It's Not a "NO"

Thank GOD!!!  I just got off the phone with Lyla's cardiologist, Dr. Leonard.  The Doctors in the conference all agree that surgery for Lyla will be very high risk but the alternative could be even worse with out surgery.  So they have a plan!!!  THANK GOD!!!

Lyla will be put on oxygen 24/7 and she will start taking Viagra three times a day in addition to her Lasix and Enalpril.  Since Lyla responded well to oxygen during her cath they believe that this will allow her to get stronger.  They will reevaluate her case again early February.  Dr. Leonard said they might request another cath before scheduling surgery but hopefully surgery could be scheduled in February or March!!!!!

OH THANK GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you so very much for all the PRAYERS!!!!!  They are being heard and being put in to action!!!!!  I can NOT even come close to telling you how grateful we are!!!!!!

THANK YOU!!!!!!

THANK GOD!!!!!

Abundantly Blessed!!!

I brought Belle in the kitchen for a snack.  Leaving Sara & Lyla on the couch with the IPad and Gavin looking at a book.  I put Belle in her highchair, took out the goldfish container and put a couple fish on Belle's tray.  I ran downstairs to grab a bottle of water, took approximately 3 sips and then went to check on Sara, Lyla and Gavin.  

In that very short time, this is what I found:

My sweet girls had passed right out!!!

Which allowed the perfect opportunity for Gavin to steal his sisters purse, remove the caps off of EIGHT lip gloss containers and put them all back in the purse!!!  He was so PROUD of himself!!!

Obviously I couldn't be mad at him.  He put all the lip gloss back where it belonged - something we PREACH constantly around here!!!  Yes, I wish he would of put the caps back on so we didn't have a sloppy mess in the purse but hey I wish Dave would hire a housekeeper too and I am sadly aware that isn't ever going to happen!!!

Really, I don't need to wish for a thing!!!

I Have Been Abundantly Blessed!!!!

Catch up!!!

Here is a Catch Up Post!!!!

Sorry It has taken me so long!!!

I so appreciate the messages making sure that we are all okay!!!!

Well, first Lyla's Birthday Party was Wonderful!!!  She wouldn't eat her cupcake so we pureed it for her!!!  She sure seemed to LOVE it!!!!

That beautiful hand made card came all the way from Switzerland!!!  Yes, our girl sure is LOVED all over the world!!!!

Then the next day was her cath.  She wasn't feeling so well when she woke up from anesthesia.  Look at Uncle Mike just LOVE her!!!!

Lyla just wasn't getting back to her self after her cath.  On the third day I called her Pediatrician and he put her on an antibiotic - she was better in 12 hours.  SO GRATEFUL!!!!  Our little Bean got better each day!!

Sara has been up to her normal antics.  Playing "baby" with Gavin is so much fun for her!  She is so lucky Gavin is such a great sport about it.

Reading to the baby!

Dressing the baby up like a Princess!!!  Poor Gavin!!!

We had a beautiful day last week and we went to the playground!  Belle is changing so much!!!  She sure is something special!!!

Gavin needs to work on his poker face, don't you think?  Pretty obvious he is about to do something "naughty".  Oh my he is HANDSOME!!!!

SG drives me crazy on a daily basis.  Last night she was playing "hair dresser" and put a very generous amount of vase line in her hair.  Have you ever had the pleasure of washing Vaseline out of hair???  Well, it DOESN'T WASH OUT!!!   Oh this girl has a busy imagination!!!  The problem with her imagination is it is usually very very MESSY!!!!

AWE!!!  Gavin was driving Miss. Belle!!!

Lyla took her chance at the wheel.  As you can see Belle was a tad bit concerned.

Sweet Owen is still just Sweet Owen!!!

My sister (Annie Hef) left last week :(   We miss her so much!!!!

Lyla is still full of smiles!!!

Thanksgiving was Wonderful!!!  So Wonderful I forgot to take pictures - UGH!!!  A First Turkey Day for Gav and Lyla Bean.  Big Things happened at dinner on Thanksgiving, Lyla ate Sweet Potato and Mashed Potato's from a spoon!!!  YAY!!!  GO BEAN!!!  Bellie ate all her mashed potato's her self with a spoon!!!!!  GO BUG!!!!  Gavin ate half the 17 lb turkey!!!  GO CHEN!!!!!  Owen didn't eat a thing at dinner because he snacked all day.  GO OWIE!!!!  And Sara talked all through dinner about herself!!  GO SG!!!!!  GOOD TIMES!!!  The big kids spent Thanksgiving with their Dad & Sarah - they too had a Wonderful Time!!!

How about those eyes???

Now we wait to hear from Lyla's Cardiologist on Thursday to find out if the other physicians are willing to operate!!!  PLEASE PRAY THAT THEY WILL!!!!!

Thank you!!!!

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!!!

Lyla is so HAPPY today!!!

Lyla is so HAPPY today!!!!  

We are so GRATEFUL!!!!!  

GOD IS SOOOOOOO GOOD!!!!!!!!

She is still retaining some fluid but that doesn't stop this girl from enjoying every moment of being home!!!

This girl Amazes me constantly!!!!

Lyla is HOME!!!!

Lyla is home all comfy and cozy in her own warm crib!!!  Oh My she was such a trooper today!!!  I couldn't be any prouder of her!!!  

Thank you for all the prayers, support and love you sent our way!!!  So Incredible to have you all with us every step of the way!!!

Uncle Mike was such an AMAZING help today!  I can't even explain the GOD SEND this man is.  We are Beyond Blessed to have Uncle Mike & his wife Carol in our corner!!!!  THANK YOU GOD FOR THESE TWO WONDERFUL PEOPLE!!!!!

