So Thankful 17 + Months with Jailyn and 28 months old!

French Lick Resort 2012

Our Happy Family

Katie and Billy at French Lick Resort

On the Polar Express Train and Jailyn with her Jingle Bell from Santa.

On our way to go Swimmin!

Silly Picture on Santa's Sleigh French Lick 2012

Self Portrait on the Polar Express.

West Badin and on the left are Billy and Jailyn Playing.

Wow it is Thanksgiving eve and can't believe another month has gone by and our 2nd Thanksgiving has come and gone with Jailyn.   Also it is a day I love as it is a special anniversary day for Mike and I.  We met 14 years ago today.   I am married to an incredible man and love him more every year.

Today was a day of reflection and day of thanksgiving....we have come so far with Jailyn and I started to reminisce and played the adoption song "When Love Takes you in"  and totally lost it balling my eyes out with tears of thanksgiving.   The love and blessing I feel daily everyday with Jailyn just totally overwhelms and rocks my world.  We are so blessed to be a family.  Jailyn is an amazing little girl learning and growing so much in speech, cuteness and how smart she is figuring new things out and singing, dancing, playing the drums and just so dog gone happy....and the best part full of so much love and that love brings us home to the place God intended for us to be family.  To this day our journey has been an amazing adventure I would not ever change to bring us to where we are to day and know GOD still has incredible plans for us. I love my life and our life as a family.

Busy is the word for us and looking forward to the holidays with Jailyn and our whole immediate family....Jailyn is so cute and knows HO HO brings toys and knows she needs to ask HO HO for toys thanks to Katie coaching her what to say.  We also started our Elf on the Shelf Tradition this year.   Our elf is named Twinkle and Jailyn liked watching the video about elves.

So let's bring you up to speed on our lives.  Halloween was so much fun and the weather had a lot to be desired however Jailyn loved the candy and loves "Choc it" and "Kitty Kats" candy!   Mommy pushed Jailyn in the stroller in rain thru the neighborhood.  Kind of bittersweet to know next year we will be in our new neighborhood and leaving the home we have know for 11 years.  Love our neighborhood however getting excited as our home is under roof and starting to come together.  Still very overwhelmed with all the decisions to be made on our home, the shopping and the decorating to be made however we have professionals to help it all come together.  They are saying March to move in however I believe it will be more like late spring or early summer.  We had our fun family fest for pumpkin carving day and the everyone had a great time.  I was able to attend my Fall retreat for Mary Kay and be away from Jailyn 30 hrs.  She did well and says now I miss you mommy.  Daddy and Jailyn and the help Mike had all survived just fine. 

We just came back from a fun weekend at French Lick Resort with Katie and Billy.  Hoping to make it a tradition to go the weekend before Thanksgiving each year.   Love starting to make family memories with Jailyn.  It was the weekend they lit all the Christmas trees and we went on the Polar Express Train ride.  Jailyn did well travelling, loved swimming in the indoor pool,  we went bowling with her and she loved the rolling of the ball down the track and even made a few strikes with mommy's help (Jailyn liked high 5ing after each bowl) and Katie and Billy taught her how to play ping pong too.  The Polar express train ride was kind of scary at first then she loved the singing and dancing and seeing HO HO come on the train when we arrived at the North Pole.  She got a jingle bell and her picture with HO HO!  Katie and Billy enjoyed the down time and were able to take advantage of a couples massage and time relaxing before the craziness of the holidays, baby showers, remodeling of their home and ultimately the arrival of Baby McSparron in early February.  Katie tires easily and looks fabulous and is starting to put the babies room together and start the nesting.  We are thrilled for them and will be grandparents before we know it.  

Scott and Wan are coming home Dec 17-26 for the holidays.  We will meet Scott's long distance girlfriend, Wan, who is moving to the states Dec 1 to be with Scott.  We will get to celebrate Scott's 29th birthday on Dec 18 and the holidays with them.  This will be the first year we have all been together as a family in 3 yrs for Chirstmas.  We are thrilled.

