Rylan's Journey Home

New Blog

John and Karla — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 18:19:19 +0000

Hi everyone! I’m so sorry to be so neglectful of the blog! I really do love doing it, I just hate this site!

My new blog isn’t quite ready, but it is up and running. Please check it out and save it to your favorites by clicking here on this link OR copy it and paste it into your address area: http://rylansjourneyhome.blogspot.com

On this site I’m able to post pics with the blog posting, which I LOVE! So go check it out now. I plan to put a new post in tonight or tomorrow!

The School Bus Blues!

John and Karla — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 13:09:47 +0000

Kindergarten is going well for Cameron! He really does like school, although I notice by the end of a week he’s really wanting a day home. We have neighbors of ours who have 4 boys who are helping us with Cameron in the mornings. Their two older boys are babysitting ages, so I pay them $5.00 a morning for when Cameron comes. They help him with breakfast and basically babysit from 6:20 until the bus comes at 7:35am. It’s been working great! Well…. that’s until they couldn’t do it this past Wednesday. They had orthodontist appts in the morning, so I went into work late and took Cameron to school myself. Before this he has been complaining about the bus. One great reason why this arrangement also worked nice was it allowed Cameron to get on the bus later. Right now if we were to put him on the bus, he’d be the first one on at 6:40am! The bust gets to school around 8am. That is 1hr and 20min on a bus. I’m sorry, but that is way too long. It’s far to long for any child much less one that gets severe motion sickness and is on 5yrs old. I’d advocate for the bus route to get changed (which I am sort of doing for some other families near our home), but it really wouldn’t help us any way. John and I both have to be to Winona early, so we need morning care. This arrangement we had going with the neighbors solved both problems. Sort of.
Cameron is still getting ill on the bus. Friday morning he cried and cried and wouldn’t get out of the car at the neighbors. He wanted me to take him to school. I couldn’t be that late for work again, so I had no choice but to drive him to John’s moms house. She and John’s brother were still milking cows (they’re dairy farmers) and John’s dad is in Canada fishing. I got Cameron his bowl of cereal and explained the situation. Thankfully, she understood and said she’d get him to the bus. At this point I was thinking maybe the newness of the neighbors house wore off. Maybe he didn’t like that? I felt bad for dumping the issue in John’s moms lap. However, when it came time to put him on the bus, he put up a fight again and grandma ended up taking him to school. It’s only about 10min from our house. Since then I’ve been racking my brain trying to figure out what we’re going to do!
So he likes the neighbors house, he likes school, hates the bus. That sort of ruins the plan we had. There is one daycare between our house and school and she is always full. I’ve tried 3 times! I thought maybe that would help as she is out on the highway, so no windy, curvy roads like we live on. There is no before school program like Key Kids offered by us…. which would be the answer to our problem! So, I’m going to the PTO meeting on Wednesday night to discuss this. They tried to implement one before and failed. I would guess there have to be other families like us who need care for their kids either before or after school and can’t find any? Maybe other families who even take their kids out of the district because of that?
As for our littlest addition, Rylan is going with the flow. He’s happy as a lark most days to be going to daycare at Mindy’s house. I find that he’s still very layed back and happy to just be in the mix somewhere! He will be due for his next round of shots on Oct 1st. I’m so not looking forward to that! I have a feeling they may run a blood test too. Just checking out the basics, but again, not looking forward to it!
We had a picnic last weekend in La Crosse, WI and got to see Sean, Sonja, and Kayla! It’s always nice to see all the other families, but we sort of horded them to ourselves! It’s just incredible yet to see them all together, in the USA!
My new blog is nearly setup. Just a few minor changes yet and I’ll be providing the new address to you. I’m able to download pictures…. yea! Until then, enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Our First Family Vacation!

John and Karla — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 16:21:51 +0000

Well, we just got back from our first official family vacation! We had free airlines tickets to use and a free rental car, so we thought before we lost them we might as well use them. We cashed in our loose change we’d be saving for the past 2 years and that covered our spending money for eating and activities. So, just having to pay for the hotel, not a bad deal at all.
Last Wednesday night we stayed over in Minneapolis where we could park the car, and flew out Thursday morning (minus John and that’s a story I’ll save for later). Anyway, by Thursday evening we were all in Colorado Springs as we had a direct flight there. The kids were SO good on the plane. The trip went extremely well and I have to say, I’d do it again! YES, I’m surprised. I was a bit worried. Friday morning we took the Cog Railway to the top of Pike’s Peak. Then that afternoon we drove thru the Garden of the Gods. Saturday morning we went on a train trip thru the Royal Gorge Canyon, then that afternoon we went up to the top of the gorge to the Royal Gorge Park and walked the highest suspension bridge in the world (I believe). We also visited Buckskin Joe’s which is a town made up of authentic western buildings. The kids got to witness a “real” western shoot out! Cameron loved that, but Rylan screamed and ran for cover! Sunday we went to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, which is a zoo on the side of a mountain. It was fantastic, but HOT! Oh, and it did snow on us while we were out there. Weird thing is we were no in the mountains but driving to Cripple Creek! We had the air conditioning on in the car of all things!
We flew home Monday morning, just in time to get unpacked and get the kids in the bathtub. That next morning on Tueday I had Cameron’s Kindergarten orientation! Yesterday (Wed) he had his first day of Kindergarten! I still can’t believe it! I took him to school and of course he did fine. He was all too happy to take off and leave me standing there watching him. Not a tear from this mom though, if you can believe it. I wasn’t sure if I was going to shed a tear of sadness or relieve. I knew he needed to go to school badly as he really does enjoy it and does his best there. But yet this opens a whole new world that I don’t know if I’M ready for!
I’m still working on starting a new blog, one where I can post pictures with each entry and I can write in easier. This one seriously is a pain!
Hang in there with me as I hope to have it up and running soon. It’s hard to find the time lately to work at it.

