Addison and Thanksgiving

Had Addison in to the doctor yesterday. The last couple weeks she has not been herself and not sleeping well at all (up 2 or 3 times a night). We had her in 3 weeks ago and no ear infection or anything. So I've been attributing it to teething. Well yesterday I had enough and off to the doctor we went. She has a pretty bad right ear infection and her left ear was on the brink. So hopefully the antibiotics will do the trick, which means more sleep for mom and dad:) She weighed right around 16 pounds so she is really growing good.

As I reflect on this past year, I am so blessed. A wonderful husband, 4 beautiful children, house to keep us warm and food to eat and clothes to wear. This last year has been a roller coaster of emotions. Throughout we have had to step out in faith as God knew what would be best for our family. God planted many seeds along the way to get us to this point and He will continue to guide us through.

A song that has stuck with me through our Adoption journey's has been "Here I Am" by Downhere. I heard this song while driving home from work the day we found out that Joselyn's birthmom was expecting again and we could potentially have a 4th child in our home.

Sometimes Your calling, comes in dreams
Sometimes it comes in the Spirit's breeze
You reach for the deepest hope in me
And call out for the things of eternity

But I'm a man, of dust and stains,
You move in me, so I can say

Chorus:
Here I am, Lord send me
All of my life, I make an offering,
Here I am, Lord send me
Somehow my story is a part of Your plan,
Here I am

When setbacks and failures, and upset plans
Test my faith and leave me with empty hands
Are You not the closest when it's hardest to stand
I know that You will finish what You began

And these broken parts You will redeem
Become the song that I can sing

Chorus

Overwhelmed by the thought of my weakness
And the fear that I'll fail You in the end
In this mess, I'm just one of the pieces,
I can't put this together but You can

Chorus

Here I am, all my life an offering to You, to You
Somehow my story is a part of Your plan
Here I am

Wishing everyone a blessed Thanksgiving!!

Halloween

Joselyn's Bee Costume

Joselyn and Addison

Keegan and Aiden were Darth Vador!

We went to the Hallelujah Party at Trinity on Friday night.

Our little pumpkin:)

Football

Big football game tonight for the Nighthawks!! We all wore our Nighthawk Blue today.

Addison is 4 months old!

Where has the time gone! Took Addison in for her 4 month checkup and she weighed 14 pounds and was 24 1/4 inches long. She's growing and developing well! Her and Joselyn are about the same length at this age but Addison outweighs her by 1/2 a pound. She's still not sleeping through the night but will occasionally surprise us. She is very content most of the time and loves to watch all the activity around her. She smiles for just about any one:)

Under the weather...

Well Keegan has pretty much been sick all week. It started Monday when he complained that his stomach hurt. By Monday afternoon he threw up and continued to do so on Tuesday and Wednesday. Thursday he finally stopped that but still ran a temp. I took him in this morning and he has sinus infection, sore throat and inflamed tonsils. Hopefully the antibiotic can kick it! He looks pretty tough!

A small smile for today:)

Adoption Tax Credit

The IRS just issued guidance on the expanded Adoption Credit available for Tax Year 2010. Here's the link:

http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=228301,00.html

In a nutshell the credit has been increased to $13,170 per child and makes the credit refundable, meaning that eligible taxpayers can get it even if they owe no tax for that year. The kicker is that in addition to filing form 8839 with your return, eligible taxpayers must include with their 2010 tax returns one or more adoption-related documents. I haven't yet found what qualifies as an adoption related document. The documentation requirements mean that taxpayers claiming the credit will have to file paper tax returns. It normally then takes 6 to 8 weeks to get a refund claimed on a complete and accurate paper return. The good news is you get all your money in one year; the bad news is you have to wait a little longer to get it.

Joselyn- 15 month checkup

Had Joselyn in yesterday afternoon for her 15 month checkup. We had to go during the torrential downpour! Needless to say I was drenched and so were Aiden and Joselyn:) Her ears and lungs were clear so hopefully she is on the mend. No shots until 18 months, Yeah! She doesn't react well to them so I was glad to hear that. She weighed 20 pounds, 13 ounces and was 29 1/4 inches long. She's gained 2 pounds since her 1 year checkup. She's still pretty tiny only being in the 20% but she is growing:) Her and cousin Parker will have to fight it out as he is also the same size and only 9 months old:) She is defintely a girl as she loves her shoes and accessories. Every morning she has to pick out which shoes she wants to wear and it usually is different from day to day. Who knew a 15 month old cared so much! Her favorite words are "Hi Daddy" (and of course no hi mommy), hot, out, and she loves making puppy sounds for almost any animal.

