Kendra's Surgery

It's a real quick post but I wanted to let you all know that tomorrow (November 27th) at 8:00 am, Kendra will be undergoing surgery to fix her cleft palate.  She will be hospitalized at least 2 nights and then the surgeon will determine if she's well enough to go home.  Please pray for her.  The surgeon says it's a very painful surgery and the worst one she will go through.  She will also have braces on her arms so that she can't bend her elbows so she doesn't touch her mouth.  Please pray for us!  She's NOT going to be a very happy girl.  I am very thankful though that we are able to provide this surgery for her.  So as you are gathering around your Thanksgiving table enjoying family and friends, please remember Kendra in your prayers!  (Todd tells me that he's going to take granola bars along and shape them into turkeys for our Thanksgiving!!)  Ha ha!
I'll let you know how everything goes.  Thanks!

November = National Adoption Month and Thanksgiving

Happy November! 

Not sure where the days are going but they are going fast!  This month we are marking the 6th month anniversary of adopting Kendra and Josiah.  It does feel like a couple months have gone by but NOT 6!!  It is an amazing transformation to watch.  Taking 2 kids from a foreign country, that did not speak one word of English, and to see them 6 months later is AMAZING!  Kendra, bless her little heart, is trying SO hard to say so many words.  Unfortunately with her palate still not fixed, (I'll get to that later) she just can't form the sounds.  Josiah has turned a corner lately and is really speaking in sentences.  It's fun to listen to him form his short sentences and sometimes he has to stop to think about what word he wants to use.  It's cute!

 

In my last post I promised more family pictures so I'm finally adding them!  Here is a picture of the girls.  We were so excited to add another little girl to our mix.   She favors her daddy though so we don't always get the snuggles we want from her!  She truly does LOVE her daddy.  When we are together as a family she always wants him.  Yep, a Daddy's Little Girl!  And when she's really naughty, I'm OK with that!  ;)

 

  

 I don't know what I would do if I didn't have my big girls.  They have a been a HUGE blessing to us. 

So here's the news on Kendra.  She was scheduled to have her palate repaired on Oct. 16th but unfortunately she came down with a cough.  The anesthesiologist will not put her under with any respiratory issues.  My mom was already at our house to help with the kids while we were to be in the hospital so we ended up sending her home early and rebooking another flight for her to return this month.  The plan is to have surgery on Nov. 27th, yep, the day before Thanksgiving.  Most people feel bad for us but we actually asked if that was a possibility and it was.  We normally don't travel for Thanksgiving because it is so close to Christmas so we're home.  Todd would have off Thurs and Fri so he wouldn't be away from work much for this.  So, it just worked out well for us.  Now the key is to try to keep her healthy.  We've been staying home as much as possible and when we do have to take her out, we put her in a stroller so she's not touching as many germs.  I feel like a germaphobic right now but I really don't want to have to reschedule again.  Please pray for Kendra, after her surgery she will have splints put on her arms so that she can't bend her elbows.  They do not want her touching her mouth.  She is going to be miserable!  (And we might be too!!)

She will be on a very restricted diet for 2 weeks (liquid) and then very soft foods for 2 more.  No Christmas cookies for this little one!  :(

 

 

So now we need to talk about National Adoption Month!  It is my prayer that somehow, somewhere, someone reading this will open their heart to adoption.  I just can't even begin to tell you the joys of adding another child to the family.  These kids are so special to us.  Some came from harder places than others but bottom line is they ALL needed a family!  Is it hard?  YES!  Is it worth it? YES!  YES!   Just look at this picture below, they all are smiling, laughing, and enjoying life.  Many of them would not be doing that in their former situations.  We were able to see 2 orphanages throughout the years and they both were "nice," (for an orphanage) but NOTHING replaces the joy and happiness of having a HOME, with parents, with siblings, and with lots of love!  NOTHING!!  So until my dying day, I will encourage others to open their hearts and their homes.  You will be blessed beyond anything you could ever imagine.

Today, I received this text from my sister - "Just found out that November is National Adoption Month....Happy adoption month 7 times.  :)"

It first brought tears to my eyes.  WOW!  We really have done this 7 times?  Yep!  If I had to do it all over again, I'd do it again.  7 children have a home, 7 children have a set of parents that love each other and show their kids that they love each other, and how they should love their spouse some day, 7 children have brothers and sisters to love on, play with, laugh with, cry with, and enjoy life with, and 7 children are hearing the word of God every single day.  Incredible!  I'm humbled that God would give us this privilege and honor to do what we are doing.

I love this man with all my being!  He has always been by my side during these past 22 years and is crazy enough to listen to me when I would say, "I think we should adopt again!"  He has put the needs of these children before anything else.  We have invested so much in adopting these kids.  As much fun as "toys" (boat, vacation home, cars, etc) would be, we have chosen the kids instead.  I'm thankful for a husband that sees the eternal difference we make compared to just "having fun with things."   I can't take any material object with me to heaven but I can make an eternal difference and show my kids the way to heaven and enjoy them for eternity.  I'm not trying to offend anyone that has those things,  because someday maybe we'll have the extra funds to do that too, but for now, we've chosen to add children to our family instead.

 

God has truly blessed us with each other and it's been so fun to run this race of life together.  I pray God gives us many more years together to watch this amazing group of kids grow up!

 

Thanksgiving! 

Yes, as we think about being thankful because it's that month to think about it, I just can't help but smile at this picture and be thankful that those crazy kids running around us, are ours!   My thankful list could go on forever but since it's late and I have 7 kids to run around after tomorrow, I better not list them all.  :)

So, until next time, pray for families to step up and open their homes to orphans, pray for churches to step up and be an advocate for orphans, help out families that have adopted or are in the process, tell others about it, just do SOMETHING because my house is getting kind of full, and my husband is saying no more!  ;) 

(He said that after Alexa's adoption too!) Hehehehe!!