Not always about Sadie

I am thankful that this blog is getting quite a following.  It has been really neat to hear comments from people I never knew would be reading the blog as well as comments from people I don't know.  I am hoping that this will serve as education and encouragement to others.

The question has been asked if it is just Sadie.  I feel, outside of Sadie, our lives are very "normal" and much not worth mentioning.  That is NOT TRUE, however with regards to my other kids!

So, I wanted to take a moment to intro them, since there are so many new readers.

Nick and I have been married for 14 1/2 years!!  We met and started dating while in high school! 

Our first born is Ryleigh.  She is our only biological child (maybe more on that later...). What an super amazing young lady she is.  At 11 (almost 12 years old) I can confidently call her just that...a young lady.  Ryleigh has always been older than her years.  She did everything early! Started walking at 9 months old, was speaking full sentences by her first birthday.  You could carry on the most amazing conversations with her! She has always been full of compassion and cared deeply for everyone.  Today she is an amazing daughter, a thoughtful sister, a loyal friend and I could not be more proud of her.  She was babysitting for us Saturday night so Nick and I could have a "date".  We don't get out often nor do we stay away long or too late.  Nothing warmed our hearts more than when we came home and Ryleigh was helping Nathan with his devotions before bed.  In the 6th grade she has pulled off all A's in her first semester (studying COMPLETELY independently) and has played softball and basketball for the middle school team.  Don't get me wrong, she is far from perfect...but, I assure you that they don't get much closer than she.  What a blessing she is to us!!!



Kobe...our first exposure to adoption!!  When Ryleigh was very young we decided to adopt to grow our family.  Our first adoption could NOT have gone better or smoother.  God placed Kobe right in our laps.  Many of you don't know, but there were many "unknowns" that came with this guy, as he was born at 32 weeks and he had many developmental concerns.  We didn't blink an eye.  We saw his huge head of crazy hair and knew instantly that he was ours.  His adoption took 9 months from the beginning of filling out papers for our homestudy until he came home (3 days after his first birthday).  Kobe was a challenge at times.  He was and still to this day very intense.  But, this boy loves deeply and hard.  He strives to make things right when he sees things are not fair.  I should correct that...of course he notices when things are unfair, but he is more concerned when he feels people are not being treated fairly!  At 10 years old he is frustrated he does not get some privileges that his almost 12 year old sister has, and equally frustrated that he does not get away with things his 8 year old brother does.  Poor middle child.  Kobe is passionate about sports, but has chosen to pretty much focus solely on football.  He was exposed this past year and we found an untapped talent in him.  He was awesome....and he had such an amazing humble attitude about it...I think that is just what made it so great!  Although he challenges me daily with his constant questions and quite frankly is ability to challenge authority, I know it comes from a good place.  I can always count on him to still snuggle with me or hand me a hug.  I cherish that as I know it will not last much longer.

Then there is Nathan.  I believe Kobe was home for less than 4 months when we started the process of our second adoption.  We wanted to start right away because of Kobe being over a year old and the "normal" time frame could take 1 1/2 - 2 years.  Imagine our surprise again that Nathans adoption was 10 months from the start of paperwork for homestudy until he was home.  Again, smooth process...not even the slightest hiccup!  Nathan was 9 months old when he came home...but we always said he looked like an 80 year old mad.  He was so cute with a nearly bald head and what appeared to be a come over.  However at 9 months old he was walking everywhere!!  I have never ever met a happier boy that Nathan. ALWAYS a smile on his face.  Always.  He had such an imagination when he was little.  His two friends Jon Jon and Little Steve were having HUGE (imaginary....like them) adventures and SO detailed.  I regret this very day not writing more of their adventures together.  When Nathan came home we found a diary in his bag from his birth mom.  What a treasure.  It is all in Korean and I was quick to have it translated.  This is a book that makes me weep each time I read it.  At the end of each entry, she in some way wished him happiness or a happy life or that he always be happy.  My mom quite often commented how she feels his birth mom's wishes for his happiness IS the reason he was always so happy.  I believe it to be true.  At 8 1/2 today he is all boy.  He thinks he is tops at every sport....I will admit he is good.  He loves his "buddies" and plays hard.  He is a jokester, but also the first one to ask to pray each night at dinner.  He is just full of passion for life in general. 

We are blessed!!

Update on Sadie, this week we are going back to Mary Free Bed for a PT Eval and an Oral Therapy Eval.  I am hoping she will get approved for more PT there. She does go to "school" two afternoons a week for  1 1/2 hours where she gets her PT, OT and Speech.  But, if we have a chance for more...I want it for her!  I think Mary Free Bed is more intense and really works her hard!  The Oral Therapy is to see if she is ready to start therapy to see if she might ever eat orally again.  I am on the fence with this.  Oral Therapy can be very intense and is a VERY LONG process.  It is funny because her feeding tube does seem to be the source of most people's questions.  We get alot "Will she ever be able to eat normally."  I will be honest, I cringe at that question.  First...there is NOTHING normal about Sadie, so why it is so important for her to eat...I don't get really.  But, this G-Tube has given us PEACE that she is getting 100% of her meds, which keep her healthy.  The G-Tube allows us to know that she is getting all her hydration...even when she's sick and we can keep her fed all the time.   Even if she goes thru feeding therapy her eating will probably never be "normal" anyway.  However, this was always in our "plan" and I feel like we need to give it a shot.  These evaluations can be exhausting for Sadie (and this mom), so if you want to send up some extra prayers, we go in on Wednesday.

I have really enjoyed the past two weeks off with the kids, however, today has proven that it is time to go back.  I am very much looking forward to getting back on a (gasp) schedule!!