More than $500,000 in adoption grant funds available

Reece's Rainbow has More than $500,000 in adoption grant funds available!! There's never been a better time to adopt!!

Kareen's Journey Home: iPad Giveaway

Kareen's Journey Home: iPad Giveaway: "We are kicking off our fundraising for Kareen with an iPad giveaway! iPad Giveaway for KAREEN! Kareen is a 4 year old little girl w..."

Patience...and repetition.

Kellan loves to take his socks off, then try to put them back on....

I know they go on here...

But how the heck...?

I'll just show off my flexibility!

I've written before about how much patience Kellan has taught me. Well now I've discovered the other key to success with Kellan...REPETITION!!! He is a very smart cookie, and really does learn quickly. His speech therapist can work with him and in 45 minutes have him doing something new. Every week she does this! She is amazing, I believe she has a gift. Kellan is now consistently doing "so big", giving "five", waving hi and bye bye, clapping "yay", giving kisses, and signing more and eat! I almost can't keep up with him! Now we are working on signing all done, and blowing kisses. He also will roll a ball or truck back and forth, but his favorite game is "I drop it and you pick it up and give it back to me, and repeat game"!

His speech therapist has a baby doll that she gets out now and wants him to start using a spoon to feed her. As soon as he sees this doll his whole demeanor changes...he does not like the doll! It's almost funny to watch him. She sets the doll on the tray of his chair, and he pushes her off! She always offers him the choice between 2 things to play with. She usually holds up bubbles and something, and I always know he'll pick the bubbles first! He loves to pop them! When it's doll time, she doesn't give him a choice, she knows he'll never pick her! So I guess we better dig out an old baby doll from downstairs and start playing with it with him!

Kellan had a fun playdate with his friend Shelby today. She is a bit over 2, and non-stop energy! It was so fun to see her run around and talk and be silly. It was also kind of exhausting! I guess it's good to see what I'm in for in the not so distant future!!

Kellan also had his 15 month well baby doctor visit, during which we found out he is not so well! His right ear was infected and full of fluid, so obviously the tube is clogged, UGH! Poor pumkin, so he's on antibiodics again, so I'm sure he'll get thrush again, and get it all over his sucking thumb, AGAIN!! I sure hope this is the last of these!

On a good note, my insurance agreed to pay for his surgery at in-network benefit, which is a huge savings to us. Just the doctor's office consult alone was $250, but in-network it's only $30 for us! Thank God my insurance has been so wonderful, for the most part. I owe it all to the wonderful case manager they assigned to Kellan right after he was born. She goes out of her way to help us. I may have to take a trip to Helena just to meet her and thank her in person!!

Well it's off to bed for this momma!

I spoke too soon

Silly boy!!

Look at those baby blues (and messy face!!)

So I guess I was a little too quick to brag about how well Kellan was doing after surgery. He had a few great days, then the Friday after his surgery started a downward spiral that almost landed him back in the hospital. For 3 days he pretty much cried straight through, stopped eating and wouldn't take a bottle. We were giving him pain medicine around the clock, including codeine, and nothing made him feel better. At first we thought maybe his top teeth were bugging him, as they are trying to make their debut, but after more than 2 days of crying we were pretty sure it wasn't his teeth. Sunday night the only thing I could get in him was ice cream, so at 4 am we were feeding him ice cream because I was so worried about him getting too dehydrated. Monday am we took him to the doctor first thing, and she thought his throat looked infected, plus he had thrush, so she put him on antibiodics. He had lost a little more than 1/2 pound at that point, and by now I'm sure he's lost at least a pound. After the doctor he really never cried anymore, but still wouldn't eat or take a bottle, so ice cream spiked with formula powder became his staple! He went back to daycare on Thursday and his favorite girl got him to drink 4 oz from his bottle, eat a jar of baby food, and a thing of yogurt, all before noon! So now he is pretty much back to normal, which is a relief for all of us! It's amazing to me how much everyone in this house loves this little guy, and how upset everyone was seeing him suffer so much. The worst part about being a mother is feeling so helpless. But we made it through, and I'm sure it's not our last trial we will face as a family!

What a trooper!

Kellan had his surgery Tuesday, and it went perfect! He was in and out in about an hour, 1 poke for an IV, and no oxygen problems! The doctor said his adenoids were nasty, so we were really glad we decided to get them and his tonsils out. He and I spent the night in the hospital, where they took very good care of us, and he and I cuddled all night. It was great to be able to spend so much time alone with him. We came home yesterday, and today you'd hardly know he just had surgery, he's eating, drinking and playing as usual! What a relief to have that over with! Pics to come...