today we celebrate

an update on Peter's dad.

He is going through radiation and finding meds that are regulating the pain. He spends most days sitting with a good friend by his side. Other afternoon's Peter's brother or sister come to sit for awhile, run errands, or help with other work. On good days he gets a shower and maybe even out to his office for a bit. Today was a great day. He had radiation this morning, felt yucky afterwards and then began the start of a really good day. He has been up and around, ate a great meal some friends brought to them, got some work done in his office, and even got out of the house tonight! His pastor came and picked him up to go to a Bible study.

PRAISE GOD!!

We are grateful to be going there next week to visit. We will have sometime to love on Peter's dad and of course, introduce Micaiah. We are looking forward to this opportunity to be with family and cherish our times with Art.

kid's quotes

"mommy, I am flying this robot all the way to Australia!"
&
"only real trees can have small branches"
"what kind of tree is this you are making?", Mommy said
"pretend, only God can make real trees!"
-Caleb Sutton

"yeah....yeah.....yeah"
(today at the dr. Micaiah just kept saying yeah every time I made a comment to her or about her-a new word!)
-Micaiah Sutton

"Bob the Builder, can we fix it? Bob the Builder, yes we can!"
(Elijah sings as they work on the "fixing the fence"
-Elijah Sutton

too funny not to post

okay, so I have to confess to the true story behind this photo. Caleb got in the dress up bin, put on the Guatemala headband, Veggietale tie, and engineers hat and came downstairs crying. When I asked him why he was crying he said his hat was stuck and he couldn't get it off. After a few tries I couldn't help but burst into laughter, run and grab the camera, and then help my poor son remove the VERY TIGHT hat from his head. fyi: he wasn't crying tears, just whining and frustrated and probably in a little pain. GOTTA LOVE HIM! the hat came safely off his head, no grease required.

a BIG day

our day started with a GOAL!!!! Caleb scored his first goal today! (do I have to mention it was for the other team :o) We had just gotten to the field he ran out on the field to join the game as it was just beginning, immediately got the ball and kicked it in the closest goal! He said, "mom, I scored a goal!"then, Micaiah went with for her first trip to Home Depot for what daddy calls, "Project Day" she enjoyed hammering for about 30 seconds and then spent the rest of the time going through the diaper bag and snacking on cheerios.hard at work!
finished project, fire truck piggy banks! (I'll have to get a close up, they are soooo cute)

Happy Birthday Daddy!

(this is what our backyard looks like when the sun is shining! Caleb loves being the expert on his scooter, Elijah is proud to be able ride his, and Micaiah is in heaven to be able to get around, try to keep up with the boys, and chase Bailey!)
What a day!

It was a wonderful day. The kids slept, first one wasn't up until 7:45-yeeeeeeaaaaaahhhhh!
They each made a birthday card for daddy, hand delivered as they awoke. We made french toast for daddy for breakfast and enjoyed a slow morning together. daddy went into work for a couple of hours and caleb and elijah made his birthday cake. we had his favorite lunch, chicken salad on crossiants, sang happy birthday and had cake after lunch. then daddy was off to work, soccer practice and Cedarville's homecoming. He was so excited to see his friends from college. The kids and I went for a walk, played at a friend's house and then we decided to head to a Harvest Festival. Caleb got a bat painted on his face, Elijah had a pumpkin painted on his hand, they decorated a pumpkin with a marker. We grabbed a bite to eat and played a few games, visited with a bunch of friends we ran into and headed home. Funny tid bit: I anticipated grabbing some grub, sitting on a table and chairs and have a bite to eat before continuing on at the festival, not quite what happened. We ordered, Caleb then decided he had to go to the bathroom, Elijah ate his entire meal on the way to the bathroom, I fed Micaiah outside of the bathroom while waiting for Caleb to go and wash up, we walked back to the food, I ordered for myself and Caleb and I ate at the table, Elijah observed the people and Micaiah ate more! Funny, I thought. So, then we headed back home. I got the kids teeth brushed, pj's on, books read and to bed, ALL BY MY SELF! yes, I am boasting! My friend, Shelley, mother of 5 (ages:4,4,3,2,1) is probably laughing as I write this! :o) and they were all asleep by 8:30!!! another YEEEEEAAAAAHHHHH (in honor of my dad). so the best part of my day. bedtime! usually this is one of my least favorite times, I am usually worn thin and ready for the kids to be sleeping. well, tonight we read books, as usual and then I put the boys to bed. We have gotten into a new habit of rocking all the kids before bed, and I love it! I told the boys, Micaiah first, then Elijah, then Caleb. the boys laid down and patiently and QUIETLY waited! I rocked all three of them and enjoyed every moment of it.