Turnaround!

John and Karla — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 21:15:26 +0000

Wow, I honestly don’t know where the time is going these days. Summer will be over before we know it!

Kayla, along with her parents Sean and Sonja made it home safe and sound! I finally got to see them tonight. Rylan and I went to spend time with them and it was great!! Kayla is absolutely adorable and much like Rylan in so many ways. The have the same goofy personalities, the same “much to be desired” manors, and they both think everything is theirs! Generally speaking that can sum up most 2yr olds…. but truly, they are match made in heaven! What a pair of kids we have! I just adore her and am still beaming at seeing the two kids together here in the USA!!!!

Cameron has been doing WONDERFUL! I’ve been sending him to preschool in the mornings until the lunch hour, then picking him up and taking him to regular daycare for the last 3hrs of the day. He is actually happy to see Rylan when we get to regular daycare and will run to give him a hug! His listening skills are back on track and better than ever. We still have moments, but they are 2yr old and 5yr old boys! Seriously, I couldn’t be more proud of Cameron for really trying hard. I know he’s proud of himself too.

This past week it was os much more enjoyable to see happy kids! To get good reports and to bring them home smiling.

Now, I know I didn’t mention the part where Cameron was sent (with 3 other boys) to the director’s office at the Christian Preschool OR where Rylan has been pinching at daycare and I’ve been hearing about it. But let’s not discuss
that tonight ; ) In all seriousness, neither situation is bad. I’ll save those stories for the next post!

Libby and Kayla

John and Karla — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 09:30:19 +0000

For those of you following the story through my blog of Sean and Sonja, and their daughter Kayla and also Mark and Anna, and their daughter Libby, we have exciting news to share!

Unfortunately these two families shared the same horrid agency as us. It has been a long, hard battle getting our kids home! Each process lasting right around the 2 year mark!

Anna, with one of her sons, just traveled to Guatemala to bring home her daughter Libby!!! She arrived back in the US very late Friday night into Saturday morning. Congratulations Anna, Mark, and family! Words can’t even begin to express how happy I am for you! Anna and I (along with Sonja) took our first visit trip together to see our kids back in May 2007. It was one of the most memorable experiences of my life! Sort of like when a child is born, getting to hold and see them for the first time. It was a pleasure getting to spend that time with Anna and her daughter Libby. Anna, you will always be special to me and I am so proud of you for fighting so hard to see this through!

Sean, Sonja, and her parents left for Guatemala yesterday morning! They are going to bring Kayla home!!! They have their Embassy Appt this Wed, and will come back home on Friday night. Sonja and I met because we share the same local homestudy agency and we attended a meeting together. After waiting in the domestic adoption program together with no luck of a placement here in the US, we then switched to the International Adoption Program together. It was then we got referrals from our horrid placing agency. Sonja and I live just 20-30 min apart. We hope to remain in contact for long time. Our kiddos share a birth country and rich birth history. Seeing our kids together and making a total of 3 trips to Guatemala together, we’ve made a lot of memories! This family has a hold of our hearts and we hope now that one journey has ended, another will begin! Congratulations to you and your family. You’ll be getting Kayla exactly 1hr from right now!!! I’m watching the clock!

As for me, we’re as crazy in this house as always. I was going to post more of an update, but I had better get going. It sounds like a heard of elephants are running across the floors upstairs. So unless my two boys have invited in wild animals from the woods outside, they are having a grand ole time being unattended!!!

A Challening Week!

John and Karla — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 08:05:18 +0000

