Movie Monday

On our second trip to Russia, Anton had a book that played a song with his name in Russian. We thought it was so cute but we didn't realize it is a famous Russian nursery rhyme. Once we got home with Anton several people sent us the link to "Anton's" song on Youtube and we normally listen to it at least once a day. Kenya, Judah, and Anton all love this song!

Here is Anton dancing to and singing his song.

Here is a video of Kenya singing Anton's song to him during dressing change.

Here is his song if you want to hear the whole thing and see the cute little story.

UPDATE: Kenya, Judah, & Anton want this book... can you help?

UPDATE:
I AM SO EXCITED TO TELL Y'ALL THE BOOK WAS FULLY FUNDED!!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH TO EVERYONE WHO HELPED!!! I WILL LET YOU ALL KNOW ONCE YOU CAN ORDER YOUR OWN COPY!!!
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Our kiddo's love to read books, we have tons of them and they love getting new ones. But, there is one book coming out, well, hopefully, that they would love. It is a book about a little cupcake, named Preston, that is adopted... (I won't give away any more of this great, kids friendly story) and one of the authors of this book is their uncle, their very own Uncle Toe Toe! He even wrote original music to go along with the book.

They launched a Kickstarter campaign to make this book and music a reality, and there is only 48 hours left, and as of writing this, it is 93% funded. Thought some of y'all may be interested given your interest in children and adoption.

To learn more and join in and help, check out their Kickstarter page:

Here is a picture of Kenya and Judah with their Uncle Toe Toe and his girlfriend Tiff Tiff (who is also apart of the book/musical):

FAQ

Hey y'all, sorry I haven't gotten to write the Frequently Asked Questions post until now. I am going to answer a few questions a week until I am all caught up. If you have more questions feel free to post them and hopefully I will be able to answer them soon.

What is Epidermolysis Bullosa (EB) and will Anton get better now that he is in America? 

EB is a very rare genetic skin disorder where basically the first layer of Anton's skin is not attached AT ALL to the second layer. Friction can cause blisters and a lot of friction can cause his skin to literally come off. We can kiss and hug him (apply pressure) but we can't rub his skin back and forth (friction). We have to be careful when we pick him up so we don't move his skin or it will come off. For a more detailed explanation of EB go HERE!

There is currently no cure for EB so as of right now Anton will not get better unless God heals him. In the month he has been home we have already seen his skin go from being really bad and full of HUGE wounds to almost clear to pretty bad again. The hospital that Anton was at for the last 16 months of his life took amazing care of him with the resources they had but we just have more research in America and better medical supplies to help heal his wounds. So yes he will most likely do better in America but at the same time he will always have EB so he will always get wounds.



Megan wanted to know about the day to day care of Anton's skin.
Once Anton wakes up in the morning the first thing I do is change his diaper. I look for new blisters around his diaper area and if he doesn't have any then I use some cream that is safe for cloth diapers and rub it all over the skin that his diaper will touch. The reason I do this is to keep the diaper from rubbing on his dry skin which would cause blisters. If he has a blister then I have to pop it and drain all the liquid out of it otherwise it would just keep growing since his skin is not anchored down. After I pop and drain it I put Polysporin over his wound to help prevent infection and I put a patch of transfer over the wound. If I think his skin is going to tear I put the Polysporin on the transfer patch so I'm not rubbing his skin. I also check for blisters around his arm pits and his neck. After that we snuggle then he is happy to sit on the floor and play with Kenya and Judah. I try to keep Aquaphor on his hands which helps him not get as many blisters. We are also putting cream on his cheeks to try to clear up the red circles he has on them. His dermatologist thinks that is Eczema and not EB related, so we shall see. That's pretty much all I do for his skin during the day. We do his dressing changes on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturdays (he used to just get two a week.) I will post a blog about dressing change at some point but not today :)


Kim wanted to know how we bathe him without hurting his skin?
If we give him a bath in the tub we leave his transfer on while I am carrying him to the tub. Transfer is the bandage that his whole body is covered in. Then once I get him in the tub we take off the transfer from one limb at a time. I can rub his skin as long as my hands are lubricated. So I put tons of liquid soap on my hands and rub his skin (which is lubricated from the bath water). If he has an open wound I just pat that area. Then rinse off the soap with water. I was lifting him out of the water without anything on his skin but I barely moved my fingers across his legs and rubbed some of his skin off so I don't do that anymore. To get him out of the tub I get a piece of clean transfer, get it wet, then put it on his back and put another on one of his leg so I have something to hold onto when I get him out of the tub. I put my arm behind his back and tell him to lean back, which he does, then I put my arm under his legs and hold onto the transfer that is on his leg. I slowly lift him out of the tub and hand him to the person who is helping me. They hold open a soft blanket and that's what I put him on then I take him from that person and put him on his changing table.

