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Monday, March 30, 2009

JALEN'S THE WINNER!!

YAY JALEN!!!! He had his first spelling bee on Friday and HE WON!!!!! We are SOOOOO proud of him!! When he got home Friday you would have thought he won the lottery the way Eddie and I acted LOL!! We were so nervous all day Friday waiting for him to get home so we could find out how it went. It was so stinkin cute. . . not wanting to appear too anxious, in case it didn't go well, I just casually asked "How was your day?" and when he replied "It was GREAT!" I knew! So then I asked, "How did the spelling bee go?" and he flashed his certificate and $10 prize and said "GRAND PRIZE, BABY!!!" LOL!!!! Like I said, Eddie and I went nuts! He got so tickled at us for being so silly LOL! He's quite the smart little cookie so I suppose we shouldn't be surprised but it didn't take away the excitement one bit! Here's a pic of the BIG WINNER!!!!

Sunday, March 29, 2009

We need ideas!!

Hey everyone! I just wanted to post to the blog about our situation to see if anyone has any ideas. I know lots of you have travelled internationally to pick little ones up and thought you might be able to offer some words of advise or suggested avenues for us. We could very possibly be leaving to pick our little one up in 2 months or so. Even if we aren't chosen for him, which they say is unlikely, we will be making the trip soon anyway when we are chosen. Anyway, so if we're chosen for Little Boy B, we will need to travel from Tokyo to Delaware at the end of May and return home to Tokyo around June 20th. We need to stay there for 3 weeks. We have been financially preparing for the travel and think we can swing it but of course would like to get the cheapest possible way we can. Especially having to have all 5 of us going (which we weren't sure would happen). Plus three weeks in the hotel and food for 6, etc. Like I said, we've been planning for it but would just like to know if any of you have any discount ideas for us on how to save a $ or two. It would help tremendously!!! THANKS!!!

Friday, March 27, 2009

Call From Social Worker

Well, today, Friday, at 10am, we received a call from the little boy's social worker. This is very unusual as they do not talk to families typically. They normally only deal through the family's social worker. I was a bit nervous about what the phone call would hold but thankfully, it was very positive and went very well. She called to just get some personal interaction with us and just hear from us about everything in general. She said that the selection meeting is being held on April 13th. The decision will be made right then at that meeting and we will be notified immediately of the decision made. Our conversation ended with her saying that she will be at the meeting pushing very hard for our family to be chosen and fighting hard for us against the other 2 families she has. She is his direct social worker and has had a lot of experience with him since he was 7 months old so she knows him very well. She said we were without a doubt, by far the best family for him. She was just as excited as I was about our conversation and even said that she's gonna be anxiously waiting on April 13th too. At the last selection meeting, we only had our social worker to represent us and "pitch" for us and at this one we'll have her, as well as the little boy's social worker (who I talked to on the phone). So, it's looking quite good in our favor. We'll see!! Keep your prayers a comin'!

Melissa and Doug

I absolutely love these toys! They are so sturdy and just the cutest ideas!! We were introduced to them by Laela's therapist and she has a ball with them. I can't wait to order some of these adorable sets. Just thought I'd share for any of the moms that read this and might like the ideas for their little ones. The slicing set pieces are held together with velcro so when they "cut" the pieces with their knife, they make a crunching sound. So clever!




