more vacation fun

This is my first attempt at posting to the blog via email, so we’ll see how this goes…hopefully the pictures transfer. Fingers crossed – here we go

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Happy Father’s Day! Since it was absolutely gorgeous here in Michigan, we decided to make a little trek to Mackinac Island. By “trek,” I mean take a ridiculously overpriced speed boat thing to the island. Thankfully Wes was free, but adults were $24 each!! We had to go though because it was the last day of the Lilac Festival. Too bad we only saw one bush in bloom…apparently they bloomed early this year L

 

Waiting on the boat…Wesley was scared when we told him that he was going to go on a boat, but once he was on, he couldn’t get enough. As soon as we got off the boat, he started talking about when we were going to get back on. Each hour the boat horn sounds, and Wes said “that’s our boat.” I’m not sure if he thought we were going to miss it or just make sure we were paying attention.

 

I took this picture just as the spray from the boat went in front of our window. You can’t really see the houses on the island, I just thought it was a neat picture.

 

 

Wesley couldn’t stop staring at the Mackinaw Bridge and the boats going by.

 

Look at these amazing homes. I shudder to think how much something like this might cost, especially overlooking Lake Michigan and the Mackinaw Bridge!! I’m sure we couldn’t begin to afford a house nearly this nice even in the middle of Ohio.

 

This is actually an inn or a bed and breakfast. How wonderful would it be to wake up to the view of the water?

 

Another inn overlooking the lake and bridge.

 

This is someone’s home on the island. WOW!

 

A bed and breakfast

 

A picture as we walked around the island.

 

Heading back to the mainland…

The boat wasn’t moving when Wesley stuck his head out the window, never fear! He was so excited to be on a boat again that he couldn’t stand it, so he decided to spend a little time inspecting everything.

 

 

I’m not sure what this look is, but it makes me smile.

 

This picture also makes me smile. How pretty is the sunset and how fun are two boys playing in the water?

 

 

vacation postings

We just got back from vacation this afternoon and for your enjoyment I typed up blog posts in word to post when we arrived home. I added pictures to the word version, and they will not transfer to the blogger site. GRRRR, so without further ado...

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On our way to the top of the Lower Peninsula in Michigan, we made a stop at Frankenmuth. If you’ve never been there, here’s the gist…it’s a town of fried chicken and Christmas. (Technically I think the chicken might be broasted, but you get the picture.) Anyway,…this town is two of my favorite things, so how could we not go? My parents made the same stop we did, so here’s a breakdown of what we did.

We are dinner at Frankenmuth Bavarian Inn. I was able to get my chicken and Damon could get those weird sausages and pork products he likes so well. Seriously – who eats meat marinated in vinegar? YUCK!

Now I must admit that these are not the most flattering pictures for obvious reasons, but they are the only ones that aren’t all blurry. Wesley doesn’t stop moving unless he is asleep, and even then I would say that he doesn't stay still.

Then the much-anticipated trip to Bronner’s CHRISTmas Store!

And you are reading correctly…the WORLD’s LARGEST Christmas store!! How fun is that? Even in June!

Oh yeah – it’s that big!! I think I read that the store was over seven acres, but don’t quote me. Here are pictures from inside the store, where picture taking is “encouraged.”

 

Yup, it’s a doughnut!

The amazing displays above the decorations on ledges above the walkways

 

One section of the available Sesame Street merchandise

 

And this one just because I think it’s funny. What you cannot see behind the hat is a replica of Michael Jackson’s white glove. For about $70 it could be yours! (Don’t tell me you aren’t thinking of where these beauties could go on your Christmas tree)

Since we had all those pieces of chicken and sausages, we did a little more walking around after leaving Bronner’s.

Cupcakes, anyone?

 

A fun family picture! Wesley was obviously enjoying himself

 

This picture was taken mere minutes later and his mood had drastically improved.

I persuaded Damon to try the bacon mocha. I’m not sure that he loved it, but he was glad he tried it.

 

Try #2 at a family picture - much better

 

Zehnder’s is the place most famous for their chicken. Notice the chicken made of flowers out front - how cute!

 

At the lake!!

 

Not sure about this sand between the toes thing…I just want to cut in here and post last year’s picture of the first sand experience. HA HA! (Side note: I still cannot get over how much older Wesley looks!)

action shots  

 

How much does this kid love the water?

 

Now later in the evening, my mom was sitting outside with my aunt and a friend, and what do you know, a raccoon walks up and climbs a tree!!

Doesn’t he look so innocent? Pretty sure he’s not long for this world since he’s out during the evening and in a fairly populated area…

Wesley “talking” to Santa on the phone. I don’t know about you, but it looks like a bit of concern has crept into Wesley’s expression when asked if he’s been a good boy…A fun patriotic tree How could we not get our pictures taken in this gnome board?

lacking a good entry posting

I always wish I could come up with some witty title for each posting, but one is just not coming to me at this time. My apologies...how excited am I though that our blog hit 50,000 visitors?? We have had 50,404 to be exact. Awesome!! I really don't have anything wild and exciting to say, but I'm here rattling on about nothing. Aren't you glad? :)

Miss Mya that had her heart transplant a few weeks ago could still use prayers. Her kidneys aren't returning to normal function like they should, so she's on dialysis now. The wonderful news though is that her heart isn't showing any signs of rejection!!! Doctors have said that she should be home by Independence Day if she continues to improve.

