Recent pics

Long lost blogger....

Hard to believe it is almost April and I haven't blogged since Christmas. Well I am hoping that I can get back in to this if there is anyone still out there reading.

So what is going on? Where to start...

Katie is officially 2 now. We had a small family celebration for her. She is very much 2 attitude and all. She has started going to daycare 3 times a week to help with her language development and her social skills. She has gone twice so far but seems for the most part to be okay with it all.

She is weighing in at 26lbs and 35.25 inches so yet another tall skinny kiddo. She is healthy which is great and growing which is great. She is on a gluten free diet and will be for quite some time. She hasn't been officially tested for celiac disease but it is a possibility that she has this. We took her gluten free a couple months ago so testing and scoping would like not be definitive. We noticed a major improvement in the diaper situation on her new diet 5-6 diapers a day with gluten in her diet has gone down to 1-2.  We are also limiting fruit, juice etc to give her unstable a gut a chance to recover and not be aggravated by the sugars.

Kiya is in cast 10. We have had no real change in her out of cast numbers so she is holding steady at 45 degrees so not great but not getting worse either so we will take it. After much thought and debate we are taking a cast break this summer. She will be fitted for a back brace in May. We are going to use this summer to strengthen her core muscles. We met with a physical therapist and she has below average muscle tone and is flat footed. She has started to wear her ankle braces again and we will see the therapist again in May after her cast comes off. Kiya will also finally be able to take swim lessons. We are signing her up for private lessons for as many weeks as we can.

Now that our family is complete we are going on vacation in June. We are taking our girls to Disneyworld. To say I have a super excited 4 year old is an understatement.

So that is what is going on for the most part. Coming up we have Katie's finalization hearing in April, baptism in May, Kiya's 4 year family day celebration, vacation and baseball season :)

We are going to be busy and can't wait for some nice weather so we can go outside and play.

Will work on getting some update pictures on here soon!

Merry Christmas

We are wishing all of you a Merry Christmas.

2012 has been a really busy year for us as evidenced by the lack of blogging.

I sit here today on Christmas Eve while my kids indulge in an episode of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and think about just how far this family has come in the last year or 4 months even.

I am feeling overwhelmed with emotion and am kind of shocked I haven't cried yet. Watching Christmas through the eyes of my girls is nothing shy of amazing. I don't even know if Katie has any idea what all is about to happen today and tomorrow. I am just glad she is here.

Kiya asked me today if Santa visited Katie in Korea last year. I was honest and said I don't know. She then asked, did Katie get Christmas presents? I reminded her that Christmas isn't about presents but about family. Kiya said then that Katie didn't have family last year. I tried the best I could to explain foster families and cultural difference and Katie's life before she came to Wisconsin. Kind of a weighty topics for a 4 year and this mama pre coffee. Then Kiya in her true awesome self said "I love Katie so much. I like my little sister a lot. She gets presents this year."

This year we are finally the family of 4 we set out to be over 3 years ago. I can hardly believe it. There were times last year that I thought we would never get to this point. And when that phone rang back in August telling me our paperwork had been approved and we could get on a plane I couldn't believe it.

And now here were are almost 4 months later and feeling complete. This little girl has changed each and every one of us. She has challenged us and inspired us and charmed us beyond belief.

Kiya loves having a sister and one with brown skin just like her. She loves to teach her new things and boss her around in true big sister form. She has come so far and has really embraced the role of world's best sister.

Katie is truly so sweet and funny and stubborn. She keeps me on my toes and I am grateful. I never dreamed our second child was going to be a girl or a girl from Korea but the roads that led us to Seoul were paved in miracles.

I feel overwhelmingly blessed to be able to parent in my opinion the two most beautiful and amazing girls. This will be a great Christmas just because I can hug both of my girls tight. I am one of the lucky ones.

May this holiday season be filled with love and peace!

Reality

Time sure is getting away from me....

So what is my reality. I have been deep in thought and still trying to figure out this whole stay at home mom and parent to two girls thing.

Thankfully just when things were seemingly a little too much and I was at a breaking point, I spent the weekend with some pretty amazing women. It was our annual Lucky Cast Club mom's weekend. These 6 other women were just what I needed. I have never laughed or cried as much as I did in this one weekend.

I never envisioned that I  would meet such truly beautiful and endearing friends for life in the halls of a hospital. We truly are just a bunch of moms but we all get each other. It was so nice to step away from the laundry, the dishes, the new mostly gluten free diet for Katie, the poopy diapers, the whining, the mess and just be me. Not mom me. Just me.

I needed it more than I knew and yet felt a little guilty for going. Katiehas been home 3 months but I needed a break. I needed to be with my friends. I needed the support, the listening that only true girl friends can provide. Don't get me wrong my husband is beyond great but sometimes you just need some girl time.

