The surgery went well. I had to stay an extra day in the hospital so that bummed me out but I've been home since Wednesday and resting a lot. I'm on some good drugs and have had some weird dreams (including rock climbing with Michelle Obama discussing the summit in Copenhagen) so I haven't posted much.
I appreciate the well wishes, flowers, cards, phone calls (even though I probably don't remember them b/c I'm really out of it), etc.
I'll post when I'm better. :)
Just been busy getting everything ready before my surgery Monday. Andrew got braces this past Monday. I'll post some pictures soon. Also, my blog book for this year's blog came in. I like last year's cover better but I like this year's contents better because I was familiar with the program and layouts. Maybe the 3rd one's the charm? We'll see next year. I'll post a picture of the book soon as well.
Josh here. I haven't made any posts on here in a while, and figured that y'all might be wondering what I've been up to. So, here goes.
November was pretty nice. I got to spend two weeks at home with Rachel and the kids. We spent most of it at home, but did a little bit of travelling. Andrew's birthday was November 9th, then we did his baptism on November 14th. So, overall, it was pretty good.
Back here in Iraq, things are going okay. My team and I still work with the Iraqi Federal Police, advising and assisting them to do their job. The next big thing is going to be in January, with the national elections.
Here on FOB Falcon, we do races and other competitions each month. It keeps the soldiers busy and helps fight boredom and stress. Usually we run 5K (3.1 mile) races, but this month they decided to make it a 10 miler, on Thanksgiving Day. So, imagine my surprise when I got back here on November 22nd, to find out that there was going to be a 10 mile race on the 26th.
The race went well. There were well over a hundred soldiers who came out and ran, along with many others who came to cheer on their friends. I placed 3rd with a time of 70:27. That's not a PR (personal record) for me, but it still was pretty good. My goal for next year is to run the Army 10 Miler and beat my PR of 65 minutes.
Here are a few pics from the race:
Before the race. I'm in the back, next to the latrines, stretching. The big tan vehicles behind us are MRAP's (Mine Resistant Ambush Protected). We use those when we go outside the FOB. They're pretty good at stopping bullets and explosions, but it's like driving a large armored garbage truck. Which means they're hard to maneuver and it's easy to accidentally hit things with them. But, my team hasn't had any accidents since we've been here, so far. 
Here we are lined up and ready to start. I'm in the middle, towards the right. Yes, I'm one of the shorter guys running. That's just the way it is.
Crossing the finish line, pressing the stop button on my new Garmin 205. That's a GPS-enabled watch for runners that tells you how far you've run, how fast you're going, what your lap time is, etc. It's pretty cool.
Getting our medals. I placed third, which isn't too bad. Hopefully the next race will be a 5K. After doing ten, a little 3.1 miler won't seem too tough. My goal for that is 19 minutes. We'll see.
I managed to blog every single day this month! It was fun, but I'm honestly glad it's over :)
The other day my niece babysat the kids almost all day long while my sister and I had a girls day out. My neice fixed the girls' hair and started snapping pictures. I thought she caught some cute ones. Leah is in the green and loves her tutu that I made her a while back. Leila is in the pink and was caught trying to wear some Mr Potato Head Disney glasses. :)
On the way home from picking up Josh from the airport, Andrew insisted Josh ride in the back with him. I snapped this picture at a red light. I thought it was sweet.
With one exception at the PX in Japan, I've never done a Black Friday sale right when the doors open. However, today I wanted a tv. I wanted to have the ability to watch my online/itunes shows on my tv but all of the ones in my house are too old to do that. So, I asked Josh for a Flat Screen tv for Christmas. However, since he's in Iraq, it's my job to find the tv. :)
I saw the one I wanted and knew I had to get to the store early. The doors opened at 5am. I got there at 3:30am and went to where the TVs were going to be. They had the area roped off and handed me ticket #23. I had a seat on the floor next to my cart and for the next hour and a half surfed the net on my iPhone. They had 27 tvs so I got lucky. I crawled back into my bed at 5:44am.
