Our Adoption Journey

StoryBook Land meets Lukey and his Preschool Class

2011-05-03T20:47:00.000-07:00

I believe the title of the blog page for today states it all...LOL! Signal Hill Preschool Program had their 1st class trip at StoryBook Land today. StoryBook Land is sorta like Disney but for Preschoolers (more or less) and it is all themed with Mother Goose and Fairy Tales, truly an incredible experience. We have been to StoryBook Land before for the holidays...we adore StoryBook Land :) Ron offered to help out and stated he would be happy to be a chaperon. Needless to say, he was exhausted when he returned home today...LOL! What I thought was extremely cute, Lukey kept on telling Ryan and myself what a GREAT time we missed out on today by not going to StoryBook Land with his class. I adore 4 year olds :)

I LOVE the white peacock, so beautiful!

Enjoy the photos :)

Love & HUGS,
Jenny, Ron, Ryan & Lukey :)

Ryan's 1st Communion

2011-05-01T22:29:00.000-07:00

We are extremely proud of our little Ry Guy!!! Today, May 1, 2011, he made his 1st Communion :) I, of course, cried my eyes out! Why? Because he is growing, I can't stop him, and he looked SO handsome in his suit...what a kid!!! Doesn't he look way tooooo small to be making his 1st Communion?! Mass was at 12 Noon and then we celebrated at Due Amici's in Cinnaminson with brunch. We couldn't be prouder!!!

Enjoy the photos :)

Love & HUGS,
Jenny, Ron, Ryan & Lukey :)

Who would have thought?!

2011-04-30T15:23:00.000-07:00

I brought Ryan to horseback riding this morning (which is our usual Saturday morning ritual) but Ron brought Lukey to the Allergist. The reason? I have been talking with my cousin's wife and she told me that her littlest has allergies...so I was thinking hmmm I wonder if Lukey does too? It seems as if he has had a cold or at least a sniffy nose this entire winter season. Low and behold Lukey has allergies! And, get this...his number #1 allergy? DOGS!!! I was beside myself when Ron told me the results of his allergy tests. My poor baby has needle marks up and down his arms and back :( OUCH! It was how the Allergist tests him to see if he is allergic to common things, such as dogs, mold, pollen, etc. I will state that at least now we know and Ron said he was impressed with the Allergist. The reason is because he didn't want to automatically put Lukey on medication to control his allergies...he wants him and us to be preventative and work from there. I truly like this approach and so does Ron! Of course, this means being more proactive on our part as parents but I believe we are up for the challenge or at least I hope we are :/ LOL! In addition to dogs, Lukey is also allergic to mold and penicillin (we knew about the penicillin b/c we had a polka dot baby the one year in Washington D.C., does anyone recall that?). The Allergist said he realizes we have a dog who is eleven years old, he doesn't expect us to go and get rid of him (Thank-Goodness!) but just keep Lukey and Boulder "somewhat" separated...wish us luck! Or he did offer another solution, if Lukey hugs Boulder immediately wash his hands and pretty soon it will become second nature to Lukey...or so we hope :/

Also, this is TOTALLY off topic here but I want to comment on Kate's and Prince's William's Royal Wedding...I, of course, was up at the crack of dawn and was watching everything :) Ron also woke up because he said I was too loud with my crying...was I? It was spectacular, it was what every little girl hopes for and then some! As I was watching the Royal Wedding I couldn't help but think of my Mom and I getting up and watching Princess Diana wed Prince Charles...that brings tears to my eyes even now. I was eight years old and remember that particular day as if it were yesterday :) What made me cry harder than I ever cried was the fact that, my Dad said he was awake to watch the Royal Wedding and as he tells it, it was my Mom and her talking to him even though we all know she passed. My Dad said she must have been sitting on my shoulder that morning because for the life of him he couldn't get back to sleep. Now that is too cute! Another extremely funny aspect about this Royal Wedding is that when Ron and I heard that Kate and Prince William were engaged I was on the phone with my sister, Ron made a comment that has stuck to this day and you know what? He is absolutely correct...if we lived in the World of Harry Potter...Ron called Kate a "MUGGLE" because if you think about it, he is correct before she wed Prince William she was a "MUGGLE" or she was a commoner but I like "MUGGLE" instead of calling her a commoner My sister and I must have laughed over this for at least a half hour...gotta love Ron :) LOL!!! Leave it to Ron!

Love & HUGS,
Jenny, Ron, Ryan & Lukey :)

Easter in our house...

2011-04-25T16:56:00.000-07:00

Easter this year was extremely late in April. Of course, this did not deter us from seeing and doing everything leading up to Easter. We went to the annual Easter Egg Hunt at Connolly Park in Voorhees. It was a damp and dank day but you wouldn't have realized that if you talked to either of the boys because they were hyped up about getting the eggs...we thought it was the "CANDY" within those eggs that made that difference! In other words, the boys had a ball :)

During the month of April we went to a pancake breakfast that happened to have the Easter Bunny :) The boys truly enjoyed this breakfast...I suspect that Lukey enjoyed it more because his girlfriend, Keely, was there as well. There is a photo of the both of them, that I snapped, and let me tell you they honestly look like Prom King and Queen...you tell me if I'm dreaming or what. They look adorable together too :)

The night before Easter is when we dye our Easter Eggs and this year did not disappoint :) And, of course as usual we had the Easter Egg Hunt and we use real eggs...over the years this didn't work so well but now that the boys are getting older they definitely know that they are not suppose to "squeeze" the eggs. But, every year we tell them not to "squeeze" but every year someone, aka Lukey, always squeezes a bit too hard...I'm just Thankful they are hard boiled eggs :)

On Easter we traveled, once again, to Ron's parents and my Aunt Pat's for scrumptious Easter meals...its shocking that neither Ron nor myself or any of the boys are two tons at this point. We eat two meals at every holiday it's going to catch up to us sooner or later...lets hope its later :)

Enjoy the photos :)

Love & HUGS,
Jenny, Ron, Ryan & Lukey :)

2 Super Stars :)

2011-04-02T11:00:00.000-07:00

The whole family attended Ryan's 2nd Grade Concert...he is getting SO big OMW!!! Absolutely adorable too but then again I'm biased!!!

I thought I would throw some hockey photos in as well...Lukey adores hockey too!!!

ENJOY!!!

Love & HUGS,
Jenny, Ron, Ryan & Lukey :)

Growing...

2011-03-13T10:28:00.000-07:00

First things first, I can't believe we are already in March 2011!!! Where on earth did the first 2 months of this year go? Another thought, I'm still writing 2010 on my checks :/

It seems as though the older the boys get the quicker time flies! SERIOUSLY!!!

We are extremely proud of Ryan these days! He does horseback riding every Saturday and he truly adores it and to boot he has become such an experienced rider at this point :) We couldn't be prouder! Recently, he was started on reigns, which is sorta a big deal...there is only one other student at Shadow Equestrian that uses reigns. Ryan has also learned to trot, actually the horse does the trotting, but its a miracle to watch this taking place! Of course, everyone knows that Ryan does a jump position as well :) See this is why we are SO proud of our little Ry guy!!!

Love & HUGS,
Jenny, Ron, Ryan and Lukey :)

4 Years Ago Today...

2011-02-17T23:13:00.000-08:00

Today is the 4 year anniversary of my Mom's passing...I never in a million years thought I would miss her SO much! You would think that with every year would bring relief and almost a calming sense...NO not at all!!! In a way I believe this year was tougher than the 1st year of her passing. The reason is, everyone knew that 1st year...but everyone goes on, life goes on. I'm in no way faulting family or friends, please don't think that this is the purpose of today's blog. I am, in a sense, living my true feeling out loud and I mean no harm in my words. Sorry if I've stepped on any one's toes. It's also the sense that you are too raw to feel anything that 1st anniversary. The 2nd anniversary, I believe was extremely hard too, b/c you realize that your loved one is not on vacation and they aren't coming through your front door :( Last year, on her 3rd anniversary it came and went, I was a bit apprehensive BUT nothing like this year. I was on edge all week long, just ask Ron :) It literally took Ryan's Play Therapist to point out to me that it wasn't today-it was the anticipation leading up to today. WHY on earth hadn't I seen that one?! But she was spot on :/

I wrote to my aunt in an email that I just want to talk to my Mom again and get her advice. I REALLY need to give her a huge hug, I miss her-boy do I miss her! I was watching a show tonight (which will remain nameless) and there was this scene where a daughter needs a hug from her Mom and it dawned on me...I will never feel my Mom's arms around me again and doesn't every daughter need a hug from their Mom?! I need her to tell me that all will be okay with Ryan. No one but my Mom could calm me down when it came to Ryan and all of his diagnoses. Sorry, for being such a downer :(

My sister said something extremely poignant the other night, Mom will have been gone in the amount of time it took me (meaning my sister) to complete college. It goes by in the blink of an eye. Cherish every moment :)

Love & HUGS,
Jenny

Ryan's 1st Reconciliation

2011-02-15T21:26:00.000-08:00

Tonight, Ryan attended his First Reconciliation Mass at Sacred Heart Church in Riverton. We are SO proud of him!!! Unfortunately, Ron couldn't make it due to unforeseen circumstances. It was me in the pew with Ryan and Lukey, I told Ron if he leaves me in church again alone, there will be the wrath of me to comply with...LOL :) I never realized that First Reconciliation is an extremely big deal to children who will be making their First Communion. To me, Ryan is still an itty bitty baby that we brought home from Azerbaijan. He truly is turning into a big boy right before our eyes. However, when I left him with the priest he looked so tiny just sitting there as I looked back at him :) There were four priests altogether and they sat in different areas on the alter to accommodate all of the children. There are 92 children who will be making their First Communion in May 2011. It is a huge class this year.

Again, I am sorry about the blurry photos...yes, they were taken with my cell :/

Love & HUGS,
Jenny, Ron, Ryan & Lukey :)

OH SNOWBALLS :/

2011-02-14T22:58:00.000-08:00

This is a saying that Ryan LOVES and boy can it be applied to this day :/ We went to an eye dr. appt. b/c all three of us (Ryan, Lukey and myself) needed an eye check-up. Evidently, Ryan's eye muscles are deteriorating and he not only needs glasses but in addition to this requires "Vision Therapy". When the eye dr. explained this to me I literally cried right then and there. Reason? B/C enough already! How much more can this child endure?! I do think it was everything as a whole. It wasn't the fact that he'll need glasses, it's definitely cumulative circumstances. Recently, Ryan has been complaining about reading, which is not like him at all and now we realize why :/ It's not a phase either. It truly does scare me.

I do have the website of the Pediatric Optometrist that was recommended to us and he is the only one in South Jersey who does Vision Therapy or we can go over to The Eye Institute in Philly. Here's the site, http://www.drgallaway.com/vision_therapy.html.

BTW, HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY TO FAMILY & FRIENDS :)

Love & HUGS,
Jenny, Ron, Ryan & Lukey :)

Year of The Bunny :)

2011-02-13T22:37:00.000-08:00

Happy Lunar New Year, its the year of the bunny :) We celebrated the Lunar New Year with the adoption support group, FACES. The boys had a blast making bunny heads and their dragons. Lukey was fascinated with the chop stick game, he played several rounds of this game. What was hysterical, was that for every 5 M&M's you successfully put into the little bowl with your chop sticks, you would then take your little bowl and empty it into the bigger bowl in the middle of the table...Lukey didn't quite understand this part...he took the M& M's and proceeded to eat them, every time he had 5 in his little bowl. It took us a while to realize what he was doing but when Ron and I did, we chuckled but put a stop to it. He told us, I won (he said the word "winned"-grammar!) those M&M's, why do I have to put them back? Again, out of the mouths of babes! We told him he needed to put the M&M's back b/c he needs to share with everyone at the celebration...he didn't particularly care for this explanation. Also, Lukey participated in the annual dragon parade. And, who can forget the food...it was delicious, as always :) Unfortunately, we didn't win any of the baskets this year...there is always next year :)

Enjoy the photos :)

Love & HUGS,
Jenny, Ron, Ryan & Lukey :)

Early Spring???

2011-02-02T14:50:00.000-08:00

Apparently, Punxsutawney Phil, The Groundhog, didn't see his shadow. But, the question remains...can we trust the groundhog?!? We shall wait and see. As I've said time and time again...I feel as if we moved to Canada. Honestly, I think it has snowed more than ever now that we reside in Voorhees.

On a side note, this past weekend my sister and her adorable boyfriend, Chris, visited us :) I have the cutest video of Chris teaching Ryan to play the guitar. Sorry about the quality of the photos and video, they were taken with my cell :/ I knew that if I ran to get my camera the moment would be gone.