Below are Jailyn's 28th Month Photos and Minnie Mouse Halloween Photos!

We had a day of festivities with the family for Thanksgiving and looking forward to a great weekend.  We will celebrate our Thanksgiving with Katie and Billy Saturday.  Billy is frying a Turkey and they are having it this year since Mike is preparing for surgery on Tuesday to repair his rotator cuff.  We are decorating the house tomorrow and making preparations for my Mary Kay Open house next weekend.  We have a Happy birthday Jesus and Breakfast with Santa this weekend at Church with the girls.   Not to mention Mike being home for a few weeks healing.  Pray for him and our holidays with the challenges he will have with limited mobility.  I will have two kids to take care of along with all the holiday craziness.  I know God is good and we will press on and it will all come together and be okay.

We are so loved and blessed and know the best is yet come!

Happy Thanksgiving and being a part of our lives!
Love,
Linette

16 months with Jailyn 27 months old!

Carousel at Coney Island

Trick or Treating at Coney Island

Riding the choo choo at the Zoo

Pumpkin patch fun at Shaw Farm.

Fall is flying by and Jailyn is growing taller almost 34" tall and 25.2 lbs and learning so much.  We are finding things all over our house in strange places.  She is the sweetest little girl and feel so blessed and love her more every day.

It has been another busy month in the busy lives of the Thornburys.  Our new home is in the framing stage and we are making decisions as we progress.    We believe it will be ready in the spring.   It is exciting and overwhelming all at the same time.  We are working through sleep issues still with Jailyn but moving forward in the right direction and getting more rest.

We met with the attachment therapist and she was pleased with Jailyn and felt she is quite bonded and just going through adoption grief of realizing she lost her caregiver 16 months ago and Jailyn is fearful it will happen again.  We are making strides in the sleep department and boundaries are consistent now and all are sleeping better.  Many weeks of lack of sleep.  We have put a gate up to keep her in her room during naptime and bedtime which she dislikes and she says "Gate up, I stuck mommy".    The first time the gate went up she threw her stuffed cow and a door hanger outside her room in her fit of anger.   I was happy to see she got it out and felt her feelings.  She wails/screams with drama and sees we are in the other room and finally gives up and crawls in bed after her night time ritual of reading books, praying, cuddling, listening to music and having her light show with lots of stuff animals in bed with her.  She is the most beautiful sweet little girl and I marvel at her and my eyes well up with tears of thanksgiving.  I wondered why for the longest time why we could not have our own biological children and now I know Jailyn was to be our daughter and God had a different and bigger plan than we ever imagined.    Sleep challenges are accepted as the norm now and she is now sleeping most of the night through and can not come in our room to sleep with us.

Great news Katie and Billy are having a little girl and we are thrilled all Jailyn's hand me downs have a place in our family.  Mommy sure likes to shop for Jailyn and has so many darling Gymboree outfits that now our little grand daughter can wear too as she grows into 12 month clothes...  So Aunt Jailyn will have a niece.  How fun they will grow up together.    Katie and Billy are excited and it won't be long until February 8 when Katie is due.  Happy times for our family and love having little girls around.  Katie and Billy celebrated their 2nd Wedding Anniversary and just bought a mini van Katie has always wanted.

Scott our son in Washington state just bought his first home.  He now has plenty of home projects to keep him busy.  We hope to visit him in the spring.  So looking forward to Scott coming home for Christmas.

We have started the fall events with a trip to Coney Island for Fall-o-ween with trick or treating and rides.   She likes the carousel and we went down the giant slide which she put her hands over her eyes and did it and said do it again after it was over.   Jailyn is going to be Minnie Mouse for Halloween.  Then we made a trip to the pumpkin patch to get pumpkins for Pumpkin Carving Fall Fest later this month.  We just celebrated our 11 year anniversary and went to the Bengals game and then will celebrate this weekend with Dinner at the Precinct and to see the Blue Man Group at the Aronoff.  Katie and Billy will babysit for us.

