Functioning?

Oh, how I loathe...LOATHE this terminology and question that comes with it.

I really dislike when people say "Is your child high functioning"? I especially dislike it when it is in reference to just 2 of my children. Why doesn't anyone care how functioning the other 2 of my children are?

WHY? I'll tell you why, it is because, in my opinion, people are ignorantly, inadequately educated about Down syndrome and disabilities in general.

Functioning. What level do you function at? Are you living? Are you breathing? Oh! You are??? ME TOO!!! I guess that is pretty high functioning. I mean seriously, think of EVERY single action that is required to BREATHE and, therefore, be LIVING. That is about as high functioning as you get.

Guess what, all of my boys are high functioning
(even the two with Down syndrome....gasp!)

Jared reads above his peers, he spells above his peers too. He excels in the school setting he is placed in right now; yet, he is struggling in Math. You see, he was able to skip 3rd grade math entirely and 4th grade math is taking it's toll on his grades. Does that mean is brain is lower functioning? Heck NO it doesn't! It means Jared is achieving and functioning to the best of his ability and will continue to do so as time goes on! 

Joseph knows his colors, shapes, can spell out his name, can recognize his name, say ABC's, is potty trained, feeds himself, and terrorizes Jared and Jackson daily. Does this mean he is lower functioning than his typically developing twin? Heck NO it doesn't. It means Joseph is achieving and functioning to the best of his ability and will continue to do so as time goes on. 

Jackson is a talker, a mover, all boy, all go, all the time. He can count to 40, has been able to spell his name for over a year now, knows his phone number, his ABC's his colors and gets bored in preschool regularly. Does this mean he is higher functioning than his twin brother or his peers in preschool who still are learning their ABC's? Heck NO it doesn't. It means Jackson is achieving and functioning to the best of his ability and will continue to do so as time goes on!

Jadon is giggling, clapping, entertaining himself, learning to feed himself, can now drink from a cup and will now cruise furniture some too. Does this mean he is lower functioning because he cannot do all that Joseph can or all the things that other children with Down syndrome are accomplishing who are also 3 years old? HECK NO IT DOESN'T! It means that Jadon is achieving and functioning to the best of his ability and will continue to do so as time goes on!

Honestly, it breaks my heart to see so many worried about how high functioning my boys with Down syndrome are. It breaks my heart to so other parents say, "let me tell you, my child is not high functioning..." How? HOW? Can a mother or father say that? And why on Earth do nosey strangers give two hoots what my kids are doing and what gives them the right to equate that with functioning levels? Seriously?

There is no functioning level in this house, we all function the same. We all are living and breathing human beings and that is ALL that matters here in my house.

Love,

 "I will go before you and will level the mountains; I will break down gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron. I will give you hidden treasures, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the LORD, the God of Israel, who summons you by name." Isaiah 45:2-3 (NIV)

Puny Peanut

No major cooties, but we do have some funk floating around our house. Jackson has a wicked cough, Joseph just finished Zithromax for a sinus infection, Jared is a bit snottier than normal and Jadon? Well, Peanut woke up with a face full of dark green snot, a fever, and one eye melded shut with goo. Nice :(

All is well, we have some Amoxil for him and some D-Allergy too.

And, apparently, Jadon loves to play the toilet bongo too.

Love,
"I will go before you and will level the mountains; I will break down gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron. I will give you hidden treasures, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the LORD, the God of Israel, who summons you by name." Isaiah 45:2-3 (NIV)

Two specialists down, two more to go :)

Since coming home, Jadon has been seen by our pediatrician. He now has an ENT (Dr. Ball...love her) and has had his echocardiogram too. We still have opthalmology to conquer and the International Adoption Clinic. Those dates will be November 15 and 16.

Once we learn if Jadon's heart is whole, we can schedule his tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy. At that time, Dr. Ball will clean the wax from his ears (they are full) and see how his middle ear health is; if need be, she will place tubes at that time. She also was wonderful in hearing my concerns for his healing and lack of drinking. She told me she had no problem admitting him for a few days and then inserting and NG tube IF he was not drinking well within 2 days.

Little man did great today for his echo. The gal who performed his echo is considering adoption too. She was so sweet and I will be sure to pray God leads her precisely where she is to be in accordance with parenting according to His will.

This afternoon, Shawn and I completed the paperwork to certify our foreign adoption through our county court system. Having done this means we can get an AMERICAN birth certificate for Jadon!!! While we were gone to that appointment, my in-laws came to watch the boys. Grandma and Grandpa got to love on the boys and play with them. Joseph loves his pawpaw (as he says). He is certainly a man's man :) Grandma got to love on Jadon more---it is so wonderful to have them around. Grandma cannot get enough of Jadon and after we got home, I shared the other pictures I have of Jadon from the records we were given from the orphanage.