Love & HUGS,
Jenny, Ron, Ryan & Lukey :)

So Precious!

2011-01-31T21:08:00.000-08:00

Lukey has become fond of this little girl in his Preschool class. Her Grandparents know that Lukey adores anything to do with hockey. A couple of weeks ago this little girl's Grandparents won a Flyers Basket at their church and they gave it to Lukey :) He absolutely adored the Flyers Basket, kept talking about it non-stop to anyone who would listen :) The basket has bobble heads, a mug, a street hockey stick (that was autographed!), an actual autographed photo of Bob "The Hound" Kelly, a windbreaker, and various other Flyer memorabilia. Then, the children who made the Flyers Basket found out who it went to and heard how much Lukey loves anything hockey they decided they wanted to do something special for him. These children asked their neighbor, who is non-other than Bob "The Hound" Kelly, to autograph a Build-A-Bear "Hound" and gave it to Lukey :) What an incredible family!!! Thank-You to everyone who thought of Lukey :)

Love & HUGS,
Jenny, Ron, Ryan & Lukey :)

More snow?!

2011-01-27T17:02:00.000-08:00

OMW!!! I feel as if we moved to Canada! Kid you not :/ According to Channel 6 News, this is the 6th snow storm within the past 30 days. At least it was a snow day for everyone, including the boys and Ron :) The snowman they built was by far the best one yet, Ron told me this was "GREAT" packing snow, good for snowmen and making snowballs :)

Enjoy the photos :)

Love & HUGS,
Jenny, Ron, Ryan & Lukey :)

Oopsie...forgot to mention

2011-01-24T22:25:00.000-08:00

We went to a GrandFather Frost Party on Sunday, January 9th, and the boys were in all of GrandFather Frost, its a Russian tradition. They kept on asking us questions, such as was he related to Santa and what part of Russia does he come from? SO adorable!!! I adore our boys ages, so inquisitive! Enjoy the photos :)

Today, we made a trek down to DuPont, Ohhh the joy with this drive :/ The reason? Ryan had a follow-up appt. with his orthopedic surgeon. It went well, all things considered that have been going on lately. I told the ortho. dr. that Ryan and everyone in our house are sick right now with an upper respiratory infection :/ And, that 3 out of 4 of us in our house were on antibiotics :( I told him that when Ryan gets sick he gets sick, as in not himself, uncoordinated, etc. Also, what scares Ron and I most is that when Ry has his breakthrough seizure activity he gets like this too BUT in a different way...so difficult to explain, in all honesty you truly need to witness it for yourself. However, with that said, it is our belief that Ryan is adjusting to his meds well, minus the side-effects of course, and we believe he has not had another break-through seizure since the last one. The ortho. dr. brought up an excellent point...that the reason for Ryan's lack of coordination is perhaps b/c he is growing, height wise, and having trouble adjusting to the new height growth?! I was amazed that I hadn't thought of this and yes, I do believe that this very well could be the case. We will watch and see. According to Ryan's ortho. dr. he would like to push back his hamstring surgery to Summer time, this way in case he grows (which is bound to happen b/c he's just an 8 year old boy) he can adjust to it, as best as his body will handle it. B/C he seems to grow in spurts, as we all do. Also, we are not putting any undo stress on Ry's already fragile body. The ortho. said he won't miss any school either :) Which may or may not stink for the pool this Summer :/

On the stuttering issue, which as you may have read on our blog, we believe is being caused from Ry's seizure meds. I received a call back from Ryan's neuro. and she said that the DNA questions that I posed are definitely questions that genetics at Dupont could answer for us. I simply told her the reason we were contacting neuro. in the first place? Was b/c it was dealing with his seizure meds. and if not start with neuro. then who should we start with? Neuro. told me this was great reasoning but genetics would be able to better answer the questions we put forth. So, to make a story short, Ryan has a genetic appt. on April 4th...hopefully they will be able to find out if Ry is predisposed to stuttering. I would LOVE to have any biological info. on our boys, especially Ryan. Here is a website on the genes that were recently found that predispose you to stuttering, http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/56232/title/Mutations_may_underlie_some_stuttering.

Love & HUGS,
Jenny, Ron, Ryan & Lukey :)

Back to the Dr.'s we will go...

2011-01-14T17:19:00.000-08:00

Today is Friday and Lukey needed a follow-up from his ER visit the other night, SO I was thinking why not bring Ryan along too b/c he was not getting any better either :( That is exactly what I did...it was successful in some areas but not in all :/

Let me explain...we saw the same pediatrician as we did on Monday and he said "Oh your back"! Yes, like I had any other choice :/ He finally put Ry on antibiotics b/c according to him he now had a sinus infection. I seriously want to throw my hands up in the air, b/c nothing has changed with Ryan and he had the same exact symptoms that he had when I brought him in on Monday :/ I am not complaining but my goodness! Okay, I am complaining!

The pediatrician was shocked to hear that Lukey actually had a concussion, as were we. But, everything with his follow-up appointment went great for the concussion, he checked out neurologically...everything was great, right? Not so fast, I asked the dr. to check Lukey out b/c he still has that cold/cough. As a matter of fact, some of the other Moms at Lukey's preschool refer to this particular cold as the "COUGH"! The cold is being spread throughout the preschool. The dr. checked him out, his lungs were clear, his ears were good...so no antibiotics :/ What I don't understand is how the pediatrician can put one child (who lives in the same household with the child who has a sinus infection and they share everything and yes I do mean everything) on an antibiotics but not the other?! I specifically asked the dr. if he would put Lukey on an antibiotic BUT he told me I can treat it with over-the-counter medication. So, tonight Lukey is irritable, has non-clear mucus (in other words its a pretty neon color) and is just miserable :/ We will definitely be back at the pediatricians office sometime within the next week. Can you tell how happy I am?! LOL!

Love & HUGS,
Jenny, Ron, Ryan, & Lukey :)

ER here we come...

2011-01-12T23:29:00.000-08:00

LOL! Its not what everyone is thinking...we went to the ER tonight for Lukey, believe it or not! Not for Ryan! Funny, huh?! I have to laugh to keep from crying at this point :/ Apparently, Lukey hit his head and as a result suffered a concussion and that is why we were in the ER. I feel awful b/c I didn't actually witness it! Lukey was being silly and fell as he was taking his jacket off in our foyer and literally fell down two steps and all I heard was two big thuds. I didn't even think anything of it until he started saying weird things, such as I hear ringing in my head, do you hear that Mommy? Or I really don't look right do I? It was extremely bizarre, even for a silly kiddo like him. And, then after that he started vomiting, he did vomit twice, which not only scared him but it terrified me. So, I then called his pediatrician and after much delay the dr. on call did get back to me and told me to go to the ER. By the time we went to the ER they didn't even think it was necessary to do a CAT scan or an x-ray and he checked out (neurologically) okay :) The ER just told us to watch over him for the next 24 hours and told us not to send him to preschool. I always thought that Lukey's first concussion (if and when he were to get one) would be in hockey and he would be much, much older :/

Love & HUGS,
Jenny, Ron, Ryan, & Lukey :)

Only Ryan :/

2011-01-10T23:57:00.000-08:00

Ryan has picked up Lukey's cold/cough, which normally I wouldn't be concerned about BUT (and that's a BIG BUT!) it definitely started unlike other colds that Ry has had in the past. With Ryan we can almost always tell when he is truly getting seriously ill. He gets these deep dark circles under his eyes, he starts ticking, he acts a little more uncoordinated than usual, he sleeps more than usual, acting strange...when something is happening to Ryan, his body cries out and its up to us to notice what is going on. In everyday life this isn't as easy to detect as it would appear :/ It is our opinion that Ryan has Mito. crashes and spirals sometimes out of control, to the point of an ER visit or a hospital stay :/ Last year, I will state that we managed to keep Ry out of the ER and the hospital all winter! I suppose our luck had to run out?! Honestly, I thought that the reason we were not at the ER at all last winter was b/c of the move from a house that was over a 100 + years old to a new house (were we reside now) but, this theory has been blown to smithereens. I will say, that after spending 4 or 5 winters in the ER and eventually the hospital it was a pleasant surprise when we didn't need to go last year at all during the winter.

I brought Ryan to the pediatrician today for help with this cold but the dr. said it was "VIRAL" and that this cold needs to run its course :( UGH!!! I told the pediatrician that we would be back to see him or we would wind up in the ER (as we have before). I truly despise the words its only a "VIRUS"! We shall see what happens with Ryan.

Love & HUGS,
Jenny, Ron, Ryan, & Lukey :)

Our Future Hockey Star!

2011-01-08T22:58:00.000-08:00

I realize that I have already updated family and friends BUT I absolutely had to update today!!! Lukey has been accepted in The Future Hockey Stars on Ice Program, there was never a doubt in our minds that there would not be a positive outcome for this particular day-BUT there was a sense of relief when the coaches said YES we do accept him into the program! WOOHOO! I truly was proud of him today, he has worked extremely hard for this day. He will learn the skills, fundamentals of playing hockey in the first 40 minutes of class, and have face offs the last 20 minutes of class. He looked SO darn cute with all his hockey gear on, minus the shoulder pads, b/c we have yet to get them. The shoulder pads are optional at this age. Ron tells me it will help his Jersey to fit better, lets hope so :) He is one of, if not the smallest child on the ice, and even though he is tiny, its hard to believe at times that he is just 4 years old. He was given a Jersey and it was the smallest they had and it still came down past his knees, almost shin length :) SO ADORABLE!!!

Classic Lukey...he came off the ice saying to Ron and I, "I SO HUNGRY"! BUT and this takes the cake,
he wants a pretzel from the snack bar, and that he wants to go back out on the ice for public skate time b/c a friend of his is there. He did indeed go back out on to the ice and proceeds to play "tag" with this friend for over an hour! He came off the ice with his little cheeks incredibly chapped and red but he said, "Mommy that was a lot of fun"!

Love & HUGS,
Jenny, Ron, Ryan, and Lukey :)

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year :)

2011-01-02T15:44:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all :) Honestly, I can't even fathom the fact that the holidays are

over? Where did they go?! It seems as though time speeds up the older you become, doesn't it? Just
yesterday it was the beginning of December and ALREADY its January 2nd...hard to believe!

Our holidays were great and I adore that the boys are definitely understanding more and more as they get older, especially Lukey's asking about Jesus, LOVE IT!!!. This year, as always, it was packed full of relatives BUT how else are you suppose to spend the holidays?!? We managed to squeeze in A LOT before the holidays and of course I took every photo that was possible. You know its bad when your 8 year old asks if I will take his and his brother's photo at Modell's of them both sitting in an Eagles chair...it was an adorable photo but come on :) LOL!!! We saw many Santa's this year too but we never did take the boys to see Santa at the mall, it doesn't matter where you see Santa? It just matters that you did see him, correct?!

Christmas was extremely WONDERFUL this year b/c we gave my Dad a gift to Walt Disney World :) He gives and gives to us and never has he once asked for anything back in return. It was our turn to give him the world, just as he has given our family...well, Walt Disney World that is :) He was shocked and didn't quite understand the present at first, it wasn't until I said, "WE ARE GOING TO WALT DISNEY WORLD DAD AND YOU ARE COMING WITH US"! We told him that he better come b/c he was already bought and paid for, or at least his lodging/food/Disney Park Tickets. My sister was shocked that I didn't let her in on this gift and told me it was about time ;) And, you know what? We should have done this much, much sooner! My sister and her boyfriend are going to try and come down to Florida with us for that week...I hope her and Chris will be able to! That truly would be an incredible vacation :)

I was saddened this year we didn't spend NYE at CoCo Key but also glad, know what I mean?! I believe that it was too much last year. So, this year for NYE (New Year's Eve) we spent it at The Discovery Museum in Cherry Hill and they did a faux countdown of New Year for the children. It was definitely corny but the boys enjoyed themselves :) The boys even rang in the New Year with hats, noise makers and balloons :) Then, for the adult version of NYE we spent it at my Dad's :) Lukey didn't make it to New Year but Ry did! He is such a little trooper! Its all those nights he sleeps over at Pop-Pop's and they stay up till at least 12 am :/

Then, on New Year day we went to Ron's parents, where we gathered with Ron's side of his family (extremely sweet!!!) and all of us ate pork and cabbage. I'm reminded every year that this symbolizes "Good Luck" for the upcoming year :)

Health and Happiness to you and yours!!!

Jenny, Ron, Ryan, and Lukey :)

Update on the boys...

2010-12-16T21:07:00.000-08:00

I have an update on Lukey, we saw the G.I. this week, as matter of fact, Ryan's G.I. :) Lukey has no known obstruction issue (Thank-Goodness) its just severe constipation :( Poor kiddo! So, we left there a bit more knowledgeable about constipation and a regiment in hand...hopefully it will work.