Thursday, March 26, 2009

Update. . .Long Post

Sorry I haven't updated in a while on the adoption front. Since my last post about it, we've been dealing with extreme exhaustion with it. It's been emotionally draining and well, down right exhausting. The search process is a daily task and it involves searching the national (yes-every single state) databases of children looking for what we think would be a good match for our family. Isn't that funny, as if WE know the right match! We all know the only ONE who really knows that answer! Lots of sleep lost and lots of disappointment as well. That said, we had made the decision that we were going to take a break from the search in hopes of re-grouping so to speak. At the time that we made that decision, we had/have about 8-10 inquiries out. We decided that if one of them turned out to be a match then we'd go for it of course but if not, then we'd just wait until we felt the time was right to start searching again. We're definitely ready to be parents again to one of these precious kids but it's the searching we needed the break from. We made the decision to stop searching about 2 - 3 weeks ago. It was no coincidence that soon after, we got the news of Ryan's diagnosis. While his diagnosis doesn't change anything about our daily lives or his needs, God knew we were in need of emotional rest before getting that news, as well as some time after to deal with the news. While, I'm sure we will be coming to terms with his formal diagnosis for a long time to come, it has honestly made dealing with his needs and behaviors much easier. It's as if we feel we understand him now. Not to mention that he's making progress it seems like daily and we can't help but celebrate that. It's amazing to watch! Then came Gucci :) He sort of fell in our laps so to speak and honestly, since we have taken this break, we've just been living life and enjoying every second. This "re-grouping" time has made us both realize how much we have to offer one of these special children. Knowing the full, happy lives we have makes us even more eager to adopt. However, we still didn't feel it was time to start searching again just yet. Just taking it as it comes. We still hadn't heard anything back on any of the 10 children we inquired about. But low and behold, we got an email from our social worker stating that one of the states that has our information wanted to know if we would consider being a candidate family for a 3 year old sweet, gorgeous little boy. We had never seen him on any listings, thus we hadn't put an inquiry in on him. So we talked about it, thought about, slept on it, and most importantly prayed about it. And neither of us have been able to shake the image and thought of this little boy. Just when we had decided to stop for a while, this little boy found us. It's a sureal thing when God works so clearly in your life. HE asked us to slow down and let HIM handle it, so we did, and this is the result. We don't know yet if we've been decided on as his family or not but God is all but screaming at us about this little boy so we've given our "okay" and are waiting to hear back on the decision. No clue yet when the decision will be made because we've learned not to put much worth on the timelines we're given. But our social worker is in close and constant contact with his case worker and we're being updated on every little step. We learned with the last few disappointments not to get our hopes up to high but this is the most promissing case thus far and like I said, we can't help but think it's for a reason. It's so funny because we've definitely learned patience through this process. I thought we'd become pretty patient people over the years dealing with all we've faced with our kids and the military but God has quite the sense of humor. My dad told me that in his men's group at church they have a joke "don't pray for patience cause God will give you something to teach you patience!" LOL! AIN'T THAT THE TRUTH!!! When he told me that, I told him it was too late, I'd already asked HIM for patience and so I guess I'd just hold on for the ride HE was gonna send me on to teach me a lesson. :) So we're on the ride and learning more and more patience as we go. :) We'll keep ya'll posted as we learn more. LOVE AND HUGS AND KISSES!!!

Saturday, March 21, 2009

Introducing - Gucci Baldomero

Meet the newest member of our family. His nam is Gucci. :) I know you all think we're totally insane, and I admit, we sort of are, but this one makes sense :) There was a couple here on base that was leaving and couldn't afford all the costs involved with bringing a pet on their move, so they asked us if we'd be interested in taking him. He is 3 years old, house trained, soooo well behaved, and just the sweetest thing ever! He is great with the kids and LOVES to play in the yard with them. When we moved here we put a fence in the backyard and have lately been wondering if it was worth the money. Now we are so thrilled to have it because the little kids can go out with him and we don't have to worry about them not having enough personal space to play. It's AWESOME! He doesn't try to run away from us like poor ole Zuko used to do. :) Bless his heart :) The kids absolutely adore Gucci and he loves them so much! Laela was a little bit scared of him at first but she's warming up to him now and trying to play with him more. He can even do tricks! :) He sits, lays down, spins around, speaks, and hi-fives :) Jalen gets a big kick out of that. He's funny cause he's already learned the kids personalities. He knows when he's wanting to run and play that Ryan's his man. But when he wants to chill and snuggle, Jalen is the go to guy :) Anyway, I won't ramble anymore about him. Here's a couple of pics.

The boys just bringing him home!
Ryan stealing the leash from Jalen so he can go show him off to the neighborhood!

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Baseball = SPRING!

I AM SO EXCITED! I JUST WENT TODAY TO SIGN THE BOYS UP FOR BASEBALL!!!! YAY!! STARTS NEXT MONTH. . .I CAN'T WAIT!!!!

