Above is Alyssa and Jacob at swimming lessons. Below, is Kailyn at swimming lessons. She can't keep her float on. As you can see it is down around her butt. Sisters outside on the wall. You can't see but they both had their backpacks and they were out for a day on the town (around the yard). Jacob and Jaryd are playing legos on Saturday morning. This is the first time I have caught just the two of them together. They are growing closer all the time.

Alyssa was one cool dude princess.

We finally met the Payne's. It was as though we had known each other forever. We had lunch with them on Saturday at Peter Piper pizza. It was great to get together and discuss things that are only known by adoptive parents. I loved putting real faces with people that you have only seen on the computer.

We saw our pediatrician on Friday and she prescirbed medicine for all three kids for their ADHD and ADD. We started the medicine on Saturday. Wow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What a difference with all three kids. Jaryd was able to sit and play legos without getting frustrated. He had a wonderful day at school today. The teacher said he was a different kid. Thank you God for sending us to the right person. Jacob is much more focused and not so much out in left field. Kailyn has slowed. I am not sure they have found the right medication for her, but at least this is a start.

Kailyn and Alyssa have both been sick today. Kailyn has the stomach flu and I think that Alyssa has a cold that is getting worse. It has been a good day just to lay around in your pajamas. I never do that, but both girls are still in their pjs and it is 3:48 in the afternoon. Oh well.

More later.

Good morning

Life around our house is beginning to move into more of a normal mode. We are watching each child change and grow as God begins to mold them into a new creature.

Jaryd is having a really tough time at school right now. He has had 7 out of 9 days red or yellow faces. We feel that right now he is testing to see how far he can push. We are trying to be patient. The ADHD doctor says he doesn't have ADHD. What a crock! We have talked to several educators and friends whose children have ADHD and they all say he does. We also took a Taylor's ADHD checklist. He was in the high category. We have talked to the pediatrician and she is sending us to another doctor. She doesn't agree with the diagnosis either. Jaryd seems to be so tortured by the hyperactivity. He really wants to be good. He doesn't really want to act out, we just think he can't help it. We have started some private tutoring to try to get him caught up before the end of the year. Pray for us and him as we work through these tough times.

Jacob is improving with his attachment problems. I think he will work through all of this too. He was also seen by the same doctor as Jaryd. Jacob seems to be doing very well at school and moving along with his speech. He is still the one who sounds like a little Ukranian. He doesn't seem to be moving out of the accent quit as easy. Jacob is a charmer for everyone away from us. But, he is also beginning to work with us on his behavior. His lying has slowed and he hasn't had an episode in the last week. Praise God. Continue to pray for him also. God will prevail, I am sure.

Kailyn is still Kailyn. She is always on the hyper side. We are still working on some behavior issues, but she just needs to feel loved. We are continuing to give her that assurance. Her teacher said yesterday that she had a good day. At least, she didn't run off. That is good. We are making strides every day.

Alyssa is still testing all the limits also. I am sure that this is totally normal. She has such a good heart and wants to have perfect behavior. But, sometimes that other little person just has to surface.

We started swimming lessons this week. Kailyn we decided very quickly was not ready for the structure at this point. So we will just let her play in the shallow part while everyone else takes lessons. Maybe by summer she might be ready. Alyssa and Jacob are in the same class. They are both very eager to learn. Jaryd is in an older beginner class. He think with one lessons he can already swim. We really want him to still have the fear of the water. He will miss his lesson today for behavior and he has a dentist appt. We will start soccer at the end of the month.

Thanks for everyones support and prayers. We feel them every day.

Tammy

This week has been much better. The kids were out of school three out of the five days. We had teacher conferences on Thursday and they all went well. Everyone is progressing well. All the teachers said they were amazed with their progress in the last few months. Jaryd still has a little ways to go on his reading, but he is on level with some of the kids that have been here all their life.

We went to the zoo yesterday. Some of the pictures did not come out too well. I am going to post a few of them. A couple of the pictures are from last Sunday afternoon. The kids were playing outside and Kailyn came out with the doll dress on her head. I just had to laugh.

We have more doctor's appointments this week. Hopefully we will get some help for the hyperactivity.

Tammy

Here is Alyssa's birthday party set up.

Jaryd in the trampoline

Watching Alyssa with her presents.

The Princess unwrapping Nana's present

Kailyn's new do. We finally had to for go the long hair for awhile. We cut her hair into a little bob and it seems much more manageablefor now. Of course, it requires a lot more work on mom's part in the mornings. It needs to be blow dried with a round brush. Oh well. It is much better looking all day than it was before. I think after it thickens it will work to let it grow out.

A few new notes

I know everyone has been watching for some new updates. Things have been a little rough around our house. We seem to have hit the 41/2 month troubles.

Jaryd is doing beautifully. In fact, his ADHD seems to be doing so much better. He has been spending a lot of time with Kevin in the wood shop. They are working on organizing things so they can build something. He seems to just thrive on being with Kevin. Jaryd has started his dental work. He had three teeth pulled on Monday. He will have two more appointments in the next couple of weeks. He needs two crowns and two root canals and two more teeth pullled. Poor guy. He is going to have to do without quite a few teeth for a couple of years. But the other ones were rotten. Jaryd has grown 1 1/2" too. He has not gained any more weight since we got home. The doctor was a little worried, but he is eating well so he thinks it just might be metabolism.

Kailyn is going to school every day and is also doing well. She has grown about an inch but hasn't gained but up to about 21 pounds now. We are about to come to the conclusion that she has such a fast metabolism from the ADHD that she just burns off all the calories. Today was supposed to have been an appointment for Jaryd and her, but the doctor had a death in the family. We will try to see her again on the 26th. We are still looking into other reasons that she hasn't grown.

