Uh oh ---

On their way...

I miss you girls!! I know you are having a blast with your friends!! I know your lives are being changed and your hearts are growing closer to God. I love you!!!

Shanay and Jessica

Shanay, her great friend Izzy, and Jessica!!

I miss them already!!

My beautiful daughters are off to Mexico tomorrow with our church on a mission trip. They will be gone for 10 days and I am already sad. I am proud of them for wanting to serve God in this amazing way. I am excited for this opportunity for them to grow closer to God and their team. I look forward to see all that God has in store for them. I so wish I were going with them but I FULLY trust the team that they are going with. I also know God wants them on this trip and trust him to take care of my sweet babies.

Sisters on a mission for GOD! You go girls!

I love you sooooooo much!!!! You are my babies!!

I miss you!! SMOOCH!

pics

Solomon's Birthday party!

Soly LOVES Baseball!! I had to make him a bat and ball cake!!
Of course our family needed jerseys!!

Our team!

We love you Papa!

Markenley and Shanay

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Life...summer....doctors appts.

Hi..i started this post on June 14th...I am just getting back to it!


Hi! Today was the kids last day of school. Needless to say they are very happy! Shanay and Jess are thrilled because they now have texting back on their cell phones...oh, the little joys in the life of a teenager.

I can honestly say things are going really well with the boys. They seem as if they have been here forever. Honestly, there were a few days about a week after they were home that I was overwhelmed and tired and had a bit of post-partum adoption. I thought i should be SOOO Happy...but i was depressed. I wondered what we had done...what a huge responsibility we have taken on...we CHOSE this. But in all actuality, GOD chose this. What sacrifice is too big for these little guys? TJ now seemed so big to us...i was mourning his growing up. I was sick. I was exhausted. Everytime I would look at Todd and ask him if he was worried or if he still thought it was a good idea he said he didn't doubt it one bit. That helped. Praying helped.

OBEDIENCE: We have been working so hard on teaching Markenley obedience. He is really getting it. The first few weeks when he would 'throw a fit' or not come when i told him to and i tried to get him to do something i asked I would just hold him. He would CRY and tense his body. I would hold him like a baby and just pray for him (this was not easy...he is pretty strong..by the end of the day my arms and hands would hurt. At first this was about 20 minutes or so. Then he would relax his whole body, and instead of yelling Daddy, or whatever he was saying in Creole...he would start saying Mommy. He would hold me and love me. Then I could talk to him and he would listen and obey. We would celebrate! :) I feel like i am being pretty tough on him expecting immediate obedience...but when we aren't going through that we are having so much fun and giving him LOTS of love!! Now if he has those times they are much quicker.

Solomon's discipline: Solomon is doing pretty good...a little love bug. His biggest issue is when he gets mad he will hit and spit. This breaks my heart. I feel that is his orphange survival skill. This is when i pull him close, pray for him and put my finger on his lips and then give him lots of smooches on his lips to show him what his lips are for!

BEDTIME: This was horrible for a while. We started off laying with them until they were asleep. This was fine until Solomon took hours. At first he wouldn't go in his crib. He would ball his head off and hold out his arms for me. One day when Todd and Taylor were putting the boys down Taylor layed him in his crib and he went right to sleep. HMMMM obviously he could do it. For the next few nights i had todd put him to bed. So, we transitioned to laying with Markenley while Solomon was in his crib. Then we decided to try to leave the room before they fell asleep. Markenley was fine if we reassured him that we would be in the other room and we would be there when they woke up. Solomon likes to stand up and give lots of kisses. Well now we do their routine, bath, jammies, massage, storytime, prayers...give more snuggles, reassure them...tuck them in and then leave the room. The last couple nights Markenley would tell me "Night night Mommy, I love you so much". It was so adorable. Life is easier now that naptime/bedtime isn't taking hours. I need this time with my other kiddos.

DOCTORS APPT: They had their physicals. Their bloodwork came back good...except...They are both enemic...they need to be put on extra iron 3 times a day for 6 months.

Their lead levels are HIGH. Markenley's was 6.7 and i guess 10 used to be ok but now the level that is good is 0-2. They aren't going to do the treatment because the side effects aren't good.

I guess high lead levels can cause your IQ to be lower than it would normally, possibly problems concentrating, etc.
Markenley also has Giardia, and his TB test came back positive..but the chest x-ray came back negative so he doesn't have TB but was obviously exposed to it. He has to take a pill everyday at the same time, on an empty stomach, for 9 months!
The boys had their first dentist appts. and they were perfect for the dentist. Markenley has 4 cavities and Soly has none.

June 26th now...
We celebrated Solomon's 2nd birthday on the 22nd at 2:22 (get it??? 2's!!) We had tons of people and it was fun. Tomorrow is his actual birthday!

I will update you more later...
love,
renee

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Daddy come right back?

I can hardly believe that the boys have been home for 3 weeks. Wow, time flies now!! We are really enjoying having our family together. We continue to grow together daily and are trying to get a bit of a routine.
Markenley is a sweet heart and is such a helper. If we are bringing in groceries he will go out and help. When there is dirty laundry on the floor he will pick it up and put it in the laundry basket. He is doing well with his siblings as well. We seem to be growing daily in our 'attachment'. We are also making time to spend with our other children as well. They are super great helpers.
Markenley seems to learn quickly. When he does have a meltdown I will just hold him and let him cry and scream. There were times that would be 20 minutes long. Now he will calm down much quicker and then say sorry, or whatever i tell him to say, i will offer words of love and then explain to him what needs to be done...holding my hand in the store, or whatever it may be.
He seems to get the phrase "Daddy come right back!" and that makes him content to let Todd leave. When Todd is gone he will say this from time to time as to re-assure himself.
Solomon is hysterical. He is a little minicker. Today Markenley was doing somersaults on my bed..he would say "1, 2, 3 and then do the somersault." Immediatly after Solomon would say "1, 2. 3 " and then throw himself down face first..as if he was doing a somersault.
The boys discovered barbies yesterday and have been having fun doing their hair!
I appreciate all the well wishes and wonderful comments!
love to you all,
Renee