Monday, February 26, 2007

The Wheels on the Bus

This bus is the coolest ride ever!

Whoa, wait a second...is this thing moving???


Get me off this contraption!


After the finalization hearing on Friday, we went out to the Mall of America. We thought it might be fun to bring the kids to Camp Snoopy for a little celebration and then be able to have a nice supper out. Ella was so excited once she saw all the rides and Ben was excited once he saw all the little kids everywhere. Ella spotted the bus ride and started singing "the wheels on the bus go round and round, round and round". Both Jason and I asked her if she wanted to go ride on the bus and she decided yes. We bought the tickets and since I get sick on anything that moves, Daddy was the lucky one who got to ride along with her. They stood in line and Ella was all smiles. Daddy crawled into the bus and put Ella beside him. So far, so good. She was smiling thinking this ride was great. Then the man pushed the "go" button and it started to move. Her face immediately fell and I knew what was coming next. Tears and screaming. She was NOT happy about this idea and she wanted off. Now! She held onto Daddy with all of her might as she sat there crying and shaking. Poor little one. Those rides are always so short unless of course your baby girl is petrified...then they feel like they last a lifetime. I'm thinking it might be awhile until she decides Camp Snoopy is actually fun.

Saturday, February 24, 2007

It's Official!!



Yesterday was a big day in the Hubler house...a big day for each one of us in our own special way. It was Ben's Adoption Hearing. Everything is official, legally Ben is now our son. It feels so good to have had the hearing and hear the judge declare that we are legally a family. Oh, yes, we've been a family since the day we accepted Ben's referral, it became so much more a reality when we flew to Korea and picked him up, but now to have reached the last step and have the courts recognize it too...well, it was a great day. It's hard to believe that in less than one year from the start of this journey, we are all finished...everything is finalized!


We arrived early for our 3:30pm appt. and since they were running ahead of schedule, we were ushered into the courtroom 20 minutes early. The Honorable Susan Burke swore us in and we had to answer a series of questions, mostly items that were on our adoption petition. This was a very short process, it only took about 5 minutes and then she declared that our "adoption petition has been granted". We smiled and hugged. We are so blessed to be able to parent this little boy. We are so honored that God chose us to be his family. We are so excited to know that we will get to spend every waking day with Ben, watching him grow. We are so grateful that God enriched our lives by bringing him into our family. And we have so much respect for his birthmother who chose to make a birthplan for Ben, allowing him to have a Mom, Dad, and sister that love him so dearly.


As happy as I am for our family, I also felt a little sad inside yesterday. I thought about Ben's birthmother and I hope that somehow, in some sort of crazy way, she will know that he is being well taken care of and loved immensily. I wish I could let her know just how happy he is.


When we were all done, the judge even let us come up front for some pictures. This is one of them.

Friday, February 23, 2007

Watch out! Don't Sit Too Close!


Spit, spit, and more spit...that's what we have in our house. Ben is a constant drooler. He has now perfected his motorboat/tractor noise. He's even figured out that if he takes a deep breath and uses all his might, he can actually make the spit fly! Oh boy, does this make him excited!! He seemed pretty proud the other day when he looked down at his highchair tray and admired all the little drops of spit. I should have put him in front of the mirror so he could have see what his face actually looked like with little water drops everywhere. Boys will be boys, right?!?

Wednesday, February 21, 2007

Baby James Needs More Prayers

Update on Baby James:

James had scans done last Thursday. Of the remaining half of kidney, there are currently 3 tumors left. Once the scans were done, they found that the more toxic kind of chemo that he has been receiving hasn't done a thing. Those tumors have remained the same size.

On Monday, James underwent another visible biopsy. This is a pretty invasive surgery as the doctors literally look at the kidney. They removed 2 of the tumors, but couldn't get everything. There are still cancer cells remaining that they simply can't get out via a surgery. James is recovering in the hospital now from this surgery, but things are really looking tough.

The parents, Jen and Kelly, are hoping to meet with their oncology team to see what the next course of action will be. They are unsure at this time if they will be told that chemo will continue or if the regime will change.

I know they are scared...when the toxic chemo isn't even working...where exactly does that leave you?!? Please pray for James. Recovery from any surgery is hard...but when you are less than a year old and you are battling cancer at the same time...I think that would make life pretty tough. Please pray for his parents. They need strength right now...they are having to watch their son in a battle for his life. Click here if you want to see more on BABY JAMES.