This past week I was semi-watching the nightly news as I was making dinner, which I never do watch the nightly news. Anyway, they had an interesting piece on stuttering and famous people who have stuttered. Were you aware that Marilyn Monroe was a stutter? Or (I will state this shocked both Ron and I!) that James Earl Jones (the voice of Darth Vader) was a stutter?! Apparently, nightly news stated that geneticist have found a gene that determines whether or not you will be a stutter. This is fabulous news, b/c as many of you know that we are in the process of making the difficult decision to switch Ryan's seizure medication b/c of the impact that the side-effects are currently taking on his body...i.e. stuttering! What would be wonderful is that if we could find out if Ryan is predisposed to stuttering or could it be his seizure medication he is currently on?! I will let family and friends know what we find out b/c DuPont actually has Ry's DNA and I have a call into his neuro. dr., we shall see :)

BTW, we attended a Birthday Party the week after Lukey's Birthday Party at The Flyers Skate Zone and can I just state this party rocked and by far blew ours out of the water! It was incredible, they even had face painting, which the boys adored!!! Of course, they also had the full attention of their party host, which I will say it was much, much better compared to our party hostess who literally ran between our party and the party in the other room of 30 people :/ And, at this party they did not have the same issue with the Zamboni
:( Currently, I have a call into The Flyers Skate Zone but they have yet to call me back, as time passes I just get more and more steamed about the whole issue. I suppose I am getting grumpy in my old age :(

I have more video of Lukey ice skating with a hockey stick and a puck again :) I didn't think it was possible BUT he has definetly improved and again, YES, I'm biased-sorry :)

I adore the one photo of Ron holding Lukey at ice skating rink with his hockey helmet and skates on, b/c it just shows you that he is STILL a little boy, who loves to be held but in that same thought I'm thinking to myself he's starting to play hockey come January 2011...what a great wonder!

Love & HUGS,
Jenny, Ron, Ryan, & Lukey :)

Hockey Player in the making...

2010-12-09T17:34:00.000-08:00

I am totally amazed that my son, and YES, I am biased, is coordinated enough to ice skate and today was his 1st time out on the ice with a hockey stick and a puck. And, you know what he is good :) Again, I can be biased, right? LOL! My Dad claims its b/c he is Russian, there must be some sort of truth to that statement. I originally thought my Dad was being sterotypical but now I'm thinking he may be on to something :)

Enjoy!

Love & HUGS,
Jenny, Ron, Ryan, & Lukey :)

4 Year Check-Up PLUS Pneumonia?!

2010-12-06T22:02:00.000-08:00

Well, I now know why Lukey was incredibly miserable and had at least two meltdowns at his Birthday Party yesterday...we were at the pediatrician's today for his 4 year old check-up, the dr. listens to his chest and asked me if I was aware that he has pneumonia? Was he kidding? Apparently not :/ Great parenting skills, huh?! He has had a cough/cold but absolutely no fever, which is a huge indicator that he usually has some type of infection going on, not this time. We came home with antibiotics, Thank-Goodness and a dr.'s note :) He won't be going to Preschool at least for the next two days, poor little guy-he's so bummed about not being able to go :( I keep on telling him he is SO lucky b/c he gets to spend the day with Mommy. He then asks, "when can I go back to Preschool?" As a matter of fact, the dr. even suggested he could go back tomorrow but I think he *MAY* go back on Wednesday. We shall see :)

A funny story about today, we were on our way out of the pediatrician's office and Lukey has been fascinated with Jesus lately and the fact that Christmas is his birthday. Well, the questions start, such as who is Jesus, why can't I see and touch Jesus, and where is Jesus? I start telling him that Jesus is in your heart, he asked, MOMMY WHERE IS JESUS? I'm thinking he needs actually proof, so I tell him he is up in Heaven with Nanny (my Mom) and without skipping a beat he asks, CAN WE GET A HELICOPTER TO GO THERE?...out of the mouths of babes! I couldn't speak for 5 minutes b/c I was laughing so hard! Even with pneumonia he is still the little comedian :)

The photos that I've attached are of Breakfast with Santa on December 4, 2010, and the boys :) It was a pancake breakfast given by the Lions Club of Voorhees. The boys were impressed that Santa knew their names, as was I...until Ron told me what was going on :/ Enjoy the photos :)

Love & HUGS,
Jenny, Ron, Ryan, & Lukey :)

Lukey's 4th Birthday Party

2010-12-05T18:01:00.000-08:00

We officially celebrated Lukey's 4th Birthday Party on December 5, 2010, at the Flyers Skate Zone. Lukey had such a great time, minus a meltdown or two :/ Most of his classmates were able to join him, along with two of his friends from his Tots on Ice class (he has taken the class since Jan. 2010). In January 2011, he will be in hockey class...I still can't believe he's as good as he is out on the ice, let alone the fact that he will be starting hockey class in Jan. 2011?! He's my baby and always will be :)

I will state that as a whole the party was OK, but it all started with the cake...I ordered a cookie cake with hockey sticks and a hockey puck, well the night before, as we were at Dickens Village Festival (in Medford), the cookie cake bakers called asking us "what is a puck"? Were they kidding?! They never did put the puck on the cake :/ It was downhill from here, our party hostess, tried her best to manage our party and a 30 person party...apparently, that day another hostess called out and was suppose to be the hostess for the 30 person party :/ And, don't even get me started about the Zamboni and the fact that we were taking Lukey's picture, as the kid who cleaned the rink, was literally cleaning the ice out of the machine. We couldn't even get a full shot of Lukey due to this and the fact that the Zamboni was half open. Will we have another party at the Flyers Skate Zone...I don't think so :( Then again, am I getting grumpy as life progresses?! Probably! But, what matters is that Lukey and all of his friends had a great time out on the ice.

Love & HUGS,
Jenny, Ron, Ryan, & Lukey :)

Our "Turkey Baby" turned 4 years old!!!

2010-11-29T10:42:00.000-08:00

Our baby boy, who we brought home (oops, I mean Ron brought home from Russia, while Ryan and I joyfully anticipated their arrival), at the tender age of 18 months old has turned 4 years old on "Turkey Day". When did this happen and why?! I remember just watching Lukey at the airport that fateful night that he and Ron arrived from Russia. I also remember Ron telling me (b/c we were held up the night Lukey arrived at the airport due to the monsoon season outside, does everyone remember that post?!) about Lukey and how he ran off that plane, as if to say, "America here I come"! He has not looked back either, its full-steam ahead for him...ALWAYS :) Now, he is 4 years old, he has been home for 2 and 1/2 years...it was the best thing we have ever done, aside from adopting Ryan, of course :)

What's extremely ironic, is that Lukey and my Mom share the same birthday, imagine that?! Its as if her hand was guiding us to Russia, specifically to this little boy-our Lukey :) I can recall being told many, many times about the circumstances surrounding my Mom's entrance into this world...it was Thanksgiving, my Grandmother went into labor but my Grandfather was at a football game with non-other than my Grandmother's OB/GYN, can you imagine?! Unfortunately, I don't have a cute, funny, little story to tell Lukey about the day he was born BUT I do have the ability to tell him how he has spent his birthdays since joining our family and that he shares the same birthday as my Mom, his Nanny :)

This was the second year in a row, on Turkey Day, that we didn't go to my in-laws, due to time restraints. Instead, we were invited to Melissa's (my sister) boyfriends parents house-the Allens :) What wonderful and inviting people. The boys had a great time and keep on asking when are they going back :) The Allens prepared a delightful homemade meal and it was delicious! We rolled out of there at about 11 pm, and I do mean that we "rolled" b/c we were extremely stuffed!

I hope everyone had a WONDERFUL Thanksgiving :)

Love & HUGS,
Jenny, Ron, Ryan, & Lukey :)

A moment in time...

2010-11-13T12:20:00.000-08:00

With everything that's currently going on in our lives I almost forget to stop and enjoy little moments in life. Well, as I was folding the wash or making dinner (honestly, I don't recall what I was doing?!), I stumbled upon Ryan reading to Lukey it was the most precious moment I have seen in awhile or rather that I've taken notice to in awhile (bad Mommy!) :/

Love & HUGS,
Jenny, Ron, Ryan, & Lukey :)

When it rains it pours...

2010-11-11T23:25:00.001-08:00

Not only are we dealing with Ryan and his break through seizures but it is believed that Ryan is having colossal side effects :( It was comical how I stumbled upon the side effects-his resource teacher wants to know what she should look for, what type of side effects would she be dealing with, etc. Well, I was sending away for a mail-order script when I looked at the side effects, haven't honestly looked at them in years...low and behold-the medication he is on, to help him with his seizures, can cause speech and language processing disorders! It was right there in black and white! Maybe, just maybe, I was at the root of his stuttering issue?!? I immediately called his neurologist, the neurologist told me the biggest concern with this medication is that the patients are always tired and this is what *usually* causes the speech and language delays. Neuro. did also state that if Ryan was having more symptoms of side effects that we (Ron and I) could decide if we want to take Ryan off of this particular med?! Ryan is currently experiencing many of the side effects from this particular medication. I realize we have to step out of our comfort zone but honestly, I'm scared :/ Wouldn't you be? A friend told me I owe it to Ryan b/c it will impact his social development. She is absolutely correct but what if his seizures get worse? They do have an impact and are pretty horrible right now, but what if he tries another med of choice and has even more side effects or gosh forbid his seizures get worse?! My worse fear is the seizure activity stays with him through out his entire life :/

Then, there is Lukey :( Oh this poor child! He has such an issue with constipation that I wish I could take it all away and make it better. We have tried everything from raisins to prune juice and everything in-between and nothing works. I called Lukey's pediatrician and asked him what do I do for him, he's in pain! The peds. dr. suggested we try a GI, perhaps they can help, at this point it may be a medical issue :( On a funny note, I believe the other day, I may have OD Lukey on miralax (a laxative), b/c he was on the potty from sun up till sun down-poor kiddo! One extreme to another :/

Only our boys :)

Love & HUGS,
Jenny, Ron, Ryan, & Lukey :)

Halloween 2010

2010-11-02T17:47:00.000-07:00

We had an Iron Man and a Lightning McQueen, aka Ryan and Lukey :) During the month of October the boys really put use of their costumes. We went to a FACES (an adoption support group we belong to) Halloween Party, Halloween in the Park (here in Voorhees Township), the boys each had their Halloween Parties in school (Lukey's was on Thursday and Ryan's was on Friday) and then we actually had Halloween. I'm getting exhausted just writing about it now :/ Needless to say, I want to hibernate till Spring time!

Lukey was invited to a Halloween Party, on Halloween Day and boy did he have a WONDERFUL time! This little girl in his preschool class invited him and he was thrilled! It was his first party that he has ever been invited to outside of family and friends that we know, it was his first girl/boy party :) At this party, the host family actually had a fire truck and the fire truck gave all the children rides, I kid you not! He had the time of his life but was disappointed b/c he was going to be a fireman for Halloween but at the last minute decided he wanted to be Lightning McQueen. I told him maybe next year :)

Ryan was invited to go Trick or Treating with a friend from school :) I'm SO glad this year he is finally making friends! After, Lukey's Halloween party we met up with Ryan, Ron, Ryan's friend from school and his Mom and we too went Trick or Treating with them.

Love & HUGS,
Jenny, Ron, Ryan, & Lukey :)

A day spent at DuPont Hospital...

2010-10-25T13:38:00.000-07:00

Honestly, my head is still spinning! We had two extremely important dr.'s appointments for Ryan on Wednesday, October 20th. Each equal in the weight of importance and it was anything but easy. Our time spent at DuPont was overwhelming and daunting. Ryan seizures are now known as "Progressive Myoclonic Epilepsy" b/c they are changing how they present. His neuro. no longer refers to him as having "Myoclonic Epilepsy". His seizures use to present as "hiccup like episodes" and now they are presenting as "laughing spells". The neuro. has once again upped his meds and it was explained to us (both Ron and I) that his neuro. truly does want Ryan to be seizure free and unfortunately this is the only way they can do it :(

Then, it was on to Ryan's ortho. dr. where he went over every little detail about Ry's Gait Lab experience. I will say I was fascinated till he started to say those dreaded words, "Ryan does require surgery"! Apparently, Ryan has moderately tight hamstrings and needs hamstring lengthening surgery. The good news is that he doesn't need the surgery right away. His ortho. dr. said sometime in Spring would be great.

We traveled home from Delaware in silence, maybe each of us needed that silence to regroup? Once, we were home we literally kissed the boys and we were off running again to an Epilepsy Conference. It was an awful amount of traveling we did on that day but who knew that the last event we attended would be the most rewarding?! I learned more at the Epilepsy Conference than from Ryan's current neurologist. It was absolutely fascinating, and it is mind boggling thinking about the different types of seizures that men, woman, and children experience on a daily occurrence. It was gratifying to be a part of this event.

