An Attempt to Catch Up

I've gotten so far behind on our blog that I'm not sure how to catch back up, ha!  Each time I sit down, the task seems a bit daunting because it's been so long.  In general, it's a good thing, though, because it means we've been so busy having fun and living our lives, that I haven't had much time to stop, sit, and reflect.  Though maybe in our busy schedule, sitting is what I need from time to time.

When I last left off, we had gone to Disneyland and California, then came home to enjoy Deena's new bike.  We worked on getting back in to a routine with homeschooling, appointments, therapy, and life.

We enjoyed some homeschooling fieldtrips, the girls and I went to see Shopkins Live, the kiddos had a blast on Halloween, and we enjoyed life being slow for a bit. Just about when we got settled, though, things got busy again.  

In November Madi turned 9.  I'm still in total shock that my baby is getting so big.  Madi had so much fun at her birthday party and loved celebrating.  We traveled to Phoenix and had a painting party with our friends, then also had a family party to celebrate.  She picked a Pokémon theme and got a cute little Pokémon dress to wear to the celebrations.

 We came home, recovered briefly, worked on some homeschool projects, and then Thanksgiving hit.  We traveled back to Phoenix to celebrate with our family, and had a really nice time.

(In Phoenix with family....)

(Proof that we REALLY do relax sometimes)

We re-settled once again, making sure to have some fun amid the busy Christmas season.  We went to the Desert Museum, decorated wheelchairs, prepped for Christmas, and even got to ride a party bike with my parents (who came to visit), my Aunt, and my second cousin to look at Christmas lights.  Oh, and Starwars.  I can't forget Starwars.  We saw it on opening night and all loved it, of course.

Oh goodness, and Santa.  I can't forget Santa.  We went to a really fun event with Hope Kids where we got to play games, ride rides, and spend time with Santa.  The kiddos even got gifts and had so much fun.  We also Santa at the Children's Clinic, where we go for therapy and some appointments, as well, and the kiddos got more gifts.  We had a special visit from my birth grandma, Donna, and her husband, Jim.  We enjoyed talking and catching up, and they gave the kiddos their Christmas gifts as well.  They were on cloud 9!

We celebrated our Christmas with the kids a little early, and then we traveled, once again, to Phoenix to spend time with family for Christmas.  Since both David's family and my family live in Phoenix, we travel often.  We really enjoyed our time there, and came home ready to rest a bit.  We also came home to a lot of appointments, but we made it through.  We celebrated David's birthday as well, which included cheesecake, so everyone was pretty happy about that.  David's parents sent David and Conner on a hot air balloon ride for their birthdays, and they had a wonderful time.  It's something they will never forget, that's for sure!

Over New Years my birth dad, Mark, and his wife, Michelle, came to visit and stay with us for a few days.  We had a really fun time with them.  The kids especially enjoyed taking them to the Children's Museum, which they love.

The New Years started off with a bang as we celebrated Conner's 11th birthday (I know, 11!  I can't believe it either!!), Deena's 10th birthday (Her second birthday home!!), and Deena's two-year adoption day (We celebrated with Indian food at her favorite café, at her request, which was perfect).  We had a friend party for Deena and Conner where we went to watch Paddington 2, then came home for pizza and donuts.  The kiddos loved their party, and it was so fun watching them be so excited.  They picked a cat theme and both wore cat-themed outfits, which was adorable.  

We had friends come visit for the day in January and we had a lot of fun with them.  We got to check out a pinball arcade we've been meaning to visit, and we are planning to go back for sure.

We found an amazing organization called Little Hooves Big Hearts, and have had the privilege of visiting and working with their miniature horses twice now.  Our second trip out was in January, and we are looking forward to our visit next month.  Every time we leave, the kids tell me they had "the best day ever".  They really love going and spending time there.  They let them groom the horses, do obstacle courses with them, and they just have a blast.  

It took me a month or so, but I finally got the Christmas decorations off the girl's chairs.  This time we went for a nice spring look, with ribbon and flowers.

A few weeks ago, we celebrated Ramya's 5 year adoption day.  She was really excited to celebrate, as we all were, and was beaming all day.  Ramya is a kiddo who doesn't often show much emotion, and it was good for the soul to see her so excited.  She chose to go to Smashburger to celebrate.  We also watched her adoption video together and shared stories of our time in India.

Last weekend we were back in Phoenix for a fun, whirlwind of a trip.  We had a family birthday party for Conner, Deena, and Ramya (Ramya's birthday isn't until March, but we have been lumping all the cousins together twice a year for big family parties.  It's a ton of fun, and also helps make us slightly less busy and crazy), and also had two baby showers to attend.  The kiddos party was, once again Pokémon themed.  We had it at a park that also has a small train.  It was such a fun time!  