Update

Wow how time flies. We are back into full swing of school, work, and various other activities. Keegan and Aiden are loving school and are disappointed when the weekend comes. Keegan has lost 2 of his teeth and had his first accident in gym class. No stiches just some glue on the forehead. Aiden is learning to spell and write his name and his favorite part about school is recess and eating breakfast with Keegan. Joselyn is doing well at day care; however is currently fighting an ear infection and bronchitis. She loves Addison. Addison is growing like a weed. We call her our little chunky monkey:)

1 Month Old

I realized it has been some time since I've posted. As you can imagine life is a bit busier at home so updating the blog is one of the last things that crosses my mind. As Keegan says, "Mom we have a busy family." As I sit her and type Addison is asleep in my arms which makes typing a big of a challenge:)

Addison is doing well. She seems to be gaining weight. Hard to believe she is one month old already! She has become our night owl and likes to be awake from 8 p.m until Midnight. For this mom who needs/likes lots of sleep that has been a challenge. The nice part is if she goes to bed later she's only up once during the night so I guess I shouldn't complain.

We have our first post placement visit tomorrow with our social worker. Praying all goes well. We have a couple pieces of information/paperwork to fill out and then our home study, etc will be complete. It has been kind of weird doing the paperwork after the fact, not something I recommend!

Here are some pictures from the last few weeks:

1 month old

All clean and ready for bed.

Sisterly love:)

Aiden riding his bike.

Swimming on vacation- Joselyn loves the water!

Check Up

Took Addison to the doctor this morning. She weighed 6 lbs, 6 ounces and was 19 1/2 inches long. She's gained 7 ounces since she was born. PTL!

Our social worker came over this morning and we did marathon meeting to get our home study interviews, etc completed. The time went fast and I'm very glad that is over. Now only a few more pieces of paperwork to go.

Everyone seems to be adjusting well. The boys love her so much and Joselyn would give her hugs and kisses all day if you let her. let's just say she likes to be very close to Addison:)

Addison slept better last night than the night before. Hopefully tonight will be a little better.

Thanks again for all your prayers!!

Introducing......

ADDISON MERCY ADEANNA

We welcomed Addison into our home yesterday around 6 p.m. Praise the Lord!! Thanks to everyone for all their prayers. More details to come.....

Update

Thanks to everyone who has been thinking of us and praying for us and the situation! We can't thank everyone enough. A court date has been set. We covet your prayers this week. It is in the hands of the judge at this point to make a decision on the future of this child. We pray he/she is able to take all the facts and circumstances into consideration to make a decision for this child. We pray that this child be placed in a loving, safe, healthy, Christian home; whether that be in our home or another (of course we hope it's ours). Thanks again for your prayers!

Climbing

Joselyn has learned how to climb up the stairs. The boys stood behind her to make sure she didn't fall. Watch out world! She is such a busy girl and does not sit still for one moment:) The other day she pulled the garbage can over on top of her and she didn't think that was very funny either. She has also figured out how to turn the TV on and off. No matter how many times you move her she goes back and does it again:)

9 Month Checkup

Took Joselyn in yesterday for her 9 month checkup. She weighed 17 pounds 7 ounces and was 26 1/2 inches long. She was in the 25th percentile for weight and 20th percentile for height. She's our little princess. No ear infections. Yeah!! We've had quite the problem with those this winter. She seems to be developing at slightly ahead of 9 months with her gross motor skills. PTL! She is constantly moving, crawling, standing or wrestling with her brothers. It won't be long and she'll be walking! What a blessing she has been in our lives:)

Pictures

A few pictures from the last few weeks:




She is such a happy girl!

Aiden turned 4 on February 1.

8 months old.

Time for crafts. keegan didn't want to look at the camera...

Unfortunately for Aiden his ears are not his best asset:)

What a big smile!

9 months old.

Hope everyone is enjoying the beautiful weather!!

Finalization

Well despite the snow and wind we made a trek to the courthouse this morning. By the grace of God we had safe travels to and from and our family, the judge, the court reporter and our attorney were able to make it! Joselyn Grace Adeanna is legally ours!!! I thought I might shed some tears but I was too overcome with joy and happiness. What an awesome journey this has been and will continue to be for our family. Stay tuned as I'll continue to update and we continue on the journey of "Life".

Kids waiting patiently for things to start.

Joselyn and cousin McArthur

Finalization

We are very excited to have our court date scheduled for next week! Hard to believe that 7 months has passed already. It seems like just yesterday we were picking up Joselyn from the hospital! I vividly remember the emotions from that day. We continue to pray for the birth mom and birth dad where ever they may be. We send pictures to Bethany to forward on to them and have not seen them since picking up Joselyn from the hospital. I have tried to write down as much as I can remember about them so we can one day share that with Joselyn.

Tax season and wrestling are in full swing and the weather seems to have a mind of its own lately. Is Spring around the corner?? It definitely has made my commute and business travels much more interesting, along with travels to wrestling meets.

Time for bed....

6 Months

Took Joselyn in on Monday for her 6 month checkup. Had her in the week before with a right ear infection which has now turned into double ear infection, so we switched antibiotics. She weighed 15 pounds 3 ounces and was 25 inches long. She's a pip-squeak! She's in the 50th percentile for weight and the 25th percentile for height. Dr didn't seem too concerned. She eats good and sleeps all night so I can't complain. She has learned how to sit up on her own and is rolling everywhere. Now need to be more careful about toys the boys' decide to leave out!

Working on getting a court date for Joselyn's finalization. Hopefully sometime this month. We'll have to wait and see.

Enjoy the snow!!