A new year is just ahead!

 

Looking Back On 2012...

 

 In  winter...

In Jan we celebrated a special little girl's 2nd birthday.

Our lil Brookelyn Shae turned the Big #2.

 

We celebrated the birth of our new granddaughter

Adalyn Grace in January.

 

The last week of February

we accepted a new foster child.

A sweet newborn we nicknamed BB.

He will become our forever son

 "Joshua" in 2013.

 

 

 In Spring...

 Brent finally was able to go back to

work after being unemployed for a year.

What a blessing!

 

 

In Summer...

In June we celebrated a special boys

very 1st birthday.

Our Lil grandson Carter turned one:)

 

In July Katie and Dylan wed.

 

Ashley got her first car.

 

In August we took over the care

of a friend's child.

 lil miss Brylee came home.

 

Our foster son JJ turned the BIG FIVE!!!

 

Our lil man Jacob turned the BIG #11.

 

JJ started kindergarten.

 

Our Jacob started 5th grade.

 

Jon got his learners license.

 

In Fall...

Ashley started CNA school.

 

 Our son-in-law Corey finished

classes to be a firefighter.

 

Corey & Anna moved into their new house.

 

Anna started a new job.

She started working at PC animal hospital.

 

Jon got his first real job at L & W

and is doing really good.

So happy for him.

 

The Year of 2012...

We have made every

 SUNDAY family day!!!