Love & HUGS,
Jenny, Ron, Ryan, & Lukey :)

Pumpkin Pickin' 2010

2010-10-19T22:12:00.000-07:00

With everything going on with Ryan, I almost forgot to mention that we went pumpkin picking, our family and my sister and her new boyfriend. I'm not going to lie, with all that is going on in our lives I wanted to cancel but it was my sister who told me she had A LOT of fun pumpkin picking last year that she wanted to do it again...with her boyfriend. I will state she sorta twisted my arm :) You know what the boys had with the festivity of pumpkin picking from Johnson's Farm. As you will recall, it was Ryan who told Lukey, on his very 1st Halloween Season with us, that we don't buy our pumpkins from a grocery store, we pick them from the ground at Johnson's Farm! Too cute!!!

This year I tried to make it a bit more festive and put them in matching shirts, (I believe this was more for me than for the boys...to get me into the mood of Halloween) Ryan with his skeleton shirt on and Lukey in matching attire BUT if you notice Lukey's has candy that is in the stomach part of his skeleton :) Everyone who knows Lukey, has said boy is that shirt appropriate :)

As you will take notice to the last four photos...we went to another farm b/c I had a coupon and boy was that a disappointment :( Ryan told me it was a faux Johnson's Farm and he was not impressed-LOL! I told my sister about it and she said to me, "See that's what you get for going with out Chris and I"! All in all, our family and now my sister and her boyfriend too, love Johnson's Farm :)

Love & HUGS,
Jenny, Ron, Ryan, & Lukey :)

Break Through Seizure Activity

2010-10-18T21:28:00.000-07:00

I want to write that everything is going great in our lives...but the truth is-it isn't :( We are almost 99% positive that Ryan had break through seizure activity on October 5th and October 16th. Its extremely difficult to pin point when Ryan has a break through seizure that if you blink and don't realize what you are watching you will miss it and just go on as if it were nothing...maybe just some behavioral issues or him being "funny" or having these laughing spells.

On October 5th, I get a call from the school that Ryan had an accident, which is not like Ryan at all! I thought nothing of it, went into school brought a change of clothes and that's it. It wasn't until the next day, when I read the most disturbing news and realized Ryan did have a seizure! I received an email from Ryan's resource teacher (who I adore and Ryan does too, she truly is the type of person who exudes care) that Ryan was acting "funny" almost drunk like she said to me in this email and then she realized he became incontient and had an accident. He doesn't remember any of this. His neurologist upped his meds...once again :/

Then, on October 16th, we went to Ryan's Trail-A-Thon at Shadow Equestrian, which Ryan was excited for but at the same time he wasn't acting like himself. Again, he was acting as if he was drunk, the fact that everything everyone said was funny, his legs were jelly, and he kept on falling. To make a story short, we eventually went to the CHOP's ER and trust me if I had to do it all over again we would have went to DuPont :/ CHOP's ER couldn't or wouldn't do anything for Ryan, b/c Ryan was not in any distress once we arrived at the ER. The attending physician told us, short of reinventing the wheel there is nothing we can do for him-AHHHH WAS SHE KIDDING ME??? We walked out of there just as clueless as we walked in, not a good feeling! CHOP suggested we call Ryan's regular neurologist on Monday and explain to his scheduling department that we were in the ER. I did follow this advice and we see the neurologist on Wednesday. Also, we have Ryan's Gait Lab Analysis on Wednesday...can't wait...stay tuned!

Enjoy some photos of Ryan at his Trail-A-Thon, even though everything was a mess that day he did do a spectacular job on his horse, Shadow! He received a trophy and a ribbon, he's all about the trophy and the ribbon :)

Love & HUGS,
Jenny, Ron, Ryan, & Lukey :)

Our DEAR Summer we bid you farewell...

2010-09-26T19:01:00.000-07:00

We have been having the worst luck, lately! On Thursday, September 23, 2010, Ron and I decided it was time our beloved first furry baby (aka Summer, our yellow lab) go to Heaven. I didn't think it would be as difficult as it was to put her down. I really do despise that saying, "put her down". Its just an awful saying! I prefer euthanized but it sounds as if you are stating what happened with no feelings for this creature who was a part of your life from the time she was a tiny puppy.

It had been a rough night, the night before, with her panting and constantly getting up and lying back down. She kept on moving b/c we believe, as did the vet, she was in constant pain and it was that night we decided that we needed to euthanize her :( Panting can also be a sign of pain but then again it can be a sign of Laryngeal paralysis, maybe she had this? She was 14 years old and lived a good life. Within, the past year she had been living in the lap of luxury at my Dad's house b/c we have too many steps in our new house. My Dad spoiled her giving her ice cream, biscotti, etc.!

It was an emotional roller coaster that night. I didn't handle it so well, and honestly I'm still quite upset by it, after all she was our first pet, even before we adopted the boys. I can recall, one year we dressed her up as a pumpkin on Halloween and brought her to Ron's sister-YES we were those type of people-LOL! As I've stated she was our first furry baby and our boys grew up with her, she let them eat her dog food with her, Lukey took care of her after her surgery...memories. When we went to the vet we brought Ryan and Lukey with us. This way they too could say there goodbyes. Now, some may have an issue with how we handled this but we thought about it and we didn't want to lie to the boys about where Summer went-we want them to know that she was in pain and is now running and playing with Nanny in Heaven.

The boys were upset that night, it was probably b/c both Ron and I were extremely upset, but I will say that the next day Lukey was as happy as a little clam...go figure?! But, Ryan was much more inquisitive with asking all types of questions, such as where Summer went to? Or is Summer in pain anymore? Or (my personal favorite) do you think Nanny will know who Summer is in Heaven? SO profound!

Love & HUGS,
Jenny, Ron, Ryan, & Lukey :)

Ryan's Gait Lab Appointment

2010-09-18T11:15:00.000-07:00

It was rough watching Ryan walk back and forth, up and down the, "Yellow Brick Road", (literally-that is what the dr.'s at DuPont refer to the Gait Lab as, b/c two artist were chosen to sketch/draw and then paint the "Yellow Brick Road") at his Gait Lab appointment on Thursday, September 16th. I believe it hits home... maybe a bit too close. With each turn that decided what pressure points he was or was not using correctly, or whether or not he was "hunched" over (for lack of better terminology) it was all too "REAL"!

Lately, I've been thinking about Ryan and his special needs. I realize its probably tougher for me b/c I KNOW what he will face by not being "typical" and it wakes me from a deep sleep some nights :/ Scary nightmares at what my baby will be and probably already has been presented with by those who feel superior to him or are just insecure in who they are at that time in their lives. But, then I think to myself I can't even imagine our lives without Ryan in it, the notion is preposterous! I can't even imagine saying NO to his referral, we won't accept the responsibility of raising a special needs child, lets face it Ron and I knew there were risks-as there are in any adoption. There are risks when having a biological child too. We held on to hope and took that leap of faith. All this was swirling around in my brain as I'm sitting there watching Ryan walk up and down the yellow brick road...literally! What gets me is that NEVER has he ever complained or whimpered or cried at what he has to go through...he just smiles at me and gives me the thumbs up that everything is good :) Talk about admiring someone who is so young yet has all the wisdom as if he were an 80 year old man, what an inspiration!

Can you imagine when we get the Gait Lab Analysis, how distraught I'll be when that happens?!

Love & HUGS,
Jenny, Ron, Ryan, & Lukey :)

A 2nd Grader and a Preschooler...1st Day of School

2010-09-12T21:30:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday, August 31st, Lukey was invited to view where he would be going to Preschool. He loved it and thought that day he was actually going to Preschool b/c he said to me, "Bye-bye Mommy I'll see you later"! To which I responded with a whimper and a cry, I managed to get out but your not leaving me...yet :) He was extremely upset that I was not leaving his new classroom.

Then switch gears to Ryan, where on the first day of school, Tuesday, September 7th, he wanted nothing to do with school! Didn't want to be a 2nd Grader, didn't want to get on the bus, didn't want to go to school, and most of all he didn't want any homework :/ I simply told him that it was ok to be scared about going back to school, he assured me he wasn't-he just didn't want to go! Then, I asked him, "How can you be a big 2nd Grader if you don't want to go"? He said, "BUT I DO WANT TO BE A BIG 2ND GRADER"! And quickly stepped up onto the bus!

Now, Lukey was a totally different story...night and day between our boys! He bounced out of bed and was dressed and seated at the breakfast table, in his school clothes no less (he has afternoon preschool), all by 7 AM! That day was SO rough b/c he just wanted to go to preschool! Poor kiddo! Finally, the time had arrived for me to drop him off at preschool...I started bawling before we even entered the school's parking lot...not a good sign! Lukey on the other hand told me, "Mommy don't worry you be ok without me for a little bit, I be back"! With that he jumped out of my arms and lined up as if he has been doing this for months! He is such an independent little man. It was heart wrenching watching him march into his new preschool classroom :( I've told everyone, who'll listen to me, I don't know what I'm going to do without my Lukey? But, you know what I made it through those two and a half hours just fine and I realize Lukey needs this, he was ready for some type of preschool and we are extremely lucky that he won Voorhees School District's lottery. According, to the paperwork sent home there were 47 applicants and only 7 boys and 7 girls chosen to go to Voorhees Preschool Program and we count our blessings b/c Lukey was one of those 7 boys! It truly is for the best! He needs a challenge and in fact, he told me one day, that I was boring and we need to do more stuff :/

When I picked Lukey up on his 1st Day of School, he came running over to me and gave me the biggest hug ever! And, then asked me, Mommy you ok, did you do ok without me"? "See, I told you I be back and here I am"! Which, of course, made me cry even more!!! He really adores preschool!!!

Ryan is doing better each and every day...its still a struggle but its getting better. Hey, he'll have this down come June...LOL!!!

Love & HUGS,
Jenny, Ron, Ryan, & Lukey :)

What happened to Summer???

2010-08-31T10:05:00.000-07:00

Is Summer really over?! Truly, it can't be?!!!? It seems as if it were yesterday that I was getting Ryan off the bus and we were beginning our Summer adventure! I will state that this Summer was a BLAST!!! And, boy did we do A LOT :) We enjoyed our new pool, Stratford Swim Club-Thank-You Grandma Joyce for the recommendation :) Ryan enjoyed Summer Camp and is getting ready to be a big 2nd grader! Lukey was accepted into Voorhees District's Preschool Program-WOOHOOO for both Lukey and Mommy! So, he is preparing for his first experience with preschool :) Also, we enjoyed the library so much this Summer, we literally were there, whether it was for Ryan or Lukey or even the both of them together, every other day. The reason we were at the library so much is b/c Ryan and Lukey really enjoyed the theme, which was the "Ocean" :) When we didn't spend our time at the library we could be found at the "FREE MOVIES", we saw movies, such as "Surf's Up" or "Tale of Desperaux" but my all time favorite was "ET". The boys enjoyed this experience, Mommy liked it too b/c it was "FREE" :) We experienced our first FRUA (Families for Russian and Ukrainian Adoption) Picnic. The boys had a great time at this. It was wonderful to get together with other adoptive parents who have adopted from Eastern Europe and share your story. It reminded me of Ryan's Azerbaijani Reunion we go to but without the travel involved b/c it was right here in South Jersey. Ryan participated in a horse show, he received a trophy and a ribbon :) A family favorite is wrestling up the boys and going to Burlington County Farm Fair, as you will take notice-one of the chickens had the same exact hair cut that Lukey was sporting-LOL! Our family was invited to a bday party at Holiday Roller Rink, which is amazing b/c Ron and I can remember roller skating there as children...ahhhhh memories :) The boys rejoiced every time they were taken bowling this Summer. I joined kids bowl free, and we used it pretty regularly but after the 5th time bowling I was done BUT not the boys :)

We spent time in Jersey City/NYC for Ryan's 9th Annual Azerbaijani Reunion, you can find all about that in my last post. And who can forget our time this Summer spent standing in line waiting to be let in to Carlo's Bake Shop...that was two posts ago. This Summer we spent time at the Jersey Shore, whether it was in LBI with friends, at Margate with CK and the Kennedy's (BTW, Thank-You Kennedy's) and Aunt Woo, or as a family in Ocean City, we had FUN! Over all this Summer ranks up there...I can't believe the boys are going to be a 2nd Grader and a Preschooler?! Where did that time go?!

