halfway around the world

Graig is currently in a plane winging his way to Kenya. He’s taking a group from our church (as we have done for several years now) to serve the Kenyan people and to give the group an up close and personal look at God’s heart for the needs of the world. This is the first time Melia and I haven’t gone with him. Melia, Kailyn, and I will be missing him for the two weeks he will be gone. We are SO thankful that Grandma came to stay with us and help me with the girls. What a blessing! We will be really busy while he’s gone–we happen to have 6 doctor’s appointments in the next few days–so we hope the time that we are apart goes quickly, and we pray that everyone on this adventure has a life-changing trip.

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ahhhh, the smell of freshly cut wood

I just love the smell of freshly cut wood. I don’t know what it is about the smell, but I like to walk around the lumber section of Home Depot just to take in the scent. Must be something about creating something new that is exciting to me. That’s the plus side. There is also a negative side to construction that I had forgotten about . . . the dust! Sometime in the next couple of days our main floor needs some deep cleaning. Why? you ask. Because we have a new deck!!! Graig and I have been talking about replacing and extending our deck for over a year. When we found out that Graig would have quite a bit of free time this week, we decided to go ahead with the project. Graig did 98% of the actual labor himself, but Melia and I were able to help a little. It looks really nice and feels much bigger. There are still a few tiny things to do before it’s completely done, but that will have to wait until later in the summer. Meanwhile, we get to enjoy our newly enlarged deck.

I can’t wait until this coming week when I hope to get into those flower beds and do some digging. I’m planning to dig out some plants that were in there that I no longer like and replacing them with something new. I just love spring!

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yep, she’s definately an Austin

Don’t worry. We didn’t actually let her drink it. Right after I took the picture, she dropped it and spilled it on our new couch. Serves me right.

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great news x 2

Kaily had an appointment yesterday with the Neonatology Clinic. They follow the development of preemies to make sure they are meeting the developmental milestones. If the baby needs extra help, they refer you to the right place. Anyway, all four of us went to the appointment yesterday. We were anxious to see what they would have to say about how Kaily is doing. We were able to see one of the doctors who cared for her the entire time she was in the NICU. She remembered us well and is excited to tell the other NICU doctors how well Kaily is doing. Two doctors evaluated her and both said that she is doing great! She’s doing exactly what she should be doing if she were born at Thanksgiving. We were so excited to hear that. She will go back again in four months to be reevaluated. At that time they will be able to give us an even better idea of how soon we can proceed with our adoption! They said it would be fairly safe to begin doing some small things to get the adoption process rolling again, so we are very excited to begin working toward bringing our Kenyan daughter home. After hearing this news, Graig called our adoption agency and updated them on what is going on in our lives, and they are excited for us to continue with the adoption process soon. We are SOOOO thankful for the miracles that God has done in Kaily’s life and in our lives, and we look forward to bringing our other child/ren home before long.
P.S. Kaily weighs 12 pounds now!! She’s almost gained 10 pounds since she was born.

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A busy week

Last week began with an unexpected trip to the doctor. I suspected that Kaily had an ear infection, and unfortunately I was right. She got some medicine and was soon back to her cheerful, happy self. Tuesday was Melia’s fifth birthday! I can hardly believe she is five. It was a very fun day. We celebrated by going swimming at Aunt Mel’s hotel in Birch Run and out to dinner. We let Melia stay up as late as she wanted, and she made it until 10:45! The rest of the week was quite busy as we completed last minute tasks to get ready for Melia’s Hello Kitty party. It was really fun. We had the party in our home, and Mel was so kind to watch Kaily in our room to keep her away from the children (and, most importantly, the germs). Melia had a great time being able to have friends over to play with. She is SO social and would LOVE to have a friend come and play with her every day. She’s been very understanding about why we can’t do that this winter, so I’m glad she was finally able to have some friends come over to play. She’s already planning what she’d like to do for her sixth birthday. We are so proud of our big girl. Happy birthday, Melia!!!

The girls decorated cookies that look like Hello Kitty. Too cute!

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now where did I put my reading glasses?

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good news x 3 = very happy me

Good news.
1. The prunes worked, very well. Note to self, remember that in 30 years.
2. Kailyn has slept through the night for the last three nights. If only our dog did then I’d actually get a full night’s sleep.
3. I went to the grocery store this evening WITHOUT my coat. That’s the first time that’s happened since October. Whoo, hooo! Welcome, Spring!! I’ve been anxiously waiting for you!

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