Christmas

Waiting to run down the stairs. Being Kate's first Christmas with us, she had no idea what we were doing, but as usual she was happy to do whatever her siblings were doing. Ben sleeps in that hat all the time, and I think it's super cute.

I have no idea what I was thinking buying that for her, but it was one of the very few items she asked for by name. 

Just like last year I got myself each kid one of the Puffin Classics. And since there are 4 kids this year, I was able to complete my their collection!

Ben was his quiet calm self while opening gifts. Anything with cars is still a favorite.

And this little nugget.... We were all excited about her first Christmas. Just like the other kids at that age, she was a bit unsure of what to do. But she caught on pretty fast and then she enjoyed looking at all of her new gifts. She of course loved this Frozen microphone that sings her favorite Let It Go song. Here she is when she first opened it. Love her little shrug at the end!

In fact pretty much all of her gifts were met with screams of "Let It Go!!!!". This was her little pile from us. Notice a theme?

Noah changed into his Yoda shirt as soon as he opened it. This shirt falls into the "because it makes him really happy" category.  ;)

Oh this girl and her "can-ee". All day long she asks for more. Luckily the Christmas goodies stash is already running low.

Anna's favorite gift this year was probably this talking bird from her aunt Rachel. You can record yourself and it says it back in this hilarious little voice. Here's is Anna's bird telling me, "Make me a breakfast burrito....wait for it....wait for it.....STAT!". 

Overall, Christmas was like it always is - fun but busy. Including our morning at home, we had 4 different celebrations at three houses. Add on to that a weekend trip away 4 days before, two surgeries for Kate along with follow ups, and just general craziness that comes with school wrapping up, and it's a lot...for anyone really, but especially for Kate since so much of this was brand new to her. She really did have a good Christmas I think, but some moments were overwhelming. She met lots of extended family members for the first time as well, and by the time we wrapped up our 4th event, she was done. We could tell she just wasn't herself, and her sleep has been affected. Luckily we knew this would probably happen, so it wasn't too shocking. I woke up almost every day last week to tons of messages from other adoptive moms on my groups asking, "Is anyone else's child _____? Are your little ones dealing with______?". It was good to know that even though it's hard, it's normal in a way. This article, although probably aimed at older kids, was a good thing to read as we headed into this season. But just like we knew she might struggle, we also knew she would come out of it okay, and she's starting to get back on track. We're thankful that we can keep things small and simple in the next few weeks to help with that.

But along with the crazy there was JOY. Joy in watching her go through some of our traditions leading up to Christmas. Joy in reading the real Christmas story to her, knowing she never heard it before she came home. Joy in watching her decorate the tree for the first time, and have hot cocoa and watch movies in her Christmas jammies with her brothers and sister. I almost cried when I laid her sleepy little body in her bed on Christmas Eve, thinking about where she was on her last Christmas Eve. And she really did love getting in there with her siblings and cousins and opening gifts. After she figured it out she tried to open everyone else's gifts too! She probably struggled the most at my mom's house, because there were so many new faces there. But she did eventually warm up, and by the end of the night this was happening:

We're just so thankful that she was HOME this year! Even though it's always busy, it's such a gift to have so many cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents right here with us. And every year with our kiddos just gets better and more special, because you know this sentimental mom is already counting how many years we have left that they will all be here on Christmas morning. Love them all so much. Such a blessing to be all together!

School Christmas Parties

Anna and Noah had a half day last Thursday, and even though their teachers told them it was regular school for 3 hours and then the party, I'm pretty sure that the no uniforms and the promise of treats had them in party mode all day. They are still in 2 different buildings, so just like last year I did half and half so I could visit them both. I went to Noah's party first, and because they ate first I was mostly just there for the food and one little activity. He was pretty excited that they served Chick-fil-a nuggets. His class did a Polar Express theme, so after their book exchange in the cafeteria they came back to the class and found their tickets on their desks. Then they listened to the story and did some crafts. It was cute and he was very happy that I was able to come, even for half of it!

 When I got over to Anna's cottage they had finished eating and were moving on to the games. They had several cute games with M&Ms and some drawing games, but this one was the favorite. Get into teams and see who can turn their friend into the most convincing snowman with toilet paper, tape, and some construction paper eyes and carrot nose. Although half of the kids thought the eyes were buttons and stuck them on their chests! Anna was sure her team would win because she took off her scarf and added it to her friend like a real snowman would wear.