and a HUGE THANK YOU to daddy! I credit him to such a wonderful day! Last night he turned the monitor off and slept upstairs in Micaiah's room to take care of her so I could get a good night's sleep! I am very grateful! thanks babe!

and now, off to bed! sweet dreams

so... where have we been...

trying to get some sleep :o( Micaiah has been having a really rough time at night. I can't begin to count how many times she wakes up, how much she is actually sleeping, how many times I have gotten up, how many times Peter has gotten up, or how much sleep we are getting. She is up CONSTANTLY, more than once per hour.

Unfortunately, I do not function well without a reasonable amount of sleep. I don't mean to complain but I am hoping for a few extra prayers. It has been very trying to do this night after night. I laughed when I saw the last blog I posted before the Plummers and Masterpieces. she is blessing and continuing to make great strides, but the sleep thing is taking over at the moment!

on a much better note, Micaiah said, "DA DA" tonight! and she said it to daddy. and when I asked her, "donde esta da da?" (where is da da) she looked right at him, gave him big hug and said it over and over! YEAH!!!! (this pic is from our trip to the market in Guatemala)

and, she pushed a push toy on the carpet across her room and the boys room today, she loved it! a little wobbly but she is catching on so fast!

and, she pulled herself up in her crib this morning! that is a first! she is pulling herself up more and more each day, it is a lot of effort for her!

and, she signs "all done" when she is done eating (she had been doing that for over a week now!)
now, for a good nights sleep!

masterpieces

Caleb came home from school with this work of art! They made apple friends at school today, Caleb named his Robot friend, "apple". Elijah said, "I want one too". so the next day while Caleb was at school, Elijah made an apple friend too! I asked him his name, he laughed and said, "silly one-he's a robot"

After that, we cut out a letter E and let Elijah decorate it! what do you think? yes, there is a letter E under there. Elijah glued the fuzzy balls on it, then ripped them off and used bingo markers to decorate it, then he built this "fire" over the top of it! what a creative kid!

Shaw Farms

today we went to Shaw Farms for a friend's birthday party! This is Aidan and Elijah in the pirate's ship! (he lives behind us, he is 16 months and a potential mate for Micaiah, Elijah is testing him out)
Caleb in the alligator's mouth!
Micaiah climbing on the pirate ship!

visit from the Plummers

I can't even believe this picture!!!! This is Micaiah (1), Caleb (4), Amanda (3 1/2), Evan (1 1/2), Elijah (2), and Chloe (3 1/2)! These are some of our best friends from Florida! well, these are their kiddos! They came to visit and have a sleepover this weekend. We had such a blast! Eric and Peter went to the Bangels game, Amy and I held the fort down (or at least we tried). We finally had all the kids sleeping by 9:30, except Elijah, he fell asleep sometime after 10:40. (that was when I officially decided NO MORE NAPS for him). The kids loved playing together.
Amanda, Micaiah, Chloe
The girls loved playing with Micaiah and they graciously donated over half of her wardrobe! thank you Plummers!
We took them to one of our kids favorite restaurants for lunch, Choo Choo's (they have a train that goes around the top of the restaurant, I think that is what Evan is looking at)

Miracles

where do I begin?

two nights ago, micaiah did something she has only done twice in the almost three weeks we have been with her. She woke up every single hour during the night. and then...

last night she slept through the night!!!!! yeahhhhhhhh. she went down at 8:45 and did not wake up until 6:30 for a bottle (this is usually a four o'clock bottle) and then back down until 8:30AM. needless to say, we were ecstatic! and what's even better, elijah slept through the night too! (he often wakes up once or twice a night, still!)

