Divine Meetings

First, I want to say thank you to everyone who is "FOLLOWING" my blog.  In the last week we jumped from 39 up to 61 followers. 

Today I had to run some errands and take a child into town for therapy.  I managed to get to therapy and one store before lunch.  I decided to come back home and then run to the store closer to home after lunch.  Of course, my husband, the logical one could not understand why I would not do it all at one time.   Obviously, I am not the logical type and I take into consider it was raining and I did not want to take that particular child to another store.  It was WELL worth the second trip to me.  PLUS, I would have missed a divine meeting!

I was walking through the store probably looking frazzled and a nice lady walked up to me.  All she said was, "You don't know me but I wanted to tell you how blessed you are."  Tears welled up in my eyes.  I really did not know what to say.  I just said, "you know I have eight kids".  She said again, "you are so blessed" and walked away.  I can only assume she has read my blog.  So to the very nice lady who blessed my heart today I want to say THANK YOU!

Challenging Week-Keeping It REAL

The last week has been tough on so many levels.  I hurt my back, pulled a muscle or something, probably when picking up one of the kids. I am feeling much better today but I have struggled all week.  It is so hard to NOT be grumpy when you are in pain every time you move. 

I am frustrated with the wait for Elshaday to come home.  I called USCIS Adoption Unit last week.  We are having her escorted so we had to file the I600 here in the good ole USA.  BTW, I do not recommend this unless it is absolutely necessary.  It is a slow process.  They are quoting 75 days until our case is approved.  They were still assigning cases from APRIL!!!!  Seriously,  we already have an approved I600A.  We have already traveled and legally adopted her.  Plus the Embassy in Ethiopia has approved our case for travel.  I know they are just doing their job and following the laws and regulations.  I have spoken to them on the phone before and they have always been nice and helpful.  I am sure they work very hard.  It is still very frustrating for me the mom.
Sera's behavior has been very challenging for me this week.  It is so hard to figure her out.  I have discovered that she requires a very rigid schedule.  She wants EVERYTHING to happen in the same order and at the same time every day, especially first thing in the morning.  She even says the same things to me every morning when I get her out of bed.  If this does not happen we get lots of crying.  Plus her behavior with food is involved is becoming more difficult to deal with.  I am not sure how to handle this issue.  Our kitchen and eating area is open to the rest of the house.  She can see or hear anytime someone goes into the kitchen.  If someone does not have her distracted in her room with the door shut it is impossible to enter the kitchen without her having a meltdown.  So happy we have a wonderful Occupational Therapist who is going to start working with us on some of these issues.

Throw in a little female teen drama and you have a small idea of what my week was like.  Unfortunately,  we were thrown into the world of a teenage drama a little earlier then expected.  As Grace continues to develop and mature VERY quickly we are now thinking she is probably more like thirteen years old.   At least she looks and acts like a thirteen year old. Fortunately, I have experience working with teenagers. 

I am so blessed.  I never write on this blog with the intention of whining or complaining.  I write because I want to be REAL and show my REAL struggles. 

I am not perfect

GOD IS! 

I am so glad I have HIM to carry me

Silly Tidbits About Our Family

One of the kids is on a HIGH callorie diet

One of the kids is on a LOW callorie diet.

One has HIGH tone.

One has LOW tone.

One CRAVES sensory input.

One AVOIDS sensory input.

They ALL have one thing in common though.

God LOVES each and every ONE!!!!

(and so do I!)

 

FOLLOW ME PLEASE

Hi Friends!

Yahoo is telling me that I am getting about 200 hits a day.  Well, that is just blowing me away.  I can't imagine that many people are reading my blog.  It could be 10 people checking my blog several times a day. Wouldn't it be crazy if 200 people WERE reading my blog?
If you are a regular reader of my blog would you mind clicking on the FOLLOW ME button on the right sidebar.  I would love to know how many people are reading!!! 

My Princesses

My Girls are Smitten

For my girls who love Justin Bieber.   They love this song!   I can't believe I have girls old enough to be smitten on a pop teen singer.

A Question for My Readers

There are times when you just need to be still and know that God is God.  Right now I am in that place.  I have tried to come up with something inspirational to say or a great story to share but I have nothing.   I am just being still and soaking in all the Goodness of My God!!

While being still my mind tends to go off on its own.  I have been thinking about my little Sera.  Before Sera hits her teens she will loose ALL her vision and have kidney failure.   It will most likely be sooner since her diagnosis came at such an early age and has progressed so quickly.  Most children are not diagnosed until age 7-9. 

So I got to thinking and thought I would post a question. . . .

If you knew that by the time you were a teenager you would be blind and have a life threatening medical condition what would you like to do or see before that happened?

Please leave me a comment.  I would love to know what your thoughts are.

Trip to the Zoo

Grace told us she had a goat in Ethiopia.  When we traveled to Ethiopia for our court date in April she asked if we could bring her goat home with us.  Well, that was not going to happen.  This weekend we went to the zoo and Grace got to spend some time with the goats.  I think she felt right at home.

Unexplainable Peace

Last week I was told by a doctor that one of my children will eventually have a life threatening health condition.  My child my die or at least have to deal with a long term condition that will drastically affect her quality of life.  I have been processing that information for a week now. 

How does one plan for the future with that information?  There is no way to predict when it will happen.  There is no way to stop it from happening.  Yet you know it's there and at any time we may have to deal with it. 

HERE IS MY PLAN

1.  TRUST GOD

2.  LOVE HER EVERY MOMENT OF THE DAY

3. TRUST GOD

4.  PREPARE OUR CHILDREN FOR THAT MOMENT

5. TRUST GOD

I have incredible, unexplainable peace.   My God is BIG.  My God created the universe.  My God created my beautiful daughter.  My God is perfect.  My God has a plan which is bigger than me.  My God loves me.  My God loves my daughter. 

Sera's Kidneys

We were aware that it was a possibility that Sera would have kidney disease.  One of the medical conditions related to her genetic disorder is a very serious kidney disease.  This week Sera saw the Nephrology Dept at Cincinnati Children's.   She has been diagnoised with Nephronophthisis.

Nephronophthsis is a serious kidney disease which will eventually lead to kidney failure.  It is unknown at this time how quickly the disease will progress with Sera.   There are 3 types of Nephronophthsis; Juvenile, Adolescent, and Infantile.  Depending on which type she has kidney failure could happen from age 3 up through her teens.   Sera will be going back the end of this month to have further testing. 

Sera is also having issues with Hypertension and has started blood pressure medication.  She will need to have her blood pressure closely monitored.  Keeping her blood pressure under control is extremely imported to help maintain her kidneys as long as possible. 

I have to say it HURTS to know our daughter's future struggles.  

BUT

It provides such peace to know the God does not make mistakes. 

Sera is a very special little girl and God has BIG plans for her.

WE LOVE YOU SWEET SERA!!!