Love & HUGS,
Jenny, Ron, Ryan, & Lukey :)

Baku Babies Back in NYC for the 9th Annual Azerbaijani Reunion

2010-08-14T13:01:00.000-07:00

I hope family and friends enjoyed our post regarding Carlo's Bake Shop, aka "Cake Boss" :) As you could tell we enjoyed going there and ultimately eating our treats :) But the reason we were shockingly close to Carlo's Bake Shop is b/c we made our annual trek across the USA. This year the 9th annual Azerbaijani Reunion was in Jersey City/NYC...the "Baku Babies" are back in NYC :)

We arrived Thursday, August 5, 2010, b/c Ryan was asked to participate in Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. Gina asked if we wanted Ryan to wear authentic Azerbaijani clothing and walk around the three rings of the circus with Ben and Andy. Also, b/c it was Russian Night at the circus, of course, we replied with a YES! We were told we could then stay and watch the rest of the circus. It was a done deal-not to mention a cultural event for Ryan. The boys (Ben, Andy, and Ryan) all looked amazing in their Azerbaijani clothing...it was as if we were looking at boys who live in Azerbaijan. Ryan truly did have a great time that night b/c not only was he proud of who he is but after he was able to view the circus.

The circus itself was spectacular! I will say that it was done in a much smaller tent, therefore a much smaller area BUT still sensational with all the astonishing acts, especially the elephants and the lions. Even though going to this circus goes against everything I stand for...its unbelievable the lengths we will go to being a parent. The boys (Ryan and Luke) truly were impressed with circus and that to me is pure joy. Isn't it funny, not funny as in HA HA, but in irony what we will do for our children? It's simple, what makes them happy makes us (Ron and myself) happy.

On Friday, as you know, and as I've blogged we went to Carlo's Bakery, Mmmmmmm was that a delicious trip! Then, that night we met up with other parents who have adopted from Azerbaijan and we went to Pizzeria Uno to eat, drink and be among friends (both for the sake of the children and the adults) :) What I find extraordinary-is that most of our children knew each other as babies in the Baby Home back in Azerbaijan and they all have this connection to each other...even now as most of the adopted children from Azerbaijan are between the ages of 6 to 10, who were adopted as infants. When they say "HI" to their friends from Azerbaijan, or as Ryan refers to them as his "Baku Friends", you can see that instant connection.

On Saturday, we were going to go into NYC but decided against it, b/c time was not our friend that morning/ early afternoon. However, we decided to walk along the Hudson River in Jersey City, which is where we were staying with a positively breathtaking view of NYC across the Hudson. We stumbled upon a memorial for the victims of 9/11/01, we had no clue that this was even there. It was extremely sad but yet tastefully done. We walked the entire pier or I should say that Ron and the boys did. The boys were fascinated with the fact that the Statue of Liberty was right there (on Ellis Island) and huge. Can you imagine their reaction when they actually get to Ellis Island and see just how big the Statue of Liberty is? LOL!

Saturday afternoon, was the big event for the Azerbaijani Reunion. We all met at the Baku Palace in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn. Our family has been to the Baku Palace but each and every time we go there its as if we are going for the first time. As always the food and entertainment did not disappoint! And the Silent Auction, that actually had authentic pieces, brought back from Azerbaijan, by Jane and Judy specifically for this event was magnificent! We ate, we drank, we watched the entertainment (an actual dance company from Azerbaijan), we bid on the Silent Auction, we listened to the wonderful stories that Ben, Sabina, Jane and Judy told us about their visit to Azerbaijan, and most importantly we experienced and enjoyed each others company...it was great to be among friends :)

That evening, we went to Coney Island...not too sure if this was a huge success or a huge failure, or at least for our specific family? Coney Island is like nothing I have ever experienced in my entire life! It was an attack on all of my senses...kid you not! However, we ran into a family that we have not seen in many, many years and it was very sweet to reconnect with this family. As a matter of fact, we reworked our plans for Sunday (our departure day) so that we were able to visit with this family. Ron and I thought that the boys would enjoy seeing the Statue of Liberty (as was the original plan for Sunday) but that reconnecting with this family was important at this juncture in our lives (especially Ryan's life!).

On Sunday, that is what we did, we went to this family's house, they live in North Jersey and our boys played, we ate, we drank, and reconnected :) Our adventure to Jersey City/Hoboken/NYC was special and hopefully one that we will not soon forget :)

Love & HUGS,
Jenny, Ron, Ryan, & Lukey :)

Carlo's Bakery...SO WORTH IT!!!

2010-08-09T11:37:00.000-07:00

We are finally home, Thank-Goodness :) We must be getting really old or we really love our bed?! More on our WONDERFULLY long weekend for Ryan's Azerbaijani Reunion in another post...This post is dedicated to CAKE BOSS :) As I've said before, Ron and I are obsessed with Cake Boss, Ace of Cakes, etc..., therefore when we were in Jersey City, NJ which is right around the corner from Hoboken, NJ-what did we do??? We visited Carlo's Bakery, aka CAKE BOSS!!! It was SO worth it!!! Of course, this feeling of joy and excitement did not come without a price, does anything?!?

We arrived at 11:00am on Friday morning and we waited in line for what seemed like forever :/ The line was across the street and already starting to wrap around the building, in one word "INCREDIBLE"! I nearly jumped out of our moving van to get into the line and boy am I glad I did! I waited, and waited, and did I mention I waited some more :) Ron had the task of keeping the boys busy, and shockingly they did extremely well, which for an eight and three year old is not an easy feat. But Ron did take them to the park and the water until I reached the corner and then we crossed the street as a family :) Cheesy, I know-we are like that :) We were Ohhhh SOOOO close but SOOOO far away :/ Ron was asking the security if it was always like this? He told Ron YES! Which I knew about b/c I went online to Carlo's Bake Shop's website and that's exactly what the website talked about, "expect to wait a minimum of two hours". The website talked about how inefficient the bakery was itself and they could truly control the crowds if they want to but that they liked the crowds. Not too sure about this as there were a boat load of people there. I totally believe it has to do with the notoriety of the bakery. There was a local or I should say a former local of the Hoboken area who told us that she was not fond of the bakery. She told us that she can remember walking past the bakery as if it were nothing before the the TLC's tv show. Now, its almost as if people can't get enough of it! Also, I will say it was the people you met in line as you were standing there, almost like when you were in your late teens/early twenties and actually slept out for concert tickets...am I dating myself?! LOL! The funniest aspect of this trip to Hoboken was there were people who were yelling, "It's just a bakery", out of there cars as they were passing by.

We waited in line for just about three hours....we were asked was it worth it? I believe so :) We arrived at the door of Carlo's Bake Shop at 2:00pm, when we went in it was a typical bakery but it was more too. Words can't describe it...extremely awesome is all that comes to mind! We did see Buddy's Mom, Mauro's son, and one of Buddy's sisters-that in and of itself was worth it and we get baked goods on top of that...made my day :) I will stated that on TV it does look bigger, it was extremely tiny in there but then again there were A LOT of people in a tiny space :/

When we were done we left happily but also saddened that the fun was over, I can say it was like when you were a child and the build up to your birthday was just incredible but once the day got there and the party was over boy ohhh boy what a let down :( But Ron suggested we go behind the bakery and I was so glad he had suggested that! B/C they were putting a cake in one of there cars and we saw and got Danny's photo...the cake looked great too that they were loading into the car :) Also, we saw Mauro, who told everyone to get off the door. I thought that was funny and couldn't believe the audacity of some people. We left soon after that and went back to the hotel in Jersey City and enjoyed our baked goods! It was worth it!!!

Love & HUGS,
Jenny, Ron, Ryan, & Lukey :)

"Baku Babies"...Again in NYC

2010-08-04T12:33:00.000-07:00

We are off to NYC tomorrow, Thursday, August 5th for Ryan's Azerbaijani Reunion that runs until Sunday, August 8th. The Azerbaijani Reunion was held in NYC once before in 2004. We are getting more and more excited for the reunion!!! The boys keep on asking that dreaded question, "When are we leaving again"? But, I must say I can totally relate to their enthusiasm! LOL! We will be arriving Thursday and heading to the "Big Top", Thanks for the tickets Gina :) The boys, especially Ryan, can't wait to see their friends :) Ron and I are looking forward to seeing our old friends and meeting new ones this year. Plus, we get to hear the fabulous stories from Jane and Judy about how their trip was to Azerbaijan! Also, we get to participate in the "Silent Auction", which as I'm told has authentic items brought from Azerbaijan and we get to EAT authentic Azerbaijani food at Baku Palace in Sheepsheads Bay, Brooklyn (an all time personal favorite of mine)!

There have been nine Azerbaijani Reunions all together and we have attended five going on number six this year. I've posted some photos that I have not previously posted from last years reunion in Chicago. Enjoy :)

Love & HUGS,
Jenny, Ron, Ryan, & Lukey :)

We have underwear!!!

2010-07-17T18:25:00.000-07:00

WOOHOO!!! I really hope that potty training and Lukey stick this time around :/ Because up til now it truly has not :( We have been intensely potty training for the past week. Then, today I hand Lukey a pair of big boy underwear and asked him, "Do you want to wear these"? He replied with a phenomenal sounding "YES" and eyes as bright as a Christmas tree. He also told me that he would not get his new big boy underwear wet at all. In retrospect, I probably should have had Ryan hand over his big boy underwear b/c it would have made more of an impact.

We are running out of time, this potty training better work :/ All of the current paperwork I have signed for Lukey's upcoming preschool program has stated that yes he is indeed potty trained. He was selected out of 47 children, only seven boys and seven girls in our school district and school starts on September 7th...

HUGS,
Jenny, Ron, Ryan, & Lukey :)

PS-Notice the boots in the one photo-he adores these boots and wears them everywhere! Thanks Mary ;) He specifically stated he wants a photo of his big boy underwear and his cowboy boots and while he is wearing the cowboy boots he makes everyone call him "Cowboy Lukey"! Too darn cute!!! Also, I don't know if anyone can see in the other photo that Lukey has a balloon attached to his hand as he sits on the potty? He's one of a kind :)

R2D2 took the cake...literally!

2010-07-11T08:21:00.000-07:00

Ryan turned eight years old on July 3rd! We can't believe he's as old as he is, can you believe it??? I've said this to everyone who will listen to me lately, that it seems as though it was yesterday we were scooping him up from the Baby Home (orphanage) and taking him home to the USA with us :) Truly amazing!!!

Then, today we had his 8th Birthday Party at the bowling alley. We asked Ryan specifically if he wanted to have his birthday at Sahara Sam's again (last year's bday party was held there) or at the bowling alley (somewhere new this year) and he chose the bowling alley. Ryan was super excited that he not only had family/friends coming to his bday party but was also able to invite his classmates.

As for R2D2 taking the cake, which was incredible in both taste and the fact that it was a 3dimensional version of R2D2, we had Adelaide's Bakery make the R2D2 cake and WOW!!! did they do a fabulous job! Ryan chose an excellent flavor of cake too, he selected a chocolate chip pound cake-Mmmmm it was delicious!!! Ron and I were always obsessed with Cake Boss and the Ace of Cakes, maybe a bit toooooo much, subsequently in light of Ryan's recent health issues we opted to have a terrific cake made for Ryan's 8th Birthday Party b/c nothing compares to Ryan's smile when he saw R2D2 as a cake :) Ryan is just as captivated with R2D2 as we are with Cake Boss and Ace of Cakes, so what better way to celebrate :) But, seriously you be the judge and let us know if this R2D2 cake was as great as he looks?

Love & HUGS,
Jenny, Ron, Ryan, & Lukey :)

Ryan's appt. with Ortho.

2010-07-09T21:30:00.000-07:00

I thought I would update everyone while it's fresh in my "MOMMY BRAIN"! Today, Ryan had an ortho. appt., which went well, all things considered :/ I advised Ry's ortho. dr. that recently he was either tripping or having breakthrough seizures OR BOTH :/ Regardless, he was falling A LOT lately and something needs to be done to help him. The ortho. set forth a plan of action, btw have I told anyone that I adore his ortho? Here is a dr. who isn't afraid to listen to the parents and take their advice and modify it :) Here's the plan: Ryan is getting new articulating orthotics-he has already been casted for the new orthotics and will receive them in about three weeks. Once, we have the new orthotics we are to bring him to the Gait Lab, where they evaluate the way he walks and then depending on the results Ryan may need surgery. I will state that I am still a bit taken back at the thought of surgery BUT I've been researching the type of surgery that has been suggested for Ryan and it actually may be a good thing b/c it may help him walk better. Ryan has been lurching and/or crouching lately and this surgery could help his hamstrings and ultimately stretch them to wear he stands and walks better.

Love & HUGS,
Jenny, Ron, Ryan, & Lukey :)

Did he trip or could it be-dare I say it?...A Breakthrough Seizure???

