One week ago today we saw your sweet face for the first time. On that Friday, March 23, 2012 at 2:32pm we heard "it's a boy" and knew that you, our son, would forever be Grant Oliver Bybee. Meeting you that day was beautiful and devastating at the same time. I didn't know that those two things could go together so well, oh but they do. You are the most precious, beautiful little boy we have ever laid eyes on. When we saw you for the first time you were already resting in the arms of Jesus. As I held you close to me and looked at your perfectly formed little body, I was completely in awe at the amount of love that I felt. I knew that I loved you dearly before I saw your sweet face, but I didn't know it was possible for my heart to swell to love you even more, oh but it is. We even laughed on that day. We laughed at how big your hands and feet were, just like Daddy's. You look so much like your Daddy and it is something that makes me smile. We will always treasure the few hours that we were able to hold you, kiss you, sing to you, talk to you, bathe you, dress you and love on you. We were able to share you with those we love, yet we weren't able to share you with everyone we wanted to, for you were only here for a short time. We are so sad that we had to say goodbye, yet we are so thankful to God that we got to know you for 21 weeks and got to hold you for a few short hours. You, our son, will always be loved and cherished by us. Grant, you are our first born, our son, our precious boy that we are so proud to call ours. God has truly blessed us by letting us get to know you, even if for a short time. We love you sweet baby boy and will miss you always.
Our hearts are broken but they are so full of love. It's almost as if the love holds the pieces together so that we can continue on. One day we will meet again, and the place in our hearts that is empty, just the size for you, will once again be full.
Friday, March 30, 2012
Friday, March 9, 2012
Baby Bybee
This is not the post I had planned in my head for this subject. I was planning on announcing here the gender of the baby that I have been carrying for the past 19 weeks. Instead, I am writing about the fact that we are grieving the loss of this baby. I need to write. It helps me process and think.
We learned in November after 3 years of trying that we were finally pregnant. We were so excited! I didn't care that the smell of Thanksgiving dinner made me want to throw up. I didn't care that I was so tired all I wanted to do was sleep, I was having a baby and was on top of the world. We found out just before Christmas that we were indeed only expecting one baby and got to see and hear the baby's heartbeat for the first time. We were elated. Right after Christmas we experienced a threatened abortion but the baby was doing fine and we got to see and hear the heartbeat once again. Things went well from there. At every appointment the heartbeat was strong, the baby seemed to be growing, and I even began to feel the baby moving in early February. We were scheduled for our big ultrasound on March 6 and we were so excited to see the baby and find out the gender. We had already chosen names for the baby and couldn't wait to call the baby by name. Our ultrasound got moved on Friday March 2 because our blood screen for birth defects came back concerning for Spina Bifida and they wanted a specialist to do our ultrasound. We anxiously awaited March 8th with excitement and a bit of nervousness. We knew that God's plans were bigger than ours and that we would love and cherish our baby no matter what birth defects it may have.
However, we were not prepared to hear what the doctor had to tell us. Our baby has multiple congenital anomalies. Some of these are consistent with Down Syndrome. We don't care that the baby has down syndrome, and love the baby anyways. The worst of these however is that the baby has no amniotic fluid. They think that there is an obstruction not allowing the baby to pee, which makes amniotic fluid, because the bladder is distended and the kidneys have fluid around them from fluid back up. Amniotic fluid is important for lung development. If there isn't amniotic fluid the lungs can't develop and the baby won't be able to breathe at birth, even with help. The kidneys will also be very sick and will likely fail because of the urine backed up. The fact that the baby has no amniotic fluid means that the baby won't survive. The bladder is getting larger and pressing on the heart which will eventually cause the heart to stop and we will have to deliver our cherished baby stillborn. We still don't know the gender because they couldn't see it on ultrasound.