This has made our family closer.

~~~~~~~~~

Over all I think 2012 was good to us.

I'm looking forward to 2013

and what it holds for our family.

 

Please keep us in your prayers

 

 

A Neat Idea for 2013

Yes, I will be doing something like this.

 

 

Happy New Year everyone!!!

 

Trust in the LORD with all thine heart;and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him,and he will direct thy paths. ~Proverbs 3:5-6

Sign Language ABCs and 123s...

The alphabet in sign language.

 

Counting to 10 in Sign Language

 

 

Trust in the LORD with all thine heart;and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him,and he will direct thy paths. ~Proverbs 3:5-6

Sign language for babies...

BB's very first sign language video was

The Baby Einstein My First Signs.

This video is wonderful & BB LOVES it!!!

It's his FAVORITE!

This is how we learned our first signs.

BB started watching it around age 7 months.

 

Our next set was the Baby Signing Time DVD set of 4.

They were recommended my BB's sign language teacher.

It too is excellent for babies.

 

Our newest set is the

Signing Time DVD set of 13.

I can't even say enough about it.

It's wonderful!!!!!!!

It's so much easier learning from

DVDs than books.

These videos make learning

sign language fun for kids & even adults.

These can be found on Ebay & Amazon.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

 

A few other things we have found useful with our baby

 

Our baby kept pulling his hearing aids out.

Our audiologist recommended these

 little pilot hats.

They are super thin & cool year round.

They solved the problem.

They can be found here...

www.hannaandersson.com

Toys for hearing impaired babies...
I was told by BB's instructor that
 hearing impaired babies really
enjoy vibrating toys.I found that very true
with our little sweet pea.
 HI babies can't hear musical
 toys but they enjoy
toys that vibrate and light up.
These are a few of the ones our baby loves.

 

 

 You can find these on amazon.com
 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 Books for the HI.

A great book for kids!

It has the most important first 100 words.

I found it on ebay for near nothing and it is by Scholastic.

 

 .

 

Another great book by Irene Duke.

 

Our baby is still very young

so sign language is still new to us.

At first I felt overwhelmed

with the thought of having to learn

a new language.

I still feel a little scared at times,

but our baby is worth it.

I can say these DVDs and books

have taught us so much.

If you are just starting this same journey,

then I highly recommend these to you.

Trust in the LORD with all thine heart;and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him,and he will direct thy paths. ~Proverbs 3:5-6

Update from Howellville...

All the kids are finally well!!!! Yay!!!! After having one with a respiratory infection, one with a trach infection, 2 with ear infections,  4 kids with flu ,and then me coming down with the flu all in December. I am happy to say that this mom has survived and everyone is finally well and antibiotic free!!!!!!! We are also happy to announce that Brylee was hospital free in Nov & Dec (except for the ER trip to get her asthma under control).No hospitalizations!!!!! Yay!!!!!! This is a record for her and we are so proud of how well her home care nurses are taking care of her.

Christmas came and went and what a blessed wonderful one it was. God sure was good to us.

We are anxiously awaiting the arrival of our newest family member. Katie is due to deliver her little girl in mid January. We are looking forward to a new granddaughter to love.

We have two birthdays coming up!!! Both of our granddaughters have birthdays in January. Miss Brookelyn Shae will be turning the big #3!!!! and sweet little Addy Grace will celebrate her very first birthday:) What a gift these two have been to our family. MeMe loves her girls!

Our little 5 year old foster guy will start his visits with his new family next Friday. This has been a long time coming. He has a new family ready to meet their son & to have him home. Please keep JJ & his new family in your prayers. It's going to be a big adjustment ,but one I think will really benefit JJ.

My son-in-law Corey and future son-in-law Ryan are starting EMT school. I'm so proud of these boys.

Ashley started CNA classes and is doing really well. So proud of my baby girl!

Jon is working hard and enjoying his new job so much. He is learning new things every day and I'm really proud of my son. God blessed him with this job and he deserved it.

Jacob is growing like a weed. He is 11 going on 21. He is a mess. He is so much like his daddy. Stubborn as a mule but sweet as pie to the babies. He got a new ipod for Christmas so he thinks he is something else.

We are learning more & more sign language every day. We have a lady from PINES that comes every week to play with BB and to work with us. She is awesome! Plus, Our sweet  nurse purchased us the Signing Times DVD collection and it has taught us several more signs. BB loves his DVDS. He will watch them from start to finish and them hum until you restart it. He doesn't talk but he does hum. He knows how to get our attention. The videos are teaching our whole family. JJ, Brookelyn, and Brylee have already learned probably 50 or more signs:)