Two weeks ago, they had a fundraiser 5k run/walk for Mya and it was called "Myles for Mya." How cute is that name? Over 400 people were there to support the family!! I'll post pictures of that later.

We (meaning me, Staci) are working on the paperwork for our second adoption. At this point there isn't much we can do besides our home study, but our social worker is on vacation right now. I should be getting together the paperwork for that, but for whatever reason, I am just not feeling motivated. A similar thing happened during our last adoption where I just didn't want to do anything adoption-related. The problem is this time I feel that way at the beginning and not toward the end of the paperwork...I realized though that last time it all worked out perfectly. God had the whole situation under control, even when it felt like things could not get more out of control! If we had been meant to get our paperwork done earlier, then it would have meant that Wesley was not meant to be our son. Thankfully though, I had that sluggish feeling and we were forced to wait another year to travel to Ukraine. It's amazing how looking back I can see how God used all the things that "got in MY way" (my thoughts at the time) to ensure my reliance on Him to bring us through the adoption process. I wouldn't trade any of those tears and heartache for the world, even though I couldn't wait for the tough times to be over when we were going through them.

I could scream!! I just deleted the rest of my post & I cannot get it back. GRRRRRR...I wrote a wonderful commentary about adoption and how families approach the process differently. Now I cannot remember most of it, but here I go again...

I just got my hair cut off, and I love it! I've been wanting to go pretty short again for a long time. I'll see if I can find a picture of the previous super-spikey look. I digress...Damon and I were watching television and since nothing was on that we wanted to watch, we were scanning through all the channels. What do you know - I found my new haircut on a wrestling show! I believe the woman was a commentator, but her hair was awesome. I made Damon rewind so I could take pictures of the television. Here's the girl:

Now my hair isn't quite so spikey yet, but that is strictly because I'm still working with it. I also think my work isn't quite ready for me to come in with crazy hair :) Government finance officers aren't meant to be wild hair people, you know? Here's me post-cut and highlight: 

I would like to point out to my Mom that I didn't take this picture while driving with your Grandson in the car. I actually took it sitting in the driveway.

I still haven't gotten over deleting my post, so I'm signing off. I'll leave you with a few pictures of my little cutie!!

Wesley eating his first cheeseburger!! Bun and all!

contemplating the cheeseburger

me with my high school girlfriends at Amber and Justin's GORGEOUS wedding (Amber is obviously the one in the middle in the white dress)

ANSWERED PRAYERS!!

It has been an amazing day today, and I just cannot stop praising God! I don't think I have posted much (if anything) about this, but our friends Lora and Morgan had a little girl in March named Mya. Mya was born with "Pulmonary Atresia with Intact Ventricular Septum (PA/IVS)," which is doctor-speak for the right side of her heart didn't develop. She had open-heart surgery at six days old, but the damage had been done and her heart wasn't going to be strong enough. She has been on the transplant list since the third week of March and at 2:15 this morning, her parents received the call we had all been praying for...a heart was available!! She went into surgery mid-morning and after lunch we received word that she was off the heart lung bypass machine and doing perfectly! She has been stable and doing well since then.

I don't think I could even count how many times I have cried today! I had such a hard time getting any work done today because I just couldn't stop thinking about Mya and praying for her. We serve an amazing and awesome God!

I would like to ask you all to pray for Mya - that her body accepts the heart, that she continues to get stronger every day, andthat she is protected from viruses. Don't forget her parents too! Just as important though, I ask you to pray for the donor's family. The family made a very difficult decision in the midst of their pain, and for that so many of us are grateful. I cannot forget that we are all rejoicing while they are mourning, so please lift them up in prayer. I pray that they are able to find comfort and a peace that comes only from the Lord. There is no way to be thankful for Mya's gift without thinking of the family who lost so that Mya could live.

I ask that all of you consider organ donation when you pass on. Just so there is no question, here's what I think about my body when I die...I am celebrating in heaven with Jesus, so I could care less what happens to my earthly body! I prefer that my organs are donated, but if that is not possible, then give me to researchers or put me in the trash can - I don't care! I'm sure that will make my parents wince to read, but I honestly mean it.

Thank you again for your prayers!!

how could I forget?

I cannot believe that I forgot what happened last Monday!! Thanks for the reminder, Dad. So here's what happened...

I took off work early to head to an appointment, and I get a phone call from my mom. She was lying Wes down for his nap and happened to notice that his stomach tube wasn't in. Now let me just tell you, there is a balloon inside Wesley's stomach holding that bad boy in place, so coming out is not a small feat unless the ball deflated. Here's a picture of what it looks like (at least its similar to Wesley's):

Now you can see what the whole button generally looked like. Anyway back to the story... Mom drove with Wes to our house to get another mic-key button and I headed to my appointment. I thought that she would just put the button back in and all would be well. I called after I was finished with my meeting, and guess what? Wesley's stomach hole had closed up and the button wouldn't go back in!!