Monday, March 16, 2009

Another Tough Blow For the Baldo Bunch-LONG POST

Today I had a meeting with Ryan's teacher. I asked for the meeting because I wanted his therapists to give me some ideas for home so that we could do a better job of scheduling therapy at home. Particularly his deep pressure therapy and physical therapy. The meeting went really well because we were able to talk one on one about Ryan specifically without all the "committee" people involved. I expressed to her our concern about Ryan's many needs and how so far, no one has given us a diagnosis for him or placed his needs in a category. We've always understood why, because Ryan's needs are very complex and all over the place and until now we thought impossible to categorize. However, for the first time EVER someone listened to me and agrees with me that there is much more to Ryan's condition than just hearing loss and delays caused by the hearing loss. I know that it's a fact that he is hearing impaired, but it just has never seemed to me, like that's where it all was coming from. I thought that maybe that was denial on my part, but moreso, it was just me wanting to know more so we could help him the RIGHT way. We have been told in the past that we should seek the services of a geneticist but never understood why. This is why I LOVE the team he has right now. They shoot from the hip but still with compassion and they have HUGE hearts for these kids. They don't waste a lot of time beating around the bush though which is a refreshing change from what we're used to. We talked extensively about the progress Ryan has made and how proud we all are. She then proceeded to tell me that his Tri-Annual review is next school year. This is when all tests are re-run for children like Ryan that enter the system at an early age. Basically not knowing what is going on with them except they are delayed enough to receive Special Education services. She hesitated and then placed her hand on my knee and said "Allison, I need you to be prepared for what will probably come of the testing. It won't change his care or his education plan but we will probably-almost 100% surely be able to pin down diagnosis by then. I almost think we could do it now but since he is so young, the testing might not be as clear as it might be next year. We are more than likely looking at Intellectual Disability-formerly known as Mental Retardation." Whew!! Honestly, it makes a lot of sense when I look at the formal definitions of it. It's just that I'm so ignorant on the subject that I didn't know anyone could have ID or MR without having Down Syndrome. ID and MR are characteristics that tend to exist in children with Down Syndrome but one can certainly have ID without being born with Down Syndrome. Initally this was a big shock, just hearing the words, but once I thought about it, I'm not so surprised. It doesn't change our Ryan one bit and he is still the crazy kid he's always been. It will just mean we all know how to better focus our efforts for him. It makes him easier to understand honestly. In my little bit of Univeristy of Google research the past 2 hours, I've learned that there is still a lot we need to learn about Ryan's specifics and that will probably happen next year when they do his review and when he's seen by a geneticist. In the meantime, we, meaning, all friends and family, need to educate ourselves and others on ID and accept Ryan for what he is, has always been, and will always be. . .our precious, WILD, brave, incredible little boy!! God is good! We could spend a lot of time wondering "why". But the honest to goodness truth of the matter is, we feel overwhelmingly honored for God to choose us to handle this situation with our child.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7dyueB1C88

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Someone's Comfortable . . .

. . . with their feminine side :)

Most of you know already, that they don't come much more masculine than Ryan. LOL! There's not a boy in the world that loves ball, running, getting dirty, and rough housing more than Ryan. Which is why this moment was absolutely HILARIOUS!!!!! Eddie has begged me not to put this on here but I couldn't resist! Bless him, he doesn't know :) He just thinks it's a really cool collared shirt :) LOL!






Ome Plum Blossom Park

I got to go on another field trip with Jalen's class today and it was AMAZING! I know I say that about everything but this place was truly breathtaking. It's called Ome Plum Blossom park in Ome, Japan (which is closer to us than Tokyo). It was one of those places that feel like you're in a book because it just doesn't seem real. It's blooming season in Japan for the cherry blossoms and plum blossoms. I feel so blessed to have shared this day with Jalen and for him to be able to experience it. Of course he could care less about how pretty it was but he'll remember it one day and say "I've been there". I took about 50 pictures. I just couldn't stop taking them. It was incredible. Thought I'd share some of them with you all.



Jalen and his friends playing on the "river" :)


Jalen enduring me making him take more pictures :)









close up of blossoms that some of the girls picked against the rules! :)







Sunday, March 8, 2009

Deal of the Day!

Laela loves her some crocs (or the knock-offs :) ) and I have been on a mission to find her every single color for summer since she loves them so much. She already has light pink, purple, and lime green - all of course with cutie pie jibbits in them. We don't hurt for money but I am a clearance shopper and when it comes to buying shoes for 3 kids, that grow very fast, I have a problem paying $30 a pair for the "real deal" when they probably won't last through the summer. Sooooo, I finally found a store in the mall that sells the knock off crocs (in Tokyo-remember-there's no Walmart). They were $3.99 a pair and they had SUPER CUTE jibbits (not the real deal either) for $1.97 a pack!! This store has made me one happy mama! And the kids are extatic!! They all love them but Laela especially is thrilled. She's a girl after my own heart with her love for shoes :) The boys aren't pictured because they were wearing them :)

Thursday, March 5, 2009

Second Round

Well we are now on our second round of inquiries. As I posted before, none from the first round worked out. So, we're back at it. Honestly, it's exhausting. We know it will be worth it when we get our little munchkin but right now this waiting and not knowing is really draining. It's taking lots of patience and prayer, and prayer for patience :) We have about 6 inquiries out right now so we'll see how it goes. It'll probably take a month or two to find out if we're being considered for any of them. Of course, as always, we'll let everyone know as soon as we hear anything. The positive side to this waiting game, is that it means lots of families are seeking these children. One of my all time favorite quotes is "You can't change the world by helping one child, but for one child you can change their world." It comes to mind a lot these days. We are so anxious to get our child home so they can begin to live the life they deserve to live. Anyway, that's enough babble out of me. Just wanted to keep ya'll up to date on where we are in the process.
LOVES!!!

Sunday, March 1, 2009

Tokyo Disney Sea!

Saturday we all went to Tokyo Disney Sea park and it was unbelievable. I can't even describe it. Well I could but it would be a really long post :) So I'll just share a "few" of the 130 pictures we took. Today I feel like I've been run over by a truck :) but would do it all over again in a minute! There's nothing in the world that compares to seeing that much joy on your childrens' faces. It was honestly, without a doubt, the best day of my life!