A Trip to the Great Frederick Fair

I love going to the fair every year, and I'm so grateful to be living in my hometown so that I can relive childhood memories each time I go. My kids love going now, and while there is the occasional meltdown because it's too hot or we don't have enough time to do everything, we have a great time. We only took Eli and Isaac again this year. Hannah goes on a class field trip to the fair each year, and Micah is too young. Maybe next year he'll get to go along, too. There are many more fair pictures besides these, so if you aren't already on my Kodak email account, I'd be happy to add you...just let me know.

Birthdays Galore!

Last weekend we celebrated Hannah's ninth and Micah's first birthdays. We had a lot of fun at the pool with family and friends. Micah enjoyed his cake very much! Hannah wasn't so fond of hers:(

I've been informed by my friend, Chris, that I must post at least once a week in order to not be a terrible blogger, so I am going to try to do just that. Let's see, maybe I'll aim for every Monday...wish me luck!

This is for you, Chris!

At Chris' request, I have added a few new pictures and will attempt to write a brief update for everyone who's reading. Micah is 11 months old today! He celebrated by getting up at 5:45 this morning, much to my dismay. He has a cold right now and also has his two front, top teeth coming through. Hopefully he will sleep a bit later tomorrow morning.

Micah is finally in a routine. It took us about six weeks to get there, but a typical day is as follows. Wake up at 6:45/7:00, naps at 9:30/10:00 and 1:30/2:00, bedtime at 7:00. His naps are about 1 - 1 1/2 hours long each. He's still waking up 2-3 times per night for a bottle. The doctor hasn't given us the go-ahead yet to try to get him to sleep through the night, but I may try soon anyway!

We went to the pediatrician last week for four more immunizations. I asked the nurse to weigh him and he was 18 lbs., 7. oz. He did have his clothes on, but that's still about a gain of one pound in one month. We go back in another month for more shots and I will have him weighed again at that time. His one-year check-up will be shortly after that.

Chris, I hope this update is sufficient for you. Let me know if I missed anything! :)

Good News!

I'm happy to report that after visiting with a pediatric cardiologist from Children's Hospital, Micah has been given a clean bill of health! His earlier EKG that was thought to be abnormal is actually normal. We are so happy about this, as you can imagine!

Brad's brother and his girls are visiting for the weekend, so there's not much time to post right now. Just wanted to share the good news with everyone. Happy 4th of July weekend!

Quite a Week

Well, Eli came down with a fever last Monday, as well as vomiting and diarrhea (sorry to be so graphic). The last two symptoms subsided fairly quickly, but the fever persisted for a full week. It got quite high a few times (104.9 and above) which caused a bit of alarm for me. After a trip to the pediatrician, bloodwork, urine and stool tests, no diagnosis has been found, other than a virus. On one hand, that's a relief. On the other hand, it's frustrating. I've never seen a virus like this and I hope I never see it again. So far, nobody else has gotten it, but we're not out of the woods yet. We are still waiting on a few more test results, but I'd be surprised if anything shows up on them.

Adding to the stress is the fact that Brad has been gone since last Thursday or Friday. I can't remember now. He'll be home on Thursday morning at 2:00 am. It seems like I always have at least one sick kid when Brad's out of town. I just made a reservation for a hotel in Hagerstown, MD, tonight, in anticipation of having a night out with my friend, Michelle, after Brad returns. We're going to shop at the outlets and generally enjoy ourselves with few responsibilities...woohoo!

I guess that's all for now. I need to get to bed, even though it's not 10:00 yet. Micah enjoys waking up at 5:30 most of the time, so that's bad news for me!

Second Pediatrician Visit

Today I took Micah to see the pediatrician again. The good news is that he has gained about five ounces this week and all his bloodwork came back normal...woohoo! The bad news is that he had to get three shots, and his EKG came back abnormal. His heart is not enlarged, as was previously thought, but has some other abnormalities. Technically, he has early repolarization and nonspecific ST abnormality. I don't know what those mean, but the pediatrician wasn't overly alarmed. Having said that, I have already scheduled an appointment with a pediatric cardiologist from Children's Hospital for July 1. I will post again after we meet with him/her. I have made a purposeful decision not to worry, as much as I can control such a thing. I am going to look up the terminology online and see what I can find, though.