We have had two more doctors appts.  We went to the dentist again for our 6 month check up and she did much better.  The dentist was pleased with her teeth and the bottom 2 year molars are coming in and the top still not in yet.  These teeth coming in has been happening along with the sleep issues these past weeks.  Then we finally made it to the pediatric eye doctor.  She was great and disliked the drops to dialate her eyes.   However the doctor said she is so smart she passed the depth test with a perfect score and the doctor said she has 5 and 6 years olds who can not take the test and understand what she is testing.   She was so impressed and said she has strong healthy eyes and wants to see us in two years and said if any eye issues arise we will know by age 8.  So the last t is crossed and i dotted with all possible health concerns covered now and she is healthy, happy and thriving.  Woohoo!!!!! for having no family history and now we have checked it all and all is good.

Life at the Thornbury home is never dull.   It is so fun being Jailyn's mom and dad.  We have so many special moments with her.   Mike has become the tubby King with Jailyn.  They have a blast at bath time and play and have their ritual.  Mommy and Jailyn have our schedule and she is really liking gymnastics and still loves Gymboree so much.  We are having a blast and she still goes to workout with me.  She is the Princess of NO!  But she is 2yrs old and learning and challenging us and truly our little girl and not so much a baby.  She is in a booster seat at the table and have just taken away the high chair.  Today we went to McDonalds and she is an all American girl loves french fries and chicken nuggets.  She also went to the nail salon with me and got her nails painted and thought she was big stuff.

I will have to post her 27 month pictures which are being taken next Tuesday and Halloween pictures.

We appreciate YOU following our blog.
Happy Fall!
With love,
Linette

15 months with Jailyn and our Busy Summer and adjusting to our new schedule

Well we had a fun trip to Nashville with Jailyn and Friends.  She traveled well and enjoyed her quality time with mommy and daddy.   The Opryland Hotel was just what we needed and that place is amazing.  She liked the Shrek and Friends characters and had fun with Cameron and Payton our friends kids.  We have been busy and never a dull moment.  They broke ground on our new home August 27 and we are picking brick, shingles, fixtures, appliances....Super busy trying to fit all the decisions into our busy lives.  We have been making the big girl bed transition now for 7 weeks.  Jailyn has been challenging and fighting sleep.  We believe the beginning of the realization she lost her foster mom has finally caught up with her, they call it adoption anniversary grief and to go through separation anxiety is normal for an 18 month old and we are a bit behind in that department only having her 15 months and being 26 months old.  She is grieving and so wants to be held by mommy and does not have issues leaving me or me leaving her it is at night time and during the day she just wants me to "hold j'you, hold j'you".  The fear of ever losing her caregiver now me her mommy is so heightened now.  It breaks my heart but all a part of the abandonment grief cycle she must process and does not fully consciously knowing what is happening.   We battle going to sleep and shutting down as she seems to be on high alert which is normal for little girls coming out of China with never knowing what is next and wants to control her environment.   Heck, she may be over attached with everything we do for her.    However the terrific twos are hard for her and being told no and not listening and wanting her way.  Totally normal at this age.  I have reached out to a therapist to help with the recent grief cycle and will be talking to her in the coming weeks.  On top of it all those big ole 2 yr molars have started to cut thru her bottom gums and the dentist said it would be tough and she has been crying at night.  Understand that completely.  On the positive note Jailyn is talking in complete sentences and takes it all in and is so smart.  Her little personality is so sweet and she is such a joy and melts our hearts daily.  So blessed with a happy, healthy thriving little girl who wears her mommy and daddy out.  Feel so honored we are her parents.

