SURPRISE!

So, very much to my surprise, my bunco ladies threw me a baby shower last night!  We play once a month and have a great time just having time out with adults to talk to.  We always try to celebrate whenever one of us has a baby because we’re all young moms and that happens quite often.  Well, I didn’t know if people would think of our Laila the same as having a baby but my lovely ladies did :)  And I cried, of course.

I was busy getting Laila ready for a night with daddy and getting the other two settled and was visiting with my sister who had come over to sub for our group so of course came early for some Laila snuggles :) and I didn’t even notice that my friend Kat had brought in a cookie cake and some decorations.  By the time I made it downstairs to the basement I was shocked to see all the decorations in my house!  As the ladies trickled in each brought something to decorate like balloons, wall ornaments and even “It’s a Girl” pencils for us to keep score with! 

My Manda caught wind of this shower and decided she needed to be a part.  When I wasn’t looking Kat said “oh, we needed another sub so I hope you don’t mind who I called….” and I turned around and there was Amanda who had driven down from Michigan!  She also brought along Stephen’s mom which was very exciting for her to get to meet Laila and see where we live.  And I cried.

When it came to present time there was a little gift wrapped in Sesame Street paper with some familiar handwriting on the card.  Kat had contacted my Jenni from Colorado about the shower and Jenni sent a gift for Kat to give to me at the shower.  It was so special for me to have her be able to be a part of this because we miss her so much and it just isn’t the same having a new daughter without being able to share her with her.  We’re hoping to work something out for her to come visit soon though!  And I cried.

Amanda pulled out a little flier and handed it to me and I realized that she had given it out to our friends from church in MI telling them that she would be coming down to this shower in case anyone wanted to send gifts so I also got to share this with some very special people from Michigan via Amanda as well.  And I cried.

It is amazing to feel the love that people have for our special daughter already.  Our family devotion at dinner tonight was all about an adopted little girl and how her parents taught her how special she was because of that but mostly because she had been adopted into the family of God by accepting Jesus.  What a wonderful and amazing thing.  I feel like I have this great big, huge family that extends as close as down the street and as far as across the country. 

Thank you all for being a wonderful part of our journey, not only now with our new daughter, but always.  We love you.  And, I cry ;)

Busy Busy Busy

WOW, We’ve had a busy few days!  I’ve put so many more miles on my oldy, moldy van that I’m surprised it’s holding up! 

Thursday Laila and I travelled down to Indy to pick up her new stander.  It’s a very neat new piece of equipment that I think she’s really gonna like!  We’re waiting on PT to come and tell us more about it but for now I know how to put her in it and if we can get the right toys in front of her she really seems to enjoy being upright.  Check it out!

We’ve had a few visits with some fun people.  Here’s one with the Petersons.  We’ve seen them a lot but this is the first time we grabbed the camera.   We swam with them in their pool when they were home (how nice are they for letting us swim when they’re not home?!?!)

And Laila got to meet her cousins on my side and Uncle Chad!  (Aunt April met her over memorial).

Friday night we packed up and went to the lake for the weekend.  I forgot how much more stuff you have to pack when you have a baby!  Even with taking one of the seats out we still weren’t able to bring her wheelchair because we were packed to the limit!

Saturday was a big day because for the first time I left Laila with Grandma Kathy to babysit.  My mom is not big on heat and neither is Laila so the two of them stayed back at the house in the nice air conditioning while the rest of us went out on the boat all day.  Grandma did a great job taking care of her.  She even kept a little log for me of the things she did with her, when she had her medicine, what she played with and when she took a nap!  I think maybe we should hire grandma to be the new nurse!!

Amanda & Stephen came down to hang out at the lake too so we had a great time enjoying the sun and having some fun.

Jackson Tubing

Amanda & Stephen Tubing (it took some convincing for Amanda!)

Emma tried her hand at skiing again this year.  She’s getting there!  Check her out!

Everyone catching some rays on the boat

We after all the playing we took a boat ride up the lake and saw the dam and then found a little cove to anchor and do some swimming.

