Watch this!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0r_FbARIn8&NR=1

Water slide!
Alex turns 9!
Cruising out of N.Y.
Our friend from Liberia, driving a boat for the first time, with Alex in tow!
Josiah sitting up!

September...

This month has flown by...but for good reason! We have been OVER THE TOP busy!!

School started...my mom came to visit...Scott and I went on a cruise...Josiah had more dr. appointments...a friend from Liberia stayed with us for a little while...barn getting built...Alex turns 9!...still trying to sell our other home (asking for prayers for this please)...and all the other every day/week things we have going on!! I think October will be a much slower month, I hope.

A little update on our Josiah...
We went to Gillette for his CP appointment. We really didn't learn too much more than we already knew. The Dr. said if she was to diagnos him from his over all "tone" from his muscles, then yes he has CP. We will be getting an MRI of his brain to "try" to see any brain injury. This is not a sure bet that anything will show up. For his physical, he was tight all over, so the doc was able to see him at his "worst" (as far as his muscle tightness). Medication was recommended to release some of the tightness so we can get him moving better and controlling the muscles the way his brain is wanting him to. Increase therapy to two times a week, include speech, OT, and get a swallow test to rule out anything there.
As far as how therapy is going now, he is doing great. He is almost sitting independently, almost able to crasp with is good hand...still working on the finger pinch, verbalizing with more sounds...working on the word "hi". He can understand verbal commands well, very interactive and expresses his emotions very well...even throwing a tiny tantrum once in awhile. We can tell he is working through the 'normal' baby/toddler stages. This is such an awesome accoplishment, show us that his cognative abilities are great! Yeah!!

Our 'moving in' is going very slow. The weather has been so nice, that we are outside a lot. The cold will come soon enough, so hopefully I'll start unpacking some things when we are stuck in the house!

I miss our oldest terribly. We do talk almost every day, but it's still not enough for this mom! There is such an emptiness there. He is doing well in Ohio, just a little home sick.

Our next project wil be putting up our fencing for our alpacas. Who knows how long this will take.
The four kids and daddy are filling up bags of nutritional bag meals at the "feed my starving children" program. Scott wanted the kids to volunteer their time as a birthday present to him. Thank goodness their was no complaining this morning for having to get up early.

Pics for August

Getting my last hug before leaving my baby in Ohio!


Look who wants to drive!


Andrews school pics.

My baby left the nest...

After 18.5 years, my oldest baby has left our nest. (Well, at least for a year). We drove the LONG drive to Cleveland, Ohio, moved him into his college apartment, got him set up for what was needed for living on his own, then left for the LONG drive back. I am so sad right now. It is tough seeing my child all grown and moving onto this next chapter in his life. I know he will be home on breaks, but it's hard knowing I just can't see him anytime I would like. I know moms must go through this, eventually. It just doesn't make it any easier. I'm just a sad mom right now...

On a lighter note, Josiah did great on the drive. He was the only other "baby" we took along for the ride. We didn't get much sleep from the last 4 days, so we are all exhausted. But Josiah has done amazing! All the other kids were farmed out to grandparents and cousins. They all had such a great time, I don't think we were missed much:)

As soon as I get my camera loaded, I will be posting some new pics. We are still just so busy with so many balls in the air right now. I will be posting better, once school starts.

Snip-its of updates...

*Still trying to get our new house organized and finding it almost impossible! We do love our home and the beauty that surrounds us. I still have to pinch myself. Took a short hike with the kids and found we have wild grapes everywhere, a huge apple tree, and poison ivy! Plus patches of wild flowers everywhere. Still can't see all our property until Fall, it's just too thick with bushes and trees, then maybe we can get to our little creek.

*Still working on getting our other house sold. Really need prayers here! Getting it sold quick would be such a huge blessing!

*Trying to prepare for our oldest going off to college in ohio in another week. I get teary eyed thinking about it.

*Our girls are now enrolled in the local school, and will be homeschooling our boys. Haven't purchase their curriculum yet!