This week is our first week on our complete new schedule finally and I feel a calm and productive fall is in store for us.  The summer just took me by surprise with all the challenges and craziness that happened and have just been exhausted.  We love the new shcedule.    She loves gymnastics at Cincinnati Gymnastics and loves Gymboree still and loves being back with Colleen two days a week.  I am able to work a bit more and Mike and I have our dates planned which is so needed as Jailyn not sleeping has taken it's toll.  I am getting more rest and maintaining my wt and able to still workout with my trainer 2 days with Jailyn with me. 

We love fall and can't wait for all the pumpkin festivals and fun coming.  Jailyn is going to be Minnie Mouse for Halloween and just got a cute costume from the Disney Store.  For Mom and Dad's b-days Jailyn had her pictures with Paw, Paw and Grandma and I will post a few of those on the blog.

Hanging in there as it will be Christmas before we know it and so many wonderful experiences to come.  Scott will be home for Christmas with his girlfriend and Katie and Billy will be parents in February and will hopefully find out in two weeks if it is a boy or girl.   Mike is having shoulder surgery in late November so it will be an interesting holiday full of fun and memories.

Thanks for following our lives and so blessed to share it with YOU!  Today is our 15 month anniversary of our Gotcha Day!  Wow time is flying by.....and the best is truly yet to come.
Love,
Linette

What a summer!

Oh my stars what a summer it has been!!!!  Ready for our mini vacation next week and the fall being a better season for us.  The flea bag vacation, intestinal virus, to moving to the big girl bed and mike traveling more for his job.  WOW has momma been overwhelmed.   Oh and completely changing my work schedule for the fall and how I work to keep my great sitter on board with Jailyn.   So blessed to have Colleen and family taking care of Jailyn the nights I work.  That is why there have been no posts for over a month.  Well we have survived the fleas.  Jailyn still has very little notice she had a ton of flea bits however mine that got infected still are healing over 7 weeks later, a constant reminder I want to go away.  If we ever go into a hotel, condo or cottage with any bug in sight we will turn around and leave.  We got most of our money back from our vacation however decided not to fight for the last few hundred from the rental real estate people as by the time we got our attorney involved the cost was not worth it.   I just want to forget the whole thing.   If anyone ask to rent from the company I will make it known that I would no way ever use them as they are not customer friendly and were not honest with us and truly did not live up to the contract having no pets in the cottage we rented prior to our arrival.  You know you take off the time and have this one week a year you so look forward to and then we had fleas.  It took me down and never got the R&R needed to rejuvenate.  We so badly need to get away from it all and in a week we will be out of here and so excited to get a short trip in before our fall begins.  So birthday week came and lots of itching and then the intestinal virus came and Jailyn had it for 2 weeks plus taking the benadryl for relief of the flea bites.  BY THE WAY GREAT NEWS TO SHARE:  JAILYN WILL BE AN AUNT!!!   Yes Katie and Billy are pregnant and due in February.  We are so thrilled to be grandparents in 2013.  Katie was having migranes the first trimester and seems to be better and in 6 weeks will find out what she is having, a boy or girl.   So we made the switch to a big girl bed since Katie and Billy wanted to take the crib, changing table and bookcase.  Wow did we have trauma.  It was one day the crib was there and then the big girl bed.  Change is hard regardless and for our little creature of habit it put her in a spin and had a huge night terror and freaked her out and regressed her back to being needy and wanting to be held all the time.  She talks up a storm now and is so cute the way she talks and says "hold jyou. hold jyou" to be held.   Now three weeks later we are adjusting.  She goes down with little crying yet when she wakes up in the middle of night she gets out of bed and runs down the hall and jumps in bed with us.   She never liked sleeping with us in the past and now it is what happens nightly.  Last week Mike was traveling most of the week and Jailyn slept in the pack in play because she did not want to goto sleep in the big girl bed and momma needed to get her to sleep.  This week we pushed through the tears and finally adjusting.  Jailyn is defintely starting the Terrific Twos throwing the fits when she does not get her way.   It is hard for a two year who wants everything to be her way and things have changed now with NO's and more discipline.  She loves her Gymboree classes and will continue into the fall and we start Gymnastics next week too.  She loves to dance and do somersaults so it should be interesting.  She is going to Cincinnati gymnastics and will be in a class with 4 other 2 year olds and of all things her instructor is named Katie.    So we have two fun events a week we will attend and two days with Colleen and the grandparents get their fair share of time with her too.    We went to her two year old check up and in one year she grew 6 inches and 6 lbs.  She weighs 24.2 lbs and is 34 1/4" tall.   She is long and lean and still petite.   We had shots which were not fun and was the picture of health.  She still has some exzema on her wrists and elbows (which flare up when upset like the change to the big girl bed.)  Mike has been extremely busy with work traveling and I have been trying to balance it all and find the time to work and build my MK unit.   Mike has a rotator cuff injury and will have to have surgery this fall which has been painful for him.  I completed my 24 weeks of weight loss and maintaining my weight and really targeting toning the flabby areas.  I will get back to some more weight loss in Sept to Dec and hope to lose 15 lbs more slowly and firm and be super fit by Christmas.  I am proud I have been maintaining and been able to eat more however still can not stomach the fattening stuff and have little desire.  Mike and I have our August date night tonight with a new sitter and looking forward to our quality time we have planned each month.  We miss it as our lives are still adjusting to parenthood of a busy toddler now who demands so much attention.  It is a challenge however we love her so much and continue to figure it out.  I will post her 2 year b-day photos.  Looking forward to a fun fall and more special times with Jailyn.  She is such a blessing and joy and there is never a dull moment at our house.  We are moving forward with the house plans and hope to break ground in Sept.  Until next month....we appreciate you being a part of our journey.
Love,