Tuesday, February 20, 2007

Teeth, Teeth, and more Teeth!


One of Ben's favorite ways to soothe those gums.


Wow, these things just keep coming! Just when I think that we have finally gotten this last one to come through and we should be good for a couple of weeks, another white spot appears on Ben's gums. No wonder why this child continually drools for hours on end. There aren't enough bibs in the world to keep this boy dry!

Look How Big I am!


We had Ben's 9 month well-check yesterday. We were there for almost 2 hours...it was a little longer than I had anticipated, Ella was getting a little restlless by the end of it, and Ben was just plain "done" after about 30 minutes of it. We had the standard check-up and then then sent us to the lab. He had his first shots in Korea, and usually there isn't any problem with their shots...but to be sure, they need to check for the antibodies here in the US. What that means is a big needle in the arm to draw blood. That is never fun...for an adult! When you have to do this to a little baby, it's stinky! Well, as luck would have it, they poked the needle around until I told them they had to take it out...they never found the vein. UGH! All of that for nothing! Poor kid. The doctor told us that we would have to get another dose of shots then to make positive sure that he was protected. Ben came home with a total of 5 band-aids. One on the right arm, one on the left finger, two on the left leg, and one othe right leg. I felt horrible for him. To top everything off, he had a short afternoon nap due to having to leave for the doctor's office. All of that on little sleep makes for one upset little baby boy.


On to the good news...Ben is now 20 pounds, 12 oz. ...that means that Mommy is building up quite the muscles from carrying this big guy around. Ben is now 29 inches tall too! The doctor seems to think he may just be a tall boy by the time he is done growing. He has grown over 5 inches just since he came home. That's about an inch a month! It's such a blessing to be able to see him grow and thrive. I love the addition he has made to our family. We simply wouldn't be the same without him.

Saturday, February 17, 2007

A Mother's Love


A Mother's love is something
that no on can explain,
It is made of deep devotion
and of sacrifice and pain,
It is endless and unselfish
and enduring come what may
For nothing can destroy it
or take that love away...
It is patient and forgiving
when all others are forsaking,
And it never fails or falters
even though the heart is breaking...
It believes beyond believing
when the world around condemns,
And it glows with all the beauty
of the rarest, brightest gems...
It is far beyond defining,
it defies all explanation,
And it still remains a secret
like the mysteries of creation...
A many splendoured miracle
man cannot understand
And another wondrous evidence
of God's tender guiding hand.

~Helen Steiner Rice

Grammie and Papa



These are just a few pics of the kids with Grammie and Papa from the last month. I don't have much time to post today, just wanted to at least get a couple pics up. These two kids sure love their grandparents...can't wait to see you again!

Thursday, February 15, 2007

Daddy's The Best!



We love weekends around here. We love them because Daddy is home all weekend long. Ella will exclaim "Daddy not at work today!!" She gets so excited to be able to spend all day with her dad.


Jason is such a fun daddy...he plays all sorts of things with them that Mommy just doesn't do. For example...carry each child around in the empty lego box. I figure I carry them enough throughout the day that I shouldn't have to stuff them in plastic containter and play chauffer bringing them where ever their little hearts demand we go. That's a good "daddy game" I tell Ella.


We love you, Daddy!

My Blue Eyed Girl


Ella all bundled up to go outside.

Ella is growing up so fast! I can't believe that she is such a conversationalist since she was a "late talker". Actually, she was using over 75 different signs, so I guess she has been "talking" for quite some time. Even though she wasn't verbal, she could still communicate with me very well. Now, she is such a chatter-bug. I can hardly get this child to be quiet long enough to eat her lunch. In fact, she is telling me at this very moment that her "baby weighs 2 pounds, Mommy!" and that baby Jenny (her doll) "just got new tooth...just last night, Mommy".

The other day Ella was playing. She likes to line up almost every doll that she has in the rocking chair and then crawl up on it herself and rock everyone to sleep. She thought they might be cold, so she got a blanket to put across everyone once she got up there. Ella was getting so frustrated because the blanket kept sliding off. She said in a very irritated tone "blanket keep falling off, Mommy....blanket not paying attention!!"

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Happy Valentine's Day!


To all the friends and family we hold dear...Happy Valentine's Day! We had a fun day today, celebrating and being together. I took the kids to the Community Center swimming pool. Wow! Was that an undertaking!! I have come to the conclusion that I truly can be "super mom" when the need arises! Two small children, one large pool...that equals one tired momma.