Now we wait for the cardiologist to present Lyla's case to the other physicians.  He is going to TRY and present her case tomorrow!!  So we might find out tomorrow if they believe she is a candidate for surgery.  If not tomorrow then her case will be presented in 2 weeks.  Either way, we will soon know the next step.

I LOVE being the MOM of this most precious little girl!!!!!!!

PRAISING JESUS FOR OUR MIRACLE DAUGHTER

Lyla Update

Lyla did great during the procedure. She is now having a hard time keeping her O2 sats up. She is hanging in the 60's and that is pretty low. We might need to stay the night if she can't get up to the high 70's. Please keep Lyla in your prayers!! Thank you so much!!!!








Uncle Mike has been such an amazing help. We are so blessed that he Loves Lyla so much!!! I know Lyla doesn't look comfortable but he is trying to keep her airway open!!!

UPDATE: Lyla is doing much better and she is able to go home!!!! Thank GOD!!!!!! Thank you so much for the prayers!! We used every one of those prayers!!!!


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Prayers for Lyla Please

UPDATE: the nurse from the cath lab has called twice to the waiting room to let us know that LYLA IS DOING GREAT!!! THANK GOD!!!!!!!!

Please pray for Lyla today that she tolerates her procedure well. She just went in for her cardiac cath. We should be able to see her in 3 hours and we will be updated hourly.
Thank you so much!!!
Lyla is so strong and she is such a little fighter!!! I have all the confidence in the world that she will do just fine!!
I sure do LOVE that sweet girl!!




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Happy Birthday Lyla!!!!!!!!!!!

This is my THIRD "Happy Birthday" post on November 14 

 First in 2010 when a very precious sweet girl turned 1  

http://luckytolovelyla.blogspot.com/2010/11/happy-birthday-lyla.html

Then in 2011 when that same little love turned 2 

http://luckytolovelyla.blogspot.com/2011/11/happy-birthday-lilianna.html

This year 

  

 Lyla is 3 Years Old

And the Birthday Girl by many miracles is 

NOW, MY DAUGHTER

WE ARE BEYOND BLESSED

Happy Birthday Lyla

We Love You To The Moon and Back Sweet Girl

Thank You G.A. Family Services & Olympics

We are very blessed to be a part of the post adoption services the G.A. Family Services offer!!!  They were so thoughtful to include our family in an article in our local newspaper they were featured in.

Above and beyond - post-journal.com | News, Sports, Jobs, Community Information - Jamestown | Post-Journal

In other news, Owen started Gymnastics today!!  WOO HOO!!!  GO OWEN!!!  He LOVED IT!!!!  Out of 8 children one is bound to be in the Olympics - I AM SURE OF IT!!!!  Is it Owen????

Yep, I think it's Owen.  This last picture screams RAW TALENT!!!!  Hello Olympics - Here we come!!!!

The Power of "Time-Out"!!!!

We have tried and tried to video Lyla when she puts on her best dance moves.  

I was desperate as I knew these dance moves needed to be captured for everyone to enjoy.  

Desperate times called for desperate measures!!!  

Orphan Sunday

It's hard to even catch my breath thinking of all the orphans in this world. 

It's only in a nightmare that I remember the conditions that three of our children once lived.  

We only had a peek of what some orphans have to endure and it was enough to weigh so heavy on our hearts that we will never be the same.  

Way too many beautiful treasures are Suffering HELL on EARTH!!!!!

RIGHT NOW

They Are Starving

They Are Cold

They are Scared

They are often physically abused

They are UNLOVED

UNTOUCHED

BUT

They FIGHT!!!!

They continue to suffer in hopes that one day it will change!!!

One Day

Someone will Come For Them

and take them out of the COLD DARK place they know

and 

IN TO THE LIGHT

FOREVER

Please go to the Reece's Rainbow website.

Please do what you can to help!!!

PLEASE!!!!

http://reecesrainbow.org/

We made turkey cookies today

We made these cookies in honor of all the orphans in the world

that have not had the chance to

make a cookie

frost a cookie

or

Even

EAT A COOKIE!!!!

Five Turkey Cookies

Made by:

Owen - adopted from foster care

Sara - adopted from foster care

Belle- adopted from Ukraine

Gavin - adopted from Ukraine

Lyla - adopted from Ukraine

An Orphan Could Be Your BLESSING!!!!!

FIVE HAVE BEEN MINE!!!!!

Hello!!!

Yes, we are here!!!  We are all doing very well!!!  Sorry I haven't posted!  Time is so limited these days.  I know I keep saying that but it is so the truth!!!  Thank you so much Emi for making sure we were okay!

Lyla's cardiac cath is scheduled for November 15th.  Dave only has 1 vacation day left and he would like to use that day for Lyla's surgery - GOD WILLING!!!  So, Uncle Mike was so super nice to agree to go with us.  My sister flew in so she will take care of the other littles while I am in Rochester.  The nurse told me to plan on staying the night.  So that is the plan!!!  We just have to keep sweet Lyla healthy until November 15th or she wont be able to have the test.  So that is the MISSION in this house right now.  KEEP LYLA HEALTHY!!!!!

Lyla's birthday is November 14th!!!  SHE WILL BE THREE!!!!!!  I can't even believe it!!!  It's  hard to believe this girl lived one day with out us, never mind 2 years and 9 months.  It feels like she has been with us since the amazing day she was born November 14, 2009.  Oh how we LOVE HER!!!!!

Here are some fun pictures showing just a smidgen of what we have been up to.