We are completely in shock. Our hearts have shattered into a million tiny pieces. Instead of planning our child's nursery and baby showers we are now trying to figure out how to plan a funeral. We plan on having a memorial service to honor this little ones life. This baby matters to our family and more importantly to God and deserves to be remembered. We said before that we will love the baby no matter what and we still do. We know that God has bigger plans than we can ever see. Right now we don't understand God's plan, and we may not while here on earth, but one day it will be revealed to us. I know that one day soon instead of me carrying my sweet baby home from the hospital it will be in heaven with it's grandparents, getting loved on by them, until one day when I can once again hold my sweet baby and dance on the streets of gold.
Please continue to lift us and our families up in prayer. Our hearts are so heavy and hurting and knowing that we are being supported by prayer is comforting and brings a peace that allows us to get through each day.
We learned in November after 3 years of trying that we were finally pregnant. We were so excited! I didn't care that the smell of Thanksgiving dinner made me want to throw up. I didn't care that I was so tired all I wanted to do was sleep, I was having a baby and was on top of the world. We found out just before Christmas that we were indeed only expecting one baby and got to see and hear the baby's heartbeat for the first time. We were elated. Right after Christmas we experienced a threatened abortion but the baby was doing fine and we got to see and hear the heartbeat once again. Things went well from there. At every appointment the heartbeat was strong, the baby seemed to be growing, and I even began to feel the baby moving in early February. We were scheduled for our big ultrasound on March 6 and we were so excited to see the baby and find out the gender. We had already chosen names for the baby and couldn't wait to call the baby by name. Our ultrasound got moved on Friday March 2 because our blood screen for birth defects came back concerning for Spina Bifida and they wanted a specialist to do our ultrasound. We anxiously awaited March 8th with excitement and a bit of nervousness. We knew that God's plans were bigger than ours and that we would love and cherish our baby no matter what birth defects it may have.
However, we were not prepared to hear what the doctor had to tell us. Our baby has multiple congenital anomalies. Some of these are consistent with Down Syndrome. We don't care that the baby has down syndrome, and love the baby anyways. The worst of these however is that the baby has no amniotic fluid. They think that there is an obstruction not allowing the baby to pee, which makes amniotic fluid, because the bladder is distended and the kidneys have fluid around them from fluid back up. Amniotic fluid is important for lung development. If there isn't amniotic fluid the lungs can't develop and the baby won't be able to breathe at birth, even with help. The kidneys will also be very sick and will likely fail because of the urine backed up. The fact that the baby has no amniotic fluid means that the baby won't survive. The bladder is getting larger and pressing on the heart which will eventually cause the heart to stop and we will have to deliver our cherished baby stillborn. We still don't know the gender because they couldn't see it on ultrasound.
We are completely in shock. Our hearts have shattered into a million tiny pieces. Instead of planning our child's nursery and baby showers we are now trying to figure out how to plan a funeral. We plan on having a memorial service to honor this little ones life. This baby matters to our family and more importantly to God and deserves to be remembered. We said before that we will love the baby no matter what and we still do. We know that God has bigger plans than we can ever see. Right now we don't understand God's plan, and we may not while here on earth, but one day it will be revealed to us. I know that one day soon instead of me carrying my sweet baby home from the hospital it will be in heaven with it's grandparents, getting loved on by them, until one day when I can once again hold my sweet baby and dance on the streets of gold.
Please continue to lift us and our families up in prayer. Our hearts are so heavy and hurting and knowing that we are being supported by prayer is comforting and brings a peace that allows us to get through each day.
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Embracing Change
We are learning to embrace change even if we would rather lay on the floor kicking and screaming that it's not fair. D and A have started 8 hour unsupervised visits with their mom and step-dad. After about 4 weeks of this, if things are going well, they will start overnight/weekend visits for a short time and then will go home for good. We do still have concerns about them going home, the main one being A's dad. We are concerned that the kids going home and the new baby being born at the same time will add too much stress to the family and he won't handle it well. However, we have expressed our concerns and have to trust that God has a much bigger plan. We have decided that it may be a better use of our energy to root for the family and do what we can to help them succeed. If the children are to go home we want the family to succeed so that the children aren't hurt again. These children mean the world to us and we want what is best for them.
