Summer Fun

July 22, 2012 - The busyness of summer continues. We have our good days and some overwhelming days.  Here is just a taste of some fun we have had over the past couple weeks.



Holding one of 6 baby kittens born to our cat. Sadly, all 6 have gone missing for a few days now. No where to be found. : (

Izzy and "her" kitty

Mommy and her girls dressed up for church.

First trim. She did pretty well and earned a sucker for sitting so nicely. : )

This is what happens when my boys discover that if you get sidewalk chalk wet you can paint yourself and they discovered that blue stains their skin. : )

The next member of the blue man group

Making our own paint. 1 cup cold water, 1 cup flour and food coloring. Thanks to the idea from my sis in law.

A few Izzy originals. : ) She says these are for Daddy to take to Minn Tex. : )

1st visit to Fairmont Water Park

She loved it and evidence that she has no fear of water anymore!

Izzy going down the slide

My big boy!

And this came in the mail yesterday.....official certificate of citizenship

 Tomorrow morning, Ian leaves for his first summer camp experience. He is very excited and has been packing for 3 days now. : ) My little boy isn't so little anymore. Aiden is looking forward to having a friend spend the night while Ian is gone and he has to pick up the slack of Ian and do all the chicken chores. (They are raising broiler chickens this summer for their summer job.) These two boys have taken me out of my comfort zone this summer. They both wanted to find other summer jobs, I think because they want to earn extra money. Ian decided he wanted to ask the librarian if she needed any extra help at the library. I told Ian that he could ask, but to know that this is not a job that he will get paid. He informed me he just wanted to work on building his resume....."WHAT!?", I said, "where did you ever hear about a resume and what do you even know about a resume?" Ian said he has heard about in his Adventures in Odyssey CDs. ha,ha! O.k., well Ian asked and now has a little job at the library helping sort DVDs that are rented out at the library as they come in. He just glows when I take him. I would have never had enough nerve to ask a librarian for a job when I was his age. Well, Aiden decided he wanted a job too. His idea.....to set up a table outside the library and sell baked goods to those patrons using the library. O.k., well he asked the librarian about this possibility and she said he would need to talk to the city of Butterfield to get the o.k. This was a thought that crossed my mind and a fear I had because once Aiden gets an idea he does not let it go until he gets a yes or no answer. So, we went to city hall and asked about his bake sale. The substitute working at city hall that day (THANKFULLY, I knew the lady filling in this day) took Aiden's information down and she said she would relay the message to the proper people. We have not heard back from them yet and yes, Aiden does keep asking. Like I said, this is all way out of my comfort zone, but I do not want to squelch this desire to work and earn money, or build their resumes in Ian's case. Gotta love small towns for these very reasons.

These are the stories I want to return to when I have those overwhelming days and wonder if I was really cut out to be a mom of 4. I am thankful for God's grace and mercy in my insufficiency as a mom. I am thankful for friends and family that continue to encourage me through texts, emails, and chats. I cannot imagine going through this life without such encouragement. I didn't mean for this to end on such a downer, but I want to be real. These pictures I have posted show that life is just wonderful and fun, which it is at times, and other times it is exhausting, overwhelming, frustrating, and tear filled. That is when God's grace and mercy shines through the most. I am working on relying on that more and more.

Oh......and Lucy is doing just fabulous these days. : )

Grandparents and Doctors

July 11, 2012 - We have had a busy few weeks. Some activities of interest, for those that care about this continued journey, are my parents visit and a trip to Sioux Falls to see the ENT/cleft specialist. First my parents.....they came on Saturday afternoon and stayed until early Tuesday morning, so it was not a long visit. They were able to experience first hand the chaos of the Penner home. Not that they aren't used to 4 kids kind of chaos, but when you are the mother of the kids that cause the chaos it seems to be extra noticeable. Anyway, they came bearing gifts for the kids to enjoy and games to play with the kids. Lucy gave them lots of smiles, blew them kisses, and gave them plenty of hugs. We allowed them to hold her, which for some may seem silly, but up to this point we have not allowed anyone else to hold her except us. She handled it all well. We did not see any signs of attachment issues with us. My mom and I got away to Mankato one afternoon to shop and Jason took my dad golfing on a different afternoon. So Lucy has met her Indiana Grandparents now. : )

The kids enjoying their new water table

Perfect gift for Lucy

Coloring with Grandpa

Great picture of the newest Herman grandchild

We spent some time at Lawcon park while the boys had piano lessons

One last picture before it was time to go

 Once my parents left I had some sad kids. They enjoyed seeing their Indiana Grandparents.

