Latin Family Connection Event

We had a great time Saturday morning with our Latin Family Connection Group. I got to meet some new blogger buddies, see some old blogger buddies, and meet some mamas that are waiting for their babies to come home.

Here are some pictures I was able to take. It's hard to take pictures when you are trying to keep up with an almost 2 year old!!

We started in a bouncy room. Alex didn't want to have anything to do with the inflatables, but wanted to play with this pink car! :)

Here's sweet Cohen!! He's getting so big and is in constant motion. Lori has her hands full!!! :)

After the inflatables, the kids had snacks, made tissue paper flowers, heard a speaker who told us about the traditions of the alfombra. We then had the kids make one out of tissue paper pieces. They had a great time!

FFF

Sarah picked an eye theme this week for Favorite Foto Friday. This is by far my favorite picture of Alex so far. This was taken almost a year ago. This is a picture of a picture - but I think you get the point.



Alex's eyes are so amazing. It's the first thing most people notice about him - but how can you miss them??



(and Alex has been tagged by Angelena and Angelo which I will make sure he does this weekend!)



For all of my LFC friends - can't wait to see you tomorrow morning!!!

Would You Like to See Baby A?

Kerry pointed out to me today that Baby A's picture is up on the Mayan Families' Blog (there is now another post on the blog - to see the baby, you will need to scroll down to the March 25th entry)

If you are interested in helping Baby A's (and other babies like him) with formula, you can donate to Mayan Families' Food and Milk Program.

On another note - I really want to wear Baby A as much as possible when he is here since that's what he is used to. I have a Baby Bjorn that we used with Alex. Does anyone have any experience/opinions on either the Mayan Wrap or the Mei Tais? Does anyone have one of either that they might be willing to let me borrow?

It's starting to really hit me that I'm about to have two kids in this house. I'm still very excited - and a little freaked out. I know that we will be fine - but I'm now just anxious for him to get here!!

We Have BIG News!!!!!!

I have a hard time keeping my mouth shut when it comes to news about me. I can keep my mouth shut when it comes to other people's news - but not my own.

So - here it is. :)

Jay and I are going to be fostering a six month old baby boy from Guatemala who will be coming to the United States to have his cleft lip repaired. He will be with us for 4-6 months and then will be going back to Guatemala. He has a mom and dad (so no - he's not available for adoption!).

We are fostering him through Children of the Americas (COTA) . Little did I know that COTA is located here in Kentucky!! They do medical mission trips to Guatemala once a year and also bring children to the United States that need more extensive surgeries. This little guy also has a cleft palate, but that will be fixed in Guatemala next winter.

COTA has also started their own blog There are some adorable pictures of a little girl who is here now getting healthy before her surgery in May.

I know that giving him back is going to be the hardest thing I will probably ever have to do. I'm not going to pretend that it won't be a big deal. But, I also know that this is what I'm supposed to do.

So - what I need from you guys:

1. Prayers - lots of them!! Please be praying for this dear little guy. (I'm going to call him Baby A for now) Pray that he somehow has peace about leaving his mommy and daddy. Pray that Jay and I do the right things to make him feel comfortable in his new place, and pray that his transition back home goes smoothly. Pray for patience for me. Pray that the surgery gets scheduled and that he will have as little pain as possible.

2. Stuff - Does anyone in the Kentucky area have a double stroller or know someone who has one? I'm going to need one and would like to even borrow one for the time that Baby A is here if possible. I think we have everything else (pack n play, car seat, exersaucer, baby toys). I'm still a little unsure of clothes since Baby A was born in the fall and Alex was born in May. I still need to go through Alex's stuff to see what I have and what sizes they are in. I'm seeing some yard sales in my future.

3. Advice - Does anyone have any experience with a cleft lip/palate baby? I'm doing my research, but sometimes it's better to just talk to someone who has BTDT.

