Well, here they are! New Pictures!

Me Like Snacky Time.

                                      And the puppy lip can be employed if necessary!


Ah, so hard to believe we've had our little blessing home for 2 months now :)

Back into our regular routine

Unfortunately, our family field trip did not happen on President's Day.  We had a mini snow storm, but it was enough to keep us home.  We had planned to visit Eleanor Roosevelt's home called Val-Kill.  Most of our children have been to the main Roosevelt Estate on school field trips, but none of them had visited Val-Kill.  We were all disappointed, but decided that a springtime visit would be more enjoyable.  So we will try to go during Easter vacation.

Now we are back to our various school routines and many doctor appointments.  Julia had another round of blood work done last week and everything came back normal.  We are grateful.

Caleb has taken more pictures, so I will let him post some when he gets a chance.

We are so happy to see that Sonya, from Julia's groupa, has had an increase in her grant fund.  We are praying so hard that she, Shawna and Lindsay have families soon.

Hope you are all having a good week.

Construction Girl and Glasses Take Two

Life remains busy and crazy here meeting the needs and schedules of our six little angels (and some of them aren't so little).  Julia's big news is she got a second pair of glasses that are lighter, more comfortable, and generally fit her face a lot better.  Here is a view of glasses take two, plus a view of Julia learning to drive her brothers tractor.

Tomorrow we are planning a little family trip for President's day.  We'll see how it goes and maybe have some pictures to share from that outing.

More Medical Updates

Today Julia saw the heart specialist.  We did not have specific concerns , but we wanted to have her checked out just to be safe.  Dr. F. told Julia, "She had the prettiest little heart he had seen all day".  So it was wonderful to know that her heart is healthy.  She was her usual squirmy self during all the tests, but somehow the technicians were able to get the information they needed.

We also received a call that her re-tests for giardia and h-pylori came back negative.  So the medicine worked the first time!

We have one more appointment with an ENT.  If everything checks out well there, I'm hoping we will be done with many of the medical appointments.

We are looking forward to Julia starting to receive therapy services.  She has started to stand on her own for brief moments and she will walk with holding only one hand.  It will be so wonderful to see all the accomplishments Julia will make.

As we make our way through all of the medical appointments, our family cannot stop thinking of the little ones in Julia's group that were left behind.  Luckily, we know of four children from Julia's orphanage that have families that will be traveling soon to bring them home and for this we are so excited.  We are still praying for Sonya, Shawna and Lindsey.  They are still waiting for their families and they are nearing the age of transfer.  Please join us in prayer that these children and many others will have families step forward for them this year.  Thank you.

6 weeks, 1 cute little girl and lots of pictures

Well, this Friday was our 6-week-aversary with our little Julia. Has it really only been six weeks? This has been such a big journey in so many ways. It's funny how one little girl can change your life :)

Julia continues to adjust well. Wearing glasses is coming along quite nicely.  The pair of glasses she has right now fits her alright, but we have a better pair from a brand specifically for Children with DS on the way (Thanks for the info Mrs. Thibault!) Sleeping is getting better, and she has gotten a HUGE kick out of moving upstairs with Gabby. She has such a little personality. One second she can be super quiet and concentrated on something and the next she's smiley-giggly-all-around-happy girl. she gives us such joy every day.

As always, though, it wouldn't be a complete post without some new pictures!

I also got a chance to put my photography skills to the test and get some winter shots of the other siblings out in the snow. Here's some of that fun!

Forever family button girl!

Guess who made it on a Reece's Rainbow button for this year!

Superbowl SUNDAY

The emphasis being on the second word in the title, "Sunday", we went to church as a family together this morning for the fourth time or so.  Although Julia doesn't like being out in real busy public places, church seems just fine.  She just hangs out in my arms making the loudest raspberries possible for an hour.  After church people said, "Was that her?".  "It sure was", I replied.  She'll find a new voice soon enough.
  
No doubt many of you were engaged in Superbowl revelry this Sunday.  What were we up to?  Well the photo nuts of the family Tom and Caleb were engaged in separate "photo shoots".  Here's a summary of the forty or fifty pictures of Julia, Tom shot this afternoon.

There were too many cute pictures to fit in a four by four collage.  Here are a few more.

She's got the phone thing down. Here she is talking to her stock broker.

Fun time between mother and daughter.

Perhaps Caleb will post some pictures from his shoot soon. Have a great week ahead.

Ms. Personality

Hi Everyone. Sorry for the posting (or lack thereof) of late. Mom and Dad have been busy running a household and getting Julia to her various doctor's appointments, and I have been down in D.C. for the March for Life, and trying to get school done amidst relentless blizzards. That said, Julia is doing very well with the doctors given that she's only been home a month and is adjusting otherwise quite well. Her brand-new glasses came in today, and while she wasn't cool with them at first, she kept them on without any fuss for about 45 minutes this afternoon. Progress!

While she still likes to be Mom's personal alarm clock and wake up at 6 every morning, she works great with her new schedule. She even decided yesterday afternoon would be a great time to laugh and shout hysterically for about an hour, just being Miss Happy-Go-Lucky.

And, of course, it wouldn't be a proper post without some new pictures!

                                                 Ah, what joys old spatulas bring joy to  a child :D

                                                                           Sisterly Love

                                                                2 cute to be true. Literally.

                                                                                     Glasses!

                                                           " Hmm, Maybe these aren't so bad after all ."   

                                                                  "What am I laying on again?"

                                                             "Oh, right, him. That's ok"