2010-07-02T17:16:00.000-07:00

Where do I start?!? On Thursday, July 1st, we WERE suppose to go to Hershey Park with My Dad, my sister and all four of us (including Ron). It did not work out that way :/ My sister had to bail, which was no fault of her own but then Summer, our oldest dog, who is still alive and kicking, and she now resides at my Dad's-we have way tooooo many stairs for her here in our new house, was sick with vomiting and diarrhea. She must have ate something b/c according to my Dad she was not feeling well, SO my Dad decided not to go either :/

Instead, my Dad and all four of us went to see the movie "Toy Story 3". Which was awesome and sad OR I should say for those of us who can relate to someday saying "GOODBYE" to your child/ren when they go off to college. I will not give away the movie but there is this one scene where Andy's Mom looks at Andy's empty room and that was it-I lost it and couldn't stop crying :( Ron told me I was being a little too sensitive, I simply told him a Mom can never be too sensitive! Besides, we have eleven years before Ryan goes off to college and fourteen years until Lukey leaves for college and those years are going to fly. I am excited that the boys will someday be bigger than me but at the same time WOW it seems like yesterday we were adopting Ryan and Lukey. Bitter sweet, if you ask me!

I do apologize for that-I tend to side track easily these days, I like to refer to it as "Mommy Brain"! LOL! Anyway, we were getting ready for the pool and I was in the kitchen (of course, with my back to Ryan) and all of a sudden Ryan fell into our metal spiral staircase! I kid you not! I turned around b/c I just heard a big bang no crying (yet) and it already looked as if it were a murder scene! I run over to where Ryan is at, and at this point he is sobbing by the time I get to him, as in can't seem to catch his breath-sobbing. I assess the situation, as best I could at the time, and realize all of this blood is spurting from his lip. He literally has cracked his lip open about an inch to two inches :/ Ron scoops him up, wearing a bathing suit but no shoes, and we put him in the van and head over to the ER. We are five minutes from the ER, another plus of living in Voorhees :) According to the tech. he has "gotten" his lip pretty good :( He required three stitches and I could not for the life of me watch them stitch up my child's lip. Ron said to me that's extremely strange after all we have been through with Ryan. You know what, he was absolutely correct! Still, to this day I'm puzzled and perplexed by this, the fact I could NOT watch them stitch my child's lip?! What I found to be weird was that the ER was fearful that I was going to pass out?!? The ER was also worried about Ryan's head injury and subsequently a concussion. It hit me then, not til then, that maybe Ry had a "Breakthrough Seizure" and this by far was the worst thing that could have happened to him, he actually fell into our metal spiral staircase :/ We discussed with the ER what the probabilities were that he tripped or that he actually had a breakthrough seizure and all in all it was hard to determine what exactly occurred. The ER did assess his teeth, to make sure they were still in place and they also assessed his nose (his poor teeth and nose, b/c last year he had a huge spill into our old swim club pool and fell straight onto his nose, actually breaking the nose, and at the time, we thought pushing his brand new front teeth up into his gums) but thank-goodness this time around his nose was not broken nor did his teeth appear to have been pushed up into his gums. As I've stated the hospital was more or less concerned about the concussion. All in all, it could have been much worse, I keep telling myself that and anyone who will listen, BUT this was quite horrible :(

Then today I called his peds. dr. to schedule the removal of his three stitches, which I'm hoping goes well :/ The stitches had to be removed three to five days after they were placed. The ER told us the reason they had to stitch his lip, generally they do not like to, but this was an extreme case where Ry needed his lip to be stitched due to the intensity of the cut. They also told us that he would have no scar b/c the lip regenerates itself quickly and cleanses itself. I found this highly interesting! Also, I was on the phone with his neuro. too b/c the possibility of a breakthrough seizure is frightening and just as I thought the neuro. could NOT rule out a breakthrough seizure :/ SO, they have once again upped his medication :(

Only Ryan!!!

Love & HUGS,
Jenny, Ron, Ryan, & Lukey :)

Update on Ryan...

2010-06-30T06:45:00.000-07:00

I promised I would update both Family and Friends concerning Ryan :) First things first...the foot! We are happy to report that Ryan is out of his cast and no longer needs his cam boot either. WOOHOO! However, he did have his cast on until Friday, March 5th and then b/c he was AGAIN complaining of pain, he needed his cam boot until Friday, March 19th :/ It truly was never-ending with his foot :( Thank-Goodness everything worked out for his foot and all is healed...FINALLY! I will state that I did a little extra research on the cuboid bone, which Ryan had broken, and it does in fact take a bit longer to heal.

As for his seizure activity, this is another story in and of itself :/ I blogged back on February 8th, that Ryan had an EEG, which of course turned out abnormal-let me state here that Ryan has NEVER had a "NORMAL" EEG. So, his neuro. dr. wanted us to get a 24 hour EEG-another test?! I pack everyone (and by everyone I mean Ryan, Lukey, and myself) up and we head to DuPont (which as you know is in Delaware) for Ryan's 24 hour EEG. We arrive at the hospital, they attach the leads, and they send us home. Now, I thought when I made the appt. for the 24 hour EEG that he was staying the night but in actuality the techs. send you home and tell you to perform your normal routine. Thank-Goodness I asked if he would need to spend the night b/c I would have brought his suitcase and everything that was required for him to spend the night. Now, if Ron or I (mostly myself) saw any of his seizure activity we were to "hit" a button on the EEG machine. I will state one thing, Ry was not at all happy with his new head gear :/ The techs wrapped his head in a bandage, with the cemented leads (or so it seemed the next day when they were trying to remove them and we could not get rid of that glue!). The techs let him take home a backpack, but it wasn't any ordinary back pack it was an elephant that you could arrange the machine into the elephants belly. It was cute but Ry was not buying it at all.

We came the next day and on our way into the hospital who do we see but Dr. Artheya. Who is Dr. Artheya? He is the Rheumatologist who saved my life-that is a story that is definitely for another time and quite possibly another blog all together. When Ryan was having his G-tube placed back in 2004 we ran into Dr. Artheya and knew he was working at DuPont, which instilled our decision to switch Ryan's care to DuPont from CHOP. Dr. Artheya told me that he was only doing consulting and semi-retired but that he was happy we ran into each other once again. We planned for Ry to return to school that day but I was unsure b/c as I've stated the techs and I could not for the life of us get that darn glue out of his hair and we tried everything. The poor child went to school with clumps of glue in his hair that looked as if he had severe dandruff :/ Upon leaving the hospital we were told via the techs that we would need to wait for the results-OF COURSE!

About two weeks later we did have a neuro. appt. and it was told to me that it appeared as if Ryan was having "Breakthrough Seizures" and Ry AGAIN had an "ABNORMAL" 24 hour EEG. At this appt. Ryan's neuro. dr. communicated with me that Ryan required an MRI of his brain. Ryan has had MRI's before but I will state the neuro. dr. truly scared me on this one! The reason? Because the neuro. FINALLY admitted that there is an enormous PROBABILITY that Ryan may have some type of Metabolic/Mito. Disorder. In all honesty this reason scared me so much is b/c I never thought we would be on the cusp of a diagnosis such as a metabolic/mito. disorder, it truly was a surreal moment. Also, the fact that his neuro. dr. was actually listening and this after he had vehemently denied even the thought that Ryan may have a diagnosis of mito.!

I was scared for the possibilities up until we received the results of the MRI of the brain...now remember this is Ryan and nothing is ever straight forward with him-this is just our Ryan :/ AND why should this particular MRI be any different? The MRI of Ryan's brain showed absolutely nothing new, in other words it neither suggested nor denied the probability of a metabolic/mito. disorder :/ When I received the results I was happy, don't get me wrong, BUT here we go on the roller coaster ride again-its extremely disheartening! The MRI did show that Ryan's PVL has not increased nor has it decreased-which is a good aspect that his brain is not deteriorating due to the seizure activity or that his PVL has stayed the same.

We do have to get blood work done as well b/c the neuro. dr. wants to make sure that b/c of the medication and increase in his medication lately that Ry's levels of lactic acidosis don't build up and cause muscle deterioration. But as always I will keep family and friends updated on Ryan :)

Love & HUGS,

Jenny, Ron, Ryan, & Lukey :)

PS-For those of you who have no idea what a Metabolic/Mito. Disorder is, here is a wonderful website that explains everything! http://www.umdf.org/site/c.otJVJ7MMIqE/b.5472191/k.BDB0/Home.htm

Happy Belated Father's Day :)

2010-06-21T09:00:00.000-07:00

I'm sensing a theme here, aren't you?! LOL! Ron's Father's Day was blissfully spent by the pool. When I refer to the pool, I do mean our new swim club, Stratford Swim Club. Ron told me he would like to spend the day by the pool and bbq, which you can do at our new swim club. We invited my Dad and my sister and they gleefully accepted :)

Ron stated it was one of his most memorable Father's Day :)

HUGS,
Jenny, Ron, Ryan, & Lukey :)

Happy Belated Mother's Day :)

2010-05-12T23:51:00.000-07:00

This is a posting by a very dear friend of mine-it speaks the truth! WOW! It honestly makes you cry your eyes out, at least I did when I read it.

I believe each of us, whether we have a child who is NSN or SN, we can relate!

Happy Belated Mother's Day :)

Why Moms are the greatest in the world!

1) Because we never thought that "doing it all" would mean doing this much. But we do do it all -- and then some.

2) Because we've discovered patience we never knew we had.

3) Because we are willing to do something 10 times, 100 times or 1,000 times if that's what it takes for our kids to learn something new.

4) Because we have heard doctors tell us the worst, and we've refused to believe them. Take THAT, nay saying doctors of the world!

5) Because we have bad days and breakdowns and bawl-fests, and then we pick ourselves up and keep right on going.

6) Because we gracefully handle the stares, the comments, the rude remarks. (Well, mostly gracefully.)

7) Because we manage to get ourselves together and get out the door looking pretty damn good. Heck, we even make sweatpants look good!

8) Because we are strong. Man, are we strong. Who knew we could be this strong?

9) Because we aren't just moms, wives, cooks, cleaners, chauffeurs and women who work. We are moms, wives, cooks, cleaners, chauffeurs, women who work, physical therapists, speech therapists, occupational therapists, teachers, researchers, nurses, coaches and cheerleaders and students. Whew!

10) Because we work overtime every single day.

11) Because we also worry overtime, but we work it through. Or we eat chocolate or Pirate's Booty or gourmet cheese (which aren't reimbursable by insurance as mental-health necessities, but should be).

12) Because we are more selfless than other moms. Our kids need us more.

13) Because we give our kids with special needs endless love, and then we still have so much love left for our other kids, our husbands, our families. And our hairstylists, of course.

14) Because we inspire one another in this crazy blogosphere every single day.

15) Because we understand our kids better than anyone else -- even if they can't talk; even if they can't gesture; even if they can't look us in the eye. We know. We just know.

16) Because we never stop pushing for our kids.

17) Because we never stop hoping for them, either.

18) Because just when it seems like things are going OK, they're suddenly not OK, but we deal. Somehow, we always deal -- even when it seems like our heads or hearts might explode.

19) Because when we look at our kids, we just see great kids -- not kids with cerebral palsy/autism/Down syndrome/developmental delays/whatever.

Only Ryan...

2010-02-08T09:22:00.000-08:00

Where do I start? Back in November 09' (at Lukey's Birthday Party) Ryan was complaining of his left ankle hurting. So, I brought him to his Ortho. Dr. down at DuPont...in all honesty I thought Ryan was fine. As it turned out his growth plate was out-of-line. Who would have thought?! So, Ryan goes home with this cool cam boot :) He was super excited, as a matter of fact he couldn't wait til he could show Pop-Pop and his friends at school! In four weeks we make our trek back down to DuPont for the follow-up at which point the ortho states it's been 4 weeks he looks good, seems to be walking well, etc. At that point the ortho decides to take him out of the cam boot and sends us home...which was fine with me and Ryan was happy too :)

Then, out of nowhere Ryan starts complaining again and is limping everywhere we go. I honestly thought he was faking it and just wants the cam boot back on :/ I called the ortho. and speak to the P.A. (physician's asst.) and we discuss whether or not to do an MRI at this point, which we both agree its definitely warranted. I set up the MRI, which we would still be waiting for if Ryan's ortho. Dr. didn't call them back and state he needed this MRI stat. Ryan had to be sedated b/c they wanted him to be completely still, which is hard for a 7 year old, it's hard for an adult to be still...who are we kidding :) The sedation nurse was terrific, even the anesthesiologists was great! As a matter of fact, the anesthesiologists actually asked about Ryan's probable mito. disorder b/c she actually was reading his chart. I was amazed b/c most Dr.'s brush this info. off...needless to say I was extremely impressed! He was not given propofol (which I'm sure as everyone knows this is what ultimately lead Michael Jackson to have his fatal heart attack and subsequently die) but rather Ryan was given another sedative that he could easily metabolize. Ryan came through the MRI wonderfully and we were just about to leave when a nurse came by and told us that we needed to wait to be discharges b/c ortho. wants to talk with us.