Some sweet kind soul/business decided to bless every foster kid in our county with new shoes for Christmas. How sweet is that? They chose to remain anonymous. I wonder if it's kohls because the free shoe vouchers have to be used at kohls. We sure are thankful. Thank you so much sweet person. What a blessing!

We are ready for the New Year. We are excited to see what 2013 has in store for us. I'm going to do a looking back at 2012 post, if I get the time.

Well, I guess that's all folks. It's past my bedtime.

Trust in the LORD with all thine heart;and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him,and he will direct thy paths. ~Proverbs 3:5-6

I'm so glad you're mine...

 

My feelings can be summed up in this song by Rachael Coleman.

 

Special To Me

 

Today will soon be over

Tomorrow will arrive

Right now I’m going to hold you

Until you close your eyes

Words can’t always sum up

The feelings that I feel

So peaceful when you’re sleeping

I know you’ll hear me still

(Signing) "You are very special to me

And I am very special to you

I know that this is where I am meant to be

I’m glad that my baby is you"

Exactly what I wanted

Exactly who you are

I know we’ll work together

And we will reach the stars

Families stick together

And family lasts forever

Forever, that’s how long

I’ll love you

(Signing) "You are very special to me

And I am very special to you

I know that this is where I am meant to be

I’m glad that my baby is you"

I know this is where I am meant to be

I’m glad that my baby is you

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Some thought we should walk away. Some thought we were crazy. We even had doctors tell us to give BB back to DFCS, because the future didn't look bright. My heart broke. How could this be? How did the hospital miss all these signs at birth?  How did they not know he was so sick? I had so many questions just like any other new mother. No he wasn't my child at birth, but he was mine at that moment. I loved him from the very first day they placed him in my arms (2 days old). I knew that I was all he had at that moment and that no matter what (just like all of my other foster kids) I would do everything I could to help him. Some people don't understand that and they probably never will because this world is a self centered selfish place. This is my calling. God has given me a heart for the less fortunate & the desire to do His will and His will for me is to serve others and I will for as long as I am able.

 

The first doctor I took him too made me think I was nuts. She found nothing wrong with him. But I knew. I just knew. Call it a mommy thing if you like. I waited a week for my own pediatrician to come back from maternity leave and I took him back in. I told her my concerns and asked her to please check him from head to toe. She did. She knew right away something was very wrong. She sent me right then to the imaging center. The results came back that my baby was very sick. I started taking him from specialist to specialist. I started searching online to learn everything I could about my baby and his symptoms.  I spent many days and weeks on the road to Atlanta and several nights in the hospital. I held my sweet baby as he went through test after test after test.  One doctor just led to another doctor and one diagnoses to another. The more we went through together the more I realized just what God had given me. God had given me a miracle child. A child that God would use to change this world (at least my world). He changed me. He opened an amazing world to me that I never knew existed before. The world of special needs. I have met so many amazing people, doctors, therapists and families.

 

BB is doing so much better now. His future is still unknown, but he is so much better than anyone ever expected. Many of his problems have resolved themselves and I believe that his liver & spleen have healed. We will know for sure in Feb when they retest his functions, but I truly believe he is healed. His blood readings are better. His hernia has went away. His heart murmur is no longer present. Medicine has his seizures under control. He is getting a little better at eating and can handle most of the 2nd stage baby foods now. His therapist is working hard to correct his oral aversion & sensory issues. He was labeled as failure to thrive, but he is thriving. Yes, he is profoundly deaf and no he is not a candidate for cochlears ,because of the extra fluid in his head, so he will never hear and that's okay. We have accepted this as just the way God made him. We are learning to communicate with him through sign language. He can not set up yet and he can not crawl, but we believe he will eventually, because he is trying. He is holding his head up now and he has learned  to roll over, hold and chew on his toys. Those are major milestone for him. He still has a ways to go, but he has already came a long way. We are still not sure about his vision, we will know more when he turns one.Yes, the future is unknown, but I serve an awesome God and He is THE GREAT PHYSICIAN.



 

 

 

Shine

By Rachael Coleman 

Sometimes I see you stuck

For such a long time

A daily nothing new

Pretend I don’t mind

With lists of things you’ll never do

Until somehow you do

And you do — you do — you shine
 

The days and months and years,

they run together

Is it just one day? Or is this forever?

You’ve taught me in your lifetime

