The Adkins Family

I can't believe it has been so long since my last post.  I am a total slacker!  I will try to be better!

We have had a busy couple of months.  Kaiser is doing pretty good.  We found out over the summer that he is really allergic to pets and some other things.  We had to find new homes for our 4 animals, which was really hard.  We will wait and see if he is going to be better.  He already seems better, although it may take up to 6 months for all the dander to be gone.  He is so busy.  He is getting in to everything and is faster and faster every day.  I found my wool hat and an ornament in the toilet today.  Our house is busy and chaotic with him around.  But he is talking and talking more every day and is starting to be able to communicate with us.  He is still happy and smiley and seems to be just a joyous little guy most of the time.  Except when he is mad.  Then he is loud, and REALLY mad.
Lilia is doing wonderful.  She turned 6 and started 1st grade this year.  She lost her first tooth about a month ago.  She looks pretty cute!  She is in gymnastics again and is loving it!  And she is a great big sister.  He does get on her nerves when he yells, tries to tackle her or messes up her things, but for the most part, she is kind and loving to him.  It is great being a family of 4.

Lee and I are doing well.  Just busy with the kids and the holidays coming up.  We went to Cancun with his family in October and it was a nice getaway before the cold.  No vacations planned for us for next year.  We might take a couple weekend trips around Colorado and that might be it for 2012.

Merry Christmas to all our friends and family!

Lil and Uncle Jeff

Lilia at Epcot

Papa and Kaiser

Magic Kingdom

Gramma and Kaiser at Blizzard Beach

We need a vacation after the vacation

Both kids slept the entire plane ride home

We just got back from a week long trip to Orlando and had the best time ever.  We went with the entire family.  Us four, Grandma and Papa, Jody and the kids, and Jeff and Cat.  It was HOT!  104 some days, plus add the humidity and then add the walking and standing in line all day and it made for a hot vacation.  We tried the water parks which the kids just loved.  They liked Disney, but preferred to be in the pool most of the time.
Kaiser is doing pretty well.  Still trying to fight off illness and lung stuff, but he is a happy little boy.  He did great at Disney.  We had him in the stroller and took turns holding him and he did great, but did get hot. 
Lilia is doing well also.  She is happy she is out of school for the summer.  She is becoming quite a little swimmer and we can let her go freely in the deep end.
We are looking forward to the rest of the summer!



Making Smores in our backyard




In Glenwood at a tour of the caverns



Cousins

Sissy and bro-bro

We are all doing great and enjoying our new life.  Kaiser was finally starting to feel more healthy until this last week, and then he came down with another cold.  He seems to be better this time and his ears seem okay.  We have a doctor appt. with him on Tuesday for his 9 month well baby visit.  He finally started crawling on Thursday, but seems to not want to do it a lot yet.  Today he crawled a little bit more on one knee with the other foot on the ground and the knee up.  It is so cute!

We got a great swingset from our neighbors and Lilia is having a ball playing for a couple hours each day on it.  Kaiser is pretty indifferent about swinging at this point, but ate a lot of sand while playing in the sandbox.  Lilia and Kaiser are becoming a great pair.  She loves to make him laugh and help him.  She will wipe his nose, or pick it, too!  She helps get diapers and wipes, and will try to help dress him.  She picks him up, and tries to help him walk.  Lilia is starting to get tiny freckles on her nose and told me his the color of her freckles, so she has started calling him "my little freckle freck."  It is adorable to see them together and to see her trying so hard to make him laugh.  He is super loud and just likes to scream when he is really happy, and she will put his pacifier in to keep him quiet, or will yell to me "Mom, he wants you to pick him up!"

We went to Glenwood with my sister and their cousins for spring break and it was such a good time.  We went to the hotsprings pool, and rode a gondola to the top of the mountain.  Lil and Kai loved the warm water.  Our next vacation will be a big family vacation with my side of the family in June to Disneyworld.  We are looking forward to it!

I have to go back to work next Friday.  I am hoping he does okay without me, because he is so attached to me and a little clingy.  It is such a blessing that I work night shift so I will be working when they are asleep and will be able to be with them during the day.  I am a little sad to be going back, but it will be good to get back into our routine, since I gotta go back some time!

