About Me

I have adopted 4 children from a specific orphanage in Eastern Europe and I want to see more children redeemed from that orphanage and brought into families. I want to make sure that the children who are still left behind in that place are never forgotten.

Saturday, September 18, 2010

Rest

My husband is so wonderful to do as much as he's been doing lately. I haven't been feeling well at all from the heart rate issues. It has left me very tired. (I mean imagine running a marathon even while sitting down. lol) He has been doing laundry, wrestling Julianne, and so much more. I couldn't ask for a bigger help!

Today he was off, so he did so much to help. The house is running smoothly. The children were well worn out and fell asleep easily. I got to sleep and get caught up on some much needed rest. I am very blessed.

This medicine seems to be doing a great job of getting the heart rate and things in check. I still tire easily and if I do too much then it goes up again. This is just a tiny dose of the medicine though to make sure how my body handled it. I go back to the doctor this coming week. I should be able to get the dose raised a little if needed then and be totally back to normal in no time.

I should be able to get the kids all ready for church in the morning. We have had to miss quite a bit lately as a result of this issue. I hate it when we don't make it to church. I know the kids and Brent do too. Things are as ready as possible tonight so that morning will be easier. I know Brent is ready to pitch in and help too. I can't wait to get back with our church family.

I think God has taught me a few things during this. One thing is that I don't have to do it ALL. I really LIKE to do it all. I don't like to need help. I like to have it "all under control". I like to get everything done without saying "help" on stuff that I normally do. (Everyone has some things that they always do to help out.) I don't like to say "Honey, I just can't get the laundry done", but I am able to say that. I do have a wonderful family who jump in and help. I do have a hubby who can keep that laundry rolling. I have kids who are glad to help set the table, put broccoli on plates, and give everyone dressing. I really can say "I can't". I mean I knew I could, but God knows that I don't like to say it. I guess He decided to teach me that my kids would like to help more with some stuff and that I don't have to be so fiercely independent. I guess I now where some of my kids got their stubborness. lol

I am very thankful for this crew! I know God has blessed me tremendously. I am hopeful that this medicine will continue to correct this heart rate thing and if the medicine needs to go up then we can do that too. I am so blessed!

Friday, September 17, 2010

Stress??

Since my heart rate has been high it seems that a lot of people wonder about how much stress I must be under. It seems that most people think that my children must be a cause of stress for me. I just thought I'd answer that one for sure.

MY KIDS DON'T STRESS ME AT ALL!

I mean, like any mother I get stressed if they are sick or something like that. The great thing is that my kids don't even get sick that often. They are healthy and wonderful. Other than sickness none of it stresses me.

I can honestly say that I don't get stressed by any of the behaviors that any of them exhibit. If Andrew were to eat a hole in the dry wall in his room and poop horizontally in it today, it would not stress me out! I feel blessed that he hasn't done that in probably at least two years, but the reason that I care isn't because it stresses me. I care because it means that he is getting better.

I really don't stress over behaviors and there is a reason. See, every one of my children came as a special gift. Dayton was by birth and I prayed before I conceived and the entire time he was in there (and I was sicker than a dog nearly the whole time by the way lol) and feel so blessed that God chose me to be his mommy. Each child that joined our family by adoption required three times the amount of prayer and begging to get home. I prayed for the initial match, whoever was supposed to be caring for them, the social workers to make things smooth, the paperwork to get done, the time line of bringing them home to speed up, and for them to realize how much they were loved and find their special place in our family. I realize that any behaviors or things other moms might find stressors are blessings that I begged for and am so blessed to have received. I get to be the one to help them through whatever their issues are. I am so blessed to have God answer my prayers in such amazing ways. I realize that they endured some horrible things before I became their mommy. I may have to endure some of the behaviors as a result, but being their mommy is a blessing that I begged God (and often times social workers as well) to let me have.

I can't "stress" over my blessings! I just have to praise God for them. There are days that I may vent a little. I really do usually manage to laugh over the things that happen though. I major behavior from one of my kids is no more of a stressor to me than a long line at Walmart is for most. It is something you say "Can you believe . . . . " about, but then I get the blessing that you don't get over the Walmart line - I get to see a child who is being miraculously changed by God. I even get to be a part of it!!!

