HAPPY NEW BEGINNINGS

I am looking forward to 2010 being a year of New Beginnings. Laurel will now get to spend the rest of her years as a US citizen and with a Momma & Dadat who loves her and a little brother who protects her. 2009 is gone and so are her orphanage days. Her days of rocking herself to sleep on her knees are also over. I thank God for new beginnings. He gives them to us if we ask and lets us start fresh.

Laurel is doing really well with her hearing aids. I feel like she can understand what we are saying and can say about 8-10 audible words. She tries many more but can't quite get the hang of them. We start working on speech tomorrow with her therapist and hopefully this will help her make better progress. The ENT has only given her 3-6 months to make a lot of progress before he recommends a Cochlear Implant. Please pray with us that her hearing will do the trick but if not we'll go to the next step.

We found out last week that her MRI showed a Chiare Type 1 Malformation. You can google it but basically her brain is lower in her skull than it should be and extends down into her spinal cord some. We are going to see a Neurosurgeon to get his recommendations but usually they don't do surgery unless she is having symptoms (breathing difficulty, head/neck aches, numbness, trouble walking, weakness etc....). It is a matter of prayer b/c it can be serious but we know this didn't sneak up on God. It makes us all the more thankful that we got this little girl so we can get her the medical care she needs!! Anyway, Happy New Beginnings to you all!

AWAY IN A MANGER

Words cannot express how happy I am this Christmas season. Since our journey to Ukraine, Mike and I both see things so differently than we ever have before. We see others needs and our excess. We see that life isn't about things but about people. We see that our lives are so short, and we only have a short time to make an impact for Christ. We see that little things DO NOT MATTER!! ONLY what we do for Christ will last. We don't sweat the small stuff anymore (or at least much anymore) :)

We are so blessed to have this little life entrusted to us this year. Last year when I made my New Year's Resolution I wanted this to be the year. I prayed that God would allow me to see my little girl by Christmas in 2009. PRAISE BE TO GOD, He granted my request. Laurel is such a joy in our life. Challenging sometimes? Yes, but anything worth having is. She is like a little sponge. She soaks up every word, action, motion and song. How wonderful that we have been allowed the privaledge to teach her about our Lord Jesus. Who would have thought just 3 short months ago she was in an orphanage, never having heard about Jesus, never having hope of a Mama or Daddy and never having had a Christmas. Well my friends I can say happily that ALL of that has changed! PRAISE GOD FROM WHOM ALL BLESSINGS FLOW.

Sweetest Words Ever Heard

So do you want to hear the sweetest words ever?? Just click on the video above. Laurel is REALLY trying her best to talk and has lots of new words in just the last few days. We are praying that these hearing aids will do the trick for her and if the last week is any indication then she's quickly on her way to speech and language. I could not be prouder of this little girl. She is the toughest thing I have ever seen and I love being her Mommy.

HO HO HO

A little lost Reindeer

Brother & Sister

Picking out a Christmas Tree

The cutest 2 shepherds in the Christmas play

Can you believe it's almost Christmas?? It has been a while since I updated so I'll give you all a quick rundown of the craziness of our lives right now. Laurel & Noah loved helping us pick out a Christmas tree at a local farm. We love our tree! The babies have been to 2 Christmas parades which they LOVED!! Laurel thought it was the neatest thing that candy was being thrown from vehicles to her. She would definately have been flattened if we had let her go.

We had a church Christmas party which was a lot of fun. The kids sang Away in a Manger while dressed as shepherds. Too cute!! Laurel actually stood up there (probably b/c I had to sing it) but she still did great. Noah proceeded to give Laurel a thorough dental exam on stage while singing it. I just had to laugh. He's definately headed to be a dentist.

We also had Laurel's MRI this week. We decided on a full brain MRI due to the fact that her records in Ukraine showed hydrocephaly. We didn't get the results back for the brain scan but found out her nerves and ear parts are all there! She is a good candidate for a Cochlear Implant if the hearing aids don't work. She is saying : off, up, brother (trying), bye bye, hot and attempting other words. We are praying these are all good signs. She doesn't bother her hearing aids hardly at all now and we are even going with the pilot hat now.

Thanks for checking in. More update later...... we are off at 5am to go work at a wearhouse for Operation Christmas Child.

Wired for Sound

We are wired for sound!! Yesterday (Tuesday) Laurel got her hearing aids. They are so cute- pink of course. The picture above is of Laurel after she got them. We bought her a recommended Pilot Cap from a place called Hannah Andersson. It ties under the chin and works great. I wish I could have videoed the look on her face when she actually "heard" for the first time. Her eyes were huge. Laurel amazes me. She is such a trooper. We were at the hospital for 2 1/2 hrs. and she was golden. But, I should have known it was too good to be true. She screamed the entire way home- 1 hr of screaming. I'm pretty sure she was in overload.

This morning she woke up happy as ever and let me put the hearing aids in. I'm not seeing a huge difference yet but it's only been a day. Please pray with us that this will help her! I'll update a picture of the hearing aids themselves later when I get a chance.

A Weekend of Walks

A ride on a tractor

A Walk in the woods

A walk in the wagon

No he wasn't choking her!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with all our friends and family. Yes, it was busy but Hey, aren't all Holidays? In between huge meals, we tried to go for some walks in the woods with the babies and walk off all those extra calories. Heres to trying! We found a beautiful place in the woods that the kids loved climbing on the trees and playing in the leaves. As you can see from the picture directly above, it was exhausting. :)

ps: In medical news...... LAUREL GETS HER HEARING AIDS TUESDAY!!! We are so excited but guarded b/c we know she still may have to go to Cochlear Implants in order to make sense of the new sounds she will be hearing. We truly appreciate your prayers about this matter. We'd love nothing more than she be able to hear on Tuesday and begin to learn to talk. She has done really well in the last week with language. She now says "bye bye" and "Pa Pa" for Poppy!! She making all sorts of new sounds. Also, on a positive note, her loud screaming (or talking as she thinks it is) seems to have calmed down some now that she makes some sense of her language.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Boy, we have so much to be thankful for this year. Last year at this time it was only a dream to say "in 2009 I'd wish I could have my little girl here". By God's grace it really happened. The longer I look back at our process and all that it entailed, the more I see God's sovereign hand and how he directed our path. Yes, there were dark times and times of uncertainty but I can say with my whole heart that God takes care of His children. If we wait upon Him, we WILL rise up with wings as eagles. I praise God this season of thanks for my family.Also for my parents, sister, in laws and extended family. My church family and my many friends that I have made through this adoption journey. It is to be truly a HAPPY THANKSGIVING.