Welcome, Little One

I'm sitting in a warm hospital room at the moment with a little girl who just turned 12 hours old! Her name is Ember Lanae and she's simply beautiful! (I'll try to post pictures later)

What a blessing from God it is to hold this healthy little girl in our arms. We thought we had lost her on several occasions during the first trimester. But we saw God work and preserve her little life. I know God has a beautiful plan for her life and I am honored He's allowed me to be a part of it.

On a final note. For months before I found out I was pregnant Ellie began to pray regularly for a sister. So now we have our precious Ember...an answer to prayer!

The past 6 months...

Well, I may not be the worlds worst blogger...but I'm not far behind. Yep, I'm back after half a year! Since Ethan came home just over a year ago (wow, can't believe it's been that long) life has been crazier then ever and is only getting worse.

We are expecting our forth child the beginning of March (I'm 6 months along). The pregnancy was complicated and very high risk in the beginning. I spent most of the summer with restricted activities and wondering if the baby would even make it. It was sweet the way Ellie would intently watch the ultrasounds, and the light in her eyes whenever we heard the heartbeat. God has watched over this little baby and everything is going well now. What a blessing to hear Ellie switch from saying "if the baby lives..." to "when the baby's born..." She and Evan are SO excited! Ethan...well Ethan is Ethan. He doesn't really get the whole pregnancy thing. But he LOVES babies so I'm sure he'll be excited when it gets here.

I also started kindergarten with Ellie at home this year. She misses the cut off date for school but was ready. She's doing very well. Teaching her has been the easy part...dealing with the boys has been a little more trying. Although Evan would sit or play quietly if it were just him, Ethan is not quite so calm. He is so energetic and wants to be right in the middle of what we are doing. It's been a challenge and discouraging at times. However, it has also really been a blessing to watch and be part of Ellie's learning.

Oh, speaking of learning. The boys are doing very well with talking. Ethan is still doing speech therapy once a week. He puts three words together routinely and is making progress every day. Evan speaks in 7 or 8 word sentences. Evan loves to talk and tries to compete with Ellie! It's also sweet to listen to him pray for a meal as he lists off every item at the table!

Today Ellie is sick and I'm home alone with all three kids. Poor Ellie threw up all night and can't even keep water down today. She's drinking a lot though and is slowly working on some turkey broth.

Well that is our past 6 months, or so, in a nutshell. I'll try to do better with blogging. I just got a small 10.5 inch laptop so I can work around the kids during the day. Our pictures are on the main computer still so it may be a while till I find an easy way of putting them on the blog from my computer. But I'll try to get some posted before another 6 months go by!

Life

Not sure why, but I always choose the most chaotic times in life to post on my blog. I've been so bad at posting I'm not sure anyone is even reading any more...except the few faithful family members who are so desperate to hear news from us considering the fact I write letters less then I blog!

We are doing well...I shouldn't say well...great, fine, happy, even fantastic...but not well. Actually, we are all sick, most of us for the second time. Two weeks most of the family was sick. Last week Evan was sick again with something else (more on that later) and this week we all have what Evan had last week.

We had VBS last week and Tyler, Ellie and Ethan loved it. I on the other hand was home with Evan. For an entire week Evan had diarrhea, would hardly eat, lost weight (he made Ethan look chubby!) and slept constantly. One night while Tyler and I were in the living room we heard him cry "mommy, I hurt". This week he finally began to eat again and sleep less, but he is still so lethargic and wants me to carry him if we go anywhere. He doesn't even play! He's also pale, even his lips have lost all color. I feel so sorry for him.

Did I mention the tornado warnings, or the brown recluses in our home...at least 9 in the past couple of months including the one on Tyler's head, or the large hairy spider almost the size of my palm that I found in the shower? How about the ants in my kitchen, mouse who made a huge nest in my silverware drawer or the rat the dog brought to the yard. The very dead rat with it's eye falling out was very lovingly touched by my kids and put down the slide by Evan! Aww, the joys!

Well, I'm going to hurry and post a few pictures. It looks like we have another big storm headed our way. I'm really hoping we don't have to join the snake and brown recluses in our cellar. I'm not to worried about our house however, Ellie just told Daddy that if the house gets swept up by a tornado she will ask God to put it back together! Although life has it's interesting moments that are sometimes less then pleasurable, God always brings a smile to my face...yep, life is good!