In walks Ryan's P.A. and she states, "you won't believe this"! Apparently, Ryan had also fractured his cuboid bone, which is on top of the foot...not the ankle :/ I was shocked...needless to say! I asked his P.A., "how did this happen and most importantly how did we miss this the first time around"??? She told me that they were concentrating on the ankle and had only x-rayed the ankle, not the foot. Also, she had NO CLUE how on earth Ryan had done this :/ To this day, we still have no clue as to exactly how Ryan fractured his cuboid bone, and it's believed that this is the same time his growth plate became out-of-line as well...Only Ryan!!! The only thing we, the ortho, Ron, and myself, can even fathom is the fact that Ryan learned to jump over the summer and recently (before he had the cam boot/cast) he had been jumping non-stop everywhere! Other than this absolutely nothing...tell me we shouldn't be nominated for parents of the year award...LOL! Before we left Dupont hospital's sedation unit we stopped off at the cast unit and Ryan walked out with a hard cast, that to this very day has been trying his hardest to remove the cast. He thinks its removable, just as like the cam boot :/

In the meantime we believe that Ryan is having seizure activity yet again :( Ry's neuro. dr. and us can't confirm this-but we are *almost* 100% sure. We recently went down to DuPont (something different this time-not the foot) where Ry had an EEG. We were hoping that this EEG would show us what we were expecting but it didn't :( However, it did read that Ryan has "abnormal" brain waves. Which I was told by Ry's neuro. dr. this could mean 1 of 2 things:1)its the meds Ryan is on to help control his seizure activity or 2)it means that Ryan is having some sort of seizure activity. So, what do we do from here? Ryan now needs to have a 24 hour EEG in the hospital. Perhaps this will lead us to the answers we are searching for but then again who knows...after all it is Ryan and he truly is a complex child!

I will, of course, keep family and friends updated on progress with both his foot and the seizure activity :/

Love & HUGS,
Jenny, Ron, Ryan & Lukey

A Hockey Player in the making?!?

2010-01-15T09:43:00.000-08:00

WOW! I can't believe this will be the third time in just over 24 hours I've written on the blog!

Lukey started ice skating yesterday and absolutely adores it!!! He looks SO tiny out on the ice, its too cute! But then again, I am a bit biased...LOL! He told me he does enjoy it and that's the point, right?

We will see if he continues to enjoy it and *maybe* just *maybe* we have a hockey player in the making?! Or a figure skater? Ron doesn't like it when I say he could very well be a figure skater just as well as a hockey player. I get this look from Ron and let me tell you, if looks could kill? Well, lets just leave it at that :)

By the way, my Dad thinks the reason he loves ice skating and does extremely well is b/c he is Russian...LOL! That in and of itself is adorable!

Enjoy the photos of Lukey's 1st ice skating lesson :)

Love & Hugs,
Jenny, Ron, Ryan & Lukey

Happy New Year!!!

2010-01-14T10:35:00.000-08:00

Our holidays went by way too quickly!!! We had a very MERRY CHRISTMAS and a HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! I hope that everyone who reads our blog had a WONDERFUL holiday season as well!!!

This was Lukey's 2nd Christmas/New Year with us :) He adored Christmas, but then again what little boy doesn't?! We celebrated our Christmas in our new house, so this year was extra-special for us. The boys received many toys this year from everyone and feel extremely blessed! Ryan's favorite toys are his big R2D2, little R2D2, guitar, and bumblebee voice mixer. There is a photo that I think is priceless!!! Its of Ryan playing his guitar and wearing his bumblebee helmet...just priceless!!! Lukey's favorite toys are his brothers and his zhu-zhu pet (which I will say the weekend after Christmas we went out and got Lukey's his very own zhu-zhu pet!), ol' Mcdonald farms, bongo drums (Thanks Uncle Leon!), and the dinosaur. However, on Christmas day Lukey's did NOT like his dinosaur b/c the dinosaur stompped and growled at him, but now the dino is his best buddy...or so he told me the other day :)

New Year's Eve was spent away from home this year. We spent it at Coco Key, you would think this was in Florida? Nope, it was 10 mins. from us in Mt. Laurel :) It's an indoor water park and I will say the boys had a blast and a half! However, the 1st night we went to the hotel, which you get the indoor water park free when you rent the hotel room, we were awakened by a fire alarm at 1 am, that wasn't fun :( Then, on the 2nd day/night we had the most rowdiest and noisiest neighbors, this too was not fun :( But what can you do, we made the best of it and the boys had the best time at the indoor water park.

Enjoy the photos :)

Love & HUGS,

Jenny, Ron, Ryan & Lukey :)

Let it SNOW!!!

2010-01-14T10:10:00.000-08:00

The first snow of the season on December 19, 2009 and according to the news the most snow in 100 years! I will say that Voorhees received 24" (I think?), amazing huh? Of course, the boys wanted to get out of the house and PLAY, PLAY in the snow! Which of course they did, they even made a snowman :) This was the highlight of the day. However, the next day they decided it was more fun to destroy the snowman :/ The most fun they had was drinking the hot chocolate when they returned to the house :) Enjoy the photos :) And YES I do realize its the New Year but had to share these adorable photos :) I promise to blog about our holidays and of course share photos!

Love & HUGS,

Jenny, Ron, Ryan & Lukey :)

I realize that I just posted our Pumpkin Pickin' and Halloween photos in December :/

2009-12-17T12:49:00.000-08:00

Can you believe its December??? OM! Time seems to be zipping by at an accelerated rate these days. Yes, I realize that I just posted our Pumpkin Pickin' and Halloween photos on December 7...no less :/

Anyway, recently someone had a 3rd Birthday, it was Lukey!!! I can't believe our baby is 3 years old! That is a miracle in and of itself! He came to us as a baby (who could run but still a baby in ohhh SO many ways!) but he's not a baby anymore, he's a little boy now. Also, he has been home 18 months and he came running off the plane at 18 months. I know I'm being way too sentimental, can't help myself.

Ryan is growing up too right before our eyes! Last night I came across a baby photo album of Ryan's, still not done unpacking :/ It's hard to believe that Ryan was once SO tiny, we came home with him when he was only 10.5 months and now he's 7 years old! I was crying my eyes out as I was looking at this particular baby album...where on earth did that time go?! Well, this past Sunday it cemented what a big boy Ryan has turned into b/c he was in his very first Christmas play :) Ryan's CCD (religious education) class performed the "First Christmas". Ryan was a shepherd and ohhhhh SO adorable.

As time races towards us and yet another year passes I want to take the opportunity to wish everyone who reads our blog, "Peace on Earth and Holiday Wishes"!!! Thank-You for sharing our WONDERFUL and AMAZING journey with us!!!

This morning I was saying to Lukey, "Ho, Ho, Ho," and he said to me, "You are not Santa, you are Mommy"! He told me, didn't he??? As I've stated he's become quite the little comedian :) Ron said, "Lukey if you only knew"! LOL!!!

Happy Holidays,

Jenny, Ron, Ryan, and Lukey :)

Pumpkin Pickin' and Halloween :)

2009-12-07T07:24:00.000-08:00

A little late but here are photos of the boys pumpkin pickin' and Halloween. My sister, known as, Aunt Woo to the boys helped us this year with the pumpkin pickin' :) We had a lion and Bumblebee from Transformers visit us this year on Halloween. The boys were too cute! I think Lukey actually understood Halloween, he kept on going up to houses (of course, of family members and/or ppl. we knew) and said "gimme some candy, Oh yes TRICK or TREAT"! LOL!!! He truly has become our little comedian :)

Anyway, enjoy :)

HUGS,
Jenny, Ron, Ryan, and Lukey :)

It's OFFICIAL we have moved...

2009-10-12T12:09:00.000-07:00

Many of our fellow bloggers are probably stating to themselves WHAT??? But YES we have OFFICIALLY moved :) We are now about a half hour south of where we used to be in NJ, it's closer to Ron's work (3 miles to be exact) and it's a better move for Ryan and the school district.

Our new house is still in disarray...I never thought it would come together but slowly and surly it is...did I mention it's happening extremely slowly?! We FINALLY have cable, well more like satellite tv now, after not having it for 5 days...we were "camping out" as Ryan put it :/ It took us a while to find the boys nuts and bolts to actually put their bunk beds together, they were a fun couple of nights :) We have a new phone number too and FINALLY have Internet...you never know how much you miss things until they are completely gone! Ron made a comment, at least in Russia we had "Russian TV"! HAHA! I had to chuckle to keep from crying my eyes out!

No photos of the new house...yet! I can't seem to find the cable that attaches to the computer and downloads the photos...that's our life in a nutshell for now :/

Love & HUGS,
Jenny, Ron, Ryan & Lukey

Summer can not be over?!

2009-08-24T08:34:00.000-07:00

WOW!!! Is all I can say right now! Where on earth did this summer go??? Ryan will start 1st Grade on September 3rd, I know I can't believe we our the parents to a 1st Grader!!! Our school district starts a little bit earlier than surrounding districts, which if you ask me is strange b/c a town over starts on September 8th?! I will try and post photos of Ryan's 1st day in 1st Grade!

And believe it or not...Luke has now been home a year, to be exact 14 months! This I can't even get over or wrap my little brain around! It seems like yesterday we were on our way to go meet him for the 1st time! But in the same breath I can say that he "fits" into our family as if he has always been here :) WOW!!!

Our summer of 2009 was spent by the pool, down the shore (Lukey did not like the ocean this year because a wave came along wiped him out and took his beach toys...he was not a happy toddler at that point!), adoption picnics, farm fair, Sesame Place, and this year we saw the Crayola Factory for the very 1st time, again I forgot my stinking camera SO what else did I have but my cell phone and the same exact thing that happened on our trip to Chicago, where I can't get the photos to download to the computer!!! Anyway all in all we had a fun, fun, and more fun summer...at least the boys had a great summer or so they told me :)

Love & HUGS,
Jenny, Ron, Ryan, & Lukey :)

Azerbaijan Reunion Chicago 2009

2009-08-18T11:59:00.000-07:00

This year the Azerbaijani Reunion was held in Chicago. We didn't fly to Chicago, nope I thought it would be much more fun to drive 13 hours :/ Honestly, Ron and I talked about flying but we both refused to pay 800.00 and that was only 1 way...not round trip...yep 1 way! So, in other words YES it would have cost us $1600.00 to fly round trip, as a family, to Chicago...for a weekend?! Just way TOO much money! So, we endured the car ride. It truly wasn't an awful experience, now I didn't say it was a great experience just not awful :)

We started out late Thursday night, July 16, 2009. By the time we had left it was already creeping into Friday morning, probably left about 2 am. We didn't arrive til almost 6 pm on Friday, July 17, 2009. Luke cried the last 40 minutes of the car ride and then some :/ Our nerves were frazzled at this point! However, the great thing about Chicago is that they are an hour behind us, so it was actually 5 pm not 6 pm...still didn't make a difference we were ALL exhausted. We had a meet and greet to do down at the hotel's pool with other families who have adopted from Azerbaijan, which Ron and Ryan happily were up for while I stayed behind to TRY and calm the screaming baby, aka Luke :/ I will state that chocolate does wonders for screaming toddlers or I should say chocolate chip cookies...we too were off to the pool party :) Except it was freezing at the pool, due to a cold front and the fact that Chicago is on a lake, and Mommy didn't pack any jackets/sweatshirts for anyone :/ Who would have thought to pack jackets/sweatshirts when it was the middle of summer?!