Over the next few months we would appreciate your prayers for us, D, A, their families, the judge and CPS so that decisions being made are in D and A's best interest. Transitioning home is very hard on the kids emotionally and we will do our best to support them during this time.
D and A continue to do fabulously and are such a joy to have around. I can't imagine living the past 10 months without them!
Embracing change isn't always easy and isn't always what we want to do, but we are slowly learning to do just that. Some days are harder than others, but we will get through this as a family.
Over the next few months we would appreciate your prayers for us, D, A, their families, the judge and CPS so that decisions being made are in D and A's best interest. Transitioning home is very hard on the kids emotionally and we will do our best to support them during this time.
D and A continue to do fabulously and are such a joy to have around. I can't imagine living the past 10 months without them!
Embracing change isn't always easy and isn't always what we want to do, but we are slowly learning to do just that. Some days are harder than others, but we will get through this as a family.
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Changes on The Horizion
We are anticipating changes in the next few months. These changes are so hard to accept and so heartbreaking to even think about. D and A will likely be going home in the next couple of months, April at the latest. The parents have worked their "services" per the judges request so they are now deemed appropriate parents and the kids can return. I know that the point of foster care is to help families heal and reunite but these patents haven't really changed. The children get visits with them for 6 hours on the weekend where D comes home saying that they yell at her and tell her she's bad. A supposedly throws fits that he doesn't throw with us and they have zero discipline the whole time they are there. Apparently completing a parenting class doesn't equal parenting skills. They have no bedtimes (ie go to bed after midnight the whole weekend), no naps, eat junk food the whole time, don't take their medicine and come home so tired they can't eat dinner. I'm not sure how D is supposed to be successful in school if she has no bedtimes and no discipline at home. She missed over 60 days of school last year and is repeating first grade because she didn't go and when she did she didn't do her homework. She's now making all A's and gets a challenge spelling list. She asks to take practice tests at home and takes pride in her work. My fear is that all of this will go away when she goes home and she will end up just like the rest of her family, pregnant as a teenager, uneducated and living in poverty. Her stepdad doesn't like her or interact with her in a positive way and now there is another baby on the way that is his. I pray that we aren't sending her to a place where she isnt wanted by some and isn't treasured for the wonderful young lady she is. I would love for these 2 little ones to be reunited with their family if it means they will be safe, cared for and loved. I know that God has a much bigger plan for them than I can see and I pray that over the next few weeks to months he will give us a sense of peace about these 2 children we love so dearly.
My first year of working as a staff pediatrician is also nearing an end which means that the next residency class is also about to be done. This means that some of our dearest friends and their families are leaving the area. One of these friends also has a little girl that we have been caring for over the past 2 years while her mom works. We love her like she is one of ours and will miss her and her mom when they are gone. My house that has been full with the sound of a 7 yr old and 2 toddlers is soon going to be so quiet.
~until~
My first year of working as a staff pediatrician is also nearing an end which means that the next residency class is also about to be done. This means that some of our dearest friends and their families are leaving the area. One of these friends also has a little girl that we have been caring for over the past 2 years while her mom works. We love her like she is one of ours and will miss her and her mom when they are gone. My house that has been full with the sound of a 7 yr old and 2 toddlers is soon going to be so quiet.