*our barn will be going up mid Sept., fencing will have to wait until then. Alpacas will be moved in soon after. CAN'T WAIT!

*Josiah's follow up on his hand was fine. He has one bone possibly growing in his little wrist/palm and his other "normal" hand is progressing with therapy. (He is very stiff and has limited grasp in his normal hand). Next month will be his big appointment at Gillette to get a proper diagnosis, (possible Cerebral Pulsy).

Probably could report more, but have been progressively losing brain cells throughout the summer busyness!!!

I don't recommend moving without 'patience!'

And it became clear that I lost mine somewhere along the way! Gone, Nada, Zip, zero!!! It was no help when ALL my kids were having behaviors that were not pretty...disobediance, defiance, not listening, argumentative!! I know that the changes we are going through is bringing all this on, but it's been a lot to deal with. YOU TRY UPACKING A BOX WHEN THE BABY IS WHINING FOR MOMMY'S ARMS TO HOLD HIM, ANOTHER IS SPILLING WHATEVER LIQUID IS AT THEIR FINGERTIPS, SOMEONE NEEDS A SNACK, THE DOGS ARE BARKING AT OUR NEIGHBORS COWS, AND SOMEONE IS ASKING YOU TO HELP THEM WITH WHAT 'THEY' ARE DOING!!
Well, we survived, things are settling down here, SLOWLY. Our other house is clean and listed for sale. We could use prayers for it to sell fast! I have resolved that the unpacking will be VERY slow. That's okay though, I am in my dream house, and we are not going anywhere soon!
For those who have a cognative disabled child, this has been another new learning experience for me with my oldest daughter. This change has sent her into regression with her language, coping skills, and behaviors. And, with the changes in the house itself, it's like reteaching a blind person where all their new rooms are, walls and furniture placement. After she has tripped, fallen and ran into existing walls and furniture, I think she is adjusting to the change in environment.
Josiah has been way over-the-top needing his mommy. Let's just say, my back is killing me!! He is pretty heavy after just a few minutes of carrying around. He is slowing adjusting to his new environment too, and is loving his new house.
Something that I have not had the ability to post about, it the realization that my baby has Cerebral Palsy. It has been starring me in the face for so long, but all the "stuff" around me has been a distraction. It has been almost like I wasn't ready to see it yet. There was the hope that he was just "behind" because of his malnutrition, but this can't be the case anymore. He displays too many symptoms. I could not love Josiah any more than I do now. He has been such a sweet addition to our family. I am so overjoyed to be his momma and to be able to raise him, love him and help his to reach his full potential. My heart aches for all those children in Africa with CP that are left in the gutters, or sitting in wheelchairs with no hope. It truly has changed my heart for cp kids. Josiah is not displaying cognative disabilities, it's just his body won't cooperate. He has clonis in his feet, hypertonia in his legs and arms, hypotonia in his trunk muscles. He is not able to sit on his own without a lot of support, he can move around now with his "creeping" so this has helped him be more content on getting to what and where he wants. He still cannot grasp with his hand very well, so this limits his feeding skills to crackers. He is still on baby foods and formula, but is learning to drink from a cup. I call him my "toting" baby. Thank goodness for strollers and backbacks. If he's not in the mood to be on his belly for "creeping",he's either on my hip, in the stroller, or in the backback.
Josiah has another appointment with Gillette at the CP clinic. It will be nice to get more support. His therapy has gone amazingly well. Margaret, his therapist, comes here once a week, packing a ton of supplies. He loves working with her, and works hard for a solid hour, on top of what we do with him.
Having Josiah in our home has truly changed how we all perceive others limits. It has been a great learning experience for my kids, who adore their brother. I can honestly say that I would adopt another CP kid anyday! He has the most determined personality, a joy to be with and can be soooo funny! I thank God for such an amazing blessing on my life. Josiah just melts me when he looks at me with those big brown eyes!
It's been an emotional rollercoaster this past month. Just when I think I can't be stretched anymore, God stretches!!!!!!
For those of you that feel inclined, I could use the prayers!
On this final note, I love my new home and all the potential it brings for raising my kids on the farm. We are just enjoying all the learning that nature is providing.