I must say the next day was much better! We spent the day, Saturday, July 18, 2009 with other families who have adopted from Azerbaijan and most importantly Ryan was able to see his "Baku Friends"! We walked the "Magnificent Mile" and went to Millennium Park...all extremely cool!!! We let the children run around in the fountain, we were told that this fountain is famous in Chicago. We took pictures of the children in front of the "Bean". We ended the day by going to lunch with some of the other families. Unfortunately, I am an idiot and forgot my camera, however I did have my cell phone but can't seem to download the pictures I took that day onto the computer :/

That night we all met at EFES Restaurant and the owners were an amazing couple, one was from Azerbaijan and I believe the other was from Turkey. Just an amazing couple, who were absolutely endeared by the children. We had amazing Azerbaijani food, as is the tradition at the Azerbaijani Reunions and there was the silent auction (my personal favorite!), where the proceeds benefit those children in the Azerbaijani Baby Houses. It felt extremely good to spend time with others who have had a similar experience to you, truly an amazing experience! It's quite funny how all the stories about Azerbaijan were the same, yet they all had a piece that would always make these stories unique because it is your child's story of how they came to your family :) To end the night we went to an amusement park where we watched fireworks, which btw Ryan now adores fireworks...ever since Walt Disney World :)

We woke up on our final day in Chicago and I will say I was sad knowing that today we would be leaving Chicago but happy to get back to our life. We did spend the day sightseeing in Chicago, an amazing little tid bit of trivia for all those who are interested...the Sears Tower is NO longer the Sears Tower but rather the Willis Tower as of that Thursday it had changed names. We took a ride on the lake and saw the architecture of Chicago. That day, as a treat to the boys, (and yes I mean Ron too) we stopped at the Lego store, which was impressive. I have the cutest picture of both Ryan and Luke hugging R2D2 totally made out of legos, that was extremely cool! We left Chicago later that evening, we wanted to go to the free zoo but there never seems to be enough time in the day! A friend offered us her hotel room where we could shower and change but we were exhausted and decided to get on the road. I will say that it was much better driving home than driving to Chicago. Chicago will always be remembered fondly :)

Love & HUGS,

Jenny, Ron, Ryan & Lukey (I don't know if anyone noticed but we changed the spelling, do you like this spelling or the Lukie spelling?)

Poncho Time...oops I mean Our Disney Vacation 2009

2009-06-28T22:20:00.000-07:00

As you can tell YES we had a "Family Vacation" at the most Magical Place on Earth...Walt Disney World :) And of course it rained and rained and rained some more! Oh did I mention that it rained? LOL!!! But we made the most of it and donned our ponchos and played in the rain at the Mouse's House :)

This was a triple-fold present, this according to Ron, it was my Graduation present and the boys celebration of their "Gotcha Days". Their "Gotcha Days" are a day apart, well 5 years and a day apart but still pretty amazing!!!

Enjoy the photos :)

Happy Belated Mother's Day 2009 :)

2009-05-11T09:50:00.000-07:00

SO sorry I have not been keeping up my blog! We have been SUPER-DUPER busy here in the Grabowski Household! Here's what we have been up to since our last post:

Happy Belated Easter (to those who celebrate) :) We geared the boys up for a wonderful Easter by taking them to not 1 but 2 Easter Egg Hunts the weekend before Easter! Our Easter was GREAT!!! The night before we dyed Easter Egg, the boys woke up to their Easter Baskets that were filled with Easter Candy, we had an Easter Egg Hunt (I will say that the Easter Bunny wised up this year and bought plastic eggs for the hunt, Thanks Hun for suggesting this b/c apparently the Easter Bunny forgot about what a 2 year old actually does with real Easter eggs!)...LOL :) We celebrated Easter in true Grabowski tradition with not eating once that day but we ate two Easter Celebrations at two separate houses :) We ate Breakfast at Babci and Dzydzyia (Ron's Mom and Dad, Babci and Dzydzyia is Polish for Grandma and Grandpa) and then we ate dinner later that evening at my Aunt's house. It was such an eventful day :) Luke truly enjoyed his chocolate bunny :) What shocked us all was that Ryan actually ate candy this year!!!

We had our 2nd post-placement report, can you believe that it has been close to a year since our court date? Amazing how time flies when you are having fun! Our Social Worker was SO impressed with Luke!!! I have to say we are too!!!

We celebrated Mother's Day yesterday :) I say we (meaning...Ron, Ryan, Luke and myself) b/c who would want to celebrate this holiday alone? Now, I'm not saying that there is anything wrong with celebrating this holiday alone, such as I have a friend who has 5 children and every Mother's Day she celebrates this holiday alone, tells me it's her ONLY saving grace, but we celebrated our Mother's Day together. Ron and I were reminiscing about last year b/c we actually spent Mother's Day in a plane on our way to Russia to see Luke, have our day in court and became a family for the second time in our lives. So, YES, yesterday was an emotional day, at least for me :) Not to mention this week will be as well!!! Ron and I realized that Luke's and Ryan's court dates our 5 years apart, not exactly they are separated by 1 day...Ryan's court date 5/16/03 and Luke's court date 5/15/08 :) Pretty amazing, huh? Anyway, HAPPY MOTHER"S DAY to ALL :) Who would have thought that I would be a Mommy to not 1 but 2 WONDERFUL boys?!

Also, at the end of this week I FINALLY graduate from Rowan University!!! I tell everyone that I should have several different doctorates, in several different areas of study at this point...HAHA! I graduate on Friday, May 15, 2009, and we will be celebrating Luke's very FIRST "GOTCHA DAY"!!! Then, on Saturday, May 16, 2009, we will not only be celebrating Ryan's 6th "GOTCHA DAY" but as a graduation present my terrific hubby decided to surprise me with a vacation to Disney!!! I couldn't believe him!!! He was planning on telling at my graduation on Friday but I guess he forgot that I'm usually the one who gets the mail and that's how I found out we were going to Disney :) Too cute!!! That's Ron for you :)

Love & HUGS,

Jenny, Ron, Ryan & Lukie

Novruz Celebration!!!

2009-03-22T17:43:00.000-07:00

Happy Novruz!!! Or Happy Spring :) We celebrated Novruz (pronounced "Nov-ruz meaning "New Day") today with the Azerbaijan Society of America, at the Orion Palace in Brooklyn, NY. It truly was a terrific cultural experience for the whole family, especially Ryan :) This was our third Novruz Celebration with the Azerbaijan Society of America in NY and as usual the food and the entertainment were spectacular!

We have always celebrated spring with Azerbaijan in mind (since the arrival of our oldest son, Ryan), and we have tried many, many times to grow Samani - a plate of wheat grass or lentil grass. Every year we try to grow Samani and I'm sad to report every year nothing grows or it only grows a quarter of an inch :/ Here is a website, from Azerbaijan International Magazine, that describes how to grow Samani, perhaps you will have better luck than us :/

http://azer.com/aiweb/categories/magazine/ai144_folder/144_articles/144_novruz_samani.html.

Also, for those who are interested, here is another website from Azerbaijan International Magazine, that describes what Novruz means and a Celebration that would not die...

http://azer.com/aiweb/categories/magazine/22_folder/22_articles/22_noruz.html. And here is another website, from Azerbaijan International Magazine, Celebrating Novruz Photo Essay - Readers Capture the Spirit of Novruz...

http://azer.com/aiweb/categories/magazine/ai111_folder/111_articles/111_photos_novruz.html.

Finally, another website, http://www.turkishny.com/en/local-news/4664-amerika-azerbaycanlilar-dernegi-uyeleri-nevruzda-bulustu.html this is in Turkish but if you look close enough at the very first photo you can see Ron and I sitting at the table in the background. I thought this was hysterical, I told Ron we made the news in Turkey/Azerbaijan...LOL :)

As I'm sure you have noticed the photos of our Novruz Celebration 2009, also I've included a video of Azerbaijani dancers-simply beautiful!!!

Love & HUGS,

Jenny, Ron, Ryan & Lukie :)

PS-On a side note-Ryan is doing much, much better from his stay in the hospital earlier in the week :) Thank-You ALL for your prayers and loving thoughts! We weren't too sure if we would be able to attend the Novruz Celebration, but Thank-Goodness we were able to!

Remembering as if it were yesterday...

2009-03-07T23:30:00.000-08:00

One Year Ago today it was "International Woman's Day" and we were leaving Russia after seeing, meeting, and accepting our referral. It truly was a bitter sweet day, because on the one hand you have a sense of relief, that you have accomplished another task to bring you closer to realizing your dream...the dream of adopting this baby boy. On the other hand, you have to leave this precious baby boy back in Russia and honestly unless you have been through it, it truly is the most agonizing thing we have ever been through in our entire lives! Metaphorically, I tell everyone it's the same as having your heart ripped out and literally left in Russia and/or Azerbaijan. And I do say that YES it is that horrible of an experience!

Our facilitator, Irina, told us that we would return soon enough and you know we believed her :) You may think that these are just merely "words" she tells every PAP but Irina is extremely sincere in her demeanor and I, for one, and still do to this day, believed her because she was absolutely CORRECT!

Because it was "International Women's Day," which is extremely similar to the U.S. version of Mother's Day (which incidentally we traveled for our court date in May 2008 and it fell directly on Mother's Day, we did spend this day in an airplane and we truly did not celebrate it but Lukie is SO worth it!), so Ron went to our hotel's flower shop, at the Hyundai Hotel, and bought Irina flowers, because she deserves them and in our minds a lot more! Before Irina took us to the airport, we made a pit stop at Lukie's baby hospital to give our Goodbyes. I'm not so sure this was such a wonderful idea?! I SO wanted to scoop up our baby boy and bring him home with us, who cares that he didn't have the proper paper work, after all I was a Mommy in agony, surely the Russian Gov. would understand!? I just kept repeating to Luke "we will be back," I think this was more for me than him :/

Here are some photos of just how much Lukie has changed from that very first week back in March 2008 to now :)

Love & HUGS,

Jenny, Ron, Ryan & Lukie :)

1 year ago...

2009-01-31T16:25:00.000-08:00

Here comes the stork...what I really mean is here comes Fed-Ex with our referral of our future son :) Ummmm, as many of you know, YES...Ron works for UPS and YES he was upset that his second son couldn't be delivered via UPS, just like Ryan :/

Ron & Ryan looking at Luke's referral photo :)

Who would have thought a year ago today that Ron and myself would receive a referral of our

2nd future son...who we now call Luke :) Today was an emotional day, at least for me it was...here are some photos of that day 1 year ago.

Love & HUGS,

Jenny, Ron, Ryan & Luke :)

My very First Haircut!!!

2009-01-18T11:28:00.001-08:00

Well, I think the headline says it all!!! Here are some photos and a vidoe of this event! And YES Luke no longer has his mullet :) I was sad to see him get his first haircut b/c he no longer looks like a baby but rather a big boy now :(

Love & HUGS,

Jenny, Ron, Ryan & Lukie :)

Lukie getting his First Haircut...he looks soooo happy doesn't he???

Reflecting on the past year...What an AMAZING year!!!

2008-12-31T11:10:00.000-08:00

Lukie & Ryan vegging after the Holidays

Ryan & Lukie playing with Ryan's new toy (Lightening McQueen Car) from Pop-Pop

Our boys standing by the Christmas tree with their favorite presents...well for the moment

Big Brother finally gave up reign of his car and let Lukie drive Lightening

Ryan & Lukie on Christmas Eve

Our boys again by the Christmas Tree

Lukie adored all the wrapping paper!

Ryan loves anything that has to do with Lightening McQueen

Christmas cookies for Santa and reindeer food, of course :)

Our trip to Storybook Land from the Ferris Wheel

The boys in Santa's sleigh at Storybook Land

The boys "before" we even got to Storybook Land :)

The boys coming out of an igloo...that was one of the coldest nights it felt like we were in an igloo all night long!

The boys making Christmas cookies...FUN!!!

We certainly hope that everyone had a spectacular Christmas!!! We did!!! We couldn't have asked for a better Christmas present...he came a bit early but better early than never :) Of course we are talking about "Lukie"!!! Lukie has enriched all of our lives, especially Ryan's, every time we see them hug, kiss or even have the "typical" spat over some toy or another we can't help but shed a tear and think this was what we wanted to achieve...our boys/siblings forever. Family members and friends, who may I add were against the idea of us adopting again, at least in the beginning, are now saying to EVERYONE who will listen what a terrific thing we have done, especially for Ryan. Thank-You Everyone :)
As you know, or may not know, this was our second Holiday Season without my Mom and you know what I think this season was the hardest, as a matter of fact this second year not having my Mom around has been extremely difficult. They say that time heals all wounds?!? Who ever came up with this was obviously on drugs or drinking heavily! B/C I will state that this year, it will be 2 years since my Mom passed in February, has been the hardest. It's almost as if you expect that one you love to come through the door, as if they have been on vacation all this time. But, then by the second year you actually realize that they are not coming back from that vacation. So, needless to say it has been difficult. I've talked to my sister and she too feels this way. She thought she was the only one who felt like this :(

With the New Year approaching, after all it is December 31st, we hope that all of our Family Members and Friends have a WONDERFUL upcoming year...HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
By the way...my New Year's resolution is to post more and I must get Lukie's timeline up on here. PAP's and others have been asking us about this, this is our next project. After all, we received a call from EAC that we had a referral on 1/31/08...we can't believe that this anniversary is fast approaching!!!

Love & HUGS,
Jenny, Ron, Ryan & Lukie :)

Lukie eating his favorite candy of the season...Candy Cane!!!