~until~
Monday, December 5, 2011
Giving Thanks
Thanksgiving has come and gone but we don't stop giving thanks. This Thanksgiving season has been wonderful. We have so much to be thankful for and we are truly blessed. D and A continue do so so amazingly well. It feels like they have been with us forever, not just 7 months. It is so rewarding to watch them grow and thrive and know that we had a part in that. D's mom and A's dad are continuing to do their services and are working hard to get the children back. This is bittersweet to me. We have fallen so completely in love with these 2 kids. We knew when we chose to be foster parents that the majority of the time the goal would be to reunite the family and that we were supposed to love and care for the children for the time that they are with us. This doesn't mean that we don't occasionally wish we could keep the children. It doesn't meant that we don't wish they were ours forever. With us wishing that they could be ours forever doesn't mean that we aren't pleased that the parents are doing what they need to do to make their family healthy and whole again. I wish I could adequately explain the emotions and thoughts that we have. We know that we love these children as if they were ours and that we could give them so many opportunities in life. We also know that their parents love them, I have never doubted this. I do occasionally have doubts that by going back will they enter into the same poverty stricken lifestyle that their parents live? A life of un-education, teen pregnancy, domestic violence, drugs? I know that the answer is to trust God. I know that He knows what His plan is and that I don't. Just because I know these things doesn't make me wish I knew that the children would be ok when they go back home.
Like I said, we are truly blessed. We have been blessed to have these children in our home for the past 7 months, and probably for at least the next 2 months. We have been blessed to have all of our foster kids this past year. To be a part of such an amazing agency. For me to have a full time job where I really only work part time. For Jonathan to be able to go back to college and be loving it, even if it is challenging. I loved the week of Thanksgiving when everyone was at home, my parents were in town, my nieces visiting. The house was crazy busy but it was so fun to be with everyone. We got to see Jonathan's family on Thursday and have my family's Thanksgiving at our house on Saturday. This was the first time most of my family had been to our new home and I loved hosting this family get together.
We are now in full swing for Christmas. Christmas is my favorite time of year. I love the lights, trees, smells, music, movies, and most of all the whole reason we celebrate, Jesus Christ my savior. Our house is finally decorated and I am loving it. We have presents wrapped and under the tree. We have stockings hung on the fire place and our nativity scene in full view.
God has truly blessed us this year and I am so thankful!
~until~
Like I said, we are truly blessed. We have been blessed to have these children in our home for the past 7 months, and probably for at least the next 2 months. We have been blessed to have all of our foster kids this past year. To be a part of such an amazing agency. For me to have a full time job where I really only work part time. For Jonathan to be able to go back to college and be loving it, even if it is challenging. I loved the week of Thanksgiving when everyone was at home, my parents were in town, my nieces visiting. The house was crazy busy but it was so fun to be with everyone. We got to see Jonathan's family on Thursday and have my family's Thanksgiving at our house on Saturday. This was the first time most of my family had been to our new home and I loved hosting this family get together.
We are now in full swing for Christmas. Christmas is my favorite time of year. I love the lights, trees, smells, music, movies, and most of all the whole reason we celebrate, Jesus Christ my savior. Our house is finally decorated and I am loving it. We have presents wrapped and under the tree. We have stockings hung on the fire place and our nativity scene in full view.
God has truly blessed us this year and I am so thankful!
~until~
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Infertility Journey
Dealing with infertility is truly a journey. It's a journey that we pray will end with a baby, but I also think it is a journey to bring us closer to God and closer to each other. Unfortunately so many couples end up further apart because of infertility. I have found that this journey of ours is bringing us closer to God, causing us to be on our knees in prayer more, and strengthening our marriage. Our marriage hasn't been without it's trials in the past 5 years, but that's part of marriage. We've managed to grow stronger through medical school, illness, residency, severe family illness, and now infertility. I don't know why God chose us to have this problem. I don't know why he chooses anything to happen. I do know we live in a fallen and sinful world and God promises to never leave or forsake us. I cling tight to his promises on the hard days. Not all days on the infertility journey are hard ones though. We have had so many good days too. I often times find myself thanking God for this. If we hadn't of had infertility we wouldn't have been foster parents now and wouldn't have known the children that we have or the families that we now call friends. However, I can't say that I always feel thankful for this. I try to remind myself that God's plan is bigger than mine, but sometimes that is hard to do.