I hope everyone has a Blessed Easter. Please remember that it's not about the eggs, chocolate and a weird bunny outfit, but that it's about the sacrifice that Jesus made for ALL of us.

FFF - Easter Memories

I'm back to do this week's FFF.

(and we've been busy - and on top of that, Alex still won't let me take any pictures of video of him)

These are pictures from last year's Easter. He was so little - and so cute!! He needs to stop growing up!!!

Away from my Baby

I'm traveling on business again tonight. :( (Chicago - again!!) It's amazing how much I miss that little guy. (Especially since he decided to wake up at 5:00 am and didn't go back to sleep until 6:15 - and I had to get up at 6:30!!)

Tomorrow night might be a big night for him. Jay is working really late right now, and I won't be getting home until close to midnight. Michelle is going to pick him up from daycare (like she did today) and he may be spending the night at her house. It's his first sleep over and the first time that he will be away from both Jay and I overnight. I know he will be fine - and I TOTALLY trust Michelle - I just think I'm going to have a hard time with this.

Oh well - I'll get over it!!

Why Today????

Today was supposed to be a great day. This morning the Latin Family Connection Group (made up of families in the Louisvilleish area that have adopted from Latin American Countries) was supposed to get together (over 100 kids/adults) for some fun and cultural events. Then, tonight, I was supposed to be going here.

I've been looking forward to this concert for 3 months - I have 11th row tickets!!!

But, it's ALL been cancelled/postponed because of this

We've had anywhere from 5"-11" of snow depending on where you live. We haven't gotten as much as others, but it's blowing and drifting pretty badly. We really want to take Alex out in it, but it's still quite cold and blowing. Maybe later today.

Oh well - at least the Casting Crowns concert has already been rescheduled and it's on a day that I can go. :)

I now leave you with some Alex cuteness from this week. He is IMPOSSIBLE to get on camera anymore because he just wants to see himself. I can't convince him to let me take his picture and then look at it. And video - just forget about it! (and yes, I know that my child desperately needs a haircut!!)

FFF

Ok - I'm jumping in. I haven't really played along with the Favorite Foto Friday, but had to do this one. I have already pulled all of my pictures off of my computer and onto a back up hard drive (thanks Michelle for the advice) so I had to look back in my blog. Here's the picture from one year ago.

I keep forgetting how much of a baby he was - and now - he's my "Bee Boy" (as he likes to say)

To all of my LFC friends - I REALLY hope we don't have to cancel tomorrow morning!! I was SOOO looking forward to seeing/meeting everyone again. :(

My Surgery Day

I wanted to blog about my surgery day as it was an interesting day!!

My surgery was scheduled for 8:15 am and I was supposed to be there at 6:45!! So, my mom and I took my car to the outpatient center and Jay stayed and got Alex ready and took him to daycare. I got right in my room, in my gown (with my butt showing to the world) and into my bed. At this point my anxiety level was starting to get higher and higher.

The nurse went to put my IV in. She tried in my right hand first, but my vein rolled, so she had to try again in my left hand. (and for the next 2 weeks I looked like a heroin addict!!) She took a couple vials of blood to do some pre-surgery testing. She then did an EKG on me since I have high blood pressure.

They then brought my mom back and we just waited for the test results. At about 7:45 I started getting really nervous. Jay wasn't there yet - and I was worried that he wouldn't get there before my surgery.

The doctor that was going to be assisting my surgeon came in. She asked me if I was diabetic. I told her that I wasn't and that I am tested for it once a year and my blood sugar has always been fine. She said that my blood sugar was very high and that I would need to get that checked out with my primary care doctor.

Then she said (get this), "Oh wait, these aren't your lab results!" WHAT!!! Oh my gosh!!! That made me feel a lot better. :)

Then she told me that my EKG was abnormal. (oh no - here we go again) My mom joked if they were sure they had the right results. They did. The computer said that my results were not right. She said that they wouldn't do the surgery with these results. (I was hooked up to a monitor that was tracking my pulse - you should have seen it shoot up!!) I had an EKG about 3 1/2 years ago and it was fine. She said that they would try to get their hands on that EKG and if they were similar they would move forward with the surgery. I also overheard the nurse talking to the doctor about having the Cardiologist read the results but that they didn't get to work until 8:00.

