'lubby dubbies'

Don't you love the baby talk vocab that infiltrates your world when little people come along?  Well, we've been at this baby thing for quite a few years, so we've got a pretty extensive collection of little sayings that are part of any given conversation.  It's kind of funny when some of the older kids' friends are over & try to figure out such lingo as "poo tinkies" & other fun things.

Here, we have Kaelee doing "paind-os".

Hanging with "Bubby" & his friends.

"Queezers" with Baby Jo-Jo & KiKi.

A bit of nigh-nigh-nappy action (complete with an obviously full suitcase??).

Reading "Bown Moo"

And every day is incomplete without lots of "lubby dubbies".

Funny how on lots of days, this language is what makes the most sense to me!  It may be summer break, but I'm still waiting to see the break part.  I have a lot of thoughts I'd like to share, but they haven't quite made their way to a coherent post.  In the meantime, I will just keep sharing pictures that make me smile so you know I haven't gone missing in my laundry room. 

puppy love

I admit it.  About 2 years ago when my family ganged up on me about a dog, I was NOT happy.  But seriously, how can I not love this dog?

Notice that Ella is literally "holding" Kaya as she sleeps.  She is so protective, & she really is so good with the kids.  I guess on this one, my husband & kiddos made a good decision.

it takes a village

Hey beautiful people!  In all of the goings on in life lately, I haven't had an appropriate opportunity to tell you about some amazing stuff the Lord is doing through a couple of families, one of which I know well & love much (Amy & Todd Block).  You know I am passionate for orphans, so I am excited to be a stateside rep to help communicate information for The Village of Hope, a ministry of Lifesong for Orphans in partnership with Project Hopeful.  If you are not yet familiar with either of these organizations, take a minute to google them...Straight up AWESOME work for children!!  Anyway, periodically I will be sharing here on my blog & via FB about the happenings at The Village of Hope as well as news & needs.  Read on...

It takes a village to raise a child! – African Proverb

When God called us to start Village of Hope, we knew that HE would put together the pieces and bring those that He would have serve alongside us. We are completely blown away by all the people He has been sending our way… but, then again, we really shouldn’t be blown away by how great our God is and how HE provides to bring His work to completion.

As we prayed and asked the Lord to provide for the first $20,000 needed for Village of Hope, God’s people stepped forward to provide an incredible gift basket. From now until August 1^st, you have a chance to win!

The gift basket includes:

HOPE jewelry from Funky Fish Designs

Village of Hope t-shirt (your choice of color and size)

$100 TOMS gift card

$100 Amazon gift card

$100 itunes gift card

How do you enter?

-share on facebook, twitter, or blog: 1 entry for each time you share (you MUST contact us at Christi@lifesongfororphans.org to let us know that you shared)

-each $25 donation: 2 entries

-each $100 donation: 10 entries
To make a donation to Village of Hope, click here.

Village of Hope is a ministry of Lifesong for Orphans in partnership with Project Hopeful. The vision for Village of Hope was born out the knowledge that God has a heart for the least of these. Scripture reveals a God who is passionate about the sick, the widow, the orphan, the alien, and the poor.The purpose of Village of Hope is to provide family, faith and a future to the least of these by providing holistic orphan care to special needs orphans, primarily focused on those living with HIV/AIDS in a family-style setting.

back to business

Everything went as planned, so we were able to head home yesterday from the hospital around lunch time.  Kemeri woke up more like herself (it was a little rough during the night, but we were able to stay ahead of the pain, which helped), but she definitely wanted OUT of that crib.  Suddenly, she looked up & announced that she needed to potty.  Girl has some strategy. ;)

We dragged that IV pole into the potty & then on over to the "sit down", as Miss Kemeri calls the couch.  We sat & played for awhile, & then she got sleepy.  I guess Mommy's lap is better than the crib.  I wasn't complaining.

When the wagon came for our ride to the car, Kemeri was sooo excited.  She knew that was her ticket out!