We even got Jackson to jump off of the boat.  I know I mentioned it before but I am SOOO proud of him for the way he has come around to the water this summer!

Sunday morning when we got up everyone else was gone so we did our morning routine with Laila and we were off for our busiest day yet!  We had several things planned for the day but before we went we had already decided that when she’d had enough we were going to just head home and possibly skip whatever was left.  Well, she was a trooper for sure and we even added a trip out for pizza to the end of the day.

First we went to see our friends from Indy that were in town and introduced Laila to them.  We didn’t get a picture of them all together but here is Laila playing with her new friend Dylan.  They gave her this cute toy for a gift.  She really likes it!

Then we headed off to my dad’s family reunion.  We were worried that it would be too hot for her but there was a really nice breeze blowing and we also brought a fan.  She did really well visiting with everyone while she hung out in her wheelchair.

Emma was excited that the girls were wearing matching dresses again :)  These were the ones I got for them in Mexico so they were extra special :)

From the reunion we headed up to a pool party for our friend Matt at Camp LRCA.  Matt got done with his apprenticeship this past spring so we celebrated his big accomplishment.  We have found that Laila LOVES the water.  We’ve had her swimming a lot and she stays so happy (and cool) in the water.

I was excited to be able to swim in the pool at the camp because I’ve never been in it.  Emma goes to camp there every summer and I’ve always been jealous that she gets to play in this fun pool with a water slide!

There were several kids from church at the party and I just love how all of them have been gravitating to Laila.  They come and play with her and ask me questions about her.  They’re very curious about her tubes and wheelchair but then once I explain it to them they are like “Oh, OK!” and then just go on their way.  They are so accepting.  I love it!!  Here is Laila with her buddy Alex.  Alex’s mom had been talking to him about her for awhile and explained that God just made Laila’s legs a little different than his.  The first night he met her I saw him sneak over by her when no one was looking and feel her leg.  It was SO cute!  He was checking out what was different.  Dawn told me yesterday that Alex said “Laila can be my friend.”  AWW! 

Speaking of our friends the Purdys, when we were leaving the party they called to invite us out for pizza with them.  It had been a long day but we were hungry and everyone was still doing really well and since we had a pipe break in our house and we had no water….. we said yes!!  It was a great time.  I think all of our kids behaved the best they had in a restaurant and that was great for the long day we had.  Here’s Laila with the whole Purdy clan at the pizza place :)

Phew!!  I’m tired just from recapping all of that!  Well, I hear Laila waking up so on to another day we go.  Emma starts another session of swim lesson this morning and this time Jackson’s going too!  I’m excited for what this week will bring!

(just an update about the birth parents.  they didn’t show up last week.  this Wednesday is their last chance.  Please be praying for them.)

Meetings & Outings

We’ve had a busy couple of days!  Sunday we took Laila to church with us for the first time.  It was so heartwarming (yes, I sound like an old lady but it’s the right word for the situation!) to have our church family embrace our new daughter and love on her the way only a family of God can.  Getting ready in the morning was a little bit trickier with three.  Jack had planned on taking Laila into his Sunday School class with him but she wasn’t ready by the time we had to leave.  I had to teach my Sunday School class (thanks for offering to fill in though Dawn!!) so Jackson, Emma, & I left Daddy at home to finish getting Laila ready.  Have I mentioned lately how unbelievably amazing it is to have a husband that will do that?!?!  I said, pack the diaper bag, give her the meds & breathing treatment she needs, get yourself ready and meet us at church and he actually did it!  Just for laughs, he had her braces on the wrong feet and forgot to pack her any toys to keep her happy but they were on time and looking good :)  She did about as well as we expected her to for being a two year old sitting through church.  She made it through about half of it happy and then was ready for a change of scenery.  She and I went and finished out the rest of the time in the nursery but we were still able to hear what was going on in church so that was nice.

Sunday afternoon Laila finally got to meet some more of our family.  My two grandmas came over with my parents for a visit.