We talked about Kiev, Kirovograd, the encounter with the two women at the orphanage...Grandma just loves to hear all about where her youngest grandchild came from :) Such a wonderful treat for this momma's heart too.

Still, even as I sit here, it is hard to believe I am a mom of 4 boys. FOUR! BOYS! Each one, wonderfully and fearfully made. Each one a labor of love. Each boy a surprise! LOL I had not planned on Jared, nor the twins, nor Jadon (not really). It is so funny sometimes to think of all God has done and all I would have not done if NOT for Him.

The pregnancy that resulted in the birth of Jared was a surprise pregnancy, one that was not to take place following the late miscarriage I experienced October 9, 2001. The twins were completely unplanned and only learned of when I went to have surgery to have my tubes tied. And, Jadon? Well, he was supposed to be Alexander...but that was not meant to be and so I have Jadon, my wee, tiny, peanut :)

Not one of my children were planned but each of them so very wanted. So. Very. Wanted. And, amazingly, miraculously, wanted by the woman who, in her younger years, said she would never have children.

It's a darn good thing God knows so much more than my puny, close minded brain can fathom :) I cannot imagine my family any other way. A perfectly paired patchwork of family held together by God and love. What more does anyone need?


Love,


"I will go before you and will level the mountains; I will break down gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron. I will give you hidden treasures, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the LORD, the God of Israel, who summons you by name." Isaiah 45:2-3 (NIV)

Never....

Never. I've always been told to never say never. Well, never is something I must talk about.

There are some things my youngest son will never do or know.

Jadon will never get back the close to 3 years he spent waiting on us to hear the call to bring him home.

Jadon will (prayerfully) never remember his time spent without his family.

Jadon will never go to bed with an empty tummy.

Jadon will never cry and NOT be comforted.

Jadon will never want for anything in life (just as his brother's never go without either).

Jadon will NEVER, EVER be without a family. We may pass on tomorrow, but Jadon has FAMILY.

Jadon will never again be in an orphanage, waiting for us to come bring him home.

Sometimes, it's good, REAL GOOD to say NEVER.

Love,

"I will go before you and will level the mountains; I will break down gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron. I will give you hidden treasures, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the LORD, the God of Israel, who summons you by name." Isaiah 45:2-3 (NIV)

A week and a day

I can scarcely believe we have been home for 8 days now. A lot has happened and nothing has happened all the same as well.

Jadon is doing great, settling in, soaking diapers overnight and eating like a champ. My baby that had his ribs protruding when we got him, now has a cute little "buddha" belly starting. He is happy to play (in ways that entertain himself) and explore at his own free will too.

He has enjoyed all sorts of new foods, including cake. He loves lemonade and will even drink it chilled.

I have painted the boys' room and Jared's room too. So glad to finally have that done after living her for the past 5 years and not having painted them. Jared picked his room color and Jackson picked his room color for the boys.

Jared is a great big brother to Jadon. He loves to dance him and make him giggle. Joseph likes Jadon well enough so long as Jadon is not stealing Joseph's food. Jadon has stolen cereal, bagels and pizza. When Jadon stole pizza from Joseph, well, that made Joseph cry. I could not help but laugh. So sad that Jadon steals any food he can get his hands on, but truly funny that it makes Joseph cry when it's his food being stolen.

We made it back to church today, first time in a month! It was good to be back with our church family. During the time we were gone, our church started singing "He's Got The Whole World in His Hands" for this month for children's church. How fitting. Truly.

After our church sang it through, Pastor Jeff called our family up to share Jadon's homecoming and then sing the song one more time. God truly DOES have the whole word in His hands. Jadon is proof of that. We are proof of that. The Church is proof of that.

So many people wanted to meet Jadon today. Susie LOVED on him. I did allow a couple ladies to hold Jadon today. However, I had to explain to them the fact that his readiness to go to people is NOT a good thing and explain why it is NOT a good thing.

You see, in the orphanage, Jadon was accustomed too (and, yes, even expected) to comply and respond to whatever caretaker who was caring for him. He has not formed attachments to Shawn and I, yet. He will, in time, learn we are mommy and daddy and we are constants in his life.

It is amazing the love shown for Jadon and our family. The acceptance of our family setting from our friends, church family and our family is a blessing.

