From the Hands of a 9 Year Old

You know the saying, "From the Mouth of Babes," well this was from the hands of a babe. This past week at school, I was handed this poster from one of my students after an indoor recess. She had made it for Landon.

I pasted in the image "Xtra Large" so you can see the phrase that this sweet student, wise beyond her years, wrote. I almost cried when I saw it! Yes, a "small" family has made such a BIG difference! But, the funny thing is, God didn't give Landon a small family, He gave him a HUGE family- yes, you see, he has the big "blood" (I put this in quotes because the irony of it just had to be noted!) family, and those friends we call family, and our church family! We are so thankful for all the family we have who have welcomed Landon, and who are all helping to shape his little life. It amazes me to see the wonderful changes week to week in him! Little did this young artist know how true her comment was, and how her poster will be something that we will cherish and hold on to!

At the same time as I think of how wonderful Landon's progress is, it makes me very moved to do something to continue helping children find forever families. The orphanage memories and little faces left there are in my mind and prayers daily. I am honestly burdened for them in a whole new way since coming home. In fact, the more I see Landon grow and thrive, the more burdened I become. I pray someday down the road that God will open up doors for us to bring another little one home. Until then, as Josh Wilson sings, "I refuse to do nothing." I am still praying about what it is exactly I should be doing. When I know what that is, you better bet I will be blogging about it! But, until then, I will continue to pray and and to be a voice for those still left as orphans.

Since I wasn't able to find it on line as a blog playlist song, here is a you tube version of the song I mentioned that has me challenged...maybe after listening to it, it will challenge you to! After all, there are so many out there who need our help in some way or another, and while we can't do everything, we CAN do SOMETHING!

Too Busy To Post, but Still Enjoying Our Boy!

So, with school in full swing (I'll leave it at that), I have had very little...okay, no time to post lately. I'm having blog withdrawal, and feel the need to at least upload a few of the cute pictures we have taken recently...taking pictures never ends!

New family pic? Oh wait, he's not looking! :) 

Landon's first candy cane - he found this at Nana's - the only place that would still have candy canes out in March, hahaha!

I just love this picture!

And this one!

Landon, Mommy, and most of his aunties.... miss you Aunt Jilly!!

(yes, for my blog friends out there who don't know us, these are my sisters- look a like or what!?!)

My friend, Alicia, and her son Micah who is 10 days older than Landon. I just love the way God worked that out!! Looking at this picture brings me back two and a half years when she was pregnant with Micah and wishing I was too, so that our kids could be the same age. I just love how God has worked all the details out!

Okay, these next pictures are from a very fun trip to RiverWinds - an indoor facility that all 3 of my sisters have been lifeguards at. 

This is Landon's excited face after he saw the pool area!

One of Landon's favorite thing- pretending to drive! Once he made his way over to this area he went from "unsure" to "loving it!"

Can't wait for summer!!!!

And, I'm going to leave you with a hilarous video from this past Friday. This is what I came home from school to find: Daddy and Landon having a BLAST in the backyard!

That's all for now! Hopefully I can update again soon. Until then, back to work!

Oh MY!

It all started with good advice from a very good friend. Landon has been battling a cold for about a week ago. Late this past week, the cough started, and seemed to get worse over the weekend. At this point, I don't want to be overreacting, but I am leaning towards taking him to the Dr. to make sure that it hasn't gone into his lungs. Everytime he is on my lap, I feel his congestion in my chest through his back... Anyway, that led me to mention it to a good friend, who suggested having him sit in the very steamy bathroom for about 5 minutes, and then take him outside to breathe in the very cold air to open up his lungs. Well, that's almost where the good of that ended.