Been awhile

I have been having a hard time finding the time to blog. Something that I love to do....such is the life of a busy stay at home mom.

So where are we, well lets just say it's complicated.

Katie has been home 2 months now. She is such a snugly and opinionated child. She has a lot to say and is learning new words it seems daily. She has some aggression in her and if she doesn't get what she wants or if big sis is bugging her she will lash out and hit you. Not fun and something we are working on. She also tends to scream at you...especially if you dare say "Katie come here". sigh....on the plus side I am becoming quite creative in the words I choose to use. Don't get me wrong, she really is a wonderful little girl and very very smart, she like big sis is full of personality and attitude and that can be challenging at times.

Kiya is cast free this week. She is doing okay with it. Her balance is out of whack and she is moving with less confidence then she normally does. This was very apparent during Trick or Treating. I hate this week. I hate scoliosis. I hate what I fear we are going to hear come Monday after her fabulous black and pink cast #9 goes on. I keep hearing stuck and no change over and over in my head. I can see it. I see her shoulder dip. I see her curve. To say that I am beyond frustrated and heart broken is an understatement.

I wish there was a guarantee or answer that what we are doing casting will work but sadly there is not. I fear we will be at a crossroad soon and need to make some difficult decisions. It is tough. So tough and I honestly can say right now I don't know what to do. Part of me says keep on casting because we can do that. We know cast life. The other part of me says casts aren't doing it, she is very likely going to have to have surgery so why continue with casts. Give her a brace. Let her gain some strength and wait it out in a brace until she is older. Brace life brings a whole new set of challenges but is it what is best...I am torn.

The upside to all of this is Kiya. She is truly one remarkable kid. 12 weeks ago she had a hard time walking up a flight of stairs in her cast without help. She has worked hard everyday of these last twelve weeks to not only walk up and down the stairs by herself but even alternating feet. And now that she is cast free, she can still walk those same flights of stairs without help and alternating her feet. The first few days cast free she wanted help and said I can't. We encouraged and supported but told her to try and do it herself. She did it and she was so proud of herself. Kiya gives me hope that no matter where this crazy road will take us, she will be okay. She is a fighter.

So there you have it nothing glamorous but it is our reality right now. I am tired a lot and in need of a break. Luckily there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Moms weekend! I cannot wait for the 2 days I get to spend with some of the best people I know. No hospitals, no siblings fighting, no mealtime stress, just two days of girl time and a Twilight movie.

I promise my next post will have pictures from Halloween. My Sleeping Beauty and her lady bug side kick had a blast.

5 weeks

Another week has flown by and things are going well. As anticipated we face new challenges and hit new highlights.

Highlights:

Katie: Katie is babbling and talking a lot. While she doesn't use a lot of English words or use the ones she does have often she is understanding so much. She does say happy and mama a lot. We are thinking her next official words might be "what" which Kiya says all the time and puppy. She is finally willing to walk regularly while holding one of our fingers. I can even get out of the car at preschool and have her walk with me all the way to Kiya's classroom which is a pretty good distance. This is saving my back :) She is also more willing to walk up and down stairs with help of course. She will do the entire flight of stairs instead of just stopping after one or two steps.  She at this point seems to be able to sleep through the loudness that is my early rising Kiya so that is great.

Kiya: While at dinner the other night Kiya wrote her name. It was so legible and really quite good for almost 4. We are so proud of her. She loves learning new things. She insists during her special time with mommy that she practice her letters, or do snip soup to work on her scissor skills, or do puzzles or other learning notebooks that she has. She is very bright and very well spoken. She really wants to learn how to read and is trying to point to the right words when we are reading books. I just ordered some early reading books from her school book club. While she keeps me on my toes I love the conversations we have a bout serious stuff like adoption and why we can't just leave the water running to silly stuff like why I don't drive a pink van. We did implement a happy chart for her. If she has a fabulous day at school she gets a sticker and when her chart is full she gets a prize. She really wants these princess dishes at Target. She has had two happy days so far, one at each school.

Me: I am hitting my stride and seem to have a more regular schedule now. I am comfortable getting both girls up and ready and out of the house. I try to take Kiya to school without Katie but that doesn't always work. I am grateful that Dave helps with Katie if I am trying to get Kiya to eat breakfast. I can go shopping with both girls and we all survive the affair and I am getting better at balancing my time between the two girls when we are all home together.

Challenges:

Katie: She is a precocious little one. She gets into everything. She is starting to show a sneaky side where she waits to see if you are watching her and then does something she has just been told and shown not to do. She also has quite the little temper. She is fast approaching 2 and while 2 was a walk in the park the first time around I am thinking we may have our hands full since Katie won't have the language part like Kiya did. We shall see I suppose. We are still trying to figure out if she is allergic to something...my fear is milk. I am hoping the nurse will call me back today and we can set up a plan to get this figured out. Katie also likes to point with her middle finger. In Korea this means nothing but many a person including Kiya has picked up on her doing this and even commented on it. We are working on it and Kiya knows that she is to never do it as it means something naughty.