So for anyone who worries about my stress levels with 12 kids, they don't stress me at all. My household is probably calmer than most households. My kids don't even fight because they can just go play with someone else, so I don't even have that normal parental stress either! :)

Feeling Some Better Already

I went to see Anita today. She changed the medicine that the other doctor put me on. I am already feeling quite a bit better. I am hoping that is a trend that continues. She is making me have some other tests run just to be sure that there is not anything else going on. I love that she always makes sure that everything is ok. That is one of the reasons that I trust my kids in her care. She never leaves a stone unturned!

I will say that it is a little harder when it is me. lol I just like to make it quick when it is me. I do know why she is making me have every test known to man-kind. I know that she is making sure that we don't miss anything that causes more issues later. I will say that it is amazing how much better you can feel in a short amount of time, when your heart rate goes back into normal range. I know that with a few more little medicine tweaks, I will be better than ever!

I am very thankful that God put Anita in our lives. I am so blessed to have a medical provider that I can trust. I am also blessed that she is a sister in Christ, so God can use her even more since she is His child. We are part of the same family! That is the awesome thing about God and His adoption of us. We have family that we share blood with! See, once we accept Jesus' blood to wash away our sins, we share a special bond with other believers as well. God can then use all of His children down here to work together in so many ways. We are family because we have been ADOPTED by the same Daddy! God's family is so cool!

Thursday, September 16, 2010

Yuck

Lots of things are going quite well right now. Construction is moving along. I think our footer will be poured on Monday, which is so exciting. My kids are awesome (well honestly Crystal and Andrew aren't doing great, but I don't stress it because they will come back around soon). I love homeschooling. I had an IEP meeting with Destiny's school professionals today and was reminded as to why I still have her there and how much I love their greatness.

I am feeling rough though. The ladies on my side of the family have a history of very fast heart rates. My great grandmother, grandmother, and mother have all required medication to bring it down. I have always had excellent blood pressure and just a high/average heart rate. I got a little cold or something that seemed to be going around. Shortly after I seemed to be having some difficulty with getting winded. I thought it was just some asthma flare up, so I didn't worry about it too much.

It turns out that the "genes" have smacked me. I am going back to the doctor in the morning to see about getting it further regulated. I started one medicine already, but I'm not staying down out of the 100 beats per minutes and above category. YUCK! I know they'll get it regulated soon though. In the meantime, I have awesome kids (not the RAD ones, bc you NEVER let them know you are at all under the weather or they might see it as the weakness they are so badly looking for) that are pitching in and making my life as easy as possible.

I have used this as a reason to do a little "check up" on my health habits though. I am eating a lot more salads and fruits. I am getting to bed at much better times. I am even sitting down during the day instead of going without stopping. lol I guess God figures we all need a little reminder now and then!

Sunday, September 12, 2010

CONSTRUCTION!!!

Construction has finally started. There is nothing up yet, but demolish has begun. They came Friday and put up a fence to block off the construction side of our yard from the "kids and dogs" side of the yard. I will admit that I was a little disappointed when nothing else happened that day, but I was glad that at least something had finally happened.

Saturday morning the contractor and some of his men showed up again. I was very excited!! They brought in their big machines. They also began to jackhammer the concrete out back. It all has to come up in order to build there.

I'm sure the two men with jackhammers aren't quite use to having an audience. They did here though! I had kids lined up all across the couch in the sensory room looking out the windows and even across the sliding glass doors. They were so excited when they began to jackhammer the back steps that were so close to them.

My kids are hysterical though. I hear "UMMMM" in their very best "you did something bad" voices. I went in to see what was the matter two different times because of that sound. The first time was because one of the men SPIT in the yard. (I mean really the nerve. roflol) The second time was because they saw the men over at their truck smoking cigarrettes. I think the men may have noticed that the kids thought smoking was a "no no" because they seemed to smoke on the other side of the truck from them on. haha

I'm sure that I am going to have quite the job trying to keep the kids on task while we homeschool. I think I'm going to encourage them to finish their assignments before 'time is up' for that assignment and then they can go peek. :)