Of course my dad made me cry by sheepishly asking if he could hold her and then kept pointing to himself saying “PAPA, can you say that?  I’m your Papa.”   I swear the hormones are just as bad when you’re adopting as when you actually give birth!

Emma was excited that she and Laila had matching dresses.  We didn’t even buy them together.  Laila’s was a hand-me-down from our friend Ahna and Emma has had hers for a couple years!

Jackson wanted to get his picture with her too :)

She was having such a good day on Sunday that we decided to let her lick on a sucker for awhile.  As you can see, she was very proud of herself!

I always bring her into the kitchen with me so we can cook together.  Again, since it was such a good day, I put some baby food on her tray for her to play in and lick while we were cooking.  She really liked that too!

Monday Aunt Jill, Uncle D, & Jaylyn stopped by for a visit.  Jill & Jaylyn had met Laila a few weeks before but she hadn’t met Uncle D yet so we were excited to have them visit.

Grandma Mary & Papa Tom also stopped by on Monday too.  They had been on vacation at the lake the since we had been home with her so she was excited to see them as well.

We even had a visit all the way from Michigan!  Amanda & Stephen came down to stay with us overnight because Stephen had a job interview in Indianapolis today.  Great timing!  We were hoping to see them soon and now we’re really hoping Stephen gets this job because with as much as we’re in Indy for doctor appointments it would be great to be able to see them while we’re down there!  Fingers crossed!! (ok, whatever God has planned but I’m voting for Indy!!)  Anyway, we can’t have a visit with Amanda & Stephen without a visit to the chocolate shop!  Only fitting for Laila’s first visit to the chocolate shop to be with Amanda :)  (I think she has a crush on Stephen!)

I also made my first venture out with the three kids by myself today.  It was so funny because we were supposed to go to the fair today because Laila was going to have a nurse all day but then she had to cancel.  Emma & Jackson didn’t even whine or get upset.  I’m so proud of them.  They did however ask if we could still go out to lunch.  I said I wasn’t sure if I was ready to go out by ourselves yet and Emma goes “Mom, she’s had a really good couple of days and you have to do it sometime so you might as well go ahead and do it today!”  She cracks me up, but made a good argument so we decided to go.  It went just fine.  We ended up going to KFC and my Aunt Debbie was working so Laila got to meet her.  I’m definitely glad to have Emma & Jackson as little helpers to hold the doors for us and everything.

Again, Emma & Jackson have just been wonderful with Laila.  Don’t ask me how they treat each other but for now they just can’t get enough of Laila.  Constant hugs & kisses and dancing and signing to make her laugh.  I think they play way more with her baby toys then they do their own!  This morning we were down stairs and they were playing blocks and they decided to include Laila.  They both scooted right over by her and were building things and then going “look Laila, this is how you do it.  Do you wanna try?”  I just love watching the three of them interact with each other.  What a blessing!

Tomorrow’s a big day as I have to take Laila for the second to last visit with her birth parents.  We had agreed to meet each of them once.  It’s going to be a very hard thing for me but I do believe they have a right to meet us.  They didn’t do anything to harm her on purpose they just weren’t able to take care of her the way she needed to be and since they decided to voluntarily give their rights away I feel that shows they do care and want what’s best for her.  Still gonna be hard though.

The process after that will be that our file should be approved on August 2 to waive the 6 month foster waiting period and we will be able to start paperwork with our attorney to petition for the adoption.  We are the family on record that the caseworker recommends for adoption and since the rights are terminated and she’s already in our home there is little to no chance that anything will fall through at this point.  We’re hoping to have everything final by the end of the year. Honestly though, it’s just a technicality on paper for us.  I already love her so much and feel like she’s so right to be here that no piece of paper is going to make a difference in that.  It’ll be good to have that out of the way in a few months but already in our hearts she has made the transition from Lania to Laila :)

Fun Saturday

Jack’s cousin Brian got married today so since Laila already had a nurse scheduled for the day we decided that we would go ahead and go.  It was hard but I thought it might be good for her since she knows the nurses really well and it was just way too hot for her to be able to go with us.

