Hello!!! A Quick Update!

Wow! I could write a book right now. Seriously. So much has happened over the past couple months.

First of all, Chris is doing fabulous in TX and is passing the train dispatch course with flying colors! He has been offered a job and will start on Dec.2. We already have a house picked out and have started working on financing and all of that fun stuff! The kids and I are still in MS with my mom...so how did I go house shopping with the hubs in TX? FaceTime. We knocked out about 13 houses in one day. House shopping is a blast from the couch! :-D

Everything is going great here. The kids are doing wonderful. Big G is doing well in school, all A's. She is still playing her violin and enjoying that. When we move to TX, I plan to sign her up for some Irish Dance instead of continuing her in ballet. I feel that it will suit her more. She is so bouncy. :-)

Little G is loving PreK. She has not shed a single tear over being dropped off and enjoys every single minute. She is only in the 2's program but the structure is doing very well for her. Finding another PreK program in TX is an absolute must.

Griffin...where do I even begin! Mercy, this little boy has made a huge change since the summer. I'm going to have to make a seperate blog on his changes but to just quickly explain what has happened, he has come out of an anemic fog. Because of Celiac Disease, he was so severely anemic, that he was literally in a fog and his brain wasn't fully functioning. His iron levels in his blood are pretty much normal now but the levels in his bone marrow are still on the low side. He is still on supplements to bring his iron levels up, and of course, he will remain on the gluten free diet for the rest of his life, and that should keep him from getting in this state again.

But anyway, oh my goodness, this little boy is so amazing. Even more amazing than before. When Chris came home in October for a visit, he noticed a huge difference in Griff's cognitive state. He is so much more focused and involved. His therapists are taking notice that he is working harder and completing tasks during his sessions. Exciting stuff, folks! Very, very exciting!

Can't wait to have better internet access so that I can update y'all more often! Miss y'all terribly! No worries, though. I will get back to blogging regularly once we have settled into our new home!

Love and Hugs!!!

NEWS!

Great news!!!

Chris was accepted into the train dispatch program!!!  Praise God!  He will be headed to Ft. Worth, TX for a 4 month program in 2 weeks.  (Not really looking forward to that part, but I'll get over it. :-)  Once he is done with the program, he will have a job in TX...the exact location will be known about 2 months into the program.  WHEW.

So...Chris is going to rent a place in TX and we will stay here in MS.  Hopefully, we will join him around January, once he has a job and can get us settled in somewhere.

More news...

Griffin was diagnosed with severe autism.

I'm not really sure how I feel about this diagnosis yet...

All I know is that I love him more than ever...

I'll blog about this once I can figure out how to express my feelings in words.

Lots of ups and downs this month... Lots more ups than downs, that's for sure.  Most of the downs have just been colds, migraines, a little fender-bender, etc. but we have our family, we are still chugging along... we are still stronger than ever!

Here are a few pictures for you!

Leaving church on Sunday

Bouncy House!

Griffin Lovin'

S'mores with friends

Picnic time!

Picking Blueberries

Great job, Big G!

Working while the girls play. LOL

Trying to love on Little G.  LOL

Love and Hugs!!

What Have We Been Up To?

I have missed y'all so much!

Sorry the posts have tapered off... we have very little internet now.  I'm currently at my BFF's house in TN and using her Internet to give y'all an update.  I don't even know where to begin!

We are still in MS with my mother and I love being able to spend time with her every day!  I'm spending every moment that I can with her because I know that this won't last forever.  I'm making the most of it.  Yes, it's crowded under one roof, but it's family, and well, it doesn't get much better than that!  After being away for 4 years, you truly realize what's important, that's for sure.  So yeah, we are packed in like a can of sardines, but what's wrong with being a little cozy, right?  <wink>

We kicked the summer off to fun start with a short trip to TN to see my BFF's family.  While there, Shana and I treated Big G and her daughter, J, to a birthday weekend to see the Lion King in Nashville, to include an overnight stay in the Gaylord Opryland hotel.  LOVED it.  It was so much fun having a girls' weekend while our husbands took care of our littles.  We truly have the best husbands ever!

The next weekend, our friends from Germany, the Copous family, made their journey across America and met us in Gulfport, MS, for a weekend stay in a beach house.  We lounged around, chatted about our times together in Germany, watched movies, had great gumbo and crawfish, went bowling, and let the kids catch up on all of their missed playtime... The rain didn't slow us down a lick.  It was especially hard to say goodbye this time around... They are now settled in Colorado and hopefully we can see them soon.

We are currently spending another two weeks in TN with my BFF and family.  We decided to make the trip to TN again to spend the 4th of July.  They have a furnished basement and a totally childproofed home.  It's awesome!  They also have a 2 year old adopted son who has Down syndrome and I love to watch him interact with Griffin.  They make such a sweet duo.