yesterday I decided that we needed to feed Micaiah like a 6 month old. for the previous two days she had been refusing almost all food, jars, mushed, and solids. I realized that maybe she really did not get that much food in Guatemala, I know her foster family gave her some, but not sure how much? so this morning she wakes up and eats great, and refuses almost nothing! She ate chunks of banana (first time ever), baby jars of fruit, mashed sweet potatoes, string cheese, shredded apples, etc. YEAH!

when we came home and tried to get Micaiah to nap she would wake up every 20 minutes, but once we picked her up, she would pass out on our shoulders and go back down for another 20 minutes. well.....today she slept for 1 hour and 20 minutes before she woke up the first time, she took a 2 hour and 15 minute nap AND (all you mothers will appreciate this) when she woke up from her nap, she didn't cry, she played in her crib for 15 minutes and then I went and got her (I think she could have played longer :o) It's always nice to get a warning and not have a crying kid after naptime! do you think I can get her teach Elijah how to wake up happy?

so to top off a truly miraculous day, with a very happy little girl, we officially initiated her into the Sutton clan by taking her to Chipotle, a family favorite for all of us! and of course, she fit right in, she loves Chipotle! I guess she is a keeper!

It has been so amazing to see what God has done in our lives in the past 2 weeks Micaiah has been home, it has been so miraculous to see her adjustment to our family. What a blessing!

one year ago today...

On this very day one year ago, we received the referral for our beautiful baby girl. We openly welcomed her into our family and waited for the day she would come home to be with our family forever. Little did we know how very long we would wait. There were many times of disappointment, tears, frustrations, fear, sadness, and confusion. She was well worth the wait! I would do it all over again in a heart beat!! I put this Bible verse on my chalkboard in my kitchen and tried to hold on to it knowing that there would be a day when our precious daughter would come home.

Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded thatGod had the power to do what he had promised.

Romans 4:20-21

God has been faithful to His promise.

Kid's Quotes

"Micaiah, you are the prettiest princess I ever saw" -Caleb Sutton (Caleb saw her in this outfit all ready for church- she just got these boots from a new friend at church who is known for wearing cowboy boots all the time, she picked these matching boots out for Micaiah. i think she likes them, she is a big shoe fan, really!)

"Jesus.......loves.......me" -Elijah Sutton (Elijah was reading his Bible getting ready to tell a story and slowly tells his story-and I always wonder if the kids get how much God really loves them)

"Uhh... uhhh....uhh" -Micaiah Sutton (in a very deep voice, to imitate Bailey's bark)

Micaiah meets a new friend

Micaiah and Ana Lucia meet! (Ana is my coordinator's little girl) they are just 10 weeks apart, and hopefully good friends for life! Ana Lucia is younger. I think Micaiah is checking out her beautiful earings wondering when she wil get some of those!

Micaiah has a sweet kiss for her big brother Elijahand just grabs Caleb's cheeks when he comes in for una besita (a kiss)

GO BENGALS!

and the BEARS won too! A happy day at the Sutton's.

so many blessings!

FYI: the blog site has been working great tonight so I have edited and added a bunch of pics as far back as Tuesday if you want to check them out.

the stats from the dr. 9/20/06
Micaiah weighs 17 lb 14 oz, 10th percentile
height, 28 3/4 inches, 50th percentile
head circumfrence, 17 3/4 inches, 55th percentile

she said, she looks great, healthy. She got more vaccinations and is somewhat behind in several areas, however they anticipate she will catch up quickly. She thinks Micaiah probably has low muscle tone, (which Elijah has as well). We will be taking her to Children's for a 3 hour screening with therapists and doctors in a few weeks. This is part of an initial screening for Micaiah because she was adopted internationally, but also because she has some delays and possibly has low muscle tone. the dr. doesn't think she is allergic to milk anymore, but that most kids grow out of that by one. we decided to keep her on soy formula, we feel like she has enough change as it is, but we have started feeding her cheese and stuff with milk in it. she seems fine.

well, where do I begin? it has been 13 days with our princess and 8 days home. It has been so amazing. definitely overwhelming and difficult at times, but overall just absolutely wonderful. I feel so blessed to have the privaledge to parent our three children and it is so much fun to watch them grow, learn, and interact with each other. I am so grateful for my wonderful husband who has been so patient and supportive. It has been so amazing to parent with my best friend. He has been so patient with me when I am tired, feeling overwhelmed, or just need an extra hour or three to sleep! Peter has been getting up in the middle of the night, as he did with all the kiddos. I got lucky Micaiah slept 6 hours two nights ago, when it was my turn to get up with her!

