Wanted: A Vacation, and Quick!

The hubby and I are both yearning for a much needed vacation, and honestly I think all the kids are, too. I mean, there's only so much of the day-to-day drama that comes with adoption that one can take before everyone begins to feel downright exhausted, both physically and emotionally.

On the upside, things have been getting slowly better each week. We just need to hang in there until June when we can go camping at our favorite place with the rest of our wonderful family. Until then, we need to try our hardest to ensure that the drama is tamed and doesn't start to set the mood of our every day, which can be very hard to do sometimes.

We took Chelsea to Texas Scottish Rite Hospital in Dallas last week. She was seen by an orthopedic surgeon who told us her leg could not be saved--the vessels and tendons are too atrophied and if he tried to stretch them they would break. How's that for medical terminology? OK, those are my words not his, but he essentially said the same thing.

He also said he would not correct her 54% scoliosis curve--that doing so would make her back stiff, reducing her mobility (ability to crawl) and adversely affecting her quality of life. I must admit that the news hit hubs and I like a ton of bricks. After all, we were certain her scoliosis would be fixed. How's that for a Pollyanna update?

I do have hope that Chelsea can get some help, but we must wait a few weeks for her next appointments. She was referred by the orthopedic surgeon to the leg specialist to see if she is a candidate for a prosthesis. He felt that her hip would need to be a candidate for correction before she would be considered for a prosthesis. She was also referred to a developmental pediatrician at Scottish Rite's Rainbow Clinic to diagnose any internal "conditions" she may have.

The bright side to all this? Chelsea is seeing the best doctors in the world in their fields, and we are grateful for that. Her pediatric wheelchair came in, and we are thankful for that! We have been talking to her about Jesus and Easter and His death on the cross and what He did for us, and she is listening! We are immensely thankful for that.

Here are a few photos of the kids smiling. We do smile a lot, too, and we are thankful for that! Happy Easter, ya'll. :-)

Chelsea's 10th Birthday!

I couldn't end today without posting pictures of our sweet soon to be 10-year-old. Her birthday is March 19 but we celebrated today with our families at home.

  Chelsea wasn't a fan of the lasagna, the garlic bread or the salad, but oh how she loved the ice cream and cupcakes! She ended up trying the lasagna at the end of the day and decided she liked it. I think she was really hungry, not to mention she and Luke had been swimming in frigid water in the front yard in a blow up pool, so they were both shivering and hungry by the time they finished.You should have heard all the laughing and splashing to be had swimming in that cold water!!! Poor Katie has a little bit of a cough and couldn't participate, so she and I watched the two elders swim while dad had some alone time throwing the boomerang at the park.

The wire cage in Chelsea's birthday picture above was NOT one her gifts! Hahaha!!!  Actually, Darrell has been making the cages for our newly acquired rabbits from my brother and sister in law, and he had just finished making this particular cage right before the party. Yes, we have added rabbits to our small animal farm. This brings us to 1 cat, 8 chickens, 2 rabbits, 1 goldfish and 9 minnows (I think). 

Here's a picture of Luke holding one of our new bunnies. Aren't they cute?!? Both of them, I mean. :-)

For those of you who are wondering how things are going--we have ups and downs and are on the adoption roller coaster ride, probably will be for some time. But along with the challenges we have laughter, we have smiles and we have milestones. We know God brought us together and He is with us through the tough times and the good.

God's blessings to all of you in the coming weeks. I'll post again just as soon as I get the chance. Love, Laura