ONE WHOLE YEAR

Well, it is hard to believe but one year ago, on December 1st we met Julianna for the first time and she became our daughter. What a journey it has been!! As I think back on that day it almost seems surreal that we were given such a gift. She has truly been such a blessing and added so much to our lives. She is just so much fun to have around. God certainly had her picked out for us. She fits in our family as if she has always been here. We couldn't imagine life without her. So I will sign off with my blog and end with a group of pictures to tell the story of her year. For anyone who would like to continue following what we are up to, I have started a new blog about the family called http://adventuresofthehaydens.blogspot.com/

Well, folks it has been far too long.

We have been in school 2 weeks already much to everyone's chagrin. It has literally been a mad house here. Football is also in full swing so that takes up almost every night because Jacob and Mitchell practice on different nights and then sometimes have games different days.

Zachary had has an interesting 2 weeks with feeling ill most mornings. At first we thought it might be nerves but finally clued in that some medication he had started taking back the end of August was doing a real job on his stomach and causing terrible nausea. After being off the meds for the last 4 days he is feeling much better.

Julianna started play school the week before last and is absolutely loving it. She enjoys going to class and taking part in the activities. I stayed most of the first day just to be sure we weren' t having any attachment problems. And have periodically since then stayed to watch through the two way glass or dropped in to have a gander. She is doing just great!Its great to see her have the opportunity to interact with other kids her age.

Stephen is still in Fort McMurray and has just gone back to a longer shift of 11 and 3. Not sure how long that will last!

We have also added another member to the family in the way of a new Golden Retriever puppy, named Buddy. Before everyone starts thinking I'm nuts, a bit of inside info needs to be shared. Our cocker spaniel Joey has a tumor in his ear which has been operated on twice now and continues to come back. The vet tells us that even if we wanted her to she couldn't get at it to remove it again. So at this point Joey is on meds to relieve the itch and swelling until it isn't humane for him to endure major discomfort.

Well, I will sign off for now and add a few pictures in the next day or so.

Happy Summer!!!

Anyone who is still following the blog knows it has been awhile since I last posted. Some computer glitch has blocked me from adding to the blog from my profile so this morning I thought I would try from someone elses in the family and amazingly it worked.

So what has happened in the last month and a half. Well, quite a bit actually. Jacob and Mitchell had their heads shaved for the Short Cut to the Cure. So we had a couple of very smooth headed boys for awhile.

Three days before school ended Jacob ran into the back of a parked truck on his bicycle and was laid up for a couple of weeks with a very bruised leg and minor concussion. The truck faired worse and ended up having $1800 worth of damages. Thank heavens Jacob was wearing his helmet. The story might not have ended so favorably otherwise.

Big dent is where Jacob's head hit, smaller one where his fist hit.

Those two dents are the bike and his knees.

On a happier note, we have been in the throws of driving back and forth to Lone Praire Camp with the boys. Zachary went first for two weeks for CLT training, then Mitchell went and now Jacob is at camp. Mitchell is going again next week with some friends from school to another camp just down the road from the one our boys go to. Camp is such a great experience in so many ways.

On the home front, We have been finishing outside jobs like yard cleanup from last years project, replanting grass that died with supplies sitting on it, steps have been installed on the veranda, Stephen is now working on the railing and last week the eavetroughing was installed. When the veranda railing is finished I will post a new picture.

Julianna and I continue to work on her speech and travel back and forth to Edmonton on Tuesday mornings to meet with the speech therapist. We are making progress but it is slow going as each sound has to be learned individually and then added to other sounds. For example: First we learned and practiced the vowel sounds and now we are adding them with the h sound. ie ho, ha, hi, he. E's are especially hard as the sound tends to come out her nose and has to be relearned for the sound to come out her mouth. We continue to have lots of fun watching Julianna learn and experience new things. She will going to playschool in the fall and I know will enjoy being with the other children. She has made friends with the little boy next door and loves to go visit him.

I will say so long for now. Hope everyone is having a wonderful summer!!!