Sorry, I have to stop with the pictures now and turn the computor off...

Why I don't blog

It's 7 o'clock in the evening. Dinner is supposed to be on between 5 and 6. Bedtime for the kids is at 8. It's Saturday night...meaning I have to bathe the kids and iron the clothes for tomorrow. Oh, and I just remembered the sheets for our bed our in the washing machine and need to be dried before I can go to bed. Dinner is getting cold...well part of dinner. Actually the green beans, biscuits and spaghetti sauce are getting cold while the water boils for the noodles. Yes, I admit, I was almost done cooking when I remembered pasta is a necessary ingredient when it comes to spaghetti. The kids have been screaming and fighting and I turned off the stove I don't know how many times in order to be consistent in discipline...that, and save the children from certain self inflicted death. I sent Ellie to the bathroom for 15 minutes of time out. I had so many timers going in the kitchen I almost forgot about her. When I did remember her I realized I had 1.5 minutes left on her timer in which to remind myself why she was in there in the first place. I then went to deal with her. After I'd talked to her she asked me "what did I do again?" She didn't even remember it when I reminded her! Then, back in the kitchen in the midst of chaos I heard a little voice below me. It was Ethan mumbling his first full sentence which was muffled by the thumb in his mouth. "I love you". Ah, how sweet. Well, Tyler's at the office and has been hungry for over an hour. The noodles are still not done. For some reason in the midst of it all I thought of all of you. I really do think of you every day but haven't found the time to write. Most days aren't this calm.

Someday I'll post pictures...

Valentine's Day

My last post was actually written a few days ago but I just finished it today. So I thougt I'd go back and mention Valentine's Day. The house was all cleaned up so I was very relaxed and spent a lot of time with the kids. Ellie and I made a heart cake together...pink, of course. Tyler was very sweet and made me a special dinner. He made cheese cake (which didn't even crack on the top!) and chicken cordon blu (sp?) with onion soup served on the side. We fed the kids mac's and cheese and put them to bed early. Tyler then sent me to dress up for our "date". We had a lovely candle light dinner and drank sparkling cider. We even had lovely live entertainment as Evan, from his bed, serinaded us with his precious singing voice.

Happy New Year!

I have a feeling I won't be on here much. I think every couple of weeks is going to be my max! Sorry, I'm just busy and I figured time with the kids and Tyler needs to come first. But I am thinking of all of you!

Anyway, last week my mom came to visit and we celebrated Tet. Tet is when the Vietnamese celebrate the new Lunar year. We decorated with yellow flowers (I couldn't find the kind they decorate with but I tried) had a traditional Vietnmese meal, let the kids do sparklers left over from the 4th, and gave them "lucky money" in red envelopes. The Vietnamese sometimes set pictures of their ancestors on the family altar, pray to them, and invite them back for the new year. However, for obvious reasons, we don't want to promote ancestor worship in our home. So instead we set out a picture of my grandpa who passed away a year ago and we shared memories of him as well as some of our great grandparents. We have also decided to buy a rose every year in honor of Ethan's first parents. They will always be a part of our lives and I thought it would be a neat time to remember them.

The Vietnamese meal we had was very good. We had chicken kah (sp?) over rice which is a very typical meal. Served rice soup on the side along with boiled broccoli which we dipped in a lime and ginger sauce. The sauce was so good my mom drank hers! We also had the traditional coconut candy as well as candied orange peels that we dipped in dark chocolate. It was a lot of fun to prepare and eat.

I got the recipes from a Vietnamese cook book I just got. The cook book is WONDERFUL. It's easy to use, and she really helps you know how to find and prepare things here in America. I love to just sit and read it because of all the cultural things she adds. It was a little pricier but I highly suggest it to all of you parents who have adopted from Vietnam. It's called Into the Vietnamese Kitchen by Andrea Nguyen.

Sorry, I'm not trying to sound like a advertisement! On to the fun stuff...

Ellie loves to sit and write. She writes all these words to which her spelling is hilarious. I'm also finally being consistant in teaching her to read and she's doing amazingly!

Ellie had all her Cubbie friends sign her cast.

Ethan loves to watch daddy play.

(most of you are probably wondering if I, like everyone else, constantly mix up my children's names. Saddly, yes. If you notice the above picture you will see it is NOT Ethan. I'll leave it the way I wrote it though just to let you in on the terrible truth that I'm human...)

