Love the Way They Love Each Other

What a privilege to parent siblings! I'm sure 10 years from now there will be days when I feel otherwise but today I am relishing the love Anellah and Capper have for each other.

Sometimes it's not entirely constructive but sweet nonetheless. For the past week Capper has not been wanting to fall asleep in the evenings and will either provoke Anellah by playing peek-a-boo at her from his crib or babble in their room long past bedtime. Eventually he will start to cry and Anellah hates to see him cry so she will end up getting in trouble for bouncing around on her bed or running over to his crib to play games with him and make him laugh. It's made for some late nights for both of them  frustrating times for Daniel and I, but it's hard to be too upset about!

Today was really sweet. Both kids had check ups and both kids got shots. In addition, Capper had to have his blood drawn. Anellah asked over and over again if she could go first so that Capper wouldn't be scared. When Capper was having his blood drawn Anellah tried to distract and tickle him (not entirely helpful for the nurse). He screamed and cried as the poke took a LONG time to get very much blood. It was quickly evidently that Capper needed a second poke to get more blood so Anellah started singing, "Jesus loves me" and wiped Capper's tears. Capper didn't make a peep at all during the second poke as Anellah just kept singing sweetly to him the whole time.

Sad and exhausted Capper just before he fell asleep in the car on the way home from the doctor

I tried to post a video of the kiddos playing together to go with this but it's not working. Maybe Daniel can help me later. Stay tuned!

Can we back up a little?

I'm a little behind on the blog but we've been busy living life with a big four year old and busy one year old.

Anellah is four! That's right, she turned four last month and is quite a big girl! She checks her blood sugar by herself (yep, that includes poking herself to draw blood); goes potty by herself (usually); and is really developing her concept of time. She is very interested in clocks and calendars, at this point she knows we're going to Disneyland in June which is a different month than we are in right now.

Speaking of June, we're gearing up for summer, making a list of things we want to do. If anyone has suggestions we'd love to try them. In preparation for summer fun she and I had a camp-out in the yard last night. She was such a big girl that she asked to go outside at 7:00pm before I was ready to go to bed. She became a caterpillar and got right in her cocoon (aka sleeping bag), she was asleep almost immediately! When she awoke this morning she was a beautiful butterfly and flew inside for some nectar breakfast.

Capper is busy busy busy, he walks around and climbs on everything. If we don't watch closely he'll let himself outside and sometimes out the gate in the yard! He absolutely LOVES being outside so we're thankful that we live in beautiful Oakland where the weather is always nice. Capper is very good at getting what he wants whether it's by using sign language, sounds, or leading us to his desired destination. He is constantly finding our shoes and trying to put them on our feet so that we will take him outside. When in the garage he crawls up into the jogging stroller and announces, "Go!"

The last few weeks have been tiring between work, kids, and dealing with Daniel's car being totaled recently but we're trying to remember we only get to live this season once. I find it hard not to compare myself to other Moms who seem to do a better job juggling life, being fun, or having a clean house. So my current focus is to learn to be "content in all circumstances."

Oh! Gotta go, Capper is climbing on the kids' rocking chair, standing up, and dancing. This might go bad quickly.

Easter in Lindsay

The best we could get...

Anellah's Medical Update

Here's how Anellah is doing:

Developmental: She continues to make GREAT progress. She goes to preschool in the mornings Monday-Friday and has lots of friends there. She receives speech therapy and is to the point now that we understand some of what she does at school based on what she tells us. She has a meeting coming up next week to discuss new goals as she has been in this program for almost a year now (minus summer months).

Craniotomy: She still has one lump on the side of her head that comes and goes but other than that she seems to be doing perfectly! The doctors aren't concerned about the bump except for cosmetic reasons and unless it begins to cause pain. It doesn't seem to bother her so we will just let it be!

Diabetes: It has been a BIG struggle to regulate Anellah's blood sugar ever since she was born. I feel like we are finally beginning to make progress though as, after years of trying, we were able to come up with a solution to one of her pump issues (and it was an easy fix, discovered on a Juvenile Diabetes forum!) She was also added to our insurance so we have invested in a continuous glucose monitor. It is a little pricey but is proving itself to be very helpful.

