Monday, June 10, 2013

Mid Year Madness

June.  Already.  Wow!

What's happened in the last six months, A LOT. 

January had us settling down from the holidays, parties and get togethers.  It also was a big change for the littles as they started pre-school.  Mom was worried about their transition, but it was all for nothing.  They kissed me goodbye, walked into school and that was that.  They have loved attending and ask every day if "I go to school today" each morning, even Saturday and Sundays.  William was so amazed by his sisters dancing in lesson that he too joined dance and is taking tap and ballet with Jocelyn.  This kids in his dance class don't notice his cute little arm, but in June when they have their concert and he is on the stage for all to see I hope the audience is as kind.

February we did a mini road trip and spent a long weekend in Williamsburg, VA with all six of the kids on our first official vacation since Marin and Tristan have been home.  We had a good time, the kids loved the night time ghost hunt in Colonial Williamsburg and of course eating at all the restaurants.  This littles did well with the travel and the first time away from the house since being home from China.

March had a big change at the house, we renovated the old (and I mean O-L-D) kitchen which made life a little rough  during construction but we muddled through and the kids got to help knock down a wall so that was exciting to say the least.  Marin and Tristan had their last appointment with CHoPAdopt and now we just need to see their various specialists as necessary.   

April means baseball starts and in our house that's big news.  Griffin began his season with Team Friedrich and the clan was there to support him (whether or not he wanted it).  William also started his Challenger League team and loves is mentor/buddy Anthony.  Tristan and Marin see William play and they both ask if they can too.  Yes, next year, anyway.  The kids on Will's team are amazing.  It is comprised of kids with any type of medical need from limb differences like William to kids with CP, stokes and Autism.

May probably should be in capital letters.  One word says it all - Disney and if you ask the kids, their highlight so far for this year would be this trip.  The littles LOVED, LOVED, LOVED it.  Everyone was at such a great age to enjoy a little something different about the trip.  Griffin and Elena had a little bit of freedom and went on a lot of the high velocity rides on their own.  The middles and littles, being so close in age took in all the special rides and we finally after all these years went on Dumbo without a two hour line.  William and Jocelyn were just tall enough to take on Kali River Rapids and Expedition Everest and did so a number of times.  Every character meal was met with squeals, hugs and such happiness that I still get chills thinking about their reactions to the characters.  Mickey, Lightening McQueen and Mike and Sully were big hits with Tristan.  Marin, she was a princess everyday and would pose like a champ for photos with them.  At one point I didn't break out the camera since we already had our photo taken with Mickey at this particular restaurant and she told me to get it out and take her picture, so of course I did.  Since she has to wear two different types of shoes because of her foot/leg difference, she was more than happy to show her little foot's shoe to each and every princess since it had a gold crown on it.

June has been another busy month.  Griff's team won their division and are also playoff champions for this year.  He hit his first home run and it was a monster 20 feet or more over the center field fence.  And what did he do after he hit it, he come out of the dugout to hug his mom and high five his dad.  Mom was weepy needless to say.  Elena, William and Jocelyn will have their dance recitals the end of the month.  We celebrated Tristan's birthday at school this month and school officially ends on the 14th.  We are working on securing all our pre-approvals for Marin's upcoming surgery, the first of many.  I will admit I'm a little nervous about it.  While the difference between her two legs is significant as is her club foot, she gets around like a whirlwind and nothing stops her.  I just hate to see her laid up, in pain and not able to be the Tasmanian Devil she is.  In the end it will all be for the best but mom and dad don't want to see her in pain in the mean time. 

We've already enjoyed some picnic time on the back patio and look forward to many more.  July will be fun as well.  Fourth of July is a big holiday in our town with a big parade and fireworks as well as a neighborhood picnic.  Our friends from our Beijing trip for William's adoption will be coming out our way for our yearly visit and we are excited to see them (we missed them last year as we were in China meeting Marin and Tristan). The end of July lands us in Baltimore for a month for Marin's surgery.

Wishing everyone a fun-filled, fantastic summer.


Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Where does the time go...

Hard to believe that we have been home almost 6 months with the kids and are meeting with our Social Worker on Friday to submit our next Post-Placement Home Study.  The trip to meet them seems like only yesterday and forever ago all at the same time.  They just fit so well into the chaos at Casa De Clark that it seems they've always been home.

The kids all had a blast with all the fun and activities from the Fall and Winter.  Christmas was a big hit for them and Santa wasn't too bad either (they both sat on his lap multiple times)  I think they liked the fact that each time the big guy in the red suit visited they got a present so he was ok in their book.

We've been thru most of the preliminary medical testing.  Some we need to follow-up on and other have dismissed us from care.  We've had some surprises along the way and are working on figuring out treatment options and testing where necessary but it will all work out, always does.

Their personalities are staring to really shine and boy oh boy are they something.  Marin and Tristan have really taken to each other in a "twin like way" much the same as William and Jocelyn did. 

The Clark Kids
 

Tristan Christmas 2012
 

Marin Christmas 2012
 



The  little ones started pre-school in January and are enjoying it very much.  They ask each day if they can go to school and have fun.   Them liking it makes it much easier to get 6 kids out the door and to their schools each morning.

We can't wait to see what the next couple of months brings with our brood.  They keep us on our toes and we sure do have a lot of fun.