Gabby and her MRI

I just got home from the hospital with Gabby and she did great. I will upload a picture in a bit. I was able to snap one as they were puttting her to sleep and then they showed me to the waiting room. They were really nice up there, and all came to get me when she went to recovery. She wasnt a happy camper when she woke up but within a few minutes of Mommy holding her she was ready to go. I have the films on CD and will take them to the neurosurgeon next week with me. I ask that you all stand in prayer with me that the cyst on her brain will have NOT grown ANY and that there are NO CHANGES at all with the MRI.

Thanks so much!

I want a new layout for my blog!!!

But Im so scared I will loose all my side bar items....any ideas? I have always wanted a cutesy (well if that is a word) one and the main title bar to have all 6 of my kids picture on it...so any suggestions how to do this???

5 -5 -4 -3

NOTE: THIS IS NOT WHAT THEY WERE WEARING TODAY....BUT HERE ARE THE 4 LITTLE ANGELS.. gABBY WITH HER CRAZY FACE, GIOVANNA CRACKING UP, LILY READY TO BE DONE WITH PICS AND WEARING TOTALLY RED SOCKS, BELLA SHOWING SHE CAN TAKE HER SHOES OFF!

Everywhere I went today, this is what I was asked

Wow, you were busy ......all so close in age!!! Well yes Im busy but who isnt? I hate having to say, Well they are all adopted and yes from different countries! When they then ask their ages, you can see the wheels turning when you say that 2 of them are both almost 6.......

how old are they? Do you have 2 sets of twins? NO
Do you have a set of quad's? NO

Man, folks these days!!

The girls did remarkably well for me today and that come only with TONS of prayer! I hate hate hate to be rushed and I hate to have an appointment sneak up on me. The base Dr arranged Gabby's MRI appointment at the hospital and called me with the date and time to be there. She told me i didnt have a time for pre-op so to just show up....well i got up this morning and during therapy I thought I would just call to see what would be a better time, since I would have all 4 of the girls by myself. This was at 9:20. She said well I see your appointment is at 9:30! NOT! I live 45 min away and we were totally NOT ready! So I start running around like nuts, getting everyone dressed and canceling the afternoon therapy sessions....and heading out the door. I get there with all 4 in hand, and have prayed the entire way for peace and patience because now that we missed our 9:30 appointment there were just gonna have to fit us in! A momther alone with 4 small ones does not want to hear ....we will fit you in!!!!! So we get there, park a mile away from the front door and put Bella in the umbrella stroller and all 3 of the other girls with their backpack leashes on and head towards the registration desk. They got us in within about 10 minutes and the girls totally entertained everyone in the waiting room. They then got us and we went to the pre-op area where of course you are asked a hundred questions. ALL 4 girls are still doing amazingly well! No attitude, no crying, no dissobeying!!!!! Oh this is good! So, I am constantly praising them and saying we will get hamburgers and french fries when we are all done...........Well that brought out the chorus~~ They all started yelling....HAMBURGER!!!! You would think I dont feed them~

Anyway, all in all the day was a huge success and we are now home and gonna figure out supper!

Have a blessed night~

Our Week.....

Monday: Moms Day out for all 4 girls
Speech Therapy for Gabby and Giovanna
Go to Montgomery have lunch with my wonderful hubby while I wait for my new glasses to be made.

Tuesday: Speech for Gabby, Giovanna and Isabella
Special Instruction thereapy for all 3 of them as well
Physical Therapy for Giovanna, Isabella
Rush off to the hospital for PRE-OP for Gabby with all 4 in tow. She has her MRI in the morning
Go to lunch with the girls...they love Mommy and hamburger time together.
Go to the ortho place to see if they FINALLY have their SMO's correct!!! URG!

Wednesday: Mom's Day out for Giovanna, Bella and Lily
Gotta take Gabby for her MRI at 9 am...Please pray for her I hate them putting her to sleep...but gotta do it!
Speech after preschool for Giovanna and Bella.....will let Gabby sit this one out.
Have our physical therapist come over to remeasure for our SMO's Sure steps!

Thursday: CLEAN my house, grocery shop and finish preparing for Gabby and Giovanna's Kindergarten IEP! Oh how Im not looking forward to this...not like I dont want to do it, but just praying that I have a peace about it all when i leave there!

Friday: Take All 4 girls to preschool....
William and I will go to the school for the girls IEP meeting for the new K5 school year.
Registar them for kindgeraten

Saturday: William has drill all weekend long!

So for some of you that have asked me what a week is like in our house....this is a slow week for us! Next week we will be filling in with several specialist appointments for the girls.

Gabby heads to the Eye Dr and Endo Dr!

I had to take Gabriella to Birminham to two differnt appoinments today...

WE had another follow up for both Dr's and she is still the same. Her eye's have changed ever so slightly in the prescription so no major worries there.

We then had a Mommy and me lunch and went to the next appointment. The Endocronologist (sp) is a wonderful Indian woman. She really takes time with the kids. They did bloodwork to check her thyroid measures and also the growth hormone. We are waiting for her to gather statisics on growth hormone therapy in girls with down syndrome for us so we can make a decision if this is the route we need to take for Gabby. Since she has been home with us (almost 1 yr) she has grown 1/4 in and her growth hormones arent producing what they should....so we will see! Please pray for her!