Once I finally got everyone's suits on and we got into the pool, about 30 minutes later Ella tells me she needs to go potty. I asker her "are you sure?" and she assured me that "yes" she really needed to go. I wrapped up Ben in his towel, wrapped up Ella in her towel and made our way to the women's locker room to use the restroom. You know you are a super-mom when you can balance a 9 month old on your lap while holding a 2 year old over an adult sized toilet so she won't fall in...once done, then you are still able to hold said baby on lap while pulling on a sticky, wet, cold swimsuit onto your toddler.


By the time we were finished with swimming, I decided lunch would be so much easier if I could just buy it at the concession stand before we left for home. Ella had a blast having a "lunchable" and Ben enjoyed his share of her lunch. Once we got home, I had to give each child a bath to wash off all the chlorine. Whew! lots of water and lots of work!


Tonight we went out for supper with Dad. Jason had a heart shaped pizza just for the occasion. It was a lovely day, all-be-it a tiring one. Happy Valentine's Day, we love you all.

Tuesday, February 6, 2007

Crawling??


Ben in his crawling position...ready to go...but now what??

Sinking further and further towards the floor.



Guess my tummy is as good as a place as any!!

Ben is practicing on wanting to go somewhere, but that's about as far as it's gone. He will laugh and smile as if so proud of himself when we put him into the crawling position...but then he has no idea what to do after that. Part of me wants him to crawl and part of me is willing to wait for a very long time. I know that once he starts motoring around the house, my life will turn very busy...and I already feel busy enough. I'm going to have to baby-proof the house once again as well as go through all of Ella's toys to weed out the small/choking kind. You know, the ones that scream "eat me" to a little baby.

Monday, February 5, 2007

Brother and Sister Love




The best thing about having 2 children is getting to witness the bond that grows and grows between a brother and a sister. It's been amazing to see how much each of them has grown to love the other. Oh, there are times when they get upset with each other, but most often, it's a lovely relationship to watch grow. Ella truly loves her brother and Ben truly loves his big sister. What a gift they are to each other.

Brrrr Doggies, I'm Fweezin'


Ella doesn't use it very often, but when she utters those words, you know the child is really chilly. It is cold here in our neck of the woods. This past weekend was bitter to say the least. We have been under a windchill advisary with chilling temps. (I know for some of my family up north, I shouldn't complain as your temps have been even colder.) Yesterday at 10am it was a
-12 degrees with a -35 windchill. I can tell that the temps haven't gotten much warmer today as the house has had a chill all it's own.

Ben and I were in the kitchen and Ella was as quiet as a mouse. I figured that she was reading her books as she does this quite often. Instead, she was in her room "changin' clothes, Mommy" and this is what she came out wearing! Negative temps and a dresser full of warm, cozy clothes can't keep this girl from picking a summer outfit. She insisted on wearing it...so we compromised...10 minutes of summer and then back to tights and flannel jammies for the rest of the day.

First Haircut

Ella's new 'do minus the 3 or so inches that were cut off.


Well, I bit the bullet and cut Ella's hair. It was a toss-up. I didn't know what to do with all that wild and wispy hair and yet I loved those little curls at the ends and how long some of it had gotten. People told me that if I cut it, then it would look thicker and cleaner on the bottom...well, I'll just clear up that old wive's tale for you and tell you that it's good in theory, but didn't really do any miracles for Ella's hair.

Grandma and I took her to Kid's Hair for her first haircut. I wasn't sure how she would do since she is so cautious around new people and new places. She was such a big girl! She sat right up on the little mini barber chairs with her mini-sized cape on. She was so busy watching Elmo on the TV in front of her and all the other kids in the salon that she was a perfect angel.

The stylist asked me "Do you scrunch her hair while brow-drying it after you have sprayed it down with a water bottle each day?" Hmmmm, I thought to myself and kindly said "no, not really. But what I was thinking was...lady...are you kidding me??...half the time I don't even get a shower...and if I'm lucky to have gotten that, you can sure bet that I haven't gotten a chance to put a comb through my own hair. If I've gotten a shower, combed my hair, and then rolled my hair into a ball on the top of my head and secured it with a fashionable cloth binder...I consider my morning a success. I'm not sure what planet you live on, but here on Hubler Planet...we don't get a chance to spray, scrunch, and blow-dry my 2 year old toddler's hair. :)

Well, $15 can not only buy you a 5 minute child's haircut, but also some funny things to think about as you are driving home while 2 children scream in the back seat. What fun!