Jackson helping nurse Sharon with the morning vitals :)

The rest of us went out to the Warsaw area and celebrated with Brian & Laurel.  They got married on a boat in the middle of the lake and then had their reception on a huge dining boat on Wawasee.  It was a beautiful way to celebrate.

Jack & I on the upper deck soaking up some sun.

When we all got back home Sharon said Laila had a good day so we decided to go and have some fun taking her swimming at the Peterson’s.  They are so nice to let us use their pool all the time, even when they’re not home!  Thanks guys!!

Laila liked the water and kicked and splashed.  She also got some good leg exercise by being able to stand straight up on my legs for several minutes at a time.  I forgot to mention yesterday that she got mad that the kids had walked away and were in the bathroom brushing her teeth so she started to throw a fit.  I put her on all fours (with support) and told her if she wanted to see them that she would have to try to crawl to them.  She was actually doing a great job holding her weight and even army crawled a little.  I can’t wait to have her therapy review on Tuesday and get things rolling with the new therapists.  Only one of her four therapists was able to transfer up to our home so we have some work to do to get everything set up again.

Speaking of swimming, I’ve been waiting to post a great big GOOD JOB to both Emma and Jackson for the amazing way their swimming skills have improved this summer.  Emma just finished her second two-week session of swim lessons.  Last year she took one session and passed from Red Cross level 2 to level 3.  This past session she passed from level 5 to level 6.  She is doing amazing!  Check her out!

I think the biggest shock this summer was Jackson.  He has been so different from Emma the past few years.  At the age of three she was jumping off the boat with no fear going under the water and everything.  Jackson hasn’t been like that.  In this past month he has gotten over his fear tremendously!  He is now jumping into the shallow end all on his own, going down the slide on his own with his life jacket and now can keep up with the bigger kids playing on who can stay under the longest.  I’m so proud of the way he has overcome his fears!  We have one more swim lesson session to go through this summer and it’s the one that I had signed Jackson up for as well.  I’m so excited to see what he’ll be doing by the end of that!  Great job buddy!!

Laila – Day One

We made it through our first day!!! Laila slept all through the night and didn’t make a peep. I’d like to say it is because she is so comfortable here but I know most of it was pure exhaustion from the whole day at Riley’s yesterday.

Her nurse, Amy, arrived at 7 this morning and we spent some time going through the house and showing her where everything is. By the way, my mom is the greatest! She brought us dinner last night after keeping our other two kids all day then she stayed and helped me organize and put away all of Laila’s things. Thanks mom!! Anyway, Amy decided to wake Laila up to get her morning routine of bath, dressed, meds & stretching all started. Well, Laila must have still been tired because she was yawning and sleepy all morning. She took about a 3 1/2 hr nap in the afternoon so she must have been!

We had a great day together. Amy taught me several things and gave me tips. It’s great to have her here to help. It’s also great that Laila’s foster mom is so willing to answers my questions and be there for us as well. I definitely think I would feel a lot more overwhelmed if it wasn’t for (and no I’m not just saying that because I know she reads this ;) We had a few things that we had to go out for today so Laila stayed with Amy. I think it was so good for her to have someone here with her that she’s so familiar with. I think that will help the transition.

While Laila was snoozing away this afternoon I got some of my phone calls made checking up on different things that have been started to get her more equipment and benefits. I feel like it’s going to be a long process but I’m thankful for any help we can get. Jack and I have been looking at new vehicles and knew that sometime in the next few years we’re gonna need one with a wheelchair lift. Well, after lugging around the wheelchair yesterday and today, we’re thinking the sooner the better. She’s tiny but that chair weighs a ton. Also, the regular car seats aren’t so great for her because there’s not as much neck support so it would be really nice for her to be able to ride in the car in the chair that has been specially designed just for her. The problem: cost. These vans cost about an extra $25,000 more than the ones without the lift. Not to give too much away, but a used one will cost us more that a year’s salary. So, I’m also checking into special needs car seats and looking into different foundations to see if we could qualify for a grant or something. Someone today said to just write the owner of the Braun company and ask him to donate one to us because she’s so cute he’d have to say yes ;)

Anyway, enough money talk. Laila had fun watching the kids and laughing at them today. She babbled on and I finally got to hear her say her name today. One of the highlights was when Jack got home from work and walked in to see her, she smiled big and said “hi dad!” While I’m sure that she doesn’t know him as her dad yet and it was probably random, he was still super excited!

