Books for a Cause

I am excited to host an Usborn Book fundraiser for a cause very near and dear to our hearts.... adoption!

The Erb family has stepped out in faith to bring  a sweet little one, Margarita, home.  They are working very hard to raise enough money to pay for her adoption, and we want to help them out.  Unfortunately international adoption is very expensive (we're talking about $35,000- $40,000 expensive!!) and it takes a village to make it happen! 

Here is a little bit of their story...

We adopted Aida in 2013... from Armenia. She is visually impaired. She was almost 8 when she came to the USA. With our other children, we felt like we had enough...but debated to return for Aida's best friend, who also has spina bifida... (our birth daughter has sb) but God did not choose to open those doors...

 

Last year, I felt God working on me and challenging me to be more open to other special needs..... the children that the world claims is hopeless. worthless. and has no value.... and he kept bringing Margarita to me.... a friend called from Ukraine and urged us to proceed and although we had zero funds from our last adoption and career change....we took a step of faith.... not knowing the impact that Margarita has has on so many.... and many people have contacted me asking me why Margarita, encouraging us and some, discouraging us...

 

When we started the process we did not Margarita had an older sister, names 'Niya', who is 16. And it is completely up to her whether or not she wants to come with us, but we are welcoming her.   Financially, we have started with nothing.... but God is supplying and we are trusting him completely.

 

 

And here's a little video on Margarita...

 

 

http://youtu.be/G6rIv8h-Fcc



 

 

Please consider purchasing some wonderful books and helping to support this wonderful family on their very worthy journey!  The girls love their Sticker Dolly Dressing Ballerina books and the art book we got and Conner loves his activity book for boys , airplane book, and drawing book.  We have lots of other awesome Usborn books too.  Check them out!   Here's a link to the fundraiser...

 

https://f4787.myubam.com/shop

 

 

 

 

Happy shopping!!

 

 

 

Our Not-So-Fun Trip to the ER Today

Today sure didn't start like I thought it would!

This morning Madi woke me up just after 7 with her rhythmic vomiting that indicates a seizure is starting.  I ran her out of the room, grabbed her oxygen, woke up David, grabbed her rescue medication, started the first rescue med, and started the oxygen.  I thought she was coming out of it, but about 15 minutes later she started vomiting again.  Again she got the medication and I kept on her oxygen, and again I thought she was coming out of it but then she started staring off and doing an odd thing with her hand.  I gave her the third rescue med and called 911, which is our protocol when we get to 3 of her rescue meds.  The fire department came and she was still off, so they called the ambulance to take us in.  By the time they got here, though, she was coming through it and was resting.  I asked them to take us to Phoenix Children's Hospital, as they are equipped to help Madi and all her "extras".  One fireman was fine with that, but one told me no that I needed to go to Mendy's Place, a pediatric ER closer to us, because I had maxed out her medication.  I tried to explain that we pretty much always max out her medication, and that PCH was the only place equipped to check her shunt and do what she needed.  I explained that she was coming out of it, falling asleep, and that signals the tail end of her seizures, so I felt comfortable going the extra 10 minutes to get there.  He refused to take me to PCH, though, so off to Mendy's Place we went (I understand he needs to do what he feels is best, and I know he was just being safe.  Though I was frustrated, because I knew they wouldn't have what Madi needed, I do get it).  When we got to Mendy's place and saw the doctor, she was shocked that they wouldn't take me to PCH and told me that I need to insist next time because they really couldn't handle a child as "complex" as her. They were sweet to Madi, though, and efficient, and for that I am thankful.  They were also able to do the blood draws from her feet so she didn't feel it, which is so huge!   Mendy's place ran her blood work and her white blood cell count came out a little high.  She has had a cold, but is almost over it.  They thought it could be from that or they thought the increase in white blood cell count might be from the seizure.  Either way they weren't too worried.  Her urine and x-rays came back fine and her lungs looked and sounded good.  They were unable to do the big bang MRI, as they are not equipped to do them there, so they skipped the MRI.  They called neurology and they said they were fine with skipping the MRI since she didn't have other shunt failure symptoms, and not to transfer us, so they sent us home, yeah!!