Linette

Our first Vacation and July 11 Jailyn's 2nd Birthday

On my first boat ride on the ferry to Put in Bay.

On the golf cart at Put in Bay with Daddy.

With my mommy on the ferry ride home.

My daddy makes me laugh so much on the ferry home.

I was in my first 4th of July parade and was the cutest Little Sparkler ever.

My girlfriends, Abigail and Allison,  I spent the week with at Lakeside.

On the rocks at Marblehead.

Lighthouse at Marblehead.

"Tada" Jailyn says alot at sunset at Lakeside.

The birthday Princess at Toysrus.

Looking cute with my Birthday Presents.

At build a bear with Daddy and Pretty Kitty I built.

The birthday girls!

Wow what a busy July we are celebrating all our birthdays still and the best is yet to come this month as we have Jailyn's birthday party tomorrow with Family and Mike and I will get some quality time later this month to celebrate our birthday's together on two dates.  Well we went on our very first vacation with Jailyn to Lakeside, OH, up by Put in Bay.  We rented a cottage and spent the week with friends at a gated community on Lake Erie.  It was about a 4 hour trip by car and Mike and I were so excited to be getting away for some R&R.  We are just busy people and needed a break and quality time with Jailyn.   Jailyn traveled well and did well sleeping in our room in the pack in play.  We know any deviation from her normal schedule still rocks her little world.   She was a trooper and loved the trip and new experiences.  Our vacations are quite different now than we have had in the past.  Just busy with a 2 year old.   It was hotter than heck, rained a bit and was quite an experience (not a pleasant experience at all).   Time spent away and with our friends was terrific however our cottage ended up being flea infested.  It rocked my world and I seemed to be the only one bitten all week (approx 100 times).  Then the flee eggs came home in our car via Jailyn's clothes and she was bitten 2 days later (approx 100 times).   I had to bomb the car and she was bitten so many times we ended up with an emergency call to her pediatrician in the middle of night....the saga goes on........ and I just want Jailyn to stop itching and our bites to go away and forget the whole experience.  I was so upset and it all seemed like a bad dream and how could this happen to us.   We have been through so much this past year as this was the last thing we needed.  We are supposed to get the majority of our money back and will get our attorney involved to recoup everything as the owner of the cottage was great to allow her part of the rental money to be returned (she felt horrible ruining our vacation which was not her fault the rental company had renters in the cottage with animals of some kind with fleas in June which was against the contractual rules).   However the rental company was the most unprofessional company who did not care about our well being.   It was our problem and they did nothing to accommodate us and played the blame game.   Enough about our flea bag vacation, I am over it and glad we are home.     We are blessed our home did not get infested as we took all the precautions and we are okay.  Just an emotional week with lack of sleep and my beautiful daughter is so eaten up with bites ( me too) it makes us sick and she has had to be on Benadryl all week and anti itch cream and not be outside in the heat.  Not to mention it is her birthday week, Our birthday week.   I think once we get our money back we need to take another trip somewhere pleasant before we roll into a busy fall.  I think we are more exhausted now than we were before we went on vacation.  

