One Year Ago

I can not at all believe that one year ago today I was at the airport in Green Bay anxiously awaiting the arrival of our son Delson. It had been such a LONG journey for Delson to get to us, that I really thought the day would NEVER come when I would be holding my son in my arms forever. This year has been full of challenges, but through it all I know that this was all God's plan and that Delson is truly a blessing in my life. Delson continues to grow in so many ways and I LOVE growing closer to him daily. Tonight he wanted to go to McDonalds for ice cream to celebrate his famiversary. Posted is a picture of us from the airport last year and one from McDonalds tonight. You can start to see the joy in his eyes and for that I am SO thankful! Melissa

The One-Upper Gone Bad

Here is the conversation the boys were having in the car today:
Micah- "I am going to be a police man when I grow up!"
Delson - "I am going to be a good cop when I get big!"
Micah - " Oh yeah, well I am going to be a good cop who puts bad guys in the back of my car!"
Delson - "Yeah, well I am going to be a bad buy and ride in the back of a police car when I grow up!!"

Jumping Through Hoops

I had a tough time coming up with a name for this post. Some other options were: Watching My Money Go Down the Drain, Positive...or not, or Could it Get Any Better!. Here is what has been going on in the past week at the Troedel house: We got the information we now need to apply for Delson's green card and then can apply for his Certificate of Citizenship. Good news right?!?! But as with everything that comes from the government this too comes with a price. I won't get into all the details, but want to get to the meat of things. One of the things we need to do is have Delson get a physical at a Civil Surgeon (aka Federal Government Approved Doctor!). In order to get him this appointment we need to first get him in for a TB test. Simple right?!?! WRONG! We took him in last Friday so they could read his scratch test and he had a positive reading. Now, before you panic, the most likely reason for this is that he probably received a vaccine while in Haiti that would cause a false positive skin test and therefore would need to do a chest xray in the future to rule out TB. We have NO documentation of him having had vaccines while in Haiti, but it is possible. So today we had to bring him back to the clinic for a chest xray and also lab work (5 Tubes of Blood!). I had to cancel his appointment we had for tomorrow with the civil surgeon because we first have to have the proof that he does not have TB, so now he goes next week. Did I mention that we are unsure whether insurance will cover any of this since it is elective testing?!?! Great!
To put icing on the cake Delson also failed his eye screening at school (especially the depth perception part) and we need to bring him in for an actual exam ASAP...did I mention that we took him in April and they found nothing so insurance will not cover it unless we wait till this April to bring him in...
So there you have it! On a good note, I think that I am making some progress on my resolutions. This is a VERY good thing. And after all, it could ALWAYS be worse!!! Melissa

Things to Work on 2011

With the new year brings resolutions. This year I have several areas I would like to work on. Most are goals regarding how to become Happy again, I feel I have lost the Joy I used to have and really want to work on getting it back! 2010 was a year of MANY changes for us and I would be lying if I told you I have adjusted to all of them well and am Joyful for what I have been given all the time. This year I REALLY want/need a change in attitude more than any other changes :) Here are the goals I will have posted to review everyday:
1. Laugh more and Yell less
2. Listen more and Talk less
3. This is a tough one to even type, but I want to learn to LOVE my son (Delson). You see everything about Delson's adoption has been hard. The process, the years of waiting, behavior issues, attachment issues, RAD, etc. I have struggled to attach and see past the behaviors and LOVE my broken, but perfectly as God planned little boy. This year I will do EVERYTHING I can to help him and help me to accept him.
4. Make a difference in the life of a stranger.
5. Make time for myself to do things I enjoy(ed) doing. I have felt like I never have time for me anymore and I know that I would be happier if I would just make a little time to get back to things I have always enjoyed!
6. Workout videos HERE I COME :)
This is a list that I will not take lightly and will be posting them and reviewing them everyday so that I do not forget about these things that are SO important. Here is wishing everyone a HAPPIER NEW YEAR!! - Melissa