Every families journey with infertility is different. Here is what our journey has looked like so far. We decided in the fall of 2008 that we were ready to stop preventing having a baby. We didn't expect to get pregnant right away but month's went by and soon we were approaching the 1 year mark to when we stopped birth control. I knew that something wasn't right before this 1 year mark, but I never really wanted to admit it. I was hoping it was just the stress of intern year and when my schedule slowed down things would get better, but that wasn't the case. We got our referral to a RE: reproductive endocrinologist (i.e.: infertility specialist) in the fall of 2009 and saw him for the first time in Jan of 2010. Let the fun begin :) We found out that I have PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome) at that appointment. Our RE said that with some medication I should be able to ovulate and conceive so we started the medication called Clomid. We started out at the standard starting dose of 50mg per day for 5 days each month. This didn't work so we increased it 2 weeks later to 100, then 2 weeks later to 150, and so on until we got to 250mg, the max dose. This medication made me feel horrible. Hot flashes, dizziness, headaches, moodiness, but I stuck it out because we wanted a baby. The 250mg seemed to be the magic number and I finally ovulated. We waited the 2 weeks and were heart broken when we weren't pregnant. However, we pressed on. Tried the 250 again, and again, it worked, however again, 2 weeks later we were heart broken. After the third time we took the 250mg it stopped working. My RE added metformin, a medication for diabetics that helps with PCOS because it helps with hormone sensitivity. This added to our 250mg helped me to ovulate again and again but without becoming pregnant. By this time it's fall of 2010 and I'm tired. I'm tired of the doctors visits, ultrasounds every few weeks, tired of felling terrible and being moody. Jonathan and I thought it best to take a break for a little while. We discussed our decision with our RE, who also thought that a break may be good for us. This is also soon after we decided to do foster care. We had started the foster care journey in August of 2010 and stopped taking fertility medications in October of 2010. This allowed us to put our full focus on becoming licensed, albeit some of mine was still on residency :) We decided to wait to restart our medications until summer of 2011, so about a 9 month break. During this 9 months I actually ovulated on my own a few times but we still couldn't conceive. I went back to my RE in June of 2011 and we restarted my clomid. This time I only had to get up to 200mg for it to be effective, but the side effects were the same and still no baby. My RE decided that I needed to have a histerosalpingogram (where they look at your uterus and fallopian tubes with dye) to see if there were any anatomic reasons we weren't conceiving. I had this test in August and we found out that my right side seems to be occluded. That doesn't fully explain why we haven't been able to get pregnant since most of the time my left side is where I ovulated. We tried another month of the 200mg and ovulated but didn't get pregnant so we tried it again this past month. However, this time, once again, it didn't work and I didn't ovulate. My RE decided it was time to check my thyroid again because thyroid problems can make infertility worse, and we found out that I have hypothyroidism. This has led me to start taking medication for my thyroid, which hopefully is helping, and my RE also started another medication on top of the clomid to get me to ovulate. I go back in about a week for another ultrasound to see if these new medications have done there job. We continue to pray for God's direction in this journey and we would appreciate prayers from you as well.
