I know you see them all the time ....but

I can't help but post more. They truly love their pictures taken....funny I saw Lila and Selah dressed like this today. I asked them if I could take their pictures. As soon as Isaiah saw me taking the girls he wanted his too :) I told you all before they so want very long hair. This is how they do these blankets every day and wear their hair like this all day long....even when we go out. It just makes me smile when I see their sweetness....my oh my do I feel blessed to watch them every day and see how innocent and joyfilled they are.

Their attachment has been so easy and we can tell that they were loved back in Ghana. Which to us is a big strength of the Ghana adoption program. The mom's just can't take care of their children because of poverty....but these children have been loved. You can tell by how sensitive to one another they are and how loving to others they are.

One day they used a whole box of chalk

Do you think the kids are trying to butter us up some ( Hot mom and handsome dad )? One day they used a huge box of chalk up by drawing on our driveway....the next day it rained and washed it all away but they had fun creating .

Do you know why Andrew is so sleepy ?

 It is not because he is on any medicines...It is because he is up alot at nite :(  We moved him out of his pack and play because he was climbing in and out and destroying the room either way. We put him back in the pack and play because at least some of the time it contained him but last nite he must have fallen and cut his chin somehow so we moved him back to the mattress on the floor. His room is child proofed but he would find the handiwipes and pull them all out or the diapers would be scattered all over....We actually had our first evaluation of him in our home with a special ed. coordinator and pyschologist...this is how he was :) Sound asleep and not his usual active self. We have tried keeping him up but that does not help. He used to take melatonin when he first came home but that only helps you go to sleep . That is not his problem ...He won't stay asleep. So I talked with our pediatrician last week and next week we will see him for an evaluation on some medication to help him stay asleep all nite. Otherwise he is to tired during the day....

When he gets up he likes to play by banging on the wall or laughing so loud the girls above him can hear him. This is making it difficult to just ignore because it is keeping others up at nite too...I think he will have better days if he gets better sleep...So we are going to the next step with him.

Any suggestions or advice about sleep issues would be appreciated.

Fall is around the corner for sure

Tonite we fixed some of the last vegtables from our garden. We had fried green tomatoes and egg plant parmagian with a pot roast , Harmony's rice and applesause. Our weather has been cool and today we closed our pools...A sure sign that Fall is around the corner. Sometimes I have not been ready for the change but this year I am. I have loved the cool days and even cooler nites. We even turned our heat on for awhile to warm us up some in the am.. The new kids from Ghana have been funny about the cold weather....they seem to like the change too. We have started to get in the swing of school too...football games , soccer out front, and playing outside lots because it is comfortable and not hot and humid. Our leaves are not turning yet but we are all looking forward to it.

Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow- Lila's miracle

Our little Lila is so very easy to love. I love her spunk, her spirit her complete trust in me, her momma. She loves life all the time and we love watching her discover her new life thru her eyes. You can imagine our heartbreak when we received the news weeks ago from her blood tests that she had Hep. C.

She also tested positive for giardia, and high lead levels. She is taking a multivitamin plus iron that should take care of the lead levels and we have treated her twice with flagyl . We have had giardia before so this was not a new path for us. Selah also tested high for lead and she too takes the vitamin and we will retest in 3 months to make sure it is dropping. The Hep C has been a new journey for our family. She gave no symptoms and at her age the way she got it would have been thru her mom. So we researched and went to see a specialist at Johns Hopkins the day after Anna's surgery...since I was already down there with Anna. I already wrote about him in a post about Andrew. I really like him though. He shared that he was certain from the initial blood tests that she had Hep C. He needed to do some other tests and then he would do a liver biopsy and then he would know the extent of the liver damage as well as the genotype for the Hep C so he could treat it. There is no cure for Hep C and it is fatal if not treated....but after the treatment ( a shot of interferon given by me weekly and a pill) for 6 months or a year ( depending on the genotype) they retest and even if at that time they don't find any of the virus they don't consider it cured but dormant. Precautions would have to be taken with her blood anytime she got a cut, make sure there was no sharing of personal items like toothbrushes, or nail clippers. So for the past weeks we have been preparing ourselves for this journey . We have not had a child test postive for Hep C and so this was a new journey for our family. My heart ached for my child and even for her mom who most likely had it too .

 There were lots of questions like how did she get thru the embassy medical wihtout it being picked up and how could we help her mom back in Ghana. Well last nite Dr. K called me to give me the lastest tests results. First her giardia was negative . Praise God we are done with that. Then he shared the most amazing news ever with us....He said he could find no genotypes because there were also now no antibiodies for C......I immediately told him I could just come thru the phone and kiss him- He laughed...then I shared that I was a woman of faith and I had been praying for just this very news... Dr. K even acknowledged it had to be our prayers because there is no explanation for what happened. I asked was the first one a false positive and he said it could have been but not all of them could have. He is retesting her in 3 to 6 months but feels confident that she does not have Hep C.However miraculous it would be, I knew before he shared the results that was what they would be. I know my Lord can do miracles and this time He chose to do just that by healing our Lila . We have experienced this healing before and we have experienced a diff. answer to our prayers before as well...but in both we praise God for who He is and for all of His blessings.

I have relatives who choose to not to believe in God....I have even recently been slammed by one of them for my belief that the Lord provides even in mysterious ways. I will not even entertain those thoughts because my life has seen the evidence of the Lord in too many ways and in too many miracles to doubt His existence. We are rejoicing today for Lila's health and the power of our prayers.

America the Beautiful and I Love you Mama

I came home from Sam's Club and I had a surprise from Selah on the island :) It made my heart sing to see what she had written and colored and she picked me these flowers. We had gone to a 9/11 remembrance last Sunday and we sang America the Beautiful. So I guess she got that from there...but the message I love you mama is what really makes me full of joy. She has been home for almost 3 months and that has to be the sweetest sound to a momma's heart.

They just don't get any cuter

 The girls asked if they could cut some flowers. I said yes and this is how they came back from the yard. Such sweetness and purity. Isaiah fell asleep during our Bible time...my of my he is a sweetheart- when he is awake or asleep.