New pics...

Just a few of our new home. It's still a BIG mess, but we are enjoying our beautiful home and land!



Front of our home...



Our views



Just some of our flowers







Our long driveway

We have moved!!!!!

This will be short...but, yes, we have officially moved to our dream house. Scott is still working on the other house to get it listed for sale by tomorrow, but we are "mostly" moved in here. It has not been fun with all the packing, moving, unpacking, tempers flying everywhere, everyone,(all 8 of us) whiny, crabby, off schedule, etc. You get the picture. BUT...I love my new house! It is like living in a dream, our views are amazing! You can see for miles...pluse we are straight up a steep hill, so we are pretty secluded. We did manage to clean our the pool so the kids started swimming in that yesterday. Our pasture needs a really good cutting so we can explore our woods. We will be putting up our barn and fencing soon too!
Once we are a little more settled in, I can report more. Oh, camera broke, so no pics for awhile.

A quick update on Josiah...

The big news...Josiah is finally "creeping" or doing the "army crawl!" This is very big for him. He can now move around from one toy to the next, or go get something that interests him. Now it's offically time to baby proof the floor, the kids got the lecture of keeping anything off the floor that can go in Josiah's mouth and choke him. It's so great to see his progress. He came home with such little abdominal and back muscle tone. He is now using those muscles and now working on his side muscles to get him to sit on his own. He is still so wobbly and unstable, but progressing! He also has glasses, which make him look so smart, (not that he isn't!!). He has started sleeping better at night, just up once for a bottle and then again around 6, (yuck). He's very attached to me, still a little insecure when I leave his sight, but will go with daddy and not cry. He is still sweet, happy and funny!!! The kids adore him and are the best helpers! He has PT (physical therapy) once a week, and OT (occupational therapy) one a month. We do his physical therapy ourselves,the rest of the time. He is still very stiff in his hips and shoulders, muscles still tight in his legs, but are getting better. He is continuing to build muscle tone in his abdominals and back, and his lower lip is getting better with muscle tone also. His speech will hopefully start progressing when he is able to move around more. We are always working on various movements to help him progress. Josiah is growing nicely. He is getting long, and is getting heavy! (21 lbs).
We will be going back to Gillette for his follow up on his little hand. He can do almost anything with his little hand, except "hold" things. We will also be getting a brace for his other hand because of the tightness, he is not able to "finger pinch" or hold things in his hand for very long. We will also be making an appointment for his feet. He will probably need foot braces to straighten them out and correct the curve, this will also help with the tightness in his legs.

We are moving in less than ten days and we still haven't packed yet!! It' s a little crazy here, so I probably won't be posting for awhile!

Busy...but here are some recent pics....

Graduation party day!

Josiah turns one!!!!.

To the hospital and back again...

After Josiah had his surgery, almost two weeks ago, we headed back to Children's hospital for IV fluids. (He was dehydrated and in pain). We did get to come home because his fluid intake was getting better. Three days later, he started going downhill with fluids again, and I could not keep his pain under control. He even stopped swallowing his own spit because it hurt to swallow, so oral med were out, then tylenol suppositories did nothing). Soooo, to the our dr. we went, with my other daughter in tow, (who ended up with an ear infection too). My dr. took one look at him and said he needed to be admitted back to Children's. So, we stayed for two days in the hospital on IV fluids and pain meds, and are finally home and hopefully over the "pain" hump. Josiah is taking pain meds fine orally, he is drinking regularly and even eating fine! In two days he went from a lethargic, feverish, booger faced boy, back to our happy and smiley little Joe!
God is good!
Now his 1st birthday is tomorrow, so off for last minute preparations for that too!
Sorry to say, I can't wait for June! May is wayyyyy to hectic!