Glad to be home & hopeful that we can get this thing healed up!  Tomorrow, we have our evaluation with early intervention, so we are excited to get the ball rolling on the different therapies she will need, too (I love our EI team...we worked with them when Kaya was little, & they are awesome!).

round 2 in the O.R.

I am currently sitting in a hospital room waiting for them to bring Kemeri back from surgery.  After fighting with her incision for the last couple of weeks, sending pics back & forth with her surgeon, & then going to the office, it was determined that the stitches dissolved too fast for proper healing.  So, we had to come back today for a "wound revision".  Since it is so late in the day, we will be spending the night & heading home tomorrow.

Please pray that Kemeri's incision heals properly this time & that it heals FAST.  We are supposed to be taking a family vacation in a few weeks (yes, ALL of us!!!), & I so want her to be able to swim, play in the sand, & just get back to the business of being a little girl. 

On the up side, if you remember me mentioning that we began potty training b/c the diapers were not helping the healing situation....WELL, SHE IS DOING IT!!!  All systems seem to be working just fine (praise God b/c this is HUGE for a little one with spina bifida), & I would say we're 95% there (she has even stayed dry through the last 2 nights!).  Yay!!

how does this happen?

Seriously, how did another one of my children hit her 21st birthday??  *sniff*

Kearsten (KiKi) up & turned 21 on me this past Tuesday.  In true Kearsten fashion, we didn't do things the regular old way...her birth"day" turned into a birth"week".  She started out last Sunday running a 10K, which was a goal she had set for herself, & she did it!

Then we did a little celebrating on her actual day.

Yesterday, she was heading to a rugby tournament to watch some of the guys from the university play.  Last minute, they told her they heard some of the girls' teams might need an extra player, so she took her stuff just in case.  Ha...she ended up playing for THE Ohio State Buckeyes womens team & they won the tourney.  She scored for them, too!  Go KiKi!!!  She's the 2nd one from the left.  She got to keep the jersey & the socks as a thank you...Good stuff!

Finally today, we had her birthday dinner & official cake (ice cream, of course) since Kyler was home for the weekend.

And again, in true Kearsten style, when we all realized this was Kemeri's first experience with a birthday cake (we came to this realization when she was turning inside out excited to see that cake!), KiKi had Kemmy help her with the candle.

Happy Birthday, baby girl...yes, baby.  You can keep on having these birthdays in spite of me, but you'll always be my baby.  I love you & am so proud of the woman you are becoming.  Your heart is as big as your sense of adventure.  Keep being you, because you are one of the most beautiful people I know. :o)

a little bit of summer

Other than the weather, it hasn't felt a whole lot like summer.  Last week, we were up & moving each day for Kaya & K'Tyo to go to vacation bible school.  Kam has been going strong with summer basketball since the week after school let out. We are still getting the hang of the potty thing with Miss Kemeri, & it's amazing how quickly a day flies by when you have the timer set every so often as a reminder to take a tinkle break.  And Daddy's very brief break from doctoral classes is already over, & he's back in the saddle for 8 weeks, 2 nights a week, 5 hours each.  Plus homework time. Ugh.

However, we enjoy frequent visits from Kaelee, especially when they coincide with waking up from naps & needing someone to cuddle with while shaking out the cobwebs.

Not much swimming these days since Kemeri is still healing from surgery, but that doesn't keep somebody from rockin' her swimsuit. 

And the bigger kids are around a bit more, too.  Except that Kyler left this morning for the week...He will be home only on the weekends this summer b/c he's working as a counselor at a camp for kiddos with special needs.

I still can't take my eye off this one.  NOTHING is safe around here.  Thankfully, this polar "pop" was gatorade.  Heaven help me if she ever got a hold of real pop.

My Aunt Jackie was so sweet to bring by some strawberry shortcake, which as you can see, was very much enjoyed!

So, maybe between vacation bible school, summer basketball, yummy treats, & more time with the big kids, it's feeling a little like summer after all.