NOW all the happy stuff on Jailyn's birthday!  Jailyn and I celebrated the day together and it is so special we share the same day as our birthday.  It brought tears to my eyes how good God is that Jailyn was picked special for us to be our daughter.  I thought about this day 2 years ago how sad I was waiting to be Jailyn's mom and how sad for Jailyn being abandoned the day she was born.  However I praise God she was safely put outside the orphanage and placed immediately in foster care.  I praise God for Jailyn's birth mom loving her enough and giving the ultimate sacrifice to make a forever family for Jailyn all the way across the world with Mike and I.  I am so grateful and blessed beyond my wildest dreams.  I love Jailyn so much and she is so much like us now and soooooooo happy.   So our day consisted of a trip to Toysrus to go shopping with Jailyn's Jeffrey bucks and we had so much fun we filled the cart with stuff she liked (like I have had time to shop with our vacation ordeal) and got lots of fun stuff.   Then to Bob Evans for Mac N Cheese and Green beans, then the party store for a BIG Happy Birthday Balloon (Jailyn loves balloons).  She fell asleep on the way home and put her down for nap and was able to wrapped everything and get the house decorated for when she woke up.  Mike came back in town at dinner time and off to Kenwood for dinner, build a bear and shopping then home for presents with Mommy and Daddy and a cupcake.  It was all about Jailyn.  Tomorrow we will cook out with the grandparents and Katie and Billy for her b-day party.  Mike and I get to celebrate at Beltarra with a day date 11am to 11pm next week and Katie and Billy will watch Jailyn.  We can't leave her over night yet so we will get a room for the day, have a couples massage and dinner at Jeff Ruby's and come home.  Can't wait!!!!!  Then the end of the month I got tickets for Mike's birthday (July 1) at Riverbend for Crosby, Stills and Nash.  So another date we will have this month and that is the gift I gave Mike a date a month planned with a sitter for Jailyn every month until the end of the year.  We have been missing our date nights and we have so many fun dates planned and time for the two of us that we can look forward too.  I will post more after the birthday party tomorrow.

By the way I have lost 38 lbs and wanted to meet my 145 goal by my b-day however I am only 10 lbs off now 155.  I finish the program this month in adapting and onto maintaining.  I plan to beef up my workout and work to lose 15 more to be 140 and super fit by Christmas.  So happy I have done the work and feel and look great.  I gave myself the best gift ever the gift of health which helps me be a better mom and wife.  Woohoo!!!!!!  The best is yet to come and thanks for checking in on our life with Jailyn.
Love and appreciation,
Linette

Wow One Year Later!

Jailyn on her Gotcha Day New Minnie Mouse Tricycle June 12, 2012.

Making Butterfly Crafts at the Butterfly Show.

Father's Day with Mike and his beautiful daughters.