We were having so much fun with each other today that I didn’t take any pictures! I did however get this short video of her babbling a bit. She was talking so good before I grabbed the camera (typical kid!!) but this is good as well. Especially for those of you far away that aren’t sure when you’ll get to meet her.

Not sure if I had mentioned this before but my friend Kat nominated us to a photographer that she knows for a free portrait session to get family pictures with our new little love. Well the woman picked us and so we’re looking forward to doing that. Wednesday night before Laila came, Kat came over and brought all the kids matching outfits for when we get the pictures taken. They were all very excited and I showed Laila her dress today and she smiled big. She loves Miss Kat :)

We also got a reclining high chair today from our Peterson friends. Miss Chanda hand sewed a cover for it just for Laila. Although Laila loves Miss Chanda, I think she has a secret crush on Mr. Ross. Chanda said she’s gonna have to keep an eye on our flirty little girl :)

This evening Emma and Jackson went off to VBS at church and after visiting with the Petersons, we took Laila over to meet Grandma Hamstra at Oak Grove. Grandma was so excited to meet her and they were comparing wheelchairs and leg braces. I think they’ve decided to be buddies :) Wish I wouldn’t have forgotten my camera :(

After Oak Grove it was time to go get Emma & Jackson from church. We were very excited to introduce her to all of our CCOD friends. We were surrounded by friends saying hi to her and welcoming her. She got a little scared of the VBS mascot Cooper but don’t worry Mr. Phillips, I’m sure she’ll love you when you’re not dressed up like an enormous dog!! ;) We also received a gift basket from Life’s Little Dreams, the adoption/foster care ministry at our church. Laila did really well for a while but then just wanted to snuggle into my neck and hide from people. She got a little overwhelmed. The good thing is that she got to meet several people tonight so Sunday will be a little easier. We can’t wait to teach her to pray and watch for what God is doing in her life. I think we’re still just kind of blown away at the way we’ve seen His hand bring us where we are today. We have a long rode ahead of us but it would be silly for us not to trust Him with the way He has made His presence so evident to us so far. I hope Laila can grasp that too some day. I’m already trying to teach her to fold her hands and am praying with her every night for God to help her feel comfortable, safe, & secure here with us. Would you pray for that too please?

The Hamstras

We made it home, everyone’s finally in bed and settled, and I’m exhausted.  Here are a few fun pictures from Laila’s homecoming.  I’ll write more soon :)

July 15th - Hamstra Day

It's 12:12 am and today is the day we bring Laila home. I've been busy getting the house ready so I'm all caught up on cleaning and can just focus on her and having fun with all three kids (that's fun to say :)

Jack and I have talked a little bit about how we both aren't sure if we're feeling the way we're supposed to be feeling. We're not jump up and down excited like some would be and we're not nervously scared like others would be. We're just us. Going through everyday getting in place the things that need to be done to have our daughter here. The thing is that it's not wrong, it's actually very, very right. We just feel like she supposed to be here and where has she been all along because her place is here. It's not even like it's new (though obviously in some ways it does) it's just like she fits. After we had her for that first weekend it was like we realized she fit the hole that we had both been feeling for so long but couldn't quite figure out what the plan was for us and for more children. She fits. She's always fit, just in God's own timing.