Matt Williams wanted to know if I filled out a March Madness Bracket yet?
Matt I am sorry to say I never did fill out my bracket, in fact the only time I have ever filled one out is when I stayed with you and Patrice... I know, I am a bad person... :D

I will try to do a FAQ post again next Wednesday and maybe every Wednesday until I have answered all of your questions.

And here is a picture of Anton cause I know that's what you really wanted to see :)

On a totally random side note will you please be praying for my cousin Josh. He was in a really bad car accident and he is not doing well at all. He broke most of the bones in his face and lost one of his eyes. He is in the ICU and they are just waiting for him to get a little stronger before they try and do any surgery's. He is only a few years younger than me and I am very worried about him.

Okay that is all. I hope y'all have a great week!

Movie Monday

Here is a video of Anton pulling up to a standing position in his bed. This was from our second trip to Russia and we were so excited to see him do it!

Movie Monday

So I thought it would be fun to post little videos of the kids on Mondays. If someone out there in the blogging world already came up with this idea and wants credit for it just let me know.

Our first video just might be my favorite one I will ever post. Anton LOVES blowing kisses and yesterday he started saying something after he blew the kiss so I started listening to what he was saying and I was blown away he was saying LOVE YOU!!! I couldn't believe it. We tell him we love him all the time but I couldn't believe he figured out blowing kisses and saying love you go together. It is the cutest thing EVER.

Anton would like you all to know he loves you!!!

I had this set to post tomorrow but for some reason it posted today??? Enjoy Movie Monday a day early :) 

Brothers

Anton and Judah already have an amazing bond and it fills my heart with so much JOY watching them interact with each other.

Enjoy the cuteness!

Life is good

So I wanted to write this super long post with every single detail of our lives but I just don't have time so instead I will give you all a quick update with lots of pictures. 

Anton is doing amazingly well! He is handling his feeds through the g-tube great and is the easiest kid ever. He has slept through the night since day one and he hardly ever cries. He is only on pain medicine for dressing change but other than that he hasn't needed any. 

Kenya and Judah LOVE him and they have done so good being gentle with him. They are having a hard time adjusting though. I know they are confused because I was here then gone then here then gone again and now their brother is here so it's understandable, but I am so ready for them to not test us on EVERYTHING. It will take time, I know, but I just wanted to be real with y'all sometime it is hard not because Anton is hard but because Judah and Kenya are giving us such a hard time. We will find a new groove and I can't wait for that to happen. 

We enrolled Kenya and Judah in a Mothers Day Out program two days a week so when Anton is doing Speech, Occupational and Physical Therapy they can be at "school" having fun. We are also having a nurse come out three times a week to help with dressing changes. Today was their first time to come and it went pretty good. Jason and I have gotten into a great routine and we work really well together during dressing change so it was strange to have to tell the nurse what to do when I am use to Jason being there and knowing what to do. I'm sure after some time the nurse will also know what to do, and she was helpful... it was just a little strange for me. I know after some time I will love having a nurse here to help.

Okay I think you are kinda caught up... And now for the pictures.

Here is Anton right before we left the hospital beside all of the stuff we had at the hospital. We pretty much moved in then Patrice, Courtney and Anita brought us a ton of stuff so we had quite the load to take home. All of it was much needed and we were thankful to have it.

Here I am right before we left, I couldn't wait to get out of there. 

Kenya was so happy I was FINALLY home!

Anton LOVES playing in his highchair.

Watching Anton and Judah play and interact with each other makes me so happy. They are so cute together and they LOVE being together.

Rocking the grouchy face.

We have been bandaging Anton's hand less and less in hopes that we would be able to leave his fingers out without him hurting them too much, and we were able to do it yesterday! He has gotten a few small blisters on his fingers but has done great with having them out. We put soft gloves on his hands at night because we don't want him rubbing his face with the gauze that is on his hands and that has also worked really well.