It was worth it to me but I don't plan on doing this every year.
A few days ago I accidentally knocked my computer off a table. It worked for a while but now it won't. So, I'm on Andrew's computer until I can get mine fixed. :(
The most frustrating part was I was finishing up my blog book to send it in to the publisher on Tuesday. It's all saved on there. *SIGH* Oh well.
Andrew had the opportunity to meet Robert Vandall and play one of his pieces for the festival. He played a song called Barn Dance and designed a poster based on the song. Mr. Vandall was very nice and autographed Andrew's music for him at the festival
Josh is doing well. He’s hit month 18 away from his family but knows he has 6 months or less (depending on when the job is done) before he’ll be home for good. He’s staying busy running, doing yoga and competing in competitions at the gym (5K, sit ups, pull ups, etc.). He says it’s the only way to control the boredom in between missions. He’s looking forward to his next position in AFRICOM in Stuttgart, Germany. Rachel and the kids are glad they get to go too!
Rachel is keeping busy with the kids. She is homeschooling Andrew and enjoys it. She’s been having some health issues but will have surgery December 14th so she looks forward to feeling like her old self. When she was at the doctor’s office she was asked “Now are you sure you are done having children?” Rachel’s reply was “Uh, if not I’ll adopt more!” to which the doctor replied “Oh, yeah!” She’s been told to expect six weeks to recover and right now she has help for five. She’s thankful she has a sister across the street and a niece home from college for Christmas break during that time. She’s hoping to find a teaching job on base in Germany next year since the girls will be in preschool.
She’s been writing out the experience of adopting the girls and has found it to be kind of therapeutic to revisit some of the more stressful and tense times knowing that it all ended well. She’s currently at over 20,000 words and isn’t even halfway through the process we endured. She says it’s a good reminder of who all played an instrumental part with phone calls, translating, advice, prayers and support. We have great friends and family and for that we are thankful.
Andrew just turned 8 this month. He’s the same spunky kid he’s always been. He enjoys homeschooling and is currently training for his senior green belt in Tae Kwon Do. He’s also enjoying his piano lessons and just recently attended a composer festival with Robert Vandall. Andrew played one of Mr. Vandall’s pieces, made a poster of his interpretation of the piece and got Mr. Vandall’s autograph on his music. He’s excited about the move to Germany as well.
Leah and Leila are doing a very good job playing the role of two year olds. We get temper tantrums, hitting, crying, etc. This is mostly from Leah and she knows the naughty mat all too well. Leila tries these things but after one time of being punished seems to give up. Rachel wishes Leah would give up as easily. They attend preschool three times a week and really enjoy it. They also started speech therapy and are progressing well. They are having some hopefully minor health issues and are scheduled for ultrasounds this week. Rachel will update the blog when we have results. On a good note, Leila saw her cardiologist earlier this month and he said that it looks like her problems will not require any action in the next few years! YAY! We’ll continue with our yearly EKGs to make sure but that is a relief to hear.
Because of Rachel’s surgery and Josh being away, we will not be sending “snail mail” Christmas cards this year. Enjoy the enclosed picture of the kids. It was quite the adventure for all three to sit still and look at the camera. Rachel gave up on the smiles. Leila is on the left and Leah is on the right.
Stay in touch with us on our blog and we’ll update on the girls’ health, Rachel’s health and the exact date of our move. We wish everyone a safe and happy holiday season, a Merry Christmas and joyful year ahead! Love and thanks from all of us!