But another team won, for obvious reasons. Haa!

Ben's party was precious, as the preschool parties always are. They've changed it up a bit since Anna and Noah were there, and it made for a much more relaxed day. Cookie decorating and ornament making in the gym started things off.

Big kids were happy to join in the cookie part of things.

Little ones too. She had no clue how to eat this cookie without getting icing on her hands. She wasn't happy about the messiness, but she powered through for the cookie.  ;)

After the activities in the gym we all filed down to the sanctuary so they could sing for us. Again, it was just right for this age group. A handful of songs and some little sign language. So cute. I swear Ben had the puffiest cheeks of them all. Ben is in the back row, fourth from the left. You can expand this video to see the cheeks.  :)

Such fun and relaxed ways to wrap up the school year before Christmas. Because of all the crazy illness we've had Noah had to miss his Christmas Cantata and just my mom, stepdad, and I went to see Anna's. Even though it wasn't what we had planned, it really did make this whole busy season a lot less crazy, and they were still able to enjoy most of the events. We're calling that a win.  ;)

The Golden Ticket

This year we did the secret golden ticket night just like we have in years past. The kids get ready for bed like a normal night, but then they find little golden tickets on their beds that mean instead of going to sleep we are loading up in the car to have treats and go see Christmas lights. In the past I've laid the tickets on their pillows, but as they get bigger it's difficult to be as sneaky without them catching on!

So this year Nathan took them all into Noah's room for bedtime stories like he always does, and I slipped the tickets under their toothbrushes. Then when the story was over and they all went to the bathroom to brush their teeth - surprise! They were super excited. I was super excited to do this with Kate for the first time, but she had another first in mind - falling asleep on Nathan during stories. Of all nights for her to fall asleep early!

But once the older three saw their tickets their cheers woke up her up a little. When we put her in the car she was a little confused and sad since she was so sleepy, but all I had to ask was, "Want some hot cocoa?" and she brightened up significantly. Then I got out the oatmeal cookies and chocolate and she was 100% on board. Since the kids are getting older I thought it might be fun to add a little challenge to the Christmas light outing, so I printed out this scavenger hunt. They were super into it!

We drove around for about an hour (until someone inevitably requested a potty break) and we had found just about everything on our list except the camel. Every time we drove up on a nativity scene Anna would be chanting, "Cam-el! Cam-el!" but there wasn't one. It became the joke, with the kids yelling out camel at every light display as we headed for home. At our neighborhood entrance there are 2 streets you can take that will lead to our house, so we decided to take the longer route just to see a few more lights on the way. Wait a minute....what is that?! I actually slammed my foot down on the invisible brake on the passenger side and yelled out, "Camel!". The kids went crazy. See him there on the right?

It was a fun night and it was great for me to hear the kids say repeatedly how much they love this tradition and how much fun they were having. Kate cheered and played along with the other 3 and it was great to see her join in on activities we were doing last year while only dreaming of her. And as long as Christmas lights are out the kids will be insisting we take the long way home so we can see that camel again!

p.s. Today marks six months since we've been HOME with Kate!  :)

Just Keep Swimming....Sickness and Surgeries

So yeah, things got a bit crazy around Thanksgiving. Nathan got sick with a bad cold that lasted a week. Then Noah spiked a fever and had a stomach bug that led to us completely cancelling Thanksgiving that we host at our house. A few days after Thanksgiving Ben came down with that same virus. Then Anna had a random illness for about 2 days. Then I got what I can only describe as the flu "light", meaning I had all of the flu symptoms and felt horrid, but it only lasted 4 days instead of a week. Before most of the sickness started, Kate had surgery on her lip to revise the surgery that was done in China two years before.

That morning my mom came to stay with the other 3 kids and Kate thought she had just scored a super fun date with just mom and dad.

She was wary of the nurses at the hospital, and we wondered if she remembered the last time she was in a tiny hospital gown. But she cheered up significantly when they gave her a full sheet of ID stickers to put on her stuffed animals.