Let me give you a little history here. When we met with the surgeon back in March, we talked about when the stomach tube could come out. Damon and I both wanted it to come out soon, but the surgeon said he wanted another swallow study done in June or July, then the tube could come out. We were also told that it could take a month or two for the hole to completely close, so we decided that we wouldn't want to keep Wes from swimming all summer and would wait until August or so.

Back to Monday...call after call later, we were told to come to the emergency room at the downtown Cincinnati Children's and get it put back in. His surgeon was out of town, so of course we couldn't get a straight answer on whether we could just leave it out. Damon and I talked and wanted it left out, but because the surgeon left in his notes that he wanted it back in, we were stuck with a decision to make. I figured that if the doctor was going to put it back in, then the sooner the better for Wesley's sake. So we headed to the ER (or ED - Emergency Department - as they actually call it). They took us right back after checking in, even before some very sick children, so I was sure they were going to prep Wes to "dilate" and open the hole in his stomach that no longer existed.

Wesley on the car ride to the hospital

(obviously, he forgot where we were going)

Doctor after doctor after nurse came in and talked to us and looked at Wesley's stomach. We kept saying we didn't want it back in, and they kept expressing amazement at how quickly the hole closed with no leakage. Finally a doctor called Wesley's surgeon who said...WE CAN KEEP IT OUT!! He knew we hadn't used the tube in a couple of months, and he was confident that Wes was okay without it.

So now our "safety net" is gone and we're doing just what we were before (feeding Wes only by mouth). It's crazy to think that just one year ago Wes wasn't eating anything in his mouth and was on a feeding pump 24 hours a day. Here's a picture of Wesley with the backpack pump on...

I cannot believe how small and young he was!

So if you're curious what the "hole" looks like (who wouldn't be?!), then there are pictures below, but I have to warn you, they might be a little gross.

WARNING: DON'T LOOK AT THE PICTURES BELOW IF YOU'RE EASILY GROSSED OUT!!!

This picture was taken the day after it came out, but its not red anymore.  The three large whitish scars in a triangular pattern out from the hole are where the stomach tube after surgery last April was stitched into his skin. Needless to say, those tore out on their own, which hurts me to even think about, but Wes didn't complain, so I don't know when they even came out!

This was what it looked like on Friday. The small little white thing on the growth is a piece of skin, at least I think so based on the stretchiness of it. Wes also told me not to pull on it, so I'm guessing it's live tissue.

an announcement...

I've gotten your attention, but please let me ramble on for a minute. The weather here in Ohio has been good lately, except for the rain and humidity. Personally when the weather is humid, my hair either goes crazy frizzy or just lies flat - sometimes both at the same time. Never wonder why I don't put many pictures of myself on here, now you know.

Keep reading, the announcement is coming... So I hope everyone had a good Mother's Day. We went to First Watch with my parents and Damon's mother. If you haven't been to that restaurant, you should try it! I'm not a big breakfast food eater (not so much into eggs), but they have these mushroom caps baked with cheese - wowie zowie! Damon and Wes like eggs and sausage, so we're all happy.

Damon bought me a nice camera for Mother's Day for me to carry in my purse, so I'm hoping to be able to post more pictures here. I have a nice camera, but its too large to carry around in my purse. Well it is not technically too big to carry around in my purse because I carry a purse that our 20 pound Boston Terrier would fit in, but you get the point. I have to make room in that large purse for things like fire trucks and flash cards and water bottles and a bunch of other things that don't belong to me.

Keep reading...just kidding, I'm not going to make you wait any longer. As you may have noticed (or maybe not), I have changed the title of our blog from "Our Ukrainian Adventure" to "trying to think of a new title." We have begun an adoption from Moldova. We are asking for a little girl (two if Staci gets her way) at least one year younger than Wesley who is (are) healthy. Now we asked for healthy last time and we adopted a child without an esophagus, but that's not the plan this time. We aren't doing an independent adoption this time, we are using Carolina Adoption Services. Damon and I would appreciate your prayers as we begin the paper chase for the dossier. I forgot how overwhelming and invasive the whole adoption process is, but its all coming back to me.

If you have a suggestion for a title, we would appreciate it. Damon and I are coming up with some bad titles, but we're still thinking.

And before I head to bed, here are a few pictures from a local fire house breakfast/fundraiser.

heading into a pancake breakfast at a local fire house

Wesley and I sitting on a fire truck

(he refused to get inside just yet...)

Wesley and Daddy

in front of the truck by himself

FINALLY inside a truck! Damon had to carry him into the truck because Wes was too afraid to get in. Once he was in, he didn't want to touch anything and he didn't want Damon to either.

in front of the equipment

(notice how the jackets are as tall as he is)

the three of us