Both my grandparents gave us money for Christmas and this is what we bought. I've always wanted one and I absolutely LOVE it. We use it all the time at Walmart and the mall. The boys love it too and have discovered the sun shade is a great foot rest! This stroller is great until the boys start hitting and bitting eachother...

"Eww..."

(Doesn't Evan look like a little bully? ...although a sweet bully)

So THAT'S why Ellie was running away and screaming! (no, I'm not kidding, this is the way I found him)

Ahh...I love my boys. :)

I might add that this is NOT the way I do his hair. This was complete bed head...the funniest he's had yet, I think!

Yes...I know we are crazy...

Ethan, making coconut candy with me for Tet.

I just threw this one in because it was so cute. I never posted many pictures from Vietnam. This was taken on our boat ride down the Mekong River.

First Family Photo of Five

Thanks to everyone who commented on my last post. It's nice to know I still have faithful readers after my long absents. :)

Yesterday we had our very first family photo! It's terrible, but I don't think we'd even had a snap shot with all five of us. Anyway, Walmart did a great job and we actually got all three kids to smile at the camera at the same time. Ethan did really well for the family photo and his individual one. Those were the only two we really wanted so it worked out. However, for the rest of the session Ethan decided to throw one of those terrible fits he's so good at. At least we got the pictures we wanted and the other two kids were perfect angels!

I should probably get off. My boys have now been fighting over my lap for about 5 minutes and have now passed the screaming and hitting stage and moved on the the biting stage (well, Ethan bites and Evan screams louder...)

Ok, never mind. I now have peace (as much as I can with Ethan strangling me with a hug from behind). Poor little Evan finally gave up and got his own chair. It's just one of those days...

In Ellie's Words: "Better Late Than Never"

Sorry to every one who has been begging for updates! Thanks to all of you who have thought about, prayed for, or emailed us. I'm going to try to do a better job of keeping up now. I've been amazed at how busy it's been around here! There is no way I can catch up on all the details of the past two months and have been dreading getting back on here for that reason. So instead I'm going to give a few of the high lights...and there are a lot!

Ethan: The transformation in this kid is amazing. He now understands almost everything and has many words. His temper is beginning to improve. We have even seen a change in the way he plays and his ability to play "imaginary" games with things such as dishes. He now LOVES his mommy and will cuddle with me even when he has the option of daddy. He enjoys going to Sunday School with Evan and will go without us taking him. We had been hoping to get out on a date sometime and leave him for just a few hours the first time. However, we had an emergency last night (more details in a minute) and he and Evan ended up staying with a friend overnight. He didn't even cry!! When I came to pick him up he had one of the biggest smiles I've ever seen and nearly jumped out of the person's arms to get to me. :)

One of the biggest praises we have is that, for now, he won't be needing surgery! The Neurosurgeon said he has a very large cyst between the two hemispheres of the brain but seems to be unaffected by it at this time. Although things could change in the future. So for now we wait and take him back for another MRI in 6 months.

Ethan has so many crazy expressions! Here are a few of the common ones. His actions are often very jerky and stiff as you can see in the picture to the right.

Evan: Poor little guy had a very hard time adjusting to a new brother. Suddenly most of his things became "their" things. For a while he rode around on this little car (that he hardly noticed before) and wouldn't get off even to eat without a fit. One day I opened the seat of the car and found all Evan's "precious" toys hidden inside. He just needed something that was his and only his. However, now the two are getting along very well and copy each other on everything. Evan's latest copied behavior is thumb sucking!

Evan is our little coffee drinker (decaf of course!).

Ellie (or "Elise" as she now wishes to be called): Last night's emergency that I mentioned earlier was Ellie. While running around our living room with the boys she slipped on a play cup and broke her arm! Because of the timing with dinner they weren't able to give her anesthetics until morning so we had to spend the night in the hospital and wait to set her arm till at 7am today. She was so brave! She cried when it first happened but was fine and moving it around at the hospital. The Dr. said he's seen football players cry more than her! She is now sporting a cute little pink cast!

Puppy: Yes, you read correctly. When we met a lady at the mall giving away free puppies I decided that a 4 year old girl who I'm trying to teach preschool to, and 2 rambunctious 2 year old boys, one of whom we were still trying to get to know, along with a ton of house work just wasn't enough to keep me busy! So I got my very first puppy! I have since learned that they require more work then scooping food into a bowl each day! Anyone want a FREE puppy? Just kidding.