Last night I stayed up to watch a show with David and I didn't pick up the house so when they came it was messier than I like.  I had also put a bunch of oils in my hair for a scalp treatment because my scalp was itchy and had slept like that to really moisturize it.   My hair was so greasy and gross!  I left the house without shoes and in PJs as well, since we left in a hurry.   I felt like such a mess at the hospital and was very happy Madi was doing better and I could get home and give us both a shower.  We also hadn't eaten at all that day and it was already past lunch time, and I hadn't had anything to drink either, so we were hungry and thirsty.

Once we got home I hooked up another oxygen tank since ours ran out right before we left for the hospital and realized the tubing and mask was missing.  I wasn't sure if the ambulance workers accidently took it or it had gotten thrown away.  I called preferred home care, who provides our oxygen, to see if I could get another one and they said they were unable to deliver one on the weekend.  I called the fire department, who got in touch with the ambulance drivers, and they said they had left our mask on Madi when we left the house.  Because our tank had run out of oxygen and they said they were switching to theirs, I assumed they would switch the mask too and didn't even notice that it was still our mask.  I had left the mask at the hospital when we left, so I called the hospital to see if they had it.  They had thrown it out not realizing it was ours, but did very nicely offer to give us one if we drove down, so we did.  I'm so glad it all worked out! I pray we won't need it but just in case we do, I felt so much better having it ready. I am sad, though, that it wasn't enough to do the trick this time.  Bummer!

The plus side of all of this is we got an unexpected restful afternoon at home.  Madi fell asleep once we got home and rested.  David and Conner headed to the monster trucks since they had tickets, and the girls and I just relaxed and watched movies, which was nice and something we don't do often enough!

Madi is back to her normal spunky self and I am so thankful!  She's such an amazing little girl!

Resting in my arms at the hospital...

 

Our Fun Day Learing Cheer with the Pro Bowl Cheerleaders

Friday we attended a really fun event put on by our local news station, Channel 5 KPHO.  The cheerleaders that were down for the Pro Bowl event that takes place Sunday lead a cheer clinic for children with special needs.  They gave the kiddos goodie bags that had a set of pom poms in them and taught them a short routine.  They also had the mascots from a few of the teams come and spend time with the kids.  Even Conner had fun!  He was pretty excited about getting the mascots and cheerleaders to sign the water bottle that was in his goodie bag.  Here are some pictures and videos from the event.  A big "thank you" to everyone that made it possible, it meant so much to us! 

 

 

 

 

Conner's First Football Game

I am a little behind in posting, but last Saturday was Conner's first flag football game with NYS (National Youth Sports).  He was very nervous and asked me to pray with him before the game, which I couldn't say no to of course.  He had a blast though and did great!  Here are some pictures from his first game, as well as a video of him pulling a flag.  I'm so glad I got the play on video,  I think he's watched it about 12 times and is very proud of himself.  We are very proud of him too!  He has been having a great attitude and practicing really hard.  His practices are twice a week, which I feel is a lot for kiddos his age, but he's really loving it!

 

He had lots of people that love him cheering him on!

 

 

 

 

 

A Fun Event For Naturally-Minded AZ Mommas

For those of you who know me in real life know that our family would be classified as "crunchy", "granola", "natural", or any other term you like to use.  Having other like-minded families to talk to has been such a huge blessing in our lives, so I wanted to help spread the word about an upcoming event focused on cloth diapering, breastfeeding, and natural type items.  The event is March 28th 2pm-6pm.  I'll post a photo with the details below.  Have fun!

 

Congrats to Our LEGO Kidfest Ticket Winner... Staci!

A big "congrats" to our Lego Kidfest ticket winner Staci!  I hope you enjoy your tickets, and we may just run in to you there :). 

 

LEGO® KidFest is Coming to Phoenix! Enter to Win FREE Tickets!!

 

 

(Directions for how to enter for a chance to win two free tickets is at the bottom of this post :))

We are very excited to announce that  LEGO®  KidFest is coming to Phoenix again!  We had such a fun time last year, and cannot wait to go again.  Here are the details....

Award-winning  LEGO®  KidsFest returns to the Phoenix area
New activities, popular favorites featured in interactive event running Feb. 27 - March 1, 2015 at University of Phoenix Stadium.

LEGO KidsFest features dozens of new activities and popular favorites on the three-acre show floor.

 New activities for this year's visit include LEGO Mindstorms, LEGO Movie, LEGO Fusion, LEGO Disney Princess, the Mixels, a LEGO Superheroes area and more.