She is scheduled for her MRI next Wednesday to check to see if the cyst on her brain has grown any. We arent expecting that is has but we must be sure. Please remember her on Wednesday as this procedure is done and then for us next Friday as we go to the neurosurgeon for all the results.

Gabby, Giovanna and Bella all go to the Dr

When we returned home from vacation the 3 of them all had to go to the Dr's. All ended up with upper respitory infections and Gabby and Giovanna had Staph infections.....Gabby bites her fingernails and cuticles so badly they get yucky infected....and Giovanna rubs her nasty nose everywhere....so none the less more infection!! They are doing better now...PTL! Im so tired of sickness! They stay sick from Oct/Nov until April every year! ANy help out there to prevent this sickness would be GREAT! Any ideas on how to keep healthy kids?

wow...where do i start???

Vacation:

Well our vacation turned out to be very eventful..or shall i say lack of? We left on Saturday April 12 for my friends house. I woke up not feeling 100% but went anyway...by the tiem we got to Susan's I felt terrible!!! Lukily she had a Zpack antibiotic and i started taking it right away...I basically slept all weekend...I was so mad! This was the first time we went to her new home since she moved and we had lots of plans.....and all I could do was SLEEP! So it looks like we will have to plan another trip! We then headed over to Gatlinburg for the week. WE had a good time....but then Bella and Giovanna started coughing really bad. WE had to go get Med's for them and really limit our acitivity that we had planned....so we didnt end up in the hospital!

WE then headed down to see William's dad and step mom....They had not met any of the girls so this was fun! Their house is so quiet and boy did my girls have a time...Overall the 1100 mile trip with 4 little girls turned out very nice. WE had a nice time of just getting out and away from the same ol same ol around the house. Lyndsey held the fort down here for the first time ever, and she was nervous to sleep in the house all alone...so she stayed with friends at night. She did a great job! Way to go Lyndsey!!

William had a birthday on the 14th and it really wasnt all that fun for him, with a sick wife and a trip ahead of him, im sure it could have been better! We will celebrate this weekend when Michael comes home.

I will post pictures tonight after they are off the camera.

Emma Hope Cornish

Several of you may remember back at the beginning of the year when I asked for prayer for an online friend Meredith and her husband Mike. Well, they were in Ukraine adopting 2 precious children...Emma and Micah. I am pleased to say they have been home now over a month and are doing well. You can click on the picture to the right and it will link you to the Cornish family's adoption blog.

I once again petition you all to please pray for Emma. She was born with Down Syndrome, a major heart defect and a few other issues. Meredith and Mike have had her seen by the specialist here in the states and the caridologists have stated that they dont feel Emma is in a good conidtion for open heart surgery. They are amazed that this angel has lived to be 5 yrs old. I know our God is a God of Hope! HE has a plan for Emma and her whole family. We dont know the time she has left here on earth, but we pray that our Lord will heal her. I pray that our Great Physician will hear the prayers of many warriors and bring healing to Emma. I pray that He will give Mike and Meredith the strength as they have to make some very difficult decisions about which way to go medically for their sweet Emma. Please stand in prayer with all of us for this sweet girl. She is so loved in her home, and by so many across the world....

What I had hoped to be a great time....

started out really yucky!!!! WE left Saturday morning heading to my friend Susan's house in Murfreesboro TN. I woke up feeling not so good but kept pushing myself to get moving.....because this was going to be a awesome time away for us all....Well YES I got sick!!! By the time we got to her house just 4.5 short hours away, I was so sore and couldnt even talk...my throat was on FIRE! I knew I had strep throat! Praise the Lord, she had a new unused Z pack and I started on them right away! I ended up in bed by 7:30 and tossed all night long....on Sunday I stayed laying down ALL down and Susan, her husband Mike, William and the girls all headed to the childrens museam and had a great time, while I rested. I was so mad, because this was the firtst trip to her house we had made and we had such great plans made. By Monday morning it was time for us to pack up and move on to place number 2......and PTL I was feeling so much better. We almost decided to head home but I really did feel much better...just still a little sore in the throat....so off we went!

Now by this poing Bella is coughing like crazy!!!! We started her back on Robotussin and during the day she seems fine but at night...YIKES! We did go ahead and come to Gatlinburg and are having a good time. The girls have done wonderful! We went to the Ripley's Aquariam yesterday and it was really nice. today we are heading to the Musueam and to the outlet mall.

William had his 38th birthday on Monday, and what an adventure it was!!!! We will celebrate at home with all the family together!

I will upload some pictures later on today....the house is starting to wake up and i am ready for a shower while they all eat breakfast with Daddy.

Look who we spent the day with today.....

Shelley's gang!!! From left to right is: Lukus, Lily, Xander, Gabby, Bella and Giovanna...