Pictures: Here are just a few of the many pictures from the past 2 months.

Monkey Kisses

Cinnamon and Sugar Doughnuts!

This is what happened in the kitchen last time I tried to blog. The boys are great at getting into trouble together. They were so proud of themselves for eating the entire bag of left overs.

Ethan loves the snow and doesn't seem to mind the cold at all

Brotherly Love

Family Night--Baking Cookies

Ethan's idea of "helping"

Mommy's helpers...I'm running out of room in my kitchen!

Ellie teaching Ethan to play with dishes

Just looking beautiful!

Daddy Time

I'm back...

I'm so sorry for not updating while we were gone. It was a relief to me that Tyler took it over. There were so many details I would have loved to share with all of you but everything went by so quickly and I was dealing with emotions that were hard to express. I will not attempt to play catch up on all the details of the trip at this point. Once I have a chance to go through our photos I might do a post on a few highlights and thoughts I had.

We are home and finally back to a routine...of sorts. I'm trying to get used to having three kids. It has been interesting with two 2 year old boys who don't always agree that all of Evan's toys should be Ethan's now but do agree that they should be the only one held while mommy is busy. Also, four out of five of us are only just now getting over the jet lag.

Ethan is beginning to warm up to me now. If Tyler manages to sneak away while Ethan is busy we can usually avoid a huge crying session (In Vietnam Ethan used to cry until he intentionally gaged himself and through up. We have learned to keep his fingers away from his mouth!). He now will laugh and play with me if Tyler's not around. He will even come to me with his arms out for a hug or to be held...it's wonderful!

Ethan understands English very well for only being with us about 2 weeks. He also has his first English word! He started saying "bye" and waving to us. :) But I think my favorite thing he says is "cho" (s?). This is his Vietnamese word for aunt. This is what they called the caretakers in the orphanage and now he calls me it all the time (and Tyler which is pretty funny). I love that he has a name for me and I keep thinking "I'm more then your cho...I'm your mommy. I love you and will always be here."

It's been a rough two weeks and often discouraging. I have had to reexamine why we are doing what we are doing. I have had to seek the Lord for strength as I try to reach out to this little child and support Tyler when he is tired. But in the past few days God has blessed me with moments that warm my heart. Just now I went to the other room and Evan came up beside me. I reached down and messed with his hair. Feeling the funny bumps on his head I looked and realized it with Ethan grinning up at me with his sweet smile. Sitting back down at the computer Evan reached up at said "mommy" so I picked him up. Immediately Ethan, who was standing there said "ma" and also reached up. At the moment I am enjoying the warmth of Ethan's little body as he's cuddled up on my lap looking at a book...life is good. :)

Back in the States

Hey everyone, Tyler again. I apologize about not updating for several days. We left for Hanoi on Monday, but when we got there our reservations at the Hanoi Hotel had not been confirmed, so we had an interesting evening of trying to get rooms for everyone in our travelling group. It all worked out, but we had to spend a significantly larger amount on a room that first night than we had originally anticipated (double the amount).

We then had to switch hotels, and the internet at the second hotel wouldn't allow me to access blogger. So, that's why I didn't post.

We received Ethan's visa on Wednesday, flew out Thursday night, and are now back in the states fighting jet lag. Actually, Ethan is fighting it, and therefore so am I. He woke up at 5 this morning and wouldn't go back to sleep so we went to go check e-mail. After 1 1/2 hours he fell back asleep and I am wide awake. Oh well. Time for some coffee.

We'll update with more details about the rest of our trip and some pictures, but I think we're going to try to recuperate a little bit first.

God bless

Details, details...

Tyler here again. Ok, ok, I get the hint. You all want details. Well, let's start from the beginning.



Day 1, Monday: We arrived in Vietnam and were picked up by one of the CHI representatives. We had about 2 1/2 hours to get cleaned up (I believe that is the best shower I have ever had.) and then get to the orphanage. We finally were able to see our son Ethan Loc Scott Larson for the first time. Ellie immediately ran up and gave him a hug. We will get video of this up eventually. Our internet connection was pretty slow yesterday, but I'll get them up! Misty was able to feed him his final meal at the orphanage. We didn't have as much time as we wanted at the orphanage, but were able to meet some of the children in Ethan's room. (Again, pics and video to come!)