New Pics

Hi folks, Thought it was time to share a couple new pictures. My girl's clothes can be so much fun. The first is from a princess dress up birthday party a couple of weeks ago and the second is from last weekend. Julianna is doing just great as you can see. She enjoys life to the fullest and loves being outside. Although her speech is still unclear we are understanding more all the time and she has starting reading to me in the last week or two. Next week we have our appointment with the speech therapist and I am hoping she will give us some exercises to work on over the summer. God has so blessed us !!!

Update

Well it has been almost 2 weeks since Julianna's surgery. She has done amazingly well and within a couple of days of the surgery you really would never have known she had been through such a tramatic ordeal. She has really never complained or even mentioned her mouth. She is survivor!! We are so proud of her. We have our followup appointment this Friday. Here 's hoping that all is well.

Surgery Completed

Hi Folks,

A few weeks have passed since my last post so thought it was time to give an update. Yesterday was Julianna's palate surgery. We left the house bright and early at 6:30am to be there for 8:00am. We arrived on time and received our paperwork and then sat in the waiting for the appointed time. 10:10am. At 9:40am they called to say they we are their way down to take her upstairs only to call back 2 minutes later to say there was a delay. Finally at 10:40am they came and we went up to another waiting room outside surgery to wait again. We talked to the surgeon and to the anesthesiologist before actually going into the OR at about 11:30am (I got to go in with her)where they proceeded to try to get in an IV, to no avail. So they used the mask to get her off to sleep. When we saw her later they had tried in both hands and it ended up in her foot. Amazingly enough not 24 hours she was released and is doing great here at home. Her mouth doesn't seem to be causing her any great discomfort and she is eating just fine. Stephen stayed the night with her and was kicked out of his bed at about midnight because they needed it for another little girl. We are so thankful she is on the mend so quickly. She is quite the little trooper.

ROCK BAND DRESS UP

Well folks, it has been awhile. I thought it was time to share a few new pictures of a rock band dress up day. Julianna had a blast and was quite in character. Jacob tells me not to post any of him but they really are fun to look at. A good time was had by all!!!

Julianna also dressed up in a ladybug costume and liked it so much she wouldn't take it off for quite awhile.

And lastly a prim and proper Julianna dressed for church.

INFO ON ANOTHER MEMBER OF THE CLAN

It has been an extremely busy month. In some ways too busy with lots of activities and new developments. Stephen got laid off a couple of weeks ago so has been around home working on some of the many projects to finish off after the reno. We have also been making up for lost time and have made quite a few trips to the ski hill before the season comes to end this Sunday. We are all a little disappointed to see it come to an end. Mitchell started basketball this week and that committment will continue for the next 6 weeks. Jacob is busy with guitar lessons. As I mentioned in the last post Zachary has been extremely busy this year with both theatre and music and I thought I might share a few pictures of his many antics. It all started in November when he played William Friendly III in a play called Hotel Hollywood. William was a crazy accident prone nerdy inventor.

A nerdy inventor has to have a few explosions of course.

He also has a hard time making committments and has been dating the same girl for 8 years.

Who knows why she would wait that long, I mean look at the clothes.

The next charactor was Two Gun Tommy, a gangster in a play called Lucky Lucky Hudson.




Two Gun Tommy and his wife Petty Larceny Jane.

Then in February he took part in the Alberta Junior High Honor Band which after 2 1/2 days of practice as an assemble of 120 played at the Winspear in Edmonton. They even played 2 numbers with the Edmonton Wind Symphonia. That made about 160 on the stage at one time.


If that weren't enough he is now taking part in a large Easter production called Love According to John which has been performed in Edmonton for the last 30 plus years. They have 5 performances the week of Easter. He is also one of a small group working on a spoof of Snow White here in town. As you can tell he isn't shy. Its lots of fun and he meets lots of nice people.

And people think homeschool kids don't get out.

Julianna is doing great! We had a checkup yesterday with Dr. Baxter the pediatrician and also saw the occupational therapist. Things continue to move forward and they both feel she is doing really well. Her gross motor skills have improved and we will continue to work on the fine motor. Everyone always notices how happy she is and she really is like that all the time. We are very blessed.

Hope you all have a great day!!!!