This week, another child became an orphan NO MORE!!!! It is my pleasure to introduce to you Katerina Hope Musser---you can read about Katie-bird here http://theblessingofverity.com


Thank you for following our story, I hope you will follow Susanna's family's story of bringing home Katie.

Love,

"I will go before you and will level the mountains; I will break down gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron. I will give you hidden treasures, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the LORD, the God of Israel, who summons you by name." Isaiah 45:2-3 (NIV)

HAPPY 3rd BIRTHDAY JADON!!!!!

What a great day it is!! Jadon is 3 today!!!! We aren't having a "party" party but we will sing Happy Birthday to little man and then have some cake tonight. He's gotten lots of gifts since coming home.

BUT the biggest, best, most important gift of all? A family. Because of you...Jadon is HOME. He has a family. Because of support financially, spiritually and just well wishes in general. Jadon HAS a FAMILY.

There are many more waiting children out there. So many, I don't even care to count. There are many organizations you can use to find these kids. We used Reece's Rainbow. There is also a place called Rainbow Kids, Project TLC is helping to change things in Ukraine too. Take a look and you will not be short on children in need.


Love,

 "I will go before you and will level the mountains; I will break down gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron. I will give you hidden treasures, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the LORD, the God of Israel, who summons you by name." Isaiah 45:2-3 (NIV)

the first 24 hours

Well, we have been home for just over 24 hours. Flights home were nice and smooth (save for one approach for landing)...Jadon was the BEST baby on the flights. He never fully cried and did great during the flight from Germany to DC. He ate well and drank great on the flight too.

Jadon is doing great. Jared LOVES him. Joseph gives him moochies and rubs his face and hair. Jackson tells me he loves Jadon about every 30 minutes.

Jadon is LOVING exlporing the house of his own full will. He has played with Mega Blocks and LOVES tossing them across the laminate flooring and laughing and then chasing them down to do it all over again. He is in his own bed tonight in the room with the twins. They all went to bed easy and without issue (I am certain it will NOT always be this easy).

Long day today, all the laundry is done. Tomorrow we have doctors appointments first thing in the morning. Jadon for an overall check-up and Joseph to see why he will not walk, still. He hurt himself last weekend (apparently, but not entirely sure how) while playing outside. X-ray was negative but he will NOT stand (except long enough to pee an then immediately lifts his foot again) and will NOT walk. He weighs 40 lbs. and is not an easy kid to haul around. Praying it is just a sprain and he gets over it soon.

It is sooooo good to be home :)






"I will go before you and will level the mountains; I will break down gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron. I will give you hidden treasures, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the LORD, the God of Israel, who summons you by name." Isaiah 45:2-3 (NIV)

Fastest Adoption in Team history!!!!!!!

I saw this quip on Andrea Roberts Facebook page today and it said, "This was the FASTEST Ukrainian adoption in history. Thank you team!" and had a link to our blog with a great pic of Jadon showing.

Can I just say THANK YOU to our team. Thank you to Serge, who made our SDA appointment happen the day it was planned and not the next day or the next day or the next day. We needed another piece of paperwork and within hours of our scheduled appointment that paper was recovered, signed and accounted for. We were approved for our "referral" on Wednesday, Sept 28th to meet Jadon and were told we would leave on Friday. We got a call Thursday morning that our referral paper was ready and we were LEAVING to Kirovograd in 30 minutes, and, Serge was taking us and for those that have not had this pleasure...it means you are going...quickly ;)

We arrived and promptly met Natasha, our lawyer, and signed some papers and off to the orphanage. We met Jadon just after 5 p.m. on Sept. 29th. We visited all weekend long and on Wednesday (we think) I got a call from Serge telling me court would be Thursday Oct. 6th, 2011. We were outside with Jadon visiting and had somehow missed our own lawyer going into the orphanage to meet with the Director to discuss this. We met her on her way out and she said, "Court tomorrow at 2 o'clock". Shawn and I were AMAZED.

So there you have it, SDA on the 28th and court just 8 days later. If the red passports were still available we would have been home Tuesday or Wednesday instead of tomorrow. BUT you know what? 20 days in country is awesome and to have the FASTEST ADOPTION in the HISTORY of this team's workings.......well, GOD ROCKS!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you, God. Thank you,Reece's Rainbow. Thank you Serge, Luda, Nico, Yulia, Natasha (lawyer), Kate (translator), Nick (our in region driver) and our landlords Sergei and Lyudmila. A very special THANK YOU to each of you praying for us. We are leaving here in 4 hours to head to the airport. See you back stateside! By the way....that verse below my siggie? Well, it has been my prayer verse for this adoption...first for Kirill (the Davis' son) and then as our own. Hey, you know what? Good ol' fashioned prayer works y'all!