During our return trip to the hotel Ethan sat on my lap. He has yet to desire to leave this location. He threw up on me as we were about to get his picture for the visa. That night we put in a video for Ellie and ordered room service. Oh how adventurous we were... hamburgers and fries. :-)

Day 2 Tuesday: We took the picture for the visa at a place across from the Rex Hotel. First time crossing a Vietnamese street... wow. That afternoon we had our G&R or Giving and Receiving Ceremony. It is at this point that Doan Phuc Loc officially became our son. Truly an exciting time, but short. We had to sign and print our names on 4 documents and that was it.

We have found an incredible coffee shop in the area. Actually there are three of them in this chain within a few blocks of the hotel. It's called Highland's Coffee. Those of you who know me know that I really like coffee. Misty has become addicted to it as well. We were very pleased to find out about these places. My new favorite drink is called Ca Phe Sua Da. It's an iced coffee that is very strong, but is sweetened with sweetened condensed milk. If you like it hot it is called Ca Phe Sua Nong, which is also very good. If you enjoy a STRONG cup of coffee try a Vietnamese style of drip coffee. Very strong, but the flavor is wonderful! If you ever come to visit us back in Kansas I'll try to make some up for you. I'm going to pick up the cups for it this evening.

Day 3 Wednesday: That morning I kept the kids while Misty went to apply for a Vietnamese passport for Ethan. She also had a short meeting. That afternoon we went to a Vietnamese hospital for a medical checkup. That was an interesting experience. The lobby of this hospital was under construction. This means that there was dust and debris everywhere. Combine this with it being an open room with no glass in the windows created a very, um, interesting hospital atmosphere. The doctor did a pretty quick examination. He told us that it was "unlikely" that Ethan has hydrocephalus. He gave us some reasons for this, but couldn't give us a reason for his larger than normal cranium; and then jokingly said that he will be "The next big scientist of our day!" Joking about his large skull and brain. ;-) We won't know for sure about the hydrocephalus diagnosis until he has an MRI, so that is still one of our major prayer requests.

That evening we ate at a restaurant along one of the rivers here in Ho Chi Minh City. This was very good. We ordered roast duck that had excellent flavor especially if you dipped it in the accompanying sauce. Difficult for the kids to eat though.

Day 4 Thursday: We took a quick tour of Ho Chi Minh City, specifically to "China Town". During this trip we visited a Buddhist temple. Interesting, but I will expound on my thoughts on the temple from the perspective of a pastor on my blog.

We took the kids swimming that morning and Ethan surprised me with how much he loved it. He really enjoyed the pool. I was also able to visit with an Australian who has been living here for 6 years. He came to Vietnam after 9/11 for a three month contract, but has stayed for 6 years because he just enjoys the people and area. We ate in one of the hotel restaurants. They were a little more pricey than other places around here, so we'll eat elsewhere from now on.

We had more coffee at Highland's that afternoon and Ellie ate a really good banana cake. Because of the time and Ellie eating, we forgot to have supper. We began to regret that at about 9:30 that night. Note, Ratatouille is not a good movie to watch if you're hungry. Too much food involved. It's a good thing there's a free breakfast buffet in the hotel each morning.

Day 5 Friday: We had our CIS interview this morning. It was a long wait to get in, but the lady conducting the interview was very nice. After asking Ellie if she was the big sister, Misty jokingly replied, "She's just some kid we found on the street." Mary Ann, the lady doing the interview said, "That's the wrong thing to say in this office. It's what we're trying to get away from." I'm glad she said that with a smile on her face. :-) Misty also said that she's really enjoying Ho Chi Minh City and would like to stay here longer before we travel to Hanoi. Mary Ann said, "I can arrange that. You'd be amazed at what I can arrange." I, however, would like to stay by choice rather than being forced to.

We ate our lunch today at, you guessed it, Highland's Coffee. I took a break from coffee and had a smoothie. All smoothies and juices in the restaurants around here are made with freshly juiced fruit. I also had the Singapore Style Fried Noodles. This was very good, even the squid tentacles. Mmm, tasty. Actually, it was really good. The beef had a great taste and the squid tasted like bacon. I actually thought it was bacon until I took a closer look. We did some shopping after that and now the kids are sleeping while I type a really long blog post.