What I wanted to write earlier today about Emma and Jackson was both of their reactions to a new sister. I don't think I ever explained it in another post. We sat them down for dinner several weeks ago and brought up the idea of having Laila come and live with us and both kids were strikingly mature about it. You'd expect a kid to automatically say yes or no, but both of them spent time in their own way thinking. Emma started with asking some question and saying she was a bit nervous. We answered her questions and then she said that yes she would like to have her become her sister. All the while Jackson sat quietly on his end of the table so we finally asked him what he thought and he sat for a minute and then finally said "I need some time to think about it." Uh, how old is he?!?!? So we asked if we could answer any questions and he simply said no. The night went on and we didn't say anything to him and then at bed time he called us both into his room. He said "Mom & dad I have something to tell you. I want Laila to come and be my sister." We asked what had made his mind up and if Emma had told him to say that and he said "uh no, I said I just needed time to think and now I know I want her to."

Since the talks that kids have been nothing but excited about finally having their sister come to stay with us permanently. They are both big helps with her and we're grateful for that. As I'm sure you have gathered, she has some disabilities. I haven't spelled them out on here because I don't want that to be what people automatically label her as. I'm not ashamed of the way God made her, I'm actually very excited about it but I know there are others who don't see her that way, they may never look past the tube or the wheelchair. I'm thankful that God has given us different eyes and different hearts for her and that he included our other two children in that as well. At times it will be difficult I'm sure but it is so completely clear that this is God's plan for all of us so we know that He'll bring us through those and help us to see the complete joy that is Laila. Smile, giggles, curiosity, and the unknown are just a few of the amazing wonders God is giving us in this amazing little girl. We're thankful for it all.

Switch – a - Room

We’ve been working out tails off over here.  Even before we found out about Laila coming Emma had decided to move in to the bedroom in our basement because she is EXTREMELY afraid of tornados.  We’ve been battling ever spring/summer to get her to go to bed at night because she’s always afraid that there is going to be a tornado.  I explained to her that we have a basement and so if that ever happen, (and probably never will even though the stupid siren goes off all the time!) we have a basement and tornados can’t get underground.  Well she decided that’s where she wanted to be then.  I never thought that she would want to move down there as a seven year old, I figured it would be the teenage “I want my own space” years.  So, we let her try it out for a week or two and she slept wonderfully and loved it so we decided to let her stay. 

The bedroom situation was one of the big things that Jack and I discussed when thinking about adopting Laila because it meant we would have to have Emma & Jackson share a room for a few years.  Laila has some pretty bad nights and we didn’t want her keeping Emma up if they shared a room.  We also knew that those “tween” years are coming for Emma and that she would not want to be sharing a room with her little brother.  We decided that we’d do it for now and God would work out the details later with an addition to our house or something.  How cool that it’s already taken care of?!?

We had some friends offer to paint Emma’s room for us while we were in Mexico so that was a HUGE help because #1 I HATE to paint, #2 it was going to take a ton of painting because it was covering dark wood paneling and #3 I just don’t have the time.  I knew we wouldn’t have the time once we got home with only having 5 days until Laila comes and I didn’t want Emma to ever think “oh, we’ll get to you after we get Laila settled.”

So…… four coats of primer, a coat of paint and more hours than she’ll admit to later….. Chanda made Emma’s room beautiful :)

I told her I wanted it splatter paint to kind of give it some character and to make it match the new bed set Emma had picked out.  It looks really neat!  I think Amanda’s gonna paint some big stars on the walls with some of the left over purple, silver & black to finish it off.

The only issue with this switching of rooms is the mess that it made.  We emptied Emma’s new room and then had all of that mess in the middle of the basement and had to find place for all of it because this was our guest bedroom/catch all room…..  We also had to empty Emma’s old room (including the closet full of junk!!!) to make room for Laila’s stuff.  It was a lot of work and the rest of the house has to turned into a mess in the process but I’m so glad to have the girl’s rooms all finished and settled.

Laila’s Room

Well, enough writing for now.  Need to get the rest of this house cleaned before I bring Laila home tomorrow :)  If I get it done I really wanna write a little about my sweet Emma & Jackson later.  We’ll see…..

ps – here’s Jackson’s room just for fun.  nothing changed but didn’t want to leave him out :)

Are you reading this?  Leave a comment with your name so I know who’s actually reading.  I’m curious.