Love,
Joshua, Rachel, Andrew, Leah and Leila
My sister and I decided to take the day to get away and hang out. We had lunch, did some shopping, a LOT of talking, etc. When we got home I had one hour before I had to take Andrew to Tae Kwon Do. I whipped up another sweet potato casserole for Thursday and headed out the door. I dropped Andrew off, grabbed a few groceries and arrived back at the Tae Kwon Do school right as they were starting class. Five minutes into it, I realized I was drained. I went to my car, locked the doors discovered how far back my seat would go and SLEPT!!! I set the alarm on my phone so I didn't oversleep. I couldn't believe I was that tired. I plan to go to be early tonight :)
Rachel
I wanted to know how long the girls' hair would be if it was straight. They seemed to like it. Leah grabbed some sunglasses and a purse and went to the door like she was ready to go! :) Leila followed suit with the purse. 
I've been making cookies for Thanksgiving. The first are Chocolate Mint Cookies. These are SOOOOOOOOOOOO good! The first year I made them we had some friends visiting us for Christmas. They liked them so much that they went out and bought more ingredients so I would make more! :)
So, here is the recipe:
Chocolate Mint Cookies
3/4 cup cube margarine 2 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 cups brown sugar 1/2 teaspoon soda
2 Tablespoon water 1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups chocolate chips 2 small boxes Andes mints
2 eggs
Melt margarine, sugar and water about 1 minute in microwave; stir. Add chips; stir until melted (may need to microwave more). Pour into another bowl and let stand about 10 minutes (to cool a little). Beat in eggs and add dry ingredients, beating until blended. Chill dough 1 hour. Line cookie cheet with foil or parchment paper. Roll 1 heaping tablespoon dough into ball. Bake 12 minutes at 350 degrees. Don't overbake. Immediately put mint on top and wait a couple of minutes until it melts, then spread.
The next ones I made were peanut butter presses. These cookies are VERY easy to make. You need a cookie press for these, but they are fun to make. 
The recipe is as follows:
Easy Peanut Butter Presses
1 cup sugar 1 egg
1 cup creamy peanut butter 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolte morsels, melted
2 tablespoons peanuts, chopped
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In mixing bowl, combine sugar and egg. Add peanut butter; mix until blended. Fill Cookie Press with dough. Press Dough onto cookie sheet, 1 inch apart. Bake 12-14 minutes or until cookes are set and light golden brown. Remove from oven; cool 2 minutes on cookie sheet. Remove to cooling rack; cool completely. Repeat with remaining dough. Place chocolate morsels in microwave safe container; microwave, uncovered on HIGH for 1 minute or until chocolate is melted and smooth, stirring after each 20 second interval. Drizzle chocolate over cookies; sprinkle wit peanuts. Let stand until chocolate is set.
Yesterday was Andrew's Gotcha Day. Eight years ago today we saw and held Andrew for the first time. He was 10 days old.
We had been called the day before and told that we could pick him up the next evening. So, we didn't have much warning about him, but we were ready. I just felt this need a few months before to get ready. I guess it was the adoptive mother's version of nesting. :)
I won't go into the entire story as this is the internet but Andrew could tell you the entire story without leaving anything out like how Dad got a little lost, how we had been so nervous the whole day that we couldn't eat so we stopped at McDonald's on the way home and have a picture of Andrew in a snuggly being worn by Josh and Josh jokingly offering Andrew a french fry. We also stopped at Wal-mart when we got back to our town because I didn't realize that size 1 diapers were NOT the smallest so I needed newborn size and I had a whole roll of film from just that evening that needed to be developed! :)
I am so thankful that Andrew's birthmother chose us to be his parents. I'm thankful that both of his birthparents made the selfless choice to allow him to be adopted. We had the opportunity to meet with Andrew's birthmother on the night we picked him up. There isn't a Mother's Day that goes by that I don't think of her and hope she has peace in her heart for her decision. She gave us the greatest gift and I will always be grateful to her.
In the past year I've been amazed at how much Andrew has matured. He's becoming more responsible and is a huge help around the house. I can see ways he'll make a good husband and father just by the way he helps and plays with the girls.
