Blue Steel and Jasmine: Count it all JOY!

There has been so much that has happened to our family in the last few months. I've given you pictorial update in the past, but today I will write a bit more about the in's and out's of our days.

People have been asking lately, how is Melia adjusting, eating, and treating the boys (and vice versa). Well, the report is a good one! She is becoming more used to our family every day. The last 2 weeks in particular, she has seemed to be more confident around us and moving around the house. She definitely lets us know when she wants something, even though she does not talk. I certainly know her tone for "let me down now!!" Adam feels like she does not like him much, but I keep encouraging him to continue to love on her no matter what. She will get used to him soon enough. After all, what is there not to love! :0)

As for her eating....still drinking out of the bottle. We are trying very hard to get her to take her formula with baby food combination out of a sippy cup but she wants NOTHING to do with that. We have even tried taping the bottle nipple to the sippy cup top. She is a smart one, picked up on that right away. At this point, we think she needs some professional help and will be taking her to a speech therapist who specializes in pediatric feeding issues. I have no question that she will eat solid foods someday, however, with her surgery looming in October, she needs to be off the bottle ASAP.

The boys, oh the boys. I never had any question that they would be great with her and they have proved themselves well. They have been very helpful in every aspect. Gideon will watch her so I can take a quick shower (he is 10), Breck will play with her if I need to make phone calls or whatever, and Kieran makes her laugh...and laugh.....and laugh. She has started giving them kisses and will also give hugs. It has been fun to see them solidify their love relationship with each other. I really hate to see any boy who come to date her in the future. Goodness, that boy will have to be really in love with her for what he will have to put up with!

And for her medical stuff. She just had an MRI scan of her spine to make sure she didn't have any issues that they suspected with her sacral dimple. It was horrible to see her made groggy so the real sedation wouldn't be difficult. She did fine, but this momma didn't like it. She needs to have a hearing test in the next couple of weeks to make sure her hearing is "working". At this point, I'm not so sure. She is showing some signs that hearing might not be up to par. Surgery for her palate will be Oct. 28, and lots of stuff that I'm not even sure about comes with it.

Through it all, I'm counting it all JOY! God has been so good and as a family we can see Him working in our lives and Melia's life. Even through the changes, the good times and the bad, HE NEVER CHANGES. His love for us is always the same and there is HOPE in that! Woohoo!!!

I will include some pictures, I know you are dying to see more. :0)

I count it all JOY:

Summer lunches out on the deck

I count it all JOY:

Going to the local pool on hot summer days

I count it all JOY:

swimming in the King pond and playing in the sand

I count it all JOY:

With another member now added to our family,

I have counted 14-20 loads of laundry I wash in 1 week

and still I say, "I count it all JOY!"

I count it all JOY:

3 handsome adventurous young men "ready to go in the woods and fight the animals and build a fort".

I will mention that it took much cajoling to get them outside and the mosquitoes brought them in 5 minutes later. Just when I had sat down and taken a sip from my Diet Pepsi and ready to read some of my book (of course Melia was napping).....the life of a mom!

I count it all JOY:

And I thought with my little girl I would have escaped another sword wielding child.

This is one of her favorite toys, ummm.......

I count it all JOY:

We took the boys to Green Bay to watch the Green Bay Packers practice Thursday night.

Thanks to the Haydin family for Melia's Packer cheerleading outfit! I think that if her brothers had a choice though, she would not be a cheerleader but a wide receiver.