I think we are finally starting to feel a little more normal.  Kaiser is happy as can be, smiling all the time.  He is sleeping pretty well, like 12 hours a night.  He wakes up 1-3 times a night crying, but I can calm him in 5 seconds with a pacifier and talking to him.  We went to our well baby check up yesterday.  He is on the mend, but still has 2 nasty ear infections.  We are on a stronger antibiotic for 10 days.  His lungs are still cruddy, but on the mend.  We are going to do breathing treatments throughout the rest of the winter just to keep him from getting super sick.  He got 2 immunizations and was pretty crabby last night.  Today we have to go to the lab to get some blood drawn and stool samples just to make sure he is all clear.
Developementally the doctor was impressed.  He thought he was doing well, given where he came from.  He is sitting up on his own now and only falling over occasionally.  He can sit and play by himself for a while.  He is still pretty clingy to me, especially if he is tired, sick, or just plain mad.  It is okay with me that he wants me to hold him.
The 4 of us are going for our first overnight tonight at a hotel.  We are just going to stay downtown and go swimming in the pool, then out to dinner.  It is only a half hour away, but it is a well needed rest from daily life.  Having 2 kids is a bit difficult, but I have a helpful 5 year old!

Everything is normal!  Praise the Lord!  Kai had his ultrasound of his abdomen today and the doctor called to tell me everything is normal.  Ahhhhhhh what a great feeling!  He is over the hump and on the road to recovery.  We are still doing breathing treatments twice a day, and although his lungs are still congested and he is coughing, he is getting better.  His nose and eyes are clear, and his ears seem okay!  He finally started eating food yesterday.  No baby fruit at all!  He is a veggie guy :)  He is happy as can be and smiles constantly.  Just talking to the little man puts a smile on his sweet little face.  I am so happy to be a mommy of the two greatest kids God ever created.  Soooooo glad all the worry about illnesses is over and now we can move on with the fun.  I have 6 weeks of leave from work left and I intend to spend it loving on those two babies of mine.  I am having so much fun.

We had an appt. today for his heart and I am so happy to report that everything is 100% normal.  Normal heart, no holes, normal function, no defects.  God is so good!  I am praising him today, and also praising him for a good report on Monday at the abdominal ultrasound.  Whew!!

The first couple weeks have definately been harder than I expected.  We came home with a really sick little guy.  That first weekend was tough, almost taking him to the ER a couple times.  We stuck it out until Monday and then took him right into the doctor.  Double ear infections, sinus infection and bronchiolitis.  He got started on a strong antibiotic right away, along with breathing treatments 3-4 times a day.  He then was started on inhaled steroids, which his doctor said he will probably need for about a month.  He had a chest xray, which showed a pretty enlarged heart, and he has a murmur.  So tomorrow we are going to see a pediatric cardiologist to get an echocardiogram of his heart to see what is going on.   Worst case scenario is that he has a congenital heart defect.  But God has a plan and he made our family the way it is from the beginning of time.  If it is something, thank God he is mine and he is here to get treatment.  He wouldn't have been healthy had he stayed in Ethiopia.  He has been so sick for so long, and I just wonder if his heart is enlarged from having to push blood through is constantly infected lungs.  Who knows, but we will find out tomorrow.  He also has a low set belly button, which sometimes can be associated with kidney problems, so we are going to get an abdominal ultrasound on Monday.  More fun at the farm.
Regardless of him being sick, he is the smiliest, happiest, talkative baby ever.  He has such a little personality already, and is really just as happy as can be.  He FINALLY slept through the night on Monday night.  YAY!  I was about ready to freak out one day because he was up screaming all night, and then would sleep about a half hour during the day.  I got really sick, then Lilia got sick.  I almost keeled over!  But God gave me grace to keep going, and we are all getting healthier by the day.
Lilia is doing pretty well with him.  She got a little sad for a few days feeling left out, like no one cared about her anymore.  But she is better now, and is really liking to make him laugh and smile.  She is also liking to show him off to her friends.
My dear, sweet grandma passed away Friday after a battle with cancer.  She wanted to make it to see her new great grandson, which she did and I am so proud of her.  I love her and miss her so much!  Thank you grandma for all your love.  I will miss you!!

Breathing treatments

Lilia came home sick from school today

After being sick for a lot of days!