor runs out of her home. Only 5 kids total so it is a perfect set up for her. And the teacher is really well trained. She has her masters in Early Childhood Psychology and Development or something like that. And the things she does with the kids are amazing. She puts a lot of work into it. I was so nervous to drop Avery off but she did great. She was very, very quiet and sucked her thumb- that's the only picture I could get but the teacher said she did well. She said she talked when she spoke to her and did all of the activities. And she was impressed with her fine-motor skills and sorting abilities. That's our little detail-oriented girl for sure! I feel really good about this for her and she has talked about it all day and seems to love having her own big-girl thing to do! Next week Karis starts at a different school and then I will be a free woman from 9-11:30 each Tuesday and Thursday!!

She was so excited to pack her Dora back pack. And here is why she needs preschool- a very shy child indeed.

Avery