Ornaments

Two weekends ago, I had Paul drag the Christmas boxes out of the attic....and down the stairs. Yes I know, it was early. I'm all about Christmas, so the sooner the better as far as I'm concerned! With Thanksgiving falling so late this year, I couldn't wait until after it! So, we got the tree put together......and by we, I mean Paul. Yes, it's artificial. We have to attach each branch. It's sad, I know, but I have two kiddos that get pretty ill at Christmas if we bring a real tree in the house. Then the kids and I put all the ornaments up. We have tons! I like Christmas, remember! Every year since the kids were born, I've bought them a new ornament. I also have ornaments I've collected and ornaments my mom gave me from her tree. Back in 2006, the year we started our adoption, I bought an ornament for Claire.

We had just picked out her name, so I ordered this ornament from another adoptive parent that handmade them and personalized them. Around the outside, it says Merry Christmas 2006 and the inside says "Waiting for Claire". When it came and we put it on the tree, I remember thinking, she'll be home by this time next year. That was wishful thinking! The reality was that China adoptions slowed to a snail's pace and we had no idea when we would bring our baby home.

The next Christmas I bought this ornament. We were still "Waiting for Claire" in 2007. I remember telling Paul that he'd better just get on a plane and go find my baby because I wanted her home! Secretly, I wondered how many more "waiting" ornaments was I going to have to purchase, but I emailed the woman that I hoped this was the last one. In all honesty, I knew that we could be in for a very long wait but I had faith that God had perfect timing, and I really felt that she would be home by the next Christmas.

I first saw her face one month later, on January 30th, 2008! This Christmas, I will not have to buy a "waiting" ornament. This Christmas she helped decorate the tree....and she got to put her ornaments up there!

This Christmas I will buy her a Forever Family ornament!

WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE?

Okay, last night.....after a long and grueling day at the hospital for Claire's tests, we had Lizzie come over for dinner so we could take the "Christmas card pictures". I know, bad timing....but this was the only night that worked for Lizzie that Paul would be in town for. Did I mention that I have one of those husbands that travels for a livin'! Anyway, we had a lovely photo session! Hey, this is my blog and I can pretend if I want too.

Claire was having NONE of it. She looked down, she looked back, she looked anywhere but at the camera and when she did, she did anything but smile! We resorted to bribing her with chocolate but that only resulted in us having to wait while she dramatically chewed the Hersey Kisses....because that did not make for a lovely photo! Isabel is never good with these photo shoots either. Noah used to be a problem but he's gotten better. Lizzie and Parker are the easiest. But even so, with so many people in a frame, you are bound to catch someone with their eyes closed....or hand up scratching something.....or Claire's dress over her head. What can I say? I take lots of pictures of my kids. I know that's hard to believe! But, no matter how many times you do it, it does not get easier to pose a group of children for a picture....I don't know what it is, but they get antsy after about 55 shots!

I will not be revealing the "card worthy" possibilities here yet, however at some point the kids went nuts....I'm not really surprised, of course. They are Paul's kids! They were led by....yep, you guessed it, the oldest Gour child! She and Noah were cut from the same cloth and he tends to pick up the slack when she isn't around. But when she's here, they just feed off each other! It can get a little wild, what with the atomic wedgies and....

breaking into moves from Thriller!

Yes, Lizzie actually planned this with them. I heard whispering when I came in the room to start the pictures and I knew they were up to something. When we got near the end and they'd had all they could take....

They just started singing and dancing and acting a-fool!

Answered Prayers

I just wanted to let everyone know how things went today. Claire did remarkably well during her ultrasound. So did mommy! Mostly she just whimpered, but held on to my hand and her blankie. This was a big improvement over last time. She tends to get very nervous when she is laid on a table.....because she never knows what may follow.


After the ultrasound, we went to see Dr. A. The most wonderful news is that Claire does NOT need to have surgery! He went over her history first and was preparing me to hear that we would be scheduling her surgery. Then he went over to the computer to look at her new pictures and he could not believe that it was the same child he'd seen in June! He said her kidneys looked wonderful and that everything had improved so much that he just could not believe it. He double checked to make sure he was looking at the right child's file!


Needless to say, He was very pleased with her improvement and though she will still be monitored closely, it appears that all the damage was reversed! If we continue to catheterize her properly and on a schedule we should be able to expect that she will not get worse and will not need surgery in the future.


Thank you for all the prayers that I know were being said for our little girl. I am amazed every day at how the Lord has healed her! She is a little miracle!

Asking for it.

Today is the day that Claire has a follow-up renal ultra-sound and an appointment with her urologist. This will not be a fun day for poor little Claire. But, for us, this is supposed to be the day that we find out if catheterization has caused improvement for her ureters. In case you don't know, the ureters are the little tubes that go from your kidneys to your bladder. When Claire had this procedure done in June, we could see that lack of catheterizing for two years had caused her ureters to become very stretched. They looked like a wavy shaped balloons. "Impressive!" was what Dr. A said the first time he came to the pictures on his computer. Unfortunately, it wasn't a good "impressive".

The condition of Claire's ureters are the reason she has such bad reflux (urine flowing back into her kidneys) and this can damage her kidneys. Usually when you start a catheterizing schedule with a child, the condition of the ureters will improve and the thus the reflux will improve. We started catheterizing Claire back in June but there is no way for me to tell if this has helped or not. Today we find out! If there has not been enough improvement, Claire will have to undergo a surgery to re-implant her ureters to a different place on her bladder.

Today, I would ask that you pray for Claire and for her doctor. I will be with Claire at the hospital. Please pray that she understands that I won't leave her and that even though strangers will be doing things to her she won't like, that she understands that it will be okay. Please pray that her doctor will make the very best decisions for Claire and her health. Pray that I will remain calm during the procedure, that Claire will find comfort in that and that I will have a peace about the doctor's decision today.

And, if you feel lead to share your own prayer requests or pray for others, join us over at the Wednesday Prayer Meetin' on Significant Source. Click the button!

Yes, I will update later to let you know how it went.

Ladybug Invasion!

To all you ladies in the adoption community that go nuts over ladybug sightings....check this out!

One little,

Two little,

SIX little ladybugs!

Every year about this time, we are overrun with ladybugs in one particular upstairs bedroom. I assume they get in though our less-than-air-tight, twenty something year old windows! Why this room, I have no idea. I don't really believe in the luck they are supposed to bestow on adopting families either. I saw tons of ladybugs during our two year wait and they never accompanied any particularly good news on our adoption front. However, I do find it a bit odd that the only room in our house where these fanciful creatures congregate is Claire's room.......hmmm.

Right now, we have no less than ten little buggies trying to hibernate in there...much to our bug-phobic little girl's chagrin! Since we have already had all the adoption luck we needed for right now I will happily pass this on to any family out there in need of it! Or, does this mean we will adopt again? Hmmmm........