Love,

 "I will go before you and will level the mountains; I will break down gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron. I will give you hidden treasures, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the LORD, the God of Israel, who summons you by name." Isaiah 45:2-3 (NIV)

Medical....

I feel like the Aflac duck!!!!!

 "Pays the doctor....boyzzzzzz"

ANYHOW :) We have medical clearance. We saw a lady doctor she was pretty gracious and friendly. She did tell us how to help Jadon's congestion in his sinuses (Saline) I told her we were already and she was pleased.

We are off to the Embassy in about 2 hours for our 2 o'clock appointment to get the visa fully issued and have our closing interview and then........

Well, then we are (come on sing it with me!)

Leavin' on a jet plane.....don't know when I'll be back again...... :)

Love,

 "I will go before you and will level the mountains; I will break down gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron. I will give you hidden treasures, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the LORD, the God of Israel, who summons you by name." Isaiah 45:2-3 (NIV)

37 hours and counting

We now have Jadon's passport in Kiev. We go for medical tomorrow at 9 a.m. then Embassy Interview at 2 p.m. Assuming all is well with the doctor we will leave Kiev at 0535 Saturday October 15th.

That means 37 hours from now we will be starting our first leg home and that means that in 35 hours we will be heading to the airport! WOOHOOO!!! It cannot come fast enough. Truly.

No new pictures, we spent the day in the car today. I've got a horrendous headache. Our driver in Kiev is supposed to be coming to take Shawn to McDonald's because I ain't cookin'. Not here.

Love,


"I will go before you and will level the mountains; I will break down gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron. I will give you hidden treasures, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the LORD, the God of Israel, who summons you by name." Isaiah 45:2-3 (NIV)

no passport...

So, once again, a hiccup. We didn't get Jadon's passport today. No biggie, so I've been told, we can still leave for Kiev tomorrow morning at 0530. We will still go to our scheduled Embassy appointment at 1130. However, we cannot go to our medical appointment and get Jadon's visa without it in hand.

Praying God irons this out in His perfect manner and timing and praying for grace as I wait for Him.

Love,



"I will go before you and will level the mountains; I will break down gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron. I will give you hidden treasures, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the LORD, the God of Israel, who summons you by name." Isaiah 45:2-3 (NIV)

WE HAVE HIM!

Gotcha day has come!!!!! And, in true Ukrainian fashion, it was nothing like we expected!

We thought we would do it first thing today. Nope. Then maybe before our afternoon visit. Nope. :)

We had our morning visit, came home, ate lunch (big one for Shawn and some toasted cheese for me) and then settled in for our siesta...around 1:00 this afternoon, Kate called. "Get ready please, Kolya is picking me up and we are coming to get you and sign papers."

We left by 1:25 and headed to orphanage, signed papers, left and closed the bank account and then some shopping for the orphanage. Back to the orphanage for the rest of the paperwork. At 5 o'clock (when our afternoon meetings are usually over anyways)we met with the director. She thanked us, gave us final well-wishes and approval and we left! Then off to find some shoes and maybe a jacket for the peanut. No dice on the jacket...we will make do with what we brought but we did find some shoes for about $23 USD so not too bad at all if you ask me and they are cute.

We came home to the apartment and fed Jadon. He is a good eater! Chews nicely, doesn't miss a drop of food. But, my boy, will not drink. WILL. NOT. DRINK. Does not appreciate the straw. Does not care for the Tommee Tippee Free Flow pink (yes, yes, I know) cup I bought. Tomorrow we will work more on the drinking. Tonight? Well, maybe I got 7ml of fluid in him. NOT GOOD. NOT SUFFICIENT. We will be added fluids to EVERYTHING for him. He is trained to have bowel movements after eating. Tonight was no exception. He went well. He is now sleeping. I am headed there myself.

Do you see the Sasquatch? They aren't myths they are in the Ukraine! LOL

 

Love, 

"I will go before you and will level the mountains; I will break down gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron. I will give you hidden treasures, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the LORD, the God of Israel, who summons you by name." Isaiah 45:2-3 (NIV)

Tomorrow!

We will be busting Jadon out tomorrow and bringing him home to us!! Shawn is at today's afternoon visit right now, alone. I am not feeling too hot. Terrible tummy ache. My guess is it was something I ate. My husband has gut of steel thanks to all the processed crap he eats. Me? Well, not so much. So, I took a long nap, and am trying to keep some tea down now with honey in it. We shall see.