Every families journey with infertility is different. Here is what our journey has looked like so far. We decided in the fall of 2008 that we were ready to stop preventing having a baby. We didn't expect to get pregnant right away but month's went by and soon we were approaching the 1 year mark to when we stopped birth control. I knew that something wasn't right before this 1 year mark, but I never really wanted to admit it. I was hoping it was just the stress of intern year and when my schedule slowed down things would get better, but that wasn't the case. We got our referral to a RE: reproductive endocrinologist (i.e.: infertility specialist) in the fall of 2009 and saw him for the first time in Jan of 2010. Let the fun begin :) We found out that I have PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome) at that appointment. Our RE said that with some medication I should be able to ovulate and conceive so we started the medication called Clomid. We started out at the standard starting dose of 50mg per day for 5 days each month. This didn't work so we increased it 2 weeks later to 100, then 2 weeks later to 150, and so on until we got to 250mg, the max dose. This medication made me feel horrible. Hot flashes, dizziness, headaches, moodiness, but I stuck it out because we wanted a baby. The 250mg seemed to be the magic number and I finally ovulated. We waited the 2 weeks and were heart broken when we weren't pregnant. However, we pressed on. Tried the 250 again, and again, it worked, however again, 2 weeks later we were heart broken. After the third time we took the 250mg it stopped working. My RE added metformin, a medication for diabetics that helps with PCOS because it helps with hormone sensitivity. This added to our 250mg helped me to ovulate again and again but without becoming pregnant. By this time it's fall of 2010 and I'm tired. I'm tired of the doctors visits, ultrasounds every few weeks, tired of felling terrible and being moody. Jonathan and I thought it best to take a break for a little while. We discussed our decision with our RE, who also thought that a break may be good for us. This is also soon after we decided to do foster care. We had started the foster care journey in August of 2010 and stopped taking fertility medications in October of 2010. This allowed us to put our full focus on becoming licensed, albeit some of mine was still on residency :) We decided to wait to restart our medications until summer of 2011, so about a 9 month break. During this 9 months I actually ovulated on my own a few times but we still couldn't conceive. I went back to my RE in June of 2011 and we restarted my clomid. This time I only had to get up to 200mg for it to be effective, but the side effects were the same and still no baby. My RE decided that I needed to have a histerosalpingogram (where they look at your uterus and fallopian tubes with dye) to see if there were any anatomic reasons we weren't conceiving. I had this test in August and we found out that my right side seems to be occluded. That doesn't fully explain why we haven't been able to get pregnant since most of the time my left side is where I ovulated. We tried another month of the 200mg and ovulated but didn't get pregnant so we tried it again this past month. However, this time, once again, it didn't work and I didn't ovulate. My RE decided it was time to check my thyroid again because thyroid problems can make infertility worse, and we found out that I have hypothyroidism. This has led me to start taking medication for my thyroid, which hopefully is helping, and my RE also started another medication on top of the clomid to get me to ovulate. I go back in about a week for another ultrasound to see if these new medications have done there job. We continue to pray for God's direction in this journey and we would appreciate prayers from you as well.
Life in Full Swing
Life is busy here at our house. Busy and full of the people that we love the most. What more could I ask for? I am so thankful that we have had the blessing of D and A for 6 whole months now. We recently had a permanency planning meeting for them again. Basically to update everyone on how things were going for their parents and how the kids were doing in our home. When I was in college I really thought that everyone could change, regardless of their past. I still think that it's possible, since all things are possible with God, but I don't always think it's probable. I'm so proud of D and A's mom for doing her service plan and working hard to change her life so that she can be reunited with her family. However, their dads, are a different story. I want to get in their face and yell "what is your problem"? "Do you not see how wonderful your children are?" "Do you not see that your actions are hurting them?" But I don't do that, I sit back and watch and listen and feel sadness for these children that I love so much. However our CPS caseworker and mediator at the meeting basically said those things to them. I'm so glad to have people advocating for our children. Jonathan and I do our best to be our children's number 1 advocates, but it's nice to have other people in your corner, fighting for what's best for these precious little ones. As of right now they will be with us until spring, allowing their family to have time to right their wrongs and get the help they need to be whole again.
D is doing so amazingly well in school! Her school teaches a new character trait each 6 weeks and at the end of the 6 weeks they award a few students from each class for displaying that trait. She was picked this month and her assembly was yesterday. We were so proud to stand there with the other parents and clap for her success. She is blossoming into a beautiful, thoughtful, kind, responsible, loving girl and we couldn't be more proud of her. Soccer season is almost over for her, she's really sad about that. She has loved playing this fall and will play again in the spring. Soon she will be starting ballet lessons. We have told her that she can try anything she likes, however she can only do one activity at a time and she has to always have her school work done first. She's excited to try something new and she loves to dance.