Once again, show-goers can enjoy the LEGO Model Museum, Race Ramps, Creation Nation, Construction Zone, LEGO DUPLO, LEGO Retail store and LEGO KidsFest Marketplace, the Big Brick Pile, LEGO Ninjago and more.

Five identical sessions are available for the three-day tour stop. LEGO KidsFest tickets are $22.50 for adults and $19.50 for children and can be purchased online at http://www.legokidsfest.com.  



And now for the fun stuff.... Enter to win TWO free tickets! 

One of MY followers will win (2) tickets to for the opening night session on Friday, February 27,  2015   (4-8:30pm). 

 

I encourage you to LIKE and Follow LEGOKidsFest on Facebook, Twitter and/or Instagram for all the latest ticketing updates as this event has been selling out in prior cities.    Must be 18 to enter, 1 entry per day allowed, random drawing by USFG!

Winner will be randomly chosen by USFG on Friday January 23 and announced on my Blog and notified via email.

ENTER HERE - http://www.usfamilyguide.com/LEGO_KidsFest/?blogid=1898

 

Happy Birthday Conner!

Today Conner turned 8.

8!

Can you believe it? 

It seems like just yesterday I was pregnant with him.  Time really does fly! 

I am so proud of my sweet and loving boy.  He has such a big, loving heart.  I have so many stories I could share, but here are a few more recent ones.  While we were on vacation we saw many, many homeless people sleeping downtown.  He really wanted to help them and insisted on buying extra meals every time we ate so that he could pass them out to people in need.  At Church the other day I saw him quietly giving the new boy his tickets that he had earned for good behavior, so that the new boy would have enough tickets to be able to pick from the treasure box.  And I'll never forget the last morning that Madi had a seizure.  When Conner woke up and realized what had happened, he spent the rest of the morning holding her hand while she slept in my arms.  I really hope that he never loses his compassion and empathy for others.

Today was Conner's family party and my sweet boy wanted a Minecraft birthday.  As it turns out, there aren't many Minecraft decorations out there so I had to be semi-creative.  I bought a banner and a few signs on e-bay and then made his centerpieces myself.  Saturday is his friend party and he is really looking forward to that as well.  Playwell is going to come and build some fun creations with the boys.  Here are a few pictures from his big day....

 

A Wonderful Christmas

This Christmas was a bit of a whirlwind for us.  We spent so much time running around trying to gather the last of our things for our dossier that it kept us feeling pretty busy, and then you add therapy (we had therapy up until Christmas Eve) and appointments and Christmas preparations and let's just say there were a LOT of really late nights.  We made it through, though, and our Christmas was wonderful.  Ramya especially was excited about Christmas.  She doesn't remember last year's Christmas too well, so it's all she could talk about.  It was a lot of fun!

We open our stockings on Christmas Eve.  The kiddos get 1 pair of PJ's, a small stuffed animal, and a sweet treat, then we watch a Christmas movie together.

 



 

The girls got doctor jackets with their names on them for pretend play....

 

Conner got lots of legos, of course!

 

 

 

Our Dossier is Off!

I got news on December 31st that our dossier has officially been sent to India!  This is such great news to end our year with.  Please be praying for quick approval in India so that we can move on to the next step of our adoption.

We Ran Away.... But We're Back!

If you are wondering why it's been so quiet around here, it's because we ran away!  Ok, not really, but we did head out of town to California right after Christmas and just got home tonight. 

David was taking a break from work and was between accounts/trading, so his boss told us we should take advantage of the break and take a mini-vacation.  We took his advice and took off!

It was a bit crazy going just a few days after Christmas, especially because leading up to Christmas was so insane with adoption paperwork, therapies, doctor's appointments, and all the normal getting ready for Christmas activities, as well as hosting Christmas, but it was nice to just run away for a bit and get a break.  We got back tonight, and we hit the ground running like usual, but at least we are doing it rested.

While we were in California we hung out with some friends who happened to be there during the same time as us, saw both my birth parents, visited with David's old boss and his family, visited the children's museum and Sea World (though after getting home and watching Black Fish on Netflix I'm not sure we will go back ;)), ate lots of good food, and just spent lots of time relaxing. 

Here are a few pictures from our trip....

Running away!

 



 

We LOVE the beach!

 

The Children's Museum

 

Sea World