Liver: The possibility of a transplant or surgery is always looming however she had an ultrasound last week and her liver and spleen looked the same as it did last May. This is good news! She continues to take medication for her liver and has a greater risk of bleeding because her spleen is eating up platelets. But she seems to be in stable condition currently for which we are thankful. We also saw a hematologist (blood doctor) last week and she provided some useful information. She said Anellah may have increased risk of bleeding when she has a cold because the spleen enlarges but she will prescribe some medication that can be used on a short term basis if this occurs. She also taught me how to feel and measure the spleen so we can monitor it ourselves.

Kidneys: These seem to be doing ok!

Hearing: She seems to have some minor loss of hearing but remains very minor and was probably a result of months in the NICU. It doesn't stop her from loving music and being able to carry a tune!

Asthma: She had a cold in December that made me a bit worried but thanks to her inhalers and nebulizer we were able to stay out of the hospital.

I am extremely thankful for all of the doctors Anellah and I interface with. They are all very very kind and genuinely seem to care about their patients. I am also thankful that since Anellah is adopted out of foster care she has state insurance that pays for the cost of all appointments and the majority of her medications and medical equipment. We definitely would not have this luxury if she were our biological child.

One...plus a few weeks

That's right, Capper turned ONE year old on January 17th. I can hardly believe it. The day before his birthday we took a trip to the beach.

Daniel's Mom was in town so she helped us celebrate on the night of his birthday.

Then, a few days later, Daniel and the kids and I went on a snow trip to Tahoe to celebrate a bit more. The kids LOVED the snow. They both loved sledding and having Anellah pull Capper around in a sled on the flat areas.

Anellah had a liver ultrasound this week so stay tuned for an update on that once I hear the results!

Our Traditions

It may be a full week into January but I decided it wasn't too late to share our holiday traditions with you.

The day before Christmas Eve we make cinnamon rolls

Christmas Eve

On Christmas Eve we attend our candlelight service at church

After the service we head to the Roth's house for dinner ...

...followed by a few presents, and lots of smiles!

Then it's off to bed...

Christmas

Eating the cinnamon rolls on Christmas morning is always a hit, Capper loved his first cinnamon roll experience!! 

While we eat our cinnamon rolls we read the Christmas story one more time.

After breakfast come presents! We usually try to Skype with our family while we open their presents.

Oh, and we usually stay in our jammies most of the day on Christmas too!

 New Years Eve and New Years

I don't remember the last time I stayed up until midnight to celebrate New Years but we can still celebrate early or late!

New Years Day Dinner is black eyes peas and chard

Again, the boy loves to eat!

This year we also went to the park in the crisp new years weather, it was chilly!

A little of this

Winter Break has started a bit early around here thanks to a cold that's been going around. I kept Anellah home from school yesterday and today. She might go back tomorrow and will definitely be back at least one day this week but it's been fun to have extra time together and think about all that has happened in 2012.

Last year we were doing this.

A complete puzzle with no baby to tear it apart!

This year there is a lot of this....

Contain the kids in a box?

...and this.

Guilty!

But while Capper does this,

Loves his blankie!

Anellah still has some uninterrupted time to do this...

"Mommy, I need to do some homework."

...and sometimes Capper even helps.

"Here Capper, I teach you...I am teacher Kelly"

What will you learn today?

This morning as Anellah was getting ready for school she asked me, "What will you learn today, Mommy?" I've been thinking about her question all morning. I think my answer is that I'm working on learning more about how to be obedient and celebrate Christ in my day to day life. The past month or so I've been thinking about how to make life meaningful rather than just trying to get through it. During this season there is so much to celebrate and this year the true reason of why we celebrate is at the forefront of my mind as it is the first year that Anellah will be able to have some understanding of Baby Jesus and his birth. In order to help teach her about Christmas I decided our "Advent Calendar" would be in the form of little gifts. I bought the Little People Nativity Scene and wrapped each piece individually. There weren't quite 24 pieces so I added a few extra animals.

The kids have enjoyed playing with each of them, it's fun to have something interactive and the pieces have helped to give us a starting point in telling Anellah different pieces of the Christmas story.

So today I am thankful that Christ came to earth. I am thankful for tasking Daniel and I with the job of being parents. I am learning about how to be thankful and how to live out what Christ has called me to do in this season of life. What will you learn today?