We still aren't in a routine yet, and by that, I mean that I can't seem to get the housework done at regular intervals. I got home from my last PTA meeting as president last night (woohoo again!) at about 11:00. No, the meeting didn't go that long, but six of us moms went out to Ruby Tuesday afterward. Once I got home, I got started doing stuff around the house and I couldn't stop. It may have had to do with the Coke I drank...who knows. So, as far as I can remember, between 11:00 and 2:00, I did the following: straightened Hannah's room and put away her laundry without waking her up; cleaned two toilets and one vanity; folded 1 or 2 loads of laundry; straightened the kitchen and ran the dishwasher; washed 2 loads of laundry and dried one; emailed all of my PTA stuff to next year's president. I can't remember anything else, but I know I did more b/c that stuff wouldn't have taken me three hours. I'm so tired today, as you can imagine. I'm planning to go to bed early tonight. Wish me luck.

First Trip to Pediatrician

Today was Micah's first visit to the pediatrician. We saw a doctor who specializes in adoption medicine and has adopted at least one child herself. Here are the stats: he weighs 17 lbs., 2.4 oz. (5th percentile), 28 1/4 inches long (50%), and has a head circumference of 44.7 cm. (10%). So, we have been instructed to feed him as much as he wants, which is pretty much what we've been doing. The hard thing is that his oral-motor skills are immature and he chokes easily on any sort of finger food. So, for now, we're stuck with rice cereal mixed with various add-ins, as well as formula.

Tomorrow will be spent at the lab as his bloodwork is done. It is all standard practice for adopted children who come with little to no medical paperwork. We will also have an EKG done to check out his heart. She said today that his heart is at the upper end of the normal range, but the EKG will be more precise and give us additional information.

As far as his umbilical hernia goes, the doctor said it corrects itself in most children by the age of five or six, and many doctors won't perform surgery before that age anyway, in hopes that it will correct itself. That's fine with me.

Overall, the doctor said he seems very healthy and is doing well developmentally. We just need to get some weight on him.

Isaac and I got to spend some special time together this morning while Micah slept. We played on the swingset together for a while, then he asked me to draw a hopscotch game for him with sidewalk chalk. He got a big kick out of that. After all the outside play (and sweat), we came inside to have an indoor picnic consisting of peanut butter sandwiches (with jelly for me), strawberries, juice boxes, and mini bags of chips. The last two items were a big treat for Isaac, as the chips are typically reserved for school lunches and Eli is the only one who gets juice boxes in his lunch, as Isaac is provided with milk at school.

This evening Eli and Isaac went strawberry picking with me at Glade-Link Farms in New Midway. We've never been before. Eli and I enjoyed it quite a bit. Isaac picked about three, then decided he had had enough! On the way home he said he didn't want to go to the berry patch again b/c it was dumb. I thought that was funny b/c he was so excited about going. We even saw a train pass by while we were picking. Apparently that was not enough excitement for him and he won't be joining us next time. Thankfully, I had the forethought to bring small buckets for our first trip to the berry patch. I suspected it wouldn't be as exciting in reality as it seemed in our imaginations. Let me tell you, though, those strawberries are so good and sweet! I recommend berry picking to all of you.

That's it for now. Tomorrow promises to be great fun, what with all the tests and drawing of blood that will be taking place. Woohoo...good times! (That was for you, Cousin.)

I Feel So "In"

Okay, so I didn't have time to create a blog while we were in the adoption process, as so many people do. But, I've decided it's finally time. The main reason I decided to start one is that I have been sending out emails about our adoption, but now that it is complete, I thought there might be a person or two who would like to continue to receive updates on our family. With a blog, I don't have to presume someone wants to read an email from me, they can just visit my blog whenever they want, or not visit whenever they don't want! Is that correct English? If not, I'm sure someone on my mother's side of the family will let me know right away!

So, I'm sorry to be boring on my first post, but it's 9:43 pm and I want to go to bed soon, so I'll have to be more exciting next time. Thanks for visiting!