We have been spending a lot of time with the Lowes, our matchmakers.  We actually did a quick double date night after the kids went to bed, to New Orleans, for dinner at Bubba Gumps, and dessert at Cafe du Monde!  What an awesome evening!  We've also been having play dates at McD's on rainy days.  Loving it!

Griffin had a 1 month summer camp with ARC and had a blast.  He loved every minute of it.  He got to go swimming and took field trips to the zoo, movies, swimming pools, and bouncy slides.  The end of the month program was so awesome and my heart just overflowed as so many people stopped us in our tracks to say how much they loved him.   There is so much love there!!

Little G is such a stinker!  She is absolutely loving church now and can't wait to go every Sunday.  Every day she asks, "Sunday school, 'morrow?" and when I can finally say yes, she is overjoyed!!

I have learned that my 2 littles must be outside for the majority of the day.  They are not meant to be inside children.  So for most of the day, we are sitting outside in the smoldering MS humidity, swinging, mostly.  My arms get a really good work out!  Ha.  Little G has decided that she loves to crash her tricycle into things so that has become somewhat interesting.  She thinks it's hysterical, though.

Big G has learned to ride her bike without training wheels!  Amazing what having land can do for you, huh?  Took her about a week to get the hang of it.  So proud of her.

Big G and I also started taking violin lessons together!  We love it!  We can play Row Row Row your Boat like rock stars!  We are planning to continue taking lessons through the fall.

What's going on in the medical world?
Griffin has been enrolled in physical, occupational, and speech therapies and has had about 3 sessions each.
We are also waiting for Griffin's autism assessment results.  The results are in, just have to wait until we are back home.

What's going on in the job search?
Well, Chris has over 200 resumes sent out.  Times are tough, y'all.  There's not much out there for his line of work.  He's an Air Traffic Controller... he has recently applied for an open position in Louisiana and he has applied for a train dispatch program in Texas.  Both of these look to be the two most promising leads.  Pray y'all!  We will take what we can get at this point!

We will definitely continue to blog.  Blogging will happen more frequently once we have our own home and Internet.  Hang in there with us!  We appreciate having your love and support!   For the next blog, I hope to have our family portraits up!  They will surely make you laugh.  <wink>

God bless y'all!  <<<HUG>>>

He Came Back! Griffin's View

Griffin's View of May 29, 2012

There was a bunch of excitement going on in my groupa today.  The nanny got the scissors out and cut on my hair!  I really don't like hair cuts and I put up a huge fight!  Then they gave me a quick bath and I got really excited because I love the bath tub, but it didn't last long enough.  They dried me off really quick and stuffed me inside a pair of overalls.  THEN they sprayed smelly stuff on me!  Seriously, what is going on?!  I wish they would just tell me why they are dressing me up like this.

Before I knew it, the nanny carried me to the door, opened it, and there stood the papa!!!  He came back for me!  I had to blink a few times because I didn't really believe that he was there.  He had a huge smile on his face and he grabbed me into his arms and gave me a big squeeze!  I was so happy on the inside that I thought I was going to explode, but I managed to keep it inside, because I didn't want to do anything to ruin this moment.  Was he about to take me to the playground?

I heard the word "machina" and I got really excited!  I love machinas.  The papa said that I was about to go for a ride in the car!  I guess that's the other word for machina.  I could hardly keep myself calm!  I wanted to shriek with excitement!

The papa plopped me down on his lap on the back seat of a little black car, right next to the window!  Oh my goodness, is this really happening?!  I wonder where we are going?  The papa was talking a lot to the other people in the car but he would tell me that I was doing a good job, in my ear, every now and then.  Seems like they were talking about a lot of serious stuff.  He kept squeezing me so tight because I really wanted to crawl up into the front seat and drive!  I even reached up and pulled the driver's hair!  It didn't help, though.  I thought he would stop the car and let me drive.  Nope.  Instead, I just banged on the windows and tried to jump up and down on the papa's lap.  He was having a hard time keeping me still and he started to sweat!  When the car came to a stop, they took me inside a little building and tried to take a picture of me.  Nope, no way.  I really don't want my picture taken so I put up a huge fight.  The ladies started sweating, too!  Finally, they said that they got a good one but I don't see how because I was shrieking and wiggling all over the place!

We had a few more stops to make and when we stopped at the orphanage I just wanted to cry.  I didn't want this adventure to be over.  I'm so confused.  I really don't know what's going on.  The papa said that he was going to take me home but here I am back at the orphanage.  Oh well, I'm just glad he came back to see me.  The lady took me from the papa and they drove away.   I watched until the nanny took me inside.  I really hope that I can see him again tomorrow!  I'm just so, so, so glad that he came back!!!

For Chris' view of that day, click here!

The Longest 10 Days Ever

During this time last year, we were on the 10 day waiting period.  Chris went back to Germany to be with Big G, I went back to the US to get Little G... and our sweet Middle G had to sit in the orphanage and wait for us to return.