Here are just a few of her amazing strides she has taken in the past 2 weeks!

*Micaiah was so afraid of Bailey when she came home, now she can't get enough of her, literally. When she hears Bailey bark, she starts her own little bark and looks all over for Bailey.
*When we started walking with Micaiah we were carrying soooo much of her weight, she wanted to move her feet, but we helped her carry her torso and her arms were too weak to just hold onto when she walked, she would have fallen over. Now she is all over the house, we hold onto her hands and off she goes, not floppy at all! She has even pulled herself up a few times and taken a few steps along the table, on her own!
*We had been getting up in the middle of the night several times and picking Micaiah to calm her down, now she is waking up less, sleeping longer stretches, and we almost never have to pick her up, just rub her on the back.
*Micaiah is learning to play with the boys, spend time on her belly, love her daddy (she did not have a foster dad, so we thought this might take some time, but she can't help but love her daddy), she says, "pa" for pache (bottle in Spanish), gets attention when she needs it, she has learned to sit up on a small stool!
*she is just amazing, she is adjusting so well, she is so happy.

so what did we do on this VERY gray and rainy day?

Caleb and I decided to "do" Micaiah's hair, I am not sure you had more fun, me or Caleb?
and of course, he too, wanted to get "dressed up" as he called it
isn't she gorgeous?
Caleb went a little over board, okay, I helped! but it was his idea...
Caleb loved putting all the clips in her hair.

so, how do we fill our days...

Elijah taught Micaiah how to play basketball, she loved it! When Micaiah was in Guatemala her foster mom used to say, "shoo shoo mi mi" as she rocked her. Micaiah loves to rock baby dolls when we say "shoo shoo mi mi". this is the special doll she got from Grandma Sutton. thanks Grandma, she loves it! This is it, the first official bath together, three's a crowd!

three's a crowd, their first bath together! (okay I think I posted this already but I don't want to hit delete and loose all these pics that appear like they are actually going to post, so enjoy it again!
and who do you think she is looking at, her mommy!
Today Micaiah noticed the flowers and butterflies on her bedroom wall, although I think she was disappointed they are 2 dimensional :o)

my wonderful friend shelley taught me how to post my comments under the pics!!! ahhhh, this is much nicer!

the post, finally in ONE piece!

my first day home alone... well, today was day one, just me and three kiddos! We had Bible study this morning, out the door by 9:20, what a challenge! Thank God my wonderful husband helped me out or we would have never made it. especially since Caleb and Elijah woke up at 8:15 and Micaiah woke up at 7:30 took a bottle and fell back to sleep in our bed. WOW, we all must have been exhausted, it felt great to have a slow morning, well, until we woke up of course.
the three Sutton kids all climbed into bed this morning, what a blessing! I love these little ones!

Caleb went to school this afternoon, we all walked him there together Caleb and Elijah got Micaiah a Dora backpack for her birthday, so everyone wore their backpacks and off we went. What a fun time, daddy came home for lunch and to walk Caleb to school. Elijah and I had some great time together playing and reading books before his nap, it was really good to just focus and love on him. He is such a sweetie. Micaiah's first trip to the park. She loved the swing

During supper, we taught Micaiah how to drink out of a sippy! YEAH, she did great and was so excited she got milk out of that dumb hard plastic thing I kept sticking in her mouth :o) It was a good day, now if only I could teach her to sleep! in time we will get there, she has adjusted to us so well otherwise. tomorrow we head to the dr. for her 1 year check up and initial exam. I have lots of questions :o) although we have to be out of the house by 9AM, what was I thinking when I scheduled that appointment (I only have two kids and they are pretty self-sufficient) what a difference a third makes! hanging in there

running in the rain

after supper the back door slammed. a usual sound at our home. except it is raining. the boys are out amidst the rain, having as much fun as two little boys could possibly have. daddy is doing dishes and mommy is sitting on the porch with micaiah, covered under the blankets fast asleep. we come inside, daddy volunteers to bath the boys while I just sit and enjoy my beautiful daughter.