So....stay tuned. GOTCHA DAY IS COMING!!!


"I will go before you and will level the mountains; I will break down gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron. I will give you hidden treasures, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the LORD, the God of Israel, who summons you by name." Isaiah 45:2-3 (NIV)

only 2 more.....

Visits in the orphanage that is and we will be busting him outta there! From here on out, I am asking for specific prayers.

1. Jadon to remain HEALTHY.
2. For his passport to come Tuesday (Monday would make me jump for joy, literally AND record it for you all to see).
3. For our appointments in Kiev to be quick and with positive out turn.
4. Travel mercies from here to Kiev and from Kiev home!
5. For Jadon to remain well hydrated once we get him out of the orphanage.

Jadon cannot drink from a cup, though I was told he could. He can eat a cookie/biscuit and chew nicely. He does not know how to suck from a sippy or an open cup but he sucks his thumb so I KNOW he CAN DO it; he just needs time and instruction.

I've contacted the Embassy requesting Thursday appointments per Luda, that way we are in the system *so to speak* and if we need to change the appointment sooner or later it might be easier that way to do so.

Love,
"I will go before you and will level the mountains; I will break down gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron. I will give you hidden treasures, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the LORD, the God of Israel, who summons you by name." Isaiah 45:2-3 (NIV)

Birth Certificate (check!)

Getting up at 5 a.m. in Kirovograd, Ukraine...stinks, really! LOL Ahhh, but it was for very good reason. Today, we traveled to his birth city and got his original birth certificate and his NEW ONE stating us as Jadon's parents.
Aндрiй no longer is listed in the registry...джейдон Eндрю is now and that reads as Jadon Andrew in English :)

He was born in мiсто свiтловодськ  that will never change, it is Svetlovodsk City, Ukraine October 18, 2008 to шон & крiстi лiии тейлор .... that is Shawn and Christie Lynn Taylor. Pretty cool, eh?

We did his birth certificate change and got his passport pics too. Such a handsome man. Gotcha day is still set for Monday. It will be cold and rainy here that day according to the forecast. So, here is his passport shot. Enjoy!!!

"I will go before you and will level the mountains; I will break down gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron. I will give you hidden treasures, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the LORD, the God of Israel, who summons you by name." Isaiah 45:2-3 (NIV)

DONE!!!

Court is finished, we are now the proud parents of Jadon Andrew Taylor!!!! We start our paper chase on Friday with some extra business to tend to as well with burdens to hang heavy on my heart for the least of these.

Monday will be GOTCHA DAY. We had a morning visit today, but no afternoon visit. We will have no morning visit tomorrow but, prayerfully, we will have an afternoon visit after our running.

Pray for us, we have a mission tomorrow that will likely change us forever.

This was our morning appointment today with Jadon...not many pics. The last one is Nick, our driver, he just scooped Jadon right up!

Love,

"I will go before you and will level the mountains; I will break down gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron. I will give you hidden treasures, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the LORD, the God of Israel, who summons you by name." Isaiah 45:2-3 (NIV)

Oh, what a day!

Today, I woke with a scratchy throat and a gooey eye....nice. I slept terribly and was in a grump of a mood (ask my husband who thought it smart to ask me questions I cared not answer). Thank God, God turned me around! We went for our morning visit, I had no intentions of holding Jadon today with me feeling icky. I DO NOT want him getting funky by my own recourse. Well, wee-man had ideas of his own and crawled down off of Daddy over to me :) Melt my heart. To start you off.....check out my hubby's cool elf shoes!!! LOL the nanny that gave him these just laughed!!!

We came home, had lunch, called home to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOSHUA!!! AUNT KiKi LOVES YOU and then got ready to leave again. As we left, I called Kate to ask her to call orphanage to see if we could take Jadon outside. It is BEAUTIFUL here today.

As you can see, they granted us our wish to take him out AND he was NOT put in a snow suit!! LOL

We were nearing the end of our visit when I got a call from Serge telling me what was going on in Kiev with our paperwork and that we would have court Thursday...you know, TOMORROW!! We gave Jadon back to his nanny and we saw our lawyer, Natasha, she said court tomorrow at 2 o'clock.

So, right now, it is 7:30 p.m. so in 18.5 hours we have court and start our paper chase :) Prayerfully, our request to waive the 10 days will be honored and we will be back in Kiev this time next week and on our way home Saturday or Sunday.

Love,

 "I will go before you and will level the mountains; I will break down gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron. I will give you hidden treasures, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the LORD, the God of Israel, who summons you by name." Isaiah 45:2-3 (NIV)