Kiya: Kiya has good days and not so good days. 4 or almost 4 has been tough on her. She is very sensitive and dramatic and emotional. She still cries a few times a week that she is missing mommy. The worst being went I spent 4 hours with her watching movies and undoing her braids. We were literally inches away from each other, sharing snacks and laughs and frustrations. After we were done she was watching a show and I went to check my email in the same room and I heard her crying. She said she misses mommy and needs a hug. Those moments are getting less frequent and we had a happy Kiya most of the weekend so that was great. School drop off this morning was easier than it has been in weeks so not sure if that will turn out to be a good or bad thing.

Me: Still working on that patience thing. Kiya and I are a lot a like that way which makes things interesting. I am insisting on quiet time for Kiya most days in her room. She can nap if she wants but she usually doesn't so I can have just a few moments to myself. I am finding the lack of time to do anything productive really hard. Nap time is the best time to do things but also the only time I have to just sit and relax for the most part until after bedtime anyway. I am still getting used to this stay at home mom thing and wish on most days I could snap my fingers and someone would fold all the laundry or clean out my garage. One day at a time.

So there you have it in all its glory. I am loving everyday of this new adventure and feel very blessed. At the same time I am exhausted most days and so very grateful that both of my girls are wonderful sleepers. This whole thing would be so much harder if I was sleep deprived too.

4 weeks home

Another week in the books :)

Highlights:

Katie: Katie is talking up a storm. Most of it is still babble but you can hear her working through sounds. She has picked up a couple new words: Hi and Happy. We think she has also said dog. She knows what a dog is as when we say dog she will point to one of the dogs. We are working on body parts and sometimes if I ask her where her nose is she will point correctly to her nose or mine. She is also starting to get better at holding my hand and walking which she had previously refused to do. Same with stairs. She had no interest in walking up or down stairs and now with help she will do a few and twice has walked all the way up the stairs holding on to one or both of my hands.

Kiya: Kiya is truly a remarkable kid. She is responsible and loving and I rely on her for help. I can give her directions like go feed the dogs and she can go do it by herself. She is such a big girl. This morning I really wanted to take a shower and Katie was still sleeping but woke up just as I was finishing up. Kiya went in and kept her company and played with her. She loves being a big sister most of the time. Kiya is also determined to wear underwear to bed at night. Her goal is to stay dry for 2 weeks straight and then we will do underwear. We have 5 days down :) So proud of her and it is so true that kids will do these things when they want to not when mommy and daddy want them to.

Me: I am getting into a rhythm. I am starting to feel more comfortable with Katie and taking care of both girls together. I even ventured out this last week with the two of them which was a first. Kiya and I got flu shots and then we went to the coffee shop and then the grocery store. We did it. We survived and all parties left smiling as we headed home for lunch.

Challenges:

Katie: We aren't really sure what is going on it could be a total change in diet, a food insensitivity or teething but let's just say Katie's diapers are less than fun to change. We have good days and bad which leads me to think her little body is still adjusting but there are some trends emerging that have some things like milk or gluten issues on our radar. I have talked to the nurse so we are keeping an eye on things and giving her some more time to adjust. Katie also appears to be getting her first cold with us anyway :( Poor thing has a constant face full of snot.

Kiya: Well Kiya is still having some emotional days at school. She is mostly fine at her private school. It is her old school that is the problem. I am not really sure what it going on. Her best friend is there and gets super excited when Kiya shows up but Kiya just shuts down. Yesterday she refused to participate in art and spent a lot of time by herself looking at our family picture. I have tried talking to her about it and she says she misses her mama. We have read and re-read and read again Llama Llama Misses Mama. We are 3 weeks into her new schedule so I am hoping in time she will adjust and get used to it. She has told me that Monday she will be happy at school so we shall see.

Me: I don't have a lot of patience and I never really did. Some days I have more than others. I am trying to find some as I need it with two very loud, very silly and very messy girls. I am also not a baby person so things like spoon feeding, diaper changing are not my favorite past times. I need to learn to enjoy the little things. She is going to grow up so fast and I know I will miss those little times where she spits cereal at me or slyly feeds the dogs. I also need to learn to let go. I want Kiya to learn things at her pace. Things like writing her letters. She asks to practice and I have to learn to not get annoyed when she doesn't do it like I want her too. I need to be better at encouraging her free spirit and give her the time to figure it out for herself.

Overall we are really doing quite well. Time is the key to this all getting easier. For now trying to soak up every moment I can as my girls are growing up too fast.