Please Vote!!!

Please visit Adoptive Families to vote for Ellie and Cullen as the cutest pic!

It is titled "An Adoption Miracle"

Thanks!!! :)

Fun at the Falls

We spent Friday night and Saturday in Canada at Niagara Falls with the Reardon's. I'm so proud of Howie for his spontaneity in a last minute trip!!!

Summertime Sleepovers

Alex spent the night last night. I love how excited they get about sleepovers!!! When Sue brought her over, I snapped some shots of Cullen. How gorgeous is he???

"Excuse me please, God"

Oh my dear Gabi is at it again. This time her Gabism brought me to tears. Tonight, during our prayers, Gabi says "Excuse me please, God, I'm very sorry but I need to cut in here". After she apologizes to me, she says "Dear God, I'm very sorry I cut in, but this is very important, can you please watch over my friend Tyler until he comes home". I just lost it. I didn't even tell her he was back in the hospital, she must have just heard me talking about it.

Also, one other quick thing- tonight after she called me into her room for the 50th time, I told her she was just stalling. She asked what that meant, so I told her it was when she tried to keep me in her room as long as possible. I kissed her and walked out. She must have been processing that, because she yells out to me down the hall; "Yah, well that's just cause I love you"! Little stinker~ how could I argue that? :)

They're Here!

Thanks to our house dentist, "Dr. Sue" we can now officially declare that Elliana has not one, but TWO teeth!!! :) I wasn't sure if "the tooth" was in yet. Well, apparently not only is it in, but it's neighbor is too! Gooooo Ellie!!!!!

It's NEARLY here!!

Elliana has the start of her first tooth! You can see and feel the itty bitty tip of it. Not counting it as "in" just yet. But it's DEFINITELY there. Bottom center-left tooth. I can't believe it. She's only 4 months old! My friend Jeana's daughter got her teeth at nearly 5 months, and at 5 years- before even starting Kindergarten- she has lost her first tooth and has another loose! That is crazy! Seems so young to me, but I'm wondering if Miss Ellie will be losing hers early as well??

Reglan: Day One

So we decided to put Ellie on the Reglan. She had her first dosage tonight. So far, so good. The only noticeable sign was lethargy. And it's tough to say if that's from not having a proper nap all day, or the meds.

The Results are in....

The Dr.s office phoned this evening. I was quite certain that we were going to be told that the test showed that everything was normal. I was wrong. The Gastric Emptying Test determined that Elliana's stomach is"markedly delayed" (ie DGE) in emptying into the small intestine. At the conclusion of the exam, she had over 90% of the formula still in her stomach. They want to put her on Reglan. Unfortunately, my web search has yielded some results that are making me nervous. If you have personal experience with this drug, please let me know your thoughts. I'm just not sure what to do. Do I put her on the meds, trusting that this Dr. (who is amazing and has tons of peds experience- did I mention he is a Pediatric Gastrointernoligist?) knows what is best for her? Do we decline the medication? Do we ask for a different med? I'm not sure of much right now. I have so many questions. It seems like this is a problem that might go away? I wish the Dr. had called rather than the nurse. I'm hoping that this is something she outgrows quickly. Ahhhh my thoughts are racing!!!!

Ellie's Busy Day

Phew! Poor Elle. Today she finally had her Gastric Emptying Test. She really did great, in fact as you can see in the picture, she fell asleep for most of it. The only time she screamed was when she was waiting for her bottle! They had to put radioactive dye tracer in it. She had to fast since last night and it was 9am before she was eating!! Once she laid onto the xray machine she looked at the stickers above her head, smiled at me a few times, popped her thumb in her mouth and drifted off to sleep. :)

Tonight, she had her 4 month Well Child Check at the Dr. She weighs in at 15.4 and is 24 inches long. She is over the percentile for weight, and under for height. That's my girl! LOL She had to get 4 shots and an oral vaccine. She didn't cry until the third shot. Poor honey.

I'll keep you posted when I get the results from the test today.

Happy Birthday, Sue!!!!

Love You!! Here's to many, many more!!!

Blessed Beyond Words

With Brother-Tyler

The Gang

With Sisters- Erica and Ashley


Telling her Grandma "Don't even think about stealing my baby!"

With Cousins Alyssa and Caitlyn

Aunt Michelle and Ellie

Today I am feeling so grateful. Once again, we had an amazing visit with Gabi's birth family. I am in awe of them. They are so kind and treat both of my girls (and Howie and I) as a part of their family. The children are so beautiful! Oh how I love to watch Gabi playing with her siblings and cousins. Anyone who questions open adoption should spend a day with our families. Or, should I say family. Because that's what we are, we are one giant family joined together by one of the most amazing little girls to ever grace the planet. I sent Sue a picture from my phone of all the kids sitting together being goofy- and she responded with one word: Heavenly. I couldn't have said it better myself.

At today's visit were:

• Grandma Kathy
• Aunt Michelle
• Sisters- Ashley and Erica (missing- Emily)
• Brother- Tyler (missing- David and Doug)
• Cousins- Andrew, Alyssa, and Caitlyn

When we got home tonight, Gabi was sitting on the floor doing a puzzle when she says to no one in particular- "I don't want to talk because I'm sad". So I ask her what she is feeling sad about. She looks up at me with those gorgeous blue eyes full of tears and says "I miss my brother and sisters and cousins." So we talked for awhile about those feelings. At one point she even said that she would like to live with them so that she could always see them. Both Howie and I listened (to the little girl who didn't want to talk) as she worked her way through her own thoughts. Finally, she said "I feel better because I did this puzzle". So the three of us sat down and did it again, this time together.

Shore Was Fun!!

We've just returned from a relaxing week at the Jersey Shore where Howie's sister graciously puts us up every summer. Her family owns a gorgeous house a block from the ocean. I'll let the pictures do the talking. :)