Happy Fourth!

Our First Fourth of July
Spruced up for Church
Girls with Max


Talk about a busy last ten days or so. Adam had his appointment with the audiologist. He has a 30% hearing loss in his right ear, but his left is normal. The doctor said this shouldn't affect his language acquisition.

Last week Adam also had an appointment with a neurologist concerning his CP. I've had a feeling that this hearing loss isn't the only thing affecting his speech, so I've really wondered if his CP had anything to do with it. He had an MRI this week of his brain, and we will get the full result next week. Looks like we have a full schedule of testing this summer... PT, OT, Speech, etc. I'm exhausted already, but am looking forward to really getting him fixed up. Adam was fitted this week for an ankle brace. The exercises that we have been doing on his heel tendon haven't done a whole lot, so he's getting a brace that will force him to walk correctly (he walks on his toes on his left foot.) His left leg isn't quite as long as his right, so hopefully him using that left side correctly will encourage his leg to catch up to the other as he grows.

Anyway, this weekend we went to John's grandparents' house and his Great Uncle Wally's house to celebrate the Fourth. We all camped out in Grandma's lawn in our new tent, and boy did that go over well with the kids. The first hour that they were "asleep" was full of giggles and whoops and all kinds of noises... (John and I let them play while we stayed up later talking to the rest of the family.)

Grandma let them have some onions out of her garden, though. That was bad. I had to roll away from Aleksa a few times during the night because she stunk so bad! (Ever seen little kids who love anything out of a garden? Our kids love their raw veggies, and onions are a special treat.)

They also got to do some sparklers! They LOVED those! We did a trial run in the daytime before we went up north (his grandparents live in northern MN). Even in the broad daylight, the kids loved them. But when we let them do them at night with their favorite cousins - boy, did they have fun!

I got hit pretty hard with some survivor's guilt this weekend though. John's cousin's wife had a miscarriage last week. They've wanted kids since forever, and have had nothing but losses. I really found myself feeling guilty for my joy when I knew how much grief she was experiencing. I couldn't think of a single thing to say other than, "I'm so sorry, this stinks, but I'm praying for you." Nothing else was going to cut it. I guess thinking back, those were the best things anyone ever said to me, so maybe they went farther than I thought. I hated it when people would tell me that I'd have my baby soon, or it would be my turn soon, or whatever. It brought nothing but frustration to me. ("How on earth do YOU know? You aren't God!") And I sure wasn't going to say, "Why don't you 'just' adopt?" Those words are probably the very LAST words that she wants to hear. I know how horrified I was to say the word "adoption" for a long time. Took me years to say it without bursting into tears. I mean, sure, I think adoption is great and all, but you just don't tell someone who just lost a baby to adopt. I felt really awkward around her with my happy crew tramping around underfoot. I really felt bad for her not being in the same boat as she is anymore.

Which brings us to the absolute WORST part of the weekend. Adam told John's cousin that he needed some kids. (He knew nothing of the m/c, by the way; he just noticed that he didn't have any). Adam proceeded to tell him that he should go to Ukraine to get some kids and that there were lots of poor kids there that he could get. OuCh. I guess if anyone could get away with mentioning adoption, it would be some kids who are adopted. His heart was in the right place, but it was just poor timing.

John quickly explained to all three kids that their baby just died, and to NOT say ANYTHING about that to John's cousin's wife because it would really hurt her, etc. Well, Liana's little wheels kept turning and she just plain couldn't keep her lips zipped. She went up to her and asked, (of all things!), "Why did your baby die?" LIANA VALENTINA!!!!!!!!!

Anyway, for Independence Day we went to Great Uncle Wally's house. He lives on a lake, and the kids got to play in the water. Just as I was taking Aleksa out of the water, I noticed a leech on her leg. And instantly it started pouring rain and she was complaining that she was hungry. So, there I was with my arms full of a blanket and a few of our bags of stuff, trying to get Aleksa to hurry, and then freaking out over a leech. Grandma got it off. I don't do leeches I learned. Yucky yuck yuck. What memories! :O)