Andrew is a wonderful big brother and his sisters adore him. I think I'll be able to say that 15 years from now. I hope he'll help his dad keep the boys away from his sisters. :) I predict Andrew will be quite tall so he can stare the boys down while Dad cleans his weapons. :)
The amount of gratitude I feel for the opportunity I've been given to be Andrew's mother is overwhelming.
Happy Gotcha Day, dear Andrew. I love you very much!!!
Love,
Mom
Andrew's doctor called. All of his bloodword is normal. The doctor consulted with the pediatric endocrinologist and since the tests are normal, they want to wait a month and see what happens. If it gets any bigger, then I'm to call and bring him back in ASAP. If not, then we'll meet back in a month.
Leah and Leila each have ultrasounds next week. The instructions from radiology were to empty bladder 1 hour before and then drink 8-10oz and hold it in until after the ultrasound. The pediatrician's nurse and I had a good laugh about that one! :) She suggested I get a drink that they really like, put it in a sippy cup and give it to them at the appointment. I knew exactly what to give them! :) They LOVE Hi-C orange. They've had it at McDonald's a few times and guzzle it down! I don't like to give it to them because it's pretty much sugar water but this is a good reason for an exception! :)
I'm glad for the good news!
It's that time of the year when the strange ones come out of the woodwork! I got a nice, creepy example of it tonight at Wal-mart!
I had to get some THanksgiving ingredients for the big hooplah next Thursday. Last count was 20 people. AAAAHHHH!
Anyway, I loaded up the kids and headed to Wal-mart. We are pretty used to hearing people say things like "Oh! Those are the most beautiful kids I've ever seen!" It's sweet, but I don't really like random people stopping me ALL the time to admire my children. For one, it takes MUCH longer to shop when everyone wants to stop and talk about my kids. Also, I worry that my kids are going to get too arrogant about their looks.
All that aside, one lady totally creeped me out. She stopped me and complimented my children and kept on and on about how cute they were, etc. Then she leaned over and said "If you find the twins missing in the middle of the night it's because I took them home with me because they are so cute!" I said "Oh, my!" and finished my shopping looking over my shoulder. I also wasn't followed home but it was still weird!!!!
Josh returns tomorrow. BLEH! The day was nice with some junk mixed in.
I woke up and found Josh, the girls and our van missing. I called Josh and he said they went on a Krispy Kreme run. YAY! We dropped off the girls at preschool, ran some errands and took Andrew to a new restaurant in town that is a lot like Chuck E Cheese but with better food (not great, but better). This evening Andrew wanted to build a fort, pop popcorn and put in a movie. It was nice.
Now the not so nice part. The girls have had some physical differences since we brought them home. We've kind of joked about getting them baby bras. This can be normal up to one year of age. It has something to do with residual hormones from the mother or something. One year came and went and the problem remained. The pediatrician recommended we wait a little longer mostly because one year isn't a hard and fast rule.
At the two year check up the pediatrician decided to talk to an endocrinologist about it. He called me back in wanting to test the estrogen levels in the girls. Apparently this can be an sign that the girls will enter puberty too early! We had the blood work done and the doctor called me tonight with the results. Leah's estrogen levels are too high but Leila's fell in the normal zone. The endocrinologist wants to have BOTH girls get a pelvic ultrasound to look for ovarian cysts or follicles. Yikes. I asked that both girls don't have them done at the same time because I can't hold one down for the ultrasound and manage the other. I'll be called Thursday with the ultrasound appointment times.
Meanwhile Andrew is having some issues. Three days ago he walks in and shows us this lump in his chest. I thought maybe a lymphnode and made an appointment. We saw the doctor yesterday and he measured it at 5cm. He is perplexed. It is not a lymphnode. He left to confer with a collegue and read up on some endocrinology book. He came back and said for now we'll do blood work and see what that says. One of the tests takes about a week. The rest less than that. If the results are normal then we'll be refered on to a pediatric endocrinologist. The closest one is about 90 miles away. The last resort will be to remove it and biopsy it. Andew is VERY nervous about that idea (the pediatrician thought if he spelled surgeon Andrew wouldn't understand - silly, silly man).