We ended this week with a bang....

.... sorry, I couldn't resist, she's just too cute.  We cashed in some cash back bonus awards we had on our credit card for Dave and Busters giftcards, then took the kiddos there for dinner and games to celebrate Valentine's Day and how much we love them.  They, of course, had a blast, and came home with a few new fun trinkets, like this whoopee cushion.  

As you can see, we've been crazy busy, but in a good way!  I'm sure I left out a bunch of stuff, but you get the idea :).  Though life is busy, we really try to focus on having fun.  It would be far to easy to get wrapped up in all of the therapy, appointments, homeschool, and "medical" stuff in our lives.  We really try to be intentional about making sure we find joy amongst the busyness, and give our kids lots of opportunities to just be kids.  We may not ever sit down, but it's worth it!

I have some medical updates as well, but I think I will wait on those for now.  Overall, everyone is healthy and we are thankful for that!

If you've made it this far, thank you for taking the time to catch up on what we've been up to. We always appreciate your thoughts and prayers, and it means so much that you are walking this journey with us.

Deena's New Adaptive Bike

Deena was granted her very own adaptive, hand-pedaled bike through Athletes Helping Athletes and Roadunner Sports.  She was SO excited to be able to ride with her sisters and have independence.  Anyone who knows Deena also knows she's a bit of a daredevil and she LOVES to go fast.  After talking in length to her physical therapist and her orthopedic surgeon, we decided to go with a hand-pedaled bike.  Though her rods have made her legs beautifully straight and so much stronger, we know that more breaks are in her future.  Since most of her breaks are in her legs, a hand-pedale bike will give her the freedom to ride even if she's in a cast.  We also liked the tricycle type wheel style for added stability and safety, so we ended up with an Invacare bike, just like her sisters have.

Deena's bike came the day before her last rodding surgery, and she couldn't wait to heal enough for a ride.  Between the heat and vacation it took a bit to get her out and on the road, but we've been out for a few rides now and she really is loving it.  It's such an enormous blessing to be able to have ALL of our children out, riding together, and just being kids!

We just want to say a HUGE "thank you" to Roadrunner Sports, their Athletes Helping Athletes foundation, and everyone who donates to their fundraisers.  You have impacted our children's lives immensely and we are SO thankful!

And Now for the Fun

We came home from vacation to a big flurry of appointments, laundry, and therapy while we played catch-up from being gone.  Life has pretty much settled back down (as much as it ever settles), so I wanted to make sure to check in and post photos from our vacation.

Right before we left, Deena had an appointment with Dr. Vincent, her orthopedic surgeon, for a final surgery follow-up.  He said her leg was healing beautifully, she was cleared for all regular activity, and (barring any emergencies) we don't need to follow up for 6 months!  It's so exciting!  It was nice to be able to head out for vacation with a clean bill of health.

First up on vacation was Disneyland and California Adventure, of course.  We contemplate not going every year, because of the cost, but the kids love it so much and we always seem to end up there.  The parks were packed and a bit difficult to navigate, but it didn't stop us from having a blast.  There were multiple times I had to make a human blockade around Deena to keep people from bumping her, but we managed and it was totally worth it.  The girls favorite part was getting the princesses autographs and riding Dumbo, It's a Small World, Radiator Springs Racers, and the Haunted Mansion.  Conner loved all the fast stuff, with Guardians of the Galaxy being a favorite this year.  Here are some of my favorite pictures from the parks this year:

After spending a few days at the parks, we headed over to Carlsbad and spent a week on the beach.  It was exactly what we needed; time to relax and recuperate, with no agenda.  We found a really nice, clean beach that had two beach wheelchairs, and the girls had a blast being out in the water.  Conner spent most of his time boogie boarding and couldn't have been happier.  We also spent time with my birth mom and her husband, as well as my birth dad and his wife.  It was really nice to get to see everyone, and the kids really loved visiting.  They have so many people who love them; we are so blessed!  We also spent part of a day at SeaWorld because they had their kids-go-free in October deal going on, and Ramya's been asking to go.  It was nice and slow, so it was pretty relaxing even though it was another park.  The kiddos all had a blast, and their favorite part, hands-down, was putting their hands in the tank with the fish that clean you.  They crack me up!!  We probably could have used another week on the beach, but we are so thankful for the time that we had.   

(This is Deena's face when she is "not cold")

Though there were a few bumps in the road with hotel issues and the crowds, we found most places to be really accommodating.  We are so glad we got some time away to re-connect and relax.  I have a lot more  "life stuff" to share, but the rest will have to wait.  Thank you for checking it!