I thought (notice, the bad starts with MY idea)- why not just use this time to try to go "Ah-oo" (Russian for #2) while the shower is running full blast on HOT. That worked for a few minutes. After I guess about 5 minutes, Landon said he was "da" (done) and so I let him get off, and run around the closed up bathroom for a few minutes, playing with lotion, yada, yada... I was just sitting there on his bathroom stool anyway, checking my e-mail from my phone...why not? Well, I thought I smelled something bad, and thought. lotion? Wait, AH-OO? Only to look over and see a huge green (yes, I know, TMI- but he's been eating green beans like CRAZY these past few days, so I'm a super proud mama in that regard!!) AH-OO lying on the floor- so I quick drop my phone, scoop him up, and put him on the potty...but another smaller AH-OO fell mid-way there! AHHHHHHH!!! Believe it or not (I'm still surprised at myself here) I didn't get mad or frustrated at the mess, I was just shocked. I didn't want to laugh because I didn't want him to think it was funny. I just kept asking him over and over, "where do we go ah-oo?" Right, on the POTTY, Landon!!  Sigh....chuckle, chuckle.

Well, while he was sitting there, I cleaned up the ah-oo, and got him off the potty to wipe his hiney. The poor kid got off, and listened so well when I said, "Bend over" that he didn't even give thought to where he was bending over, and bent his head right into the wall of the tub! :0( Poor lil' man! I tried to hug him without getting any AH-OO on myself, and, thank God, I managed to be successful at that. Well, by this time, the steam had been in our lungs for a few more than 5 minutes (haha!) and so I scooped his clean behin' up in my towel and headed outside in the back for a minute to catch the "cold" air- only to realize, it wasn't so cold after all. It is probably about 50 degrees....in fact, my phone just confirmed that. SO, all that for nothing? Who knows.

THEN, I realize I hear something coming from Landon's room- he had shut the door (we are still working on "not every door has to be shut all the time, Landon...we're not in Russia anymore!) Sidenote here, everytime I say that, I follow it by, "We're not in Kansas anymore, Toto" I can't help it!  Anyway, Dakota was stuck in Landon's room! That WHOLE time! Oh my!!! 

Now some of you may be wondering, why did Landon have all of his clothes off when you were just in the bathroom to breathe in the steam? Well, folks, my son, creature of habit and routine that he is, knows that we try to go "pees pees and ah-oo" every night before bathtime, and when I sat him on the potty, and turned the shower on...he went into his getting undressed routine. 

Sigh- Landon (Clean, but still runny nose and coughing Landon) is now sleeping. And, I need a coffee!!

February Fun, and Back to the Grind

Well, sad news first: I had to go back to work this week. It's not all that sad, though, because I do love my job, and this little video a friend shared with me the week before returning to my class, helped me remember just how much I do love trying to make a difference.


Landon did really well with the new adjustment. The first day, Monday, I took him to my friend Kristen's (who will be watching him on the days that Greg and I are both working). After I said good-bye to him, he ran to me as I was leaving, but didn't cry. Then, Tuesday and Wednesday, Greg was off (shift work has its benefits too!). Thursday, I took him to Kristens, and this time, he cried when I left. It was SO hard to leave him with him being upset. I cried my whole way to school, and even cried again relaying what happened to a few other teachers. But, Kristen sent me a text of Landon and Brynn (her daughter) playing together happily, so that made me feel a lot better. Turns out I cried more than him! Oh well. :) I keep telling myself it is good that he is sad that I am leaving- that means he is attaching nicely. Thank God we get two weeks to gently ease Landon into the new routine- it's President's Day weekend, which means I have Friday and Monday off! Woohoo! Never have I been so happy to come home from work!

On to the fun events of the week! Landon started taking weekly classes at the local Little Gym in a 2 year old Mommy/Daddy and Me Class. It is a good way for him to further develop his balance and gross and fine motor skills! We just got back from our class, and this time I brought my camera! Here are a few pictures!

We shake our bells over our (insert different body parts) our stinky toes...

Then, we practice walking, and running, and jumping! (our friend, Caden, is in this class too! So, daddy got to have two little boys to jump around with today!)

Then, off for some free time playing on the different mats, bars, and RINGS!!

Followed by some forward and backward roll practice!

We also started Puggles this week at church! It's part of of our Awana program- a new group for 2 year olds! I stayed with him, and got to take a few fun pictures there too!