Zoe was in the other room...they had a good time...and Xander was my snuggle buddy! I played with him and then he layed his head back on me and decided he was going to sleep.... Lukus fell asleep in Shelley's lap....They are all such cuties...I cant wait to meet Grifyn!!!

Shelley it was nice to finally meet ya!

Pictures from today

Notice Giovanna with only one front tooth?? CUTE!!

Here is a picture taken today. The girls all look so grown up here from our pics done in August. I had to do a collage with their feet...why you ask?? Well these little 8 feet keep me running all the time..and they wont be this size for long. So while I cherish these days, I wanted a picture of these cute little 8 feet I run after all the time.

Now, these are scanned pictures so they arent that great but here are the ones of Giovanna, Bella and Gabby for their birthday's. Enjoy.

Here is Giovanna just after loosing her tooth. Lyndsey in the background hollerin'!! She was so happy to have it out. We didnt catch it on video...but tons of it trying... Enjoy my angel baby!

And now for our latest news......

My little Giovanna Grace has lost another tooth! This makes 3 for her and she is 5 1/2 yrs old. I didnt think they lost them that early....but the dentist says "when they are ready to come out they will loosen on their own"....well loosen they did and here is the proof. We have been wiggling it now for about a week and today it just had to come out....

Bella's Day Update!

NEW POST ABOUT BELLA'S ADOPTION DAY: Ok, Well lets just say Bella was a total answered prayer!(Well all of our adoptions were, but Bella....she was the baby I thought I would never have)

When we brought Giovanna home, I couldnt have been happier. We were so nervous, excited, overwhelmed, and FULL of joy that our 11 month wait was then over. Her Down Syndrome, heart condition and other smaller dignosis really didnt bother us at all. God totally created her for "our" family.... Well when she got home and we did all the Dr's appointments, surgeries and started therapy...I knew I had found the "pot of Gold" I had been waiting for. I had already known God created me to be a full time Momma, but now that the twins were almost 15 yrs old, what was I gonna do with all that time? Giovanna filled it totally. She taught me so much about life, love and true happiness.. I knew that the Lord would fullfill every desire I had, well you see He had already done that by my great pregnancy, my cancer and hysterectomy and now Giovanna. Well, if I had not of found out about the uterine cancer and had to have a hysterectomy, we would NEVER have been led to adopt our precious Giovanna. Well move forward about 5 yrs and here is our Giovanna. Well since she had been home for about 6 mths I knew I knew I knew that we needed another daughter exactly like her... I prayed and prayed and I just knew sometime soon, we would adopt again. I just had no clue it would be in just a few short months. Giovanna come home in March, we found out about Bella's birth mid January, called and started the paperwork, found out at the end of February we were in the top 3 of over 230 families that applied for her and then found out the 2nd Tues of March that the birthfamily had chose US! I know everyone heard us yelling from Millbrook Al because I couldnt stop screaming!!!! 2 weeks later William and I jumped on a plane and headed to NYC to meet our new daughter. At that point I was so filled with joy and I totally knew this is EXACTLY where I was meant to be....Mommy to 4 precious gifts.

When we landed in NYC, what a trip that was, we went to the agency on March 31 and waited for the arrival from the "stork"...When the foster mom walked in the room, I just started crying! How could we be the "chosen" family for such a precious gift? She was just perfect! She was fast asleep in the arms of her foster mom, and she walked over and said "do you want to hold her"....UMM YES! I fell in love immediately! She was so beautiful...long black hair, perfect skin, perfect feet and hands...and best of all, she woke up and looked up at me and smiled ...Oh it was so sweet! William and I were at the agency for about 2 hours, and then jumped in the car with the driver and headed to the airport! We had a early afternoon flight home. We got home after Giovanna had gone to bed, so in the morning when we heard her awake I went in her room and brought her to our bed...Bella was in the bassinet next to our bed...Giovanna was so happy to see us, and then it happened....Bella started making a sound and Giovanna sat right up and said "doggy?" No Giovanna that is your new sister.....she was thrilled beyond measure to see that baby and from then on out it has been so great to see them grow up together...they love each other..and Bella wants to see her sissy every morning when she wakes up.

God truely does answer prayers people. Believe me, I NEVER thought I would get the blessing of another newborn. I never thought I would hold another baby and it be "mine" but I did. I remember praying so hard during our wait for Giovanna, and the Lord one night as plain as day, was sitting next to me on the couch. HE told me in such a loud voice "sit back my child...I will give you all the desires of your heart....be patient and wait on ME" I will never forget that night! And He has done just that...filled the desires of my heart......

So the rest of the story will be coming on May 28th for Gabby and Lily's one year Forever Family Day!!!

I promise tomorrow I will update on this post about my princess Bella and our awesome adoption day of her. We are so blessed to have this angel in our family. I just sit in AWE at God's awesomeness (is that a word?) when I look at her...

Having another newborn was such a strong desire of mine, something I thought I would never have again after the twins were born. Having cancer and having my hysterectomy at 29, all hopes of having another baby was gone for me..... UNTIL...my great heavenly Father had other plans. He sent just the "perfect infant" to William and I. She was 3 mths 1 week old when placed in our arms...FOREVER!

Rita

The happy Momma