A is also doing wonderfully. When he came to live with us he only spoke about 3 words. He understood both English and Spanish when he came here but didn't speak in either language. We have been working with him to improve his ability to communicate and he is now speaking in short sentences! His family still speaks to him in Spanish when he is at his grandmother's house and during his visits and we speak to him mostly in English. ECI has been a wonderful resource for helping us teach him. He has finally started to love going to daycare, or school as we call it. Everyone always comments on how sweet and smiley he always is and it's true. He almost always has a huge smile on his face, runs to give hugs, and laughs at everything. He is truly a joy to be around.
This was our first Halloween with children and it was so much fun! D went as Jasmine and A went as a monkey. I wish I could post a picture in their costumes, they were adorable. We went to a few fall festivals, one in Dallas over the weekend, and one here in town on Monday. The kids had a blast, got lots of candy, and loved every minute of it. We also carved pumpkins for the first time with kids and they loved pulling out the pumpkin "guts". We roasted pumpkin seeds for a yummy snack which they thought was really cool.
We've taught them about the great game of baseball this fall while watching the play-offs and World Series. A loves to watch sports and would yell "strike" during the games. He also would yell "baseball" and pretend to pitch every time he saw it come on TV. Hopefully we can take them to a game in the spring, I think they would have a blast.
Holiday planning is in full swing here. We are hosting Thanksgiving at our house for the first time this year and I'm excited to have all of my family in my home. We have lots of big plans for fun things to do the week before Christmas while the kids are out of school and lots of family time planned. I can't wait to see their faces on Christmas morning. I also can't wait to show them our family traditions and start a few new ones now that we have children around. Christmas is my favorite time of the year and I am so excited to get to share it with little ones.
~until~
D is doing so amazingly well in school! Her school teaches a new character trait each 6 weeks and at the end of the 6 weeks they award a few students from each class for displaying that trait. She was picked this month and her assembly was yesterday. We were so proud to stand there with the other parents and clap for her success. She is blossoming into a beautiful, thoughtful, kind, responsible, loving girl and we couldn't be more proud of her. Soccer season is almost over for her, she's really sad about that. She has loved playing this fall and will play again in the spring. Soon she will be starting ballet lessons. We have told her that she can try anything she likes, however she can only do one activity at a time and she has to always have her school work done first. She's excited to try something new and she loves to dance.
A is also doing wonderfully. When he came to live with us he only spoke about 3 words. He understood both English and Spanish when he came here but didn't speak in either language. We have been working with him to improve his ability to communicate and he is now speaking in short sentences! His family still speaks to him in Spanish when he is at his grandmother's house and during his visits and we speak to him mostly in English. ECI has been a wonderful resource for helping us teach him. He has finally started to love going to daycare, or school as we call it. Everyone always comments on how sweet and smiley he always is and it's true. He almost always has a huge smile on his face, runs to give hugs, and laughs at everything. He is truly a joy to be around.
This was our first Halloween with children and it was so much fun! D went as Jasmine and A went as a monkey. I wish I could post a picture in their costumes, they were adorable. We went to a few fall festivals, one in Dallas over the weekend, and one here in town on Monday. The kids had a blast, got lots of candy, and loved every minute of it. We also carved pumpkins for the first time with kids and they loved pulling out the pumpkin "guts". We roasted pumpkin seeds for a yummy snack which they thought was really cool.
We've taught them about the great game of baseball this fall while watching the play-offs and World Series. A loves to watch sports and would yell "strike" during the games. He also would yell "baseball" and pretend to pitch every time he saw it come on TV. Hopefully we can take them to a game in the spring, I think they would have a blast.
Holiday planning is in full swing here. We are hosting Thanksgiving at our house for the first time this year and I'm excited to have all of my family in my home. We have lots of big plans for fun things to do the week before Christmas while the kids are out of school and lots of family time planned. I can't wait to see their faces on Christmas morning. I also can't wait to show them our family traditions and start a few new ones now that we have children around. Christmas is my favorite time of the year and I am so excited to get to share it with little ones.
~until~
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