Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Musical Beds

Elliana and Andy have only been sharing a room for a few weeks and Andy has decided that he is ready for more. He no longer will sleep in his crib. It is more than not just wanted his crib, it is he wants Elliana's bed. Really he wants to do whatever she does and that is why he wants her bed. Andy sleeps at the foot of the bed and Ana the head. We looked at bunk beds but Andy is to crafty to leave alone with that at night so we will be bringing in another twin bed. So after moving his crib into her room, we have moved it out. It would not be so big of a job except that we have completely take the crib apart to fit it through the door frames. We moved in back into what had become the play room and the future room for the boys. Micah will have it to himself for awhile. Maybe.

We have had a friend's little 13 month old staying with us while she is delivering her four child. It has been such fun to have another little one around. She is the easiest, sweetest little thing! Elliana loves, loves helping her. It is good timing for her to adjust her big sister role for Micah. Andy cracks me up. He copies whatever Ana does, but does not want this little girl to touch his toys! He needs lots of work in his big brother role, but I have all confidence that he will be a quick learner.

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Family Meeting

Today we had a family meeting to talk about the kids whining. (This is not the first meeting for whining.) We talked about going to the "happy mat" and trying again, with respect. I should mention that this meeting took place in the car because that is where the kids have spent the afternoon playing. Elliana buckles her babies in and Andy takes his trains out for a ride too. Chris and I were thinking our meeting was about finished so we asked the kids if they had anything to share. Elliana said yes, she wanted to "share" at the park and take turns pushing her babies. I think we better explain what we mean by sharing next time. However, she finished her sharing time by thanking God for His love (said like she was praying). Very confusing, but sweet. Andy shared that he wanted us out of the car so they could continue to play.

Really the meeting was to motivate us parents to stick to the happy mat and stop them from whining so much! We will see how we do in the coming weeks.

Micah is out of the hospital and doing great! We received a video on Friday. This is our first video and we have watched it over and over. We cannot wait to hold him in our arms!

Monday, April 12, 2010

Social Worker and Hospital

Kate, my case manager, just called to say that the social worker has set up a time to go see Micah and begin her assessment/review. She will be visiting on the 13th, that is the middle of the night tonight! It may take her about two weeks to complete it and get it to the judge. Once the judge has it, he will set the first degree.

The bad news, Micah caught the cold that is going around and needed to be in the hospital for a few days. I am not sure if he is still there or if he is back in the home.

The good news, one of the families should be returning this week and can give me an update over the phone and maybe a video!

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Down on the farm

On Wednesday around 2:00 my sister arrived for a fun week with the kids. At 5:00 my mom called to say that my grandfather was out of surgery and the news was not good. He has colon cancer and it has spread to his liver, kidneys, spine and part of his legs. Shannon and I talked about our options, called our husbands at work and talked with them. Chris' parents would watch our kids, Brian would take off work for two days and watch Eila and Josiah. Thaddeaus would come with us. So at 9:00pm, we loaded up two vehicles up and drove to Michigan. We arrived at Shannon's around 2:00am and Elliana was still awake! We needed to leave for the airport at 6 so Shannon and I had a short night. Chris' parents were able to pick up Elliana and Andy in the morning from Brian.

My mom, Shannon (and Thadd), and I made it on the flight (we flew standby) and met up with my aunt in Omaha. Amber, my younger sister, was going to be flying in a few hours, but a security breech at LAX did not allow that. Through an act of God, Amber was able to be rerouted to Kearney, where my grandparents live. So we drove the three hours to Kearney and were able to pick her up a few miles from the hospital.

My grandfather was happy and surprised to see us. We spent the next couple of days with him. We talked about memories of the farm and his favorite things. We shared our favorite verses and he tried to remember his. He is a quiet man so we did a lot of just sitting together. Shannon, Amber, and I have said many times how thankful we were that we were able to come. My grandma was so thankful too. She is handling everything so well, she is an amazing women!

Getting home was going to be a challenge. Brian could not take off more work and they did not have anyone available to help. We needed to be home before Monday morning. Bill, my step dad, said there were two open seats on a flight Saturday morning. It would make our trip short, but Amber had to fly out then and needed to get to Omaha anyways. However, by Friday night, the flights were all oversold and the next opening would be Monday night. So we looked at driving but the cost for one way rental was very expensive. My mom checked about flying into Cincinnati instead of Detroit. The Cincinnati flight left an hour after Amber's and had 37 open seats! Chris picked up us and drove us to Detroit. It was a little weird being so close to home and not stopping. After dropping off Shannon and Thaddeus, we made it to Chris' parents around 11:00pm. Elliana was still awake, again. She was excited to see us. After a night of rest, we all drove back to Ohio and here will will stay, for a few weeks aways.

There is oblivious more to the story, but that is long enough. My grandpa was given up to 6 months or just a few days. We were able to take some pictures which is a huge deal because my grandpa hates pictures! I will try to post them, but they are on Shannon's camera so it may take a few days. My mom has to leave on Tuesday and my aunt on Thursday. Pray for my grandma as she will be caring for him without her daughters.