This is his favorite toy from Courtney and Anita. 

We had tornado warnings yesterday so we put the kids in the tub to wait it out and they all did great.

Kenya and her cousins finding bugs in the backyard.

These boys are just too cute!

That's all for now.

We are going home!!!

Anton did end up having refeeding syndrome so we had to stay one more night in the hospital but WE HAVE BEEN DISCHARGED and will be going home once we pack up the room. Thank you guys so much for your prayers, love and support :) 

Anton might go home today!

Sorry I haven't had a lot of time to update the blog. Anton is doing SOOOO good! They started feeding him formula through his G-Tube on Tuesday and he is now up to his full feeds and tolerating them well! They were a little concerned that he might have refeeding syndrome since it had been so long since he had eaten but they are doing blood work before we go home to make sure he doesn't have it. If he doesn't have it we will go home today if he does have it we will be in the hospital for a few more days. 

 

Patrice left early yesterday morning and I miss her so much! Sandy, Courtney, Anita and Patrice were such an amazing blessing to have here the first week we were in the hospital. I couldn't have done it without them.

I also have to thank my amazing husband, he has been running around like a chicken with his head cut off taking care of us. He is working, coming to the hospital to see Anton and I, going to see Kenya and Judah at my Mom's, cleaning our house and washing our clothes. He has been AMAZING and I couldn't do any of this without him!

I wanted to also thank our families for all of the support they have given us and thanks to Momo and Gramps for watching Kenya and Judah while we are in the hospital.

Thank you to Jen also who has been coming to the hospital to see us then taking our laundry (including cloth diapers) home and washing them for us! I have lots of people to thank :)

I also wanted to say thank you to everyone who has brought us food or sent us money for food. It has been so nice not to have to worry about getting food!

And a HUGE thank you to the ladies from our church who went to our house and cleaned it they said it wasn't bad but I am so glad it's done!

Jason and I did our first dressing change alone yesterday and it went great. Patrice helped me cut bandages before she left so that helped a ton. We did it in two hours and we both were talking about how much easier it was than we thought it would be. Anton did great and his skin is looking really good right now. He had a few spots that have been pretty infected for the past week but they are starting to clear up! 

Anton is the EASIEST baby EVER! He was only fussy the first two days we were here and after that he has been so good! He is playing, talking, and learning more signs everyday. He understands us when we talk, which has happened a lot faster than we thought it would. He can sign "more", "thank you", "please" and "help". He can make the animal noises for bear, pig, cow, elephant and monkey. He says "Mama", "Papa", "Oppa" (the way they say "uh-oh" in English, I think) and "Tom" (Russian for "there"). He is the most amazing little boy and he is such a gift to our family! 

Our hospital stay has gone great. I have really enjoyed getting to spend a lot of time with Anton and I haven't really gone stir crazy yet. I miss Kenya and Judah but I have gotten to see them a few times so that has helped. 

Anton is adjusting well, in fact we had our two week post placement visit with our social worker today and she said, "This is more than the honeymoon phase after a child comes home, he is really bonded to you." If he is upset he reaches out for me to hold him and he lays his head on my cheek and I just snuggle and comfort him. He cries if Jason or I leave him and he LOVES it when his Daddy walks in the room. He really is doing great! 

He is recovering well after surgery. He is in pain but seems for the most part to be tolerating everything really well! He is a trooper.

 

I don't think words could ever describe how God has worked on our hearts through all of this. I just praise Him more and more everyday for the amazing things He has done in our lives. Anton is such a gift, as all of our other children are, and I can't stop praising God for these amazing blessings! 

Thank you all for praying for Anton and for us! We LOVE you all and I pray more then anything that you would know Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and savior. Please take time to read the tab at the top of our blog that says "The Gospel" there is nothing more important than knowing where you will spend eternity and there is only one way to God and that is through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ alone. I love you all and pray that today you would be made right with God, there is no greater gift that you could receive then the gift of salvation.

LOVE you all so much!

Patrice's Time With Anton & Post-Surgery Update

Patrice did a "short and sweet" post talking about her time here with Anton. It includes updates after the successful surgery and some great pics she took. Here are just two to tease you:

What are you waiting for? Go read her blog!