My heart aches to think about that long 10 days.  I know Griffin well enough now to know how he felt when we left.  I know how he handles stress and the signs of how he handled that 10 days without us were very visible.  Breaks my heart.

Griffin's view of the 10 day wait from May 2012-

The momma and the papa had to tell me goodbye for awhile.  They said that they were going to court for me and that they had to go home and then come back to get me.  I'm not really sure what 'home' is, but they are going to take me there.  I'm pretty excited about it!  They showed me pictures of two girls that are going to be my 'sisters' and said that they have to take them back home, too.  They said we will be a family.  I'm not sure what that is, but it sounds nice!

I'm lonely.  I've never really had this feeling before because I never really had anyone to pay me a bunch of attention every single day.  I got use to seeing them and they made my days much happier.  I really don't want that feeling to ever end.  I enjoy having something to look forward to, other than the usual things... food, going outside when the nannies allowed, and I can't really think of anything else.

Maybe they aren't coming back for me after all.  It seems that it's been forever since they left me... maybe it's already been 10 days.  I don't really know how to handle this.  I've been moaning and crying a lot.  I have started scratching at my face and hitting my head on the side of the crib.  I can feel the marks in my forehead from my fingernails, but it makes me FEEL.  Feeling the pain of that makes me feel something other than the loneliness that I feel inside.  The other kids don't like for me to cry.  One little boy keeps biting me on my face.  I have bruises on my cheeks and it hurts really bad.  I just want the momma and the papa to come back and get me.

My days are the same as they use to be.  Every time the door opens, I hope that it's them.  But it's not. I miss seeing the smiles on their faces and feeling like I'm the best boy in the world!  They told me how special I am and I was starting to believe it... I hope they still think I'm special.

I think I understand what the 'love' word means now.  If love means that you miss someone so badly that it hurts, then I love them.

I hope they still love me.

I hope they come back to me.

I hope...

Our Court Day Anniversary

Wow.  Time has really slipped by us!  I can hardly believe that it's been 1 year since I stood, nervously,  before a judge who grilled us to no end.  I just read the blog that I wrote that day and I can feel the tension creeping up into my shoulders and neck, just from reading it!  I can't believe that it's been a year.  It's still so fresh in my mind and I never want to forget it.  I never want the details to fade.

Today has been wonderful.  We got to spend some one on one time with Griffin this afternoon and it was so nice!  We took him to a new Mexican restaurant and bought him a cheese quesadilla and we realized that we forgot his sippy cup.  Not good.  So we bought him a kid's cup with lemonade and hoped he would give it a shot.  At first, he just pushed it away... wouldn't even give the straw a chance.  Then, Chris started giving him lemonade with the straw by holding it up to his mouth and dropping it in like a medicine dropper.  Worked like a charm!  He realized that he could actually suck the lemonade from the straw that Chris was holding up, so once he got the hang of that, Chris put it back in the cup, and Griffin started drinking it!  We had the whole restaurant wondering what was going on while we cheered and high-fived him over and over again.  We were so proud!


After that, we took Griffin to pick up Big G's birthday cake for tomorrow.  He is such a great shopping buddy and I love having him with me.  He helped me pick out plates and napkins to match the cake and managed to make a few girlfriends along the way!  haha.  When he flashes the smile, the ladies melt.

After our shopping was done, I took my sister-in-law and Big G to a painting studio for their birthdays.  We were directed on how to paint a canvas with an owl on it and it was so much fun!  2 1/2 hours later and we had some pretty awesome paintings to hang on our walls!  Big G was kind of discouraged since it was a bit difficult, but she perked up when I told her that we were going to trade paintings...she will hang mine on her bedroom wall, and I will hang hers on mine!  That made her happy!  I love her artwork and everything about her.

It has been the perfect day and I have enjoyed every minute of it!  We ended our night with some playtime at McDonald's with some awesome friends... and then we took a trip to Wal-mart after the kiddos were tucked into bed for the night.  We are zonked!  Tomorrow is Big G's birthday and we will be having some awesome family time.  Looking forward to it!

Love and Hugs!

An Important Signature...

On this day, 1 year ago, we finally received something that we were desperate for... something that was needed in order to give our son his freedom and a family...

Griffin's birth mother finally signed away all of her rights so that he could be adopted.

She wasn't able to care for him but she didn't want him to be adopted.

She didn't visit him or provide for any of his needs.

I'm not sure why she didn't want him to be adopted for so long... but I'm glad that she finally realized that he needed a family.

I'm so thankful that she gave birth to him...that she carried him to term.  She gave him a chance, even though it didn't always seem like that to us.

I'm grateful that she finally signed the one piece of paper that released him from the bondage of that orphanage.

I'm sending a photo book to his orphanage with some great photos of Griffin doing what he does best... playing, going to school, loving on his family, enjoying the sunshine, riding his tricycle...and I hope that one day she can see how amazing he is... and find comfort in knowing that he has a family who loves and treasures him.

For our view of that day, click here.

Love and Hugs!!