Grandpop got him his Puggles shirt and backpack for Christmas- SO cute!! He didn't take his "shell" off for most of the night!

Landon and one of his leaders, Joe, who he loves! (might I add here that I taught Joe in Sunday school when he was in 5th grade?!? Ah!!)

And, since it was SO nice outside yesterday, we literally spent ALL our time outside! We started out by going for a run together! My friends had gotten me a jogging stroller a while back at my shower, and I finally got to try it out! Landon loved it, and I did too! It's a lot harder to run pushing an almost 30 pounder in a stroller, that's for sure!  Then, we got to hang out with our friend Caden at the park!

BIG fan of the slide!

Up the steps

And, down the slide!!

Landon liked the swing, but didn't want to stay in it that long, it was much more fun to run, climb, and go down the slide!

Look at the love between Landon and Caden! SOOOO adorable! Best of friends!



While I was at work this week, Daddy took Landon to the Chews Fire House to see the firetrucks! He had a blast!

So, even with me returning to work, we had a FUN week!

First US haircut!!

I guess it was a little over a week ago now that Landon got his first US haircut. My sister Sarah is a hairstylist, so we got to experience this in the comfort of our own home! Landon did great...until the ears- but, what kid likes that part at first? He'll get used to it! Here are a few pics!

Pre-haircut

Buzz up the back! - still a happy camper!

Maybe a chip will help him keep still? ...certainly kept Dakota around!

Love this face!

And, here came the tears... he did not like being trimmed up around the ears! :(

But, in the end, Aunt Sarah got a kiss- it was all okay!

Dakota is asking for her kiss too!

And, a post haircut photo is going to be a video- the next morning, I was able to capture Landon saying "Dakota, Dakota, Dakota" in his funny way. Yes, in the very beginning, he is attacking me with the giant claw toy- thank you for the continual unexpected pinches, Aunt Faith and Aunt Marianne!

One last photo for today. Our ham. Trying to be like his Mr. Potato head...yet again!

Relieved!!!

First of all, thank you to all of you who prayed for Landon's arm, and for those of you who left me such encouraging comments. There were a few I got on our way to the orthopedic specialist this morning, and it really helped to calm my nerves.

We were referred to a specialist this morning to review Landon's x-rays that were taken yesterday, and to also check for something called "nurse maid's elbow." I had never heard of that before, but apparantly, it is something that happens a lot in toddlers between the ages of 2 and 4, and happens when a parent is holding the child by the hand. The child cries initially, and then just lets the arm go limp while "playing" happily, until they try to move it, then they are in pain, and cry. That is exactly what Landon had been doing since we got home from the Dr. yesterday. It was scary. Well, after further review from the specialist, no break! And, yes, it was nurse maid's elbow. Our doctor held his elbow in close to his rib cage, and gently pulled his hand, palm up, towards his shoulder. She felt it pop, and within a few minutes (seconds maybe even) he was moving it, and reaching up at us with his right arm- thank you, Lord! Whew!! It was such a sense of relief, I can't even explain.

Thank you again, to all who were so encouraging and prayed for us. I guess I won't be lending Landon a hand as often. ;)  Lesson learned, that's for sure!  On the bright side (as if him feeling better isn't bright enough), the past 24 hours has given us lots of lap time with him. And, for the first time since bringing Landon home, he woke up in the middle of the night crying- he couldn't roll over, and it hurt when he tried. So, I got to pick him up, and rock him again, and just try to make him feel better. I think it made our bond even stronger.

Side note/question to all my blogger friends: do any of you have a different NY Russian consulate number? Our documents for Landon's registration got forwarded there (we sent them out on Dec. 30th!) and can not get ahold of them to check the status of his case... We have two numbers that the helpful lady in DC gave us, but one is a fax number, and the other one is all automated- no option for a live person.

To Make It Worse...