Meanwhile my surgery is scheduled for December 14th. I've got 5 weeks covered with help. Doctor said allow 6 weeks but oh well. I'm young so I think I'll be ok in 5 weeks.
I'm a bit overwhelmed but I know I'll get through this. Like I've said before, life is full of trials. Everyone has them. How you respond to them defines you as a person.
It will all be ok. :)
Amy shared this on her blog and I made it for my family (and my sister's since my family is small without Josh) and then again tonight for Josh. It is SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO good!!! I recommend about 1-2 hours before it's done cooking that you shred the beef. Then grab some hamburger buns and melt mozerella cheese on top. Then put the beef on the buns with a little of the juice. Enjoy!
3-4 lb. lean rump roast (ask them to trim fat off, or if packaged, you can trim yourself)
2 tsp. salt, divided
4 garlic cloves
2 tsp. parmesan cheese, divided
12 oz. can beef broth
1 tsp. dried oregano
1. Place roast in slow cooker. Cut 4 slits in top of roast. Fill each slit with 1/2 tsp. salt, 1 garlic clove and 1/2 tsp. of parmesan.
2. Pour broth over meat and sprinkle with oregano.
3. Cover. Cook on low (preferred) for 10-12 hours or high for 4-6 hours.
4. Remove meat and shred. Serve on buns with meat juices on the side (I just put some of the juices on top of the meat on the sandwich. I also like it with thinly sliced cheddar cheese. Also, I sometimes cut the meat into chunks and/or begin shredding it an hour or 2 before it's done cooking so it can continue cooking in the juices).
Yesterday all of the grandchildren on Josh's side of the family were able to gather. We tried to snap a picture of them all but Leah did NOT want to participate!
Front row left to right is Leila, Leah (both age 2), Sara (age 1), Bella (age 6). Back row is Allison (age 3), Elizabeth (age 6) holding her little brother Jacob (age 2.5 months) and Andrew (age 8).
I love how Andrew and Bella are oblivious to the fit. They are too busy trying to figure out Andrew's new transformers. I also like Sara and Allison's concern about the crying.
Lately, Leah has been throwing HORRIBLE fits. The worst part is she gets so angry that she hits Leila. 
I know I mentioned it on Facebook, but I don't think I mentioned it here. We found out our next duty station will be in Germany! YAY! This was our first choice for a variety of reasons and so it was nice to get our first choice for the first time in 12 years. :)
Andrew will probably go back into the classroom at the school on base. It looks like they have a good Gifted and Talented Program and will draw up and individual plan based on his needs and not have him in a mainstream classroom all day except for an hour or so a week where he is pulled out for "Gifted class" (read: Extra work). That situation would frustrate him.
The girls will go to preschool at a NAEYC certified preschool. This certification ensures the children are cared for by well qualified staff and they actually get something out of the program besides just babysitting. Andrew went to a NAEYC certified preschool and overall we were happy.
I'm thinking about going back into the classroom. I'd like to teach middle school but who knows what grades will be available when we get there. DODDS schools are a good place to be employed. The salary is good, too! :)
Overall, we are looking forward to being together as a family and touring as much of Europe as we can. I've been looking at a map and mentally checking off place I want to see during our 3 years there.
Today was Leila's yearly appointment with the pediatric cardiologist. He looked at her EKG and said that everything looked great and that he thought she would NOT have any problems in the next few years! YAY!
He gave me the paperwork to take to her new doctor next year and wished us well. It was nice to get the good news.
By 10am this morning, we completed the passport paperwork, took the girls to preschool and took Andrew to the homeschool PE group. We also hit Wal-mart (twice), took Andrew to lunch, cleaned 1/2 of the house, completed a big outside project and ran some errands. Josh and I also managed to have a dinner alone.