Jacob on the other hand has started his full fledged assault against us. Yes, that sweet little boy is becoming quite the handful. He has started destroying all the other children's toys. He has gone so far as to let Kailyn be punished for his actions. He doesn't care. He will lie just to keep himself out of trouble. We are going to also have him tested for ADD. He is not hyper. He will tear up a book of Jaryd's if he gets upset with him. He has also grown about 1 1/2 inches. His weight has increased by only a couple of pounds.

Alyssa has had a few bad days. She is following some of Jacob's behavior. All of this is to be expected. We will work through all of this. We just keep remembering that God gave us these wonderful children and we have to be patient.

We went swimming on Saturday. That was Jacob and Kailyn's first time. They seemed to enjoy it. Jacob wasn't as thrilled and everyone else. He is still a little "BIOUSA" (scared). Kailyn was quite the little fish before we left. Jaryd and Alyssa were already swimming everywhere.

After swimming we went to the Bull Riding. That was a lot of fun. Jacob was not enthused. He went to sleep. Alyssa also went to sleep. Kailyn and Jaryd were going strong the whole time. Kailyn got a little nap right before the event so she was rested. It was quite late when we got home. Way past everyone's bed time.

Hope this catches you all up for a little while. I will try to be more vigilant in my posting. I know I owe you some pictures for Alyssa's birthday.

Oh yeah! My elbow is doing wonderful. Therapy is going well. \
Tammy

Where to start

School started with all of the kids except Alyssa returning to school. Kailyn goes in the morning and she is doing very well. She has had a few moments that made us wonder if it was a good idea sending her to school. She is picking up some bad habits from the other kids. We gave her a hair cut yesterday. She looks so cute. We have really been struggling with what to do with her hair. It has a mind of its own. She got a cute little bob and it looks adorable. We will see how she fairs after a full day with her messing with it. She only goes to school half a day. Then she comes home and has a little lunch and takes her nap.

Jacob goes to school when we pick up Kailyn. The only thing he tells us he is learning is to write his name. He is such an air head. He is doing other things I am sure, but he can't remember long enough to tell us what is going on. He seems to like it and is always happy when he comes home. He meets up with Jaryd after school and we pick them up together. We are still having a little bit of discipline problems with Jacob. He hasn't given up the idea yet that he is in charge. The other morning he spent the morning shower time showering the bathroom with toothpaste. He was of course disciplined for this and then the next morning he used the toothbrush full of toothpaste to decorate the bathroom once again. Of course, that followed by some more discipline time. Thank goodness he decided not to do it the next day. The paint is starting to get thin in the bathroom.

Jaryd is doing super at school. He has also been helping Dad in his shop a lot. Jaryd loves that kind of work. He reminds me so much of our oldest son Shohn. I am sure that God sent Jaryd to Kevin to take over helping dad now that Shohn has grown older. Jaryd is also taking responisbility for getting Kailyn to her classroom every morning at school. He does better when handed lots of responsibility. His first report card was good. He got a couple of undesireable marks, but nothing that wasn't already expected. He seems to love playing his leapster and that is helping his English immensely.

Now for Mom's news. I had elbow surgery on January 8th. Just a minor tendon repair and to clean up some tennis elbow. Never played tennis so I am not sure where that came from. I was in a cast for about 10 days. Kevin's mother came and stayed with us the entire time and that was a huge blessing. She helped with all the meals and the bathing and dressing of the girls. She was also the taxi driver for all the trips to and from school. We would not have made it without her. I have always been blessed to have such a wonderful mother-in-law. I do not think of her as a mother-in-law just as my other mother. The elbow is doing nicely and I start physical theraphy this week. Hopefully things will progress and I will be pain free from now on.

Dad is doing well. Nothing much different in his life. Big kids are great.
I will try to post some pictures of the kids later. Alyssa has her 4th birthday party on Sunday. Where has the time gone? She is having a princess party at home. We have a castle jumping balloon coming. The boys will dress as knights and the girls like princesses. What fun we will have. The weather is supposed to be in the 70's so it should be a great day.

Talk to you all again soon. Sorry for my tardiness.
Tammy

Christmas

What a Christmas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The kids all seemed to enjoy the thrill of all the Christmas events. We went to a Candlelight service on Christmas Eve and they got to enjoy the true story of Christmas. It was a beautiful sight to see ALL my children sitting there enjoying the Christmas service together.

We then came home and Nana and Papa brought over dinner. We had a wonderful dinner with my Dad and Nana and Papa and Tiffany and Nathan. Then we retired to the den to open presents.

Everyone was a little slow getting into the moment but it didn't take long for them to figure out the process. I have always wrapped everyone's packages in the same paper. Every child has their own paper. It didn't take Jaryd long to figure that out. Kailyn on the other hand didn't quite understand the process. I am sure next year the race will be on. We had each child put their trash in the trash can as soon as they unwrapped a package. Kailyn became the trash woman. She enjoyed putting the trash away more than unwrapping the packages. Santa came the next morning and that was a real surprise for all. I think next year they will be a little more savy to the whole procedure. They didn't understand all that was going to happen this year.

After Christmas, we went to Kevin's Mom's and then on to Kevin's Dad's. It was fun visiting with all the family. Kevin's brother and family was there and they got to see the kids for the first time. All the family has really rallied behind us and loves the children as though they had been there all their lives. As I stood on the stage last week at church and looked at the children, I realized was a true miracle it was to have them in our lives.

Here are a few more pictures of the mayhem. Thanks for all your prayers and love during this time. We can never tell you how much all of you have meant to us. Those we know and those we only know from the blog. We hope to meet all of you some day.