More than I’d learned in mine

And you do, you do, you shine
 

Shine Shine Shine Shine Shine

Shine your light on me

Shine Shine Shine Shine Shine

everyone will see

Shine Shine Shine Shine Shine

I’m so glad you are mine

And you’ll shine in your own time

 

Well, maybe I’m too close to see you clearly

Or is it now my role to simply believe?

You’re just one of those mysteries

That may never be solved in time

But you do — you do — you shine

 

And Sammy will do what Sammy will do when Sammy is ready to do it

And Trevor will do what Trevor will do when Trevor is ready to do it

And Lucy will do what Lucy will do when Lucy is ready to do it

And they’ll do it in their own time

Yeah, they’ll Shine Shine Shine Shine Shine

Shine your light on me

Shine Shine Shine Shine Shine

And everyone will see

Shine Shine Shine Shine Shine

I’m so glad you are mine

And you’ll shine, and you shine

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

 

Our baby will do what he will do

when he is ready to do it.
And he'll do it in his own time.
Yeah, he'll shine.

So shine on little boy of mine
because

you are my sunshine.

 

 

 We are in the process of adopting our baby boy.
We are so thankful that his birth family
has chosen to make us his forever family.
What a precious gift he is.

 

Trust in the LORD with all thine heart;and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him,and he will direct thy paths. ~Proverbs 3:5-6

We had a wonderful Christmas...

We had a wonderful Christmas. It was for sure a blessed one. Christmas is my most favorite time of the year. My sweetest memories have been the ones we've made together as a family. This year was no different. God sure was good to us. He always is. Thank you Lord for your blessings on us.

We came home late from mom's on Christmas eve and found this package by the door. We have no idea who left it, but it sure was sweet! Brylee LOVED it! Thank you secret Santa for blessing our sweet girl.

We picked at Jacob & JJ about Brylee's package. I told them that Santa must have came while we were at MeMaw's and only left a gift for Brylee. We told them that she must have been the only good one this year...lol

"See mom Santa really is real".~Jacob
Every year he begs me to take a pic of santa when he comes...lol He was so excited when I showed him this pic.Thank you CTM for letting us borrow Santa.*wink*.

We had four VERY happy
little  kids Christmas morning.

 

All was calm in Howellville (Believe it or not)...

 

 

Baby boy had to much fun.

He was exhausted.

 

Forget cookies.

We left Santa a piece of Mrs Jenny's cake.

Our sweet home care nurse

Jenny brought us a homemade

Italian cream cake for Christmas.

It was amazing:)

Santa loved it! *wink*

 

The first one stirring wasn't even a mouse...lol

Jacob still believes in Santa Claus

 and he still gets so excited about Christmas.

I love that.

 

Santa's helper (Ashley).

She was up late...lol

 

Our 2nd little waker...

 

 

Our baby's very first Christmas.

 

 

Big foster brother Jacob helping Bry with her toys.

 

 

Of all the gifts our 5 year old foster got,

his favorites were his new toothbrush,

undies, and socks.

The things most of us take for granted were

the things he was the most excited to have.

 

 

 

Our sweet homecare nurse blessed us

with this awesome 13 DVDs collection.

It's the whole signing times (sign language) set.

This will be a blessing to our whole family

because we are trying hard to learn it for BB.

 

 

 

Playing with his toys.

 

 

 

 

 

We had Christmas breakfast with Brookelyn Shae.

She was our Christmas princess barbie rockstar girl...lol

She put us on a show.

 

 

Then we had a tea party...

until her puppy grabbed the plate of cookies.

 

 

Christmas...

The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year!

Trust in the LORD with all thine heart;and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him,and he will direct thy paths. ~Proverbs 3:5-6

Christmas Eve...

 

My mom's beautiful victorian Christmas tree.

There is nothing like going home for Christmas.

I found this cute little plaque that said,

"Home is where your mom is".

That's so true.

I sure love mine.

 

 

Our precious gift from God.

What more could we ever ask for?

 

My boys.

Oh how I love them.

 

Jonathan, Jacob, and Joshua

 

 

 

Miss Bailey &BB

 

 

 

 

 

The Hubby:)

 

two tired punkins

 

Oh weeee.

I caught PawPaw & Memaw under the mistletoe:)

 

 

Little Carter

 

 

 

 

 

Momma's boy:)

 

 

He may be taller than his momma now but

he will ALWAYS be my baby.

 

 

Samantha & LIL Carter man

 

 

Brookelyn Shae (She had just woke up)

 

 

Kisses for Aunt Ashley

 

BB was not very happy about this pic.

 

 

JJ & BB

 

 

Kisses under the mistletoe

 

 

Corey and Anna

 

Anna's family

 

 

 

 

 

 

MeMe's plate Boookie Shae made.

 

Katie -n- BB

and Kaylan in her tummy at 36+ weeks:)

 

 

 

More daddy kisses.

 

Our sweet little boy.

 

MeMaw told Jacob & JJ that they

better be good boys or they would

only get coal for Christmas.

Well, they got coal...lol

But, they LOVED it!

It was really gum:)

 

 

 

 

 

Just a few pics of the kids with my uncle.

Now with Mom & Linda

 

 



Trust in the LORD with all thine heart;and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him,and he will direct thy paths. ~Proverbs 3:5-6