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.

Merry Christmas

Well where should we start.

Jaryd: Tonsilectomy went perfectly and he is well on his way to being well most of the time. He also, had a little boy surgery done today. He is feeling fine and he will be better in a few days. School is going well. He does still have some concentration problems, but that is improving all the time. He really likes his teacher so that makes things a lot easier. He wants a bicycle for his birthday on Monday. I am sure that is what he is getting. He can't wait. We have been counting the days for weeks. He would like a remote control car for Christmas. I don't think they really understand what Christmas will be. His English is remarkable. He is taking on the role of big brother beautifully. He helped me last night when I took all four kids to Taco Cabana by myself. Kevin had aboard meeting and I tackled this alone. I wasn't sure, but Jaryd was a life saver. He loves responsibility.

Jacob: Our prefectly wonderful healthy child. He also had a little minor boy surgery today. Glad those are over with. He is a little aggressive at times. He is so quiet you would not expect it from him. We have to be careful not to overlook him sometimes because he is so quiet. He will start to school after the Christmas holidays. He is excited. He will go in the afternoons. Jacob is quite a charmer. Jacob and Alyssa are big buddies. Jacob is maturing quickly, but has a long way to go. Jacob is really into "Cars"

Alyssa: She loves being a sister. I think God had already prepared her to have these siblings in the house. She hasn't missed a beat. She is so unselfish with all the toys. She doesn't like any of the kids to be gone. She likes to have them all home with her at all times. She is into princesses at this time. All we have to do for her for Christmas is buy something with princesses on it.

Kailyn: Our little bundle of movement. She is never still. She can't concentrate on anything for very long. She seems to move constantly from one thing to another. Kailyn will start school after Christmas break also. We finished all the paperwork and got them enrolled yesterday. She is very interested in babies. She loves to play house. Her health seems to be perfectly normal. We are still doing some testing on her digestive system, but other than that she is doing great. She is still not gaining a lot of weight, but hopefully that will change soon. We are going to get some orthodics for her feet to help her fallen arches. The orthopaedists says nothing is wrong with her physically. Only her fallen arches.

We are going to do some traveling to see the grandparents at Christmas in the motorhome. We have made one trip without Jaryd in the motorhome, so he is anxious to go this time. It is the only way to travel with kids if you aren't flying.

Merry Christmas to all and hope that you all have such a wonderful time with all of your new children. What a different place our house will be this year. PRAISE GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sasha and Ben, Thanks so much and Merry Christmas to your families also.

God Bless You All
Kevin, Tammy, Jaryd, Jacob, Alyssa, Kailyn, Breanne, Shohn, and Randi

HELP

Okay all you bloggers I need your help. We have some friends who are trying to adopt domestically. They already have the children chosen. These children are in foster care. The state has told them that they will try to have them in their home by Christmas for the last four months. The new twist is that they are deciding that they need a background check from Colorado. Colorado is telling them it could take 8 weeks. That is unacceptable. This will dash their chances for having these children by Christmas. If there is anyone out there who lives in Colorado or has had a background check from there and can help us pull any strings to get this done sooner, I would appreciate you e-mailing me or just leave a comment so that we can get these two kids with their family for Christmas. I will say THANK YOU in advance because I know God already has the person that is going to help us with this problem.

Let me know.
Tammy