Our baby girl is so happy and growing up fast and now a little girl going on 2.   We can't believe it has been a whole year since we were in China.  It feels so good!  We had a great week last week!  Our last post placement report for China was complete on Monday!  Woohoooooo!!!!  So thrilled no more paperwork after 6 1/2 years of adoption paperwork.    It is over!!!!!!  The only thing left for us is to re-adopted her in Hamilton County which will give us a birth certificate from Hamilton County which will make it so much easier when she goes to school.  Her Chinese Birth certificate will do however is vague and looks nothing like our birth certificates in the US.  We had a great Gotcha Day!   It was a happy day together with a trip to Toysrus!  Jailyn got her first "Bite" she calls her new Minnie Mouse Tricycle Bike!   It is so darling and still a bit big for her little legs.  She loves being pushed around and has a Dora helmet she loves too.  I will post her picture on the bike.   Our summer is in full force.    She has her kiddie pool on the deck and loves playing in the water.  We goto the pool usually on Saturdays.   We tried Gymboree Art class and it was just not active enough for her and now we have moved up one level since she is 23 months old to a more fun Gym class at Gymboree.  Betty, Mom and Dad still help me out each week.  Grandma Joan usually goes to Gymboree with us on Thursday and Colleen has Jailyn on Tuesday and Thursdays while I work.  We are so blessed as Jailyn has so many people who love her and she is thriving.  We are going on our first weeks vacation with Jailyn in a few weeks and Mom and Dad are excited!  We are going to Lakeside on Lake Erie for a week and have a cottage rented.  Our friends and their little girls will be there too.   It will be our first adventure away from home that long.  Mom and Dad are soooooooooooo happy to be getting away from work and the norm.  July will be action packed for us with Mike's Birthday July 1 and Jailyn's and Mommy's Birthday July 11!   We will have her Birthday party July 14 with the grandparents and lots of other activities in July.  Family picnic and our all day/night date night while Katie and Billy watch Jailyn.  That will be a first for us however we will be home when she wakes up the next morning.  Mike and I are getting back to once a month date nights which are so needed.   Mike is busy working with our builder on our new home and making plans for the River House in Indiana.  We have picked most of the exterior colors and they are getting ready to survey and get permits.  It is exciting and a year process for us to build as we are not in a hurry to move.  We had a nice Father's Day at the zoo.  Katie and Jailyn and I spent the morning at the zoo with Mike.  He was a lucky man to have all his best girls with him on his special day.  Jailyn road the train at the zoo and had fun and was more into it the second time at the zoo and being a little older.   We also went to the Butterfly event this year at Krohn and she made butterfly crafts.    Well I must say there is something about having a year to get our lives back after this whirlwind year.  We survived the first six months and have pushed through lots of changes.  We are on a good schedule that has finally settled in these past 6 months.  Many changes and challenges have taken place over the year and if we can get good sleep and stay healthy (have had lots of colds all of us) we can do anything.  On a personal note I have lost 36 1/2 lbs in 18 weeks on my weight loss program and feel great.   I have been working out with a personal trainer and Jailyn goes with me.  She loves my trainer and does many exercises with me.  It is too cute.   I am adapting back to food and will add more exercise (cardio) to get more weight off as I am 12 lbs from goal weight.    The low calorie diet kept my blood pressure down and now I feel with more food I can exercise at a higher level and still lose.   It has been a great experience for me with the Jewish Hospital Weight Loss program.   I recommend it to anyone who needs to break the emotional eating cycle.  It has been so good for me to get Linette back after all the years of waiting for our baby girl and eating the disappointment, grief and pain of our journey.   Heck I look at it as I just needed to get my baby weight off as any mother has to work at it after having a child.  Same concept just different circumstances.    It is a life long journey to stay fit and healthy but one that is priority NOW.   I am a MOM who has been called to do many things in this life and I must be healthy because most importantly I am a wife to Mike , MOM  I dreamed so long of being to Jailyn and bonus MOM to Katie, Billy and Scott and have my business too.    I would not change a thing NOW!  I love my family so much.   Jailyn was the gift from GOD meant for us.  We are blessed and most importantly are a happy family.  We know the best is yet to come.
One year as a family and life is good!
With love and appreciation for your support in following our journey as it continues on .......
Linette