From start to finish it took about an hour. We were prepared for a really rough time for her coming out of anesthesia since that's how it went last time. But luckily this surgery center encouraged us to let her sleep it off some, and she did for almost another hour. Once she woke up she was confused and a little sad about the IV in her arm, but she allowed me to snuggle her and comfort her. She would look up at me, and then close her eyes and relax. It was so good to see her react that way. It made me think about this summer, and how new we were to each other then. After that surgery I really think she was in self preservation mode. She needed to take care of herself and fight off anyone trying to hurt her. This time she knew we would take care of her, and she was able to relax and be comforted. I felt so much mama bear love for her that day. I watched her sleep and stroked her little hair, and although I was happy that this was a super minor medical issue and I was glad she came through fine, I felt so mad. It's so unfair that she's been through so much at only two years old. Just not fair at all. But I had to remind myself of all that we have now and I felt grateful that we would be right there for her when she woke up. 

She was healing just fine for the first week, although we were watching it closely and were a tad concerned about some areas. Her lip was peeling a lot like chapped lips do, and on Friday night that peeling revealed that things were not going well underneath. Her lip was split where it shouldn't be and the stitches were no longer holding in one area. Of course it was Friday night so there's wasn't much we could do. She didn't seem to be in pain, but we knew it was wrong. Over the course of the weekend she did experience quite a bit of pain. It would come apart and bleed any time she laughed too big or bumped it at all. She woke up with blood on her sheets every morning, but she was still smiling.

Monday we called first thing and they said they would tell the doctor and call us back with a plan. The plan was to wait 3 more days to see her, and we were not happy. But we also knew this was the sort of problem that could only be fixed by a plastic surgeon, so we couldn't just run over to the ER for new stitches. And again, Kate was mostly happy and playful, only occasionally pointing to her lip and whimpering, "Boo boo". When the doctor walked in on Wednesday he stopped quick and held Kate's file up over his eyes. She looked awful, and he really couldn't believe the downward turn it had taken. Not only was her lip split open with a giant scab forming over it (I should have warned you to finish your lunch before reading this) but now random sores had popped up all around her nose and mouth. It was just a mess. He scheduled her for surgery the next morning, put her on oral antibiotics, and didn't even let us leave without applying some topical antibiotics in the office. He did say that in terms of "failures", Kate's was a good one and the repair should be quick and have an easier healing time. We didn't realize this, but he said he actually did go in and do some muscle repair and revision last time, but this next surgery would be all surface level - meaning less pain and shorter recovery.

The surgery itself took about as long as the last one, and we allowed her to sleep off the anesthesia again. She woke up calm, if a little uncomfortable, and was eager to get home. We have been super careful with her since then, although this time the plastic surgeon put in stronger dissolvable sutures and some that will not dissolve at all and need to be taken out. We go back tomorrow (Friday) to have those removed and we're very optimistic about how things look. I have spared you the gory before photos when things were so bad, so you can't really tell what an improvement this after photo is, but trust me - this is night and day compared to how she was healing last time.

Chillin' at Target. Sportin' pigtails. Eatin' raisins.

We think it looks great and we can tell she feels so much better than she did last time. It will still be a while before we can really know the final result, but I can already tell a big difference. A lot of the puffiness from previous scar tissue is gone, her lip line is improved, and the biggest change is the part you can't even see. Before any surgeries (in the U.S.) her top lip was almost completely connected to her gums. The doctor was able to release that and it's already easier to brush her teeth and even see her teeth now. Of course she has a lot of growing left to do, and there is a (very) small chance she may need or want a revision down the road, but we're happy that we might be putting this behind us for a good while.

After all the sickness and surgery around Thanksgiving, we had round two when ALL FOUR kids were diagnosed with strep throat the week of Kate's second surgery. We had mere days of health before we were back in it! I am happy to say that Kate and Noah never had even one symptom and the other two felt better within a day or two of starting their antibiotics (the first time ever taking them for Noah, Ben and Kate!). Thank goodness Kate's doctor felt comfortable with running IV antibiotics and proceeding with her surgery. We have really felt like we're back in the crazy summer where it was just one thing after another. Throw in make-up school work and the holidays, and whew! We've been buried, and even the slightest schedule changes have seemed overwhelming.

But we see a light at the end of the tunnel, and it really feels like we may be coming out of the cloud we've been under. Antibiotic rounds are wrapping up and everyone is healthy again. Stitches out tomorrow means Kate is almost completely healed. I am finished Christmas shopping and about half way finished wrapping, and the big kids finished school for Christmas break today - no homework for 19 days, hooray! I know I've said this countless times since June, and maybe I need to realize that in a family of 6 there will always be at least one crisis in progress, but we're hoping for a relaxing, healthy, and fun Christmas!