The same morning that my parents left, Lucy and I traveled to Sioux Falls for her doctor's appointment. I asked my two good friends/sisters in Christ/accountability and prayer partners if they wanted to take a trip with me promising shopping and lunch. As always, it is such a refreshing time being with these encouraging and wise ladies who are in the same depths of life as myself. We go deep in our conversations and are real with one another. These women are true treasures in my life and I was so glad they made the trip with me. Anyway, back to Lucy.....she was a champ at traveling nearly 2 hours in the van (her longest car ride thus far). She saw an ENT doctor who also specializes in cleft lip/palate repairs. He is the first doctor all new patients see and he makes the decision on what issue needs to be worked on first. We were with his nurse for about 5 minutes. She left and 2 minutes later he walked in. He asked a few questions looked in Lucy's mouth (yes, that is not a fun thing to watch. He had to gag her a few times to get a good look at her palate. I also had to hold her upside down on my lap so he could see her gum line), and ears. He then told me whoever did her surgeries in China did a great job. He is most concerned about her hearing because she has fluid in her ears. He typically puts tubes is his surgical patients' ears at the time of their palate repair. Lucy does not have tubes. So, before starting any kind of speech therapy he first wants to make sure she is hearing correctly.....makes sense. We go back in 6 weeks to see if the fluid in her ears has gone away and Lucy will need a hearing test at that time. If the fluid has not gone away or diminished she will need tubes in her ears. Then, since she is just learning the English language, he wants to wait 6 -9 months before starting speech therapy. Her teeth and flattened nostril will not need anything done until she is about 5 or 6 years old. We will be followed by the cleft team now and a coordinator will keep me in the loop on what the plan of action is each step of the way. This doctor answered all my questions before I even had a chance to ask them. : ) We headed back to the mall for some shopping, dinner, and traveled home. On the way home Lucy did o.k. until the last 45 mins. She was done! She was tired and wanted to be out of her car seat. So, we switched drivers and I sat in the back with her. She fell asleep while I held her. Shhhhh! I know that is totally against the law, but she needed some mama time. : )

Also, Lucy's lab results from her first appointment with the family doctor came back and everything is either negative or normal. Praise the Lord! We are thankful for the wonderful job that whoever did on her mouth in China. We are thankful for and rejoicing for a great first visit with the specialist and we are thankful for Lucy's health which we had been praying for before we even met her.

Soli Deo Gloria!

First U.S. doctor appointment

July 5, 2012 - Lucy saw our family doctor today for a physical and to get updated on all her shots and blood work. She did great considering everything they had to do to her. She really liked when the doctor and the nurse listened to her heart with the stethoscope. She sat quietly and just watched what they were doing. She just takes it all in.

She is in the 90th percentile for height and weight, which doesn't surprise me when you look at her. One thing that did surprise me was that she has not lost any weight since being home. She has stayed pretty much exactly where she was at her U.S. Consulate appointment. She seems to be eating less than she did when we were in China and we think she is outside and more active than she would have been in her orphanage, but those of just assumptions. My theory on the eating less is this: I think, with the size that she was when we first saw her, she was fed....ALOT! I think she may have been fed to keep her happy and content. If she fussed, I am guessing they just gave her a bottle of formula or some snacks (I am basing this on reports that we received from the orphanage). I like to think that since she is not eating as much now, but still is happy and sleeps all night, that maybe we are meeting her needs of affection and attention with ourselves instead of food. The downside of the eating less is she seems to be getting more picky about her food and is rather  naughty  distracted at the dinner table. So begins the discipline of table manners and telling our other 3 children over and over that their little sister is watching what they do and is mimicking their behavior. So, we are working on table manners a little more this summer. Many adoptive families talk about their children hoarding food after they come home. We have not seen this with Lucy. She does get excited when she sees us setting the table for a meal or when it is snack time, but she doesn't seem to show signs of hoarding.

Anyway, I digress. I didn't want to make this all about food. Back to Lucy's health.....The doctor said she looks healthy. He didn't see any major issues. We are trying to get her caught up on all her vaccinations. Blood was drawn for all the necessary tests including Hepatitis, HIV, and lead levels, just to name a few. We have an appointment to see a specialist in Sioux Falls to discuss her palate and lip next Tuesday. I will have a lot more questions to ask him at this appointment pertaining to her speech development, her dental issues, and what needs to be done in the future as her mouth grows. I am pretty excited that we have an appointment so soon. I was expecting it to be much later in the summer. I want to get as many doctor visits taken care of while I am on maternity leave from work as I can.

She had to get three immunizations today and blood work. She was just about to fall asleep on my shoulder when they came in for the blood draw. Then, once she finally calmed down from that trauma, she did fall asleep on my shoulder and in came the nurses with the shots. Poor girl! She was a trooper and earned a cookie for what she went through.

I think Lucy is feeling more and more at home with us. She lights up and gets so excited when she sees Jason's pick up drive onto the yard. She runs up to me and gives my leg hugs almost daily now. We have a shapes toy that as soon as I ask, "Lucy, do you want to do shapes?" she runs over to me and sits down and dumps the shapes out and we work on our shapes together. Like I said before, she just takes it all in and now seems to be absorbing it all. She brings so much energy to our house that I am exhausted by the end of the day, but it is so worth it.

Soli Deo Gloria!

Poor Lucy. Home from the doctor's office

Sweet Lucy eating a morning snack on mama's lap