Today was our pediatrician appointment that was made to catch Landon up on some immunizations he was in need of. About a week and a half ago, we finally got his vaccination records from Russia...we should have had gotten it while we were in Russia on our last trip, but there was a paperwork mix-up, followed by their holiday shut down. I knew he would need some shots- but 8?  From the moment I hung up the phone from making the appointment, I began to wrestle mentally:

The debate in my mind went like this (and these are not listed in any specific order):
1) Trauma: is it more traumatizing to do it all at once? or a few each week? ...do we really have to make him cry over and over for multiple scary shot appointments?
2) Obligation: We verbally "swore" (right hands up) at the embassy in Moscow that within 30 days of arriving in the US we would have all required vaccinations given.
3) Medically ok? Everyone knows all the studies done correlating multiple immunizations at one time and autism...yes, they were just proven to be all falsified studies, but it was still in the back of my head as a scare.
I also thought that the doctors could give them to Landon during an upcoming (still to be scheduled) lil' boy surgery while he was already knocked out, but then I found out they may not be able to perform surgery without proper immunization.

So, after a week of asking friends, reading articles, and just mulling it over in my head, I asked our doctors what they and CHOP recommended- survey said, ALL AT ONCE! Ah!

I should probably note that all yesterday and last night, I had my stomach in knots over this- I was making myself more nervous for him than I probably should have. And, this morning, was the same. But, then, we were riding to the doctor's office, and took a different route, and ended up driving past the church that we first went to for an adoption information meeting last January. It was so neat to drive past that same church a little over a year later, with Landon in the back seat. I momentarily let myself rid of the stress of the day, and just enjoy the fact that we were together.

The dreaded moment (little did we really know) was finally here...we arrived. And while we were in the waiting room Landon walking around, looking out the window at cars, then here, then there. Well, at one point, he tripped (like he does about 20 times a day), and then laid himself down on the floor to be silly. I reached down with my right arm, and grabbed his hand to help him up. I have done this a thousand times before...what made this time any different?

All of the sudden, I felt a pop (like a knuckle crack) and he started crying- like a hurt cry. I can't even tell you how immediately awful I felt. He was hurt! I hurt him! He wouldnt' move his arm, and just cried when we tried to touch it to see if it was okay. About 2 minutes later, we got called back into the room, and my focus went to "what's wrong with his hand?" "what did I do?" rather than the shots. I mean, I still asked the questions, "can you combine any to lessen the # of sticks?" "how many do you recommend at once" etc. etc.... but, all I know was I was beating myself up that my boy was hurting- and it was my fault. I just held him, kissed him, and told him over and over how sorry I was and that I loved him, and just cried through it all. It wasn't pretty. And knowing then, that he had to get shots made it even worse...he was going to double hurt!

Well, he got the shots...all 8 of them in the legs, and he cried. But, I have to say- it was quick...and I wouldn't say 8 hurt anymore than 3 or 4. They were all done in about 15 seconds (they are so good!).  The hurt arm...not so quick to be better.  :(

We took Landon for an x-ray right after that appointment- because he is Vitamin D deficient (we are giving him supplements now), the Dr. said he could have broken his wrist or one of his forearm bones more easily. But, no broken bones- thank God! However, he is still hurting, and not moving his hand too much- not reaching for anything, or using it at all. We keep trying to ice it, but he cries...so, we are just keeping up with the Tylenol and TLC (and ice) as much as we are able to.

You know, ....I love being a mom, but this has got to be the hardest day so far. Seeing your little one in pain, and not being able to make it go away...and since I feel like I made this happen to him, it's even worse.  And, with all these news stories we have been hearing lately on Russian adoptions turning out poorly, and parents being hurtful or neglegent, and knowing there are so many people waiting to return to bring their children home because of those incidents, my mind immediately raced to thoughts like, "oh no, someone's going to think I hurt him" and "this will be in our post placement report." Sigh....

All I know is, I know my heart, I love my boy more than anything, and I would never ever do anything to intentionally hurt him, and it has been really hard letting the guilt go...

I am praying his wrist will continue to heal, and that we will find out what is wrong with it (or, just that it feels better and nothing is wrong!).  And until then, I will just keep doing my best to make him feel better.