All I could think of was that my mom came up from Florida to help with Alex, everything was squared away at work, and I might not even have the surgery. (stress level was VERY high at this point) My surgeon came in to do his pre-surgery pep talk and I was the one that had to tell him that I was put on hold. He reassured me that everything would be ok - he would give me lots of antibiotics and a referral to a cardiologist and we would just do the surgery later. (I wasn't buying it - stress level was still very high)

(and Jay still wasn't there - he had called that he was on his way, but because he left so late, he got stuck in rush hour traffic)

At about 8:10 the doctor came back in and said that they had the cardiologist read my EKG and that I was cleared for surgery!!!!! Can I just say relief!!!! To keep everything else on schedule, they swapped me with the person who was supposed to go after me.

Jay arrived just after that news as did my pastor. (and my pulse went way down once they cleared me!!)

They then gave me a number of drugs in my IV - a bunch of stuff for nausea, and to keep me from getting sick. They also gave me what the nurse called, 'happy juice.' I don't know what it was , but boy - I didn't care about anything after that.

My pastor said a prayer with me and then they came to wheel me into surgery.

Can I just say that the operating room didn't look anything like Gray's Anatomy! :) I got moved over onto the operating table (very gracefully, I must say - I don't even think my surgeon saw my bare butt - remember - he's a friend of mine!!) and they got me all prepared. They then saw a big syringe and everyone was telling me goodnight. I remember saying, "Boy, that's fast." and then nothing. I was OUT.

The next thing I knew, I was hearing people telling me "Good morning" and I was in the recovery room. (can I just say how weird that is - to realize that time has passed but having NO recollection of it. I dream - almost every night - and remember my dreams - so this was VERY bizarre)

I was in the recover room for quite awhile - longer than usual. I just couldn't get myself to wake up. The first thing I did was swallow. I wanted to know how bad it was going to be......it was pretty bad. :) I asked for pain medication - which they gave me - but then monitors started beeping above my head and the nurses were telling me to breath. Wait - wasn't I breathing - I thought I was. I guess the pain medication really effects your breathing and my sat levels (is that right, Michelle?) were getting low.

This happened (the beeping ) at least 4 times that I remember.

They then took me back to my room where my mom, Jay and my pastor were waiting for me. The next few hours I don't remember much at all. I think I kept falling asleep. (ok - just confirmed with Jay - I was in the room for about 3 hours and I did keep falling asleep) I did get my first dose of Percaset at this time. :)

After the 3 hours (I guess I have to believe Jay on this one) I really had to go to the bathroom. I was able to let everyone know (got to love the sign language!!) and the nurse helped me out of bed. They obviously were ready for me to leave because as soon as I was done going to the bathroom they had Jay in there with me with my clothes.

I got dressed, grabbed my stuff, and got my wheelchair ride out to the car.

I don't remember much about the car ride home. All I know is that I stayed conscious enough to get my mom headed in the right direction and we did make it home.

I immediately crawled in bed and basically slept the rest of the day. Jay would come in every 4 hours with my meds.

At this point I could actually talk - but very quietly - and it hurt.

I kept drinking water and Gatorade every time I woke up - I think it helped.

What a day!!

I have to say that I think this was the best decision I have every made. My recovery went really well, I'm feeling really good right now, and my surgeon said that they were REALLY bad. (I guess I had this infection pocket in my right tonsil that would have never cleared up with antibiotics.)

I've been trying to get new pictures of Alex but he won't let me take his picture. So, I leave you with an old picture I found on Jay's computer. This was taken on October 13, 2006 on our pick up trip.