I'm tired. Good night all! :)
There are two ways we can establish the girls' US citizenship. The first is get a social security number for them as legal resident aliens (using their green card) and then pay $85 each for a US passport. The second is to pay $750 each for a certificate of citizenship from the State Department.
Typically the military will provide passports for us if we have to move overseas. I've never paid for a passport and neither has Josh or Andrew. However, we need to get the girls established as citizens sooner than later. Since we don't have orders to our new destination (I don't think I've announced that here yet!) we can't get the free passports for the girls. Besides, $85 is cheap compared to $750. Sooooooooooo, off we went to get passports for the girls. We got out the door early to the bank for cash to pay for these passports. It was in between a place that does passport photos and the post office where we can apply for the passports. We headed to the store for the photographs and the worker said they were too short for the white screen. I grabbed some nearby crates for the girls to stand on and she said it wouldn't work. The screen was about two feet off of the ground and went all the way up to the ceiling. The girls on the crates were over 4 feet tall. I asked her why and she said it wouldn't crop right? HUH? Basically I think she didn't want to be bothered. She suggest a nearby camera shop (read: expensive). Fine. Whatever.
We went there and by this point the girls are in a mood!!! THis was taking way longer than it should and they were tired. They didn't want to cooperate. The only way we were able to get a photo was for Josh to put them on his shoulders, kneel down and bow his head. It worked! The cost? $17 and change! Good grief!
We then headed to the post office will all the paperwork, cash and pictures. We got out of the car and went inside only to be reminded that the post office was closed for Veteran's Day! DUH!
So tomorrow our goal is to get there first thing and get this done!!! :)\
We delayed our trip to New Orleans by a day because Andrew caught the same virus the girls had less than a week prior. I was VERY surprised how much damage from Hurricane Katrina still remains. In the tourists areas you wouldn’t know Katrina ever hit. However, in other places, it looks like NOTHING has been done.
We went to the National WWII Museum the first day and right after we bought our tickets we get a call that Josh’s mother was in the hospital with heart issues and they were going in with a catheter to check things out. At that point no one knew we were in New Orleans.
We toured the museum in about 2 hours and decided to check in to the hotel and head to Baton Rouge to see Josh’s mother. Because some family met me in the lobby to watch the kids, we were able to both visit her for about an hour. Josh was able to give her a blessing and I brought some flowers from Andrew since he was upset that he was too young to visit her. The first surgery didn’t show any problems and she insisted we go on with our trip. We met some family for dinner and headed back down to the hotel.
I managed to forget my camera which is, in my opinion, worse than forgetting my phone! I picked up a cheap, simple digital camera that I knew Andrew would enjoy having after the trip. I’ve really taken for granted how well my regular camera works! If anyone moved in a picture, it would blur. Do you know how hard it is to keep a toddler still for a picture? The flash had to take a few extra seconds to reset, etc. It was an annoying camera and I’m happy to let Andrew have it now.
The second day we went to the infamous Café Du Monde and let the children experience beneigts for the first time. Fried dough covered in powdered sugar was a hit with them (big surprise there!) We then headed on to the Audubon Aquarium and the girls especially loved the fish. Andrew enjoyed petting the shark and the ray and finding unique things about certain sea creatures. The white alligator, otters and the penguins are always my favorite.
The third day we went to the New Orleans Children’s museum and the kids played and played and played some more. They have an under 3 section that the girls loved and Josh and I took turns taking Andrew through the rest of the museum. I liked the life sized Neighborhood of Make Believe and seeing Mr. Roger’s shoes and sweater.
The last day we met my best friend and her family at the Audubon Zoo. Andrew got to pet an elephant and see a white tiger. At the petting zoo, he and Leila got to touch a snake, a tortoise as well as sheep and goats. Leah clung to me as hard as she could. She liked the animals from afar but was NOT willing to touch one! I think Leah and Leila enjoyed the playground the most, though.
All in all, it was a good trip. We enjoyed the rest and the family time. It was good to be back home in our own bed, though!