Well, after such a week filled with up and downs with Cameron and his behavior, last Friday we tried a new daycare. It is a daycare center with kids between 3-5yrs old. Our regular daycare mom Mindy had the day off, so I needed someone to watch the kids anyway. I was nervous about it, just like a kid with the first day of school! I also felt sad. The routine we’d got used to for the past 5yrs was breaking up. I longer knew personally who was taking care of him during the day. To my surprise when we got there the first day, he hopped out of the car and went in willfully and happily! WOW! I worried ALL day long. When I went back to pick him up he was cheerful and rested…. I could tell his day when well! We talked about it and he decided that he would go back. I then talked to Mindy who was gracious enough to agree to releasing him so that he could try it. With only 4 weeks left to his summer before we go on vacation, then onto Kindergarten for him, we were excited!
Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday came with great days! John and I both commented on how he seemed like a different kid. We know they have very, very strict rules at this daycare center. They also make the children have rest time. They go into a seperate room on cots around 12:45 and are expected to remain there until about 2:30! Well, I was hearing each day how Cameron hated it. He wanted me to get him before rest time. I knew he wouldn’t like this part. He hasn’t had naps in quite awhile. Not that he doesn’t need them every now and then, but he HATES them. Sometimes when I know he needs one we hop in the car to run an errand and he’s out like a light! That’s my trick with him and its worked for a long time. Anyway, Thursday morning came. Because of the naps he’d been staying awake later at night. Probably not going to bed until 10pm or later! Most nights he’s out by 8:30am as we get up very early! I hadn’t realized how much he hated that rest time until Thursday morning. I knew he was overtired from the late night on Wed. We got to the daycare and he sat perched in his car seat asking “mom, where are we going?” Silly question but I knew the challege was coming. I said inside to daycare, come on let’s go! He got out and took my hand. We went inside where I told the teacher we forgot his blanekt. She said no problem Cameron, you can choose one of our blankets for rest time! I felt him clench my hand tighter! Uh Oh. I then encouraged him to put his lunch on the cart, and to go with the teacher to get breakfast started (he’s always the first kid there). He refused to let go of me. For the next 10min I begged him to go. PLEASE Cameron. You’ll have a good day, blah blah blah. At least I think that was all he was hearing!
The teacher came around the corner after seeing what I was doing wasn’t helping. She went to take his hand and he shot out of the place like a bolt of lightening!!! Before I even got out the front doors of the building, he was in the car, buckled in, holding the seat, and crying hysterically. I told the teacher that I would need to get him calmed down and hopefully we’d be back. I went so far as to promise to pick him up at lunch time so he wouldn’t have rest time! Nothing was working. I got in the car and drove to Mindy’s to drop Rylan off. Once inside she knew, she knew because we were late that Cameron was in tow! Thankfully she took him!!!! You could see the relief on his face. Like he was home again!
He had a real good day that day. I had to call the school to put him on drop in status. Friday came and he went back to Mindy’s. He was a bit naughty again even after knowing Mindy was doing us a favor! We’ve come to the conclusion that he must be kept busy. He needs schedule and activity. He needs kids his age. He needs a break from his brother. He is creature of habit and routine. His needs have changed now that he’s older and adding a little brother has made them more immediate. He is a great kid! Smart, SO smart, creative, immaginative, happy, and completely adorable! We have three weeks left. 3 weeks! If we can make it through these last weeks in one piece, I will be one happy mother! It’s going to take lots of extra efforts for all of us, lots of patience, and lots of rearranging our schedules if need be. I don’t want his last 3 weeks to be terrible, or to be torturing his daycare mom. So we’ll do what we can to make them happy. If that means mornings at the daycare center, then afternoon at Mindy’s. So be it. Call mom, the taxi, and I’ll do it!
Who knew? Who knew that I would ever turn into one of those mothers who would be happy and exited about school starting! I swore I would never be! But I am. Kindgergarten can’t come fast enough. Seriously, if he could go tomorrow I’d be the first one at the school doors. Not because I want to get rid of him, but because I now see exactly how great school is! Structure and routine, my child thrives off of it. He needs to be around peers his own age. I’m sure with that will come another set of problems. I caught him calling his brother a crotch the other day! A crotch? I don’t even think he knows what this is, and we certainly don’t use the word here. Urgggg…… let the week begin.
And to those of you wondering about our friends waiting to bring home their children from Guatemala….. Anna is there now picking up Libby! She and I went to Guatemala (with Sonja) in May 2007 to meet our children for the first time. After an extremely long adoption process, she is bringing her home! Sonja and Sean have the 2nd DNA results on a Fed Ex truck in Guatemala as we speak! They should be delivered Monday, and then will get their Embassy Appt within 1-2 days! I would say within just a week or so, they’ll be heading to Guatemala too! Kayla is coming home! WOOOO HOOOOO! Just a couple more kids from our agency to go, and they will all be home. A miracle. Who would have guessed that we as adoptive parents would have made this happen? No one knew what the heck they were doing, yet our love and determination got us through…. and one another! Congratulations Anna and Mark, and Sonja and Sean - I am thrilled for all of you!

Good Day, Bad Day

John and Karla — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 21:01:01 +0000

It’s Sunday night and the weekend is nearly over. If I could have every day like it was yesterday - I’d have a dozen kids and quit my job! Seriously, both kids were such good boys! A few minor scraps here and there, but nothing that would compare to some of the days we’ve had lately. Saturday started out with going into my mom’s house. We had a web cam with Rylan’s former foster mother in Guatemala! It was great to see her, and they loved seeing Rylan. We were on for about an hour and this time the call ended in tears for them, not me. When Rylan was still in Guatemala, it was me who had a hard time holding them back. I feel for them, I really do. I know they poured a lot of love and hard work in our little guy, and I will always be grateful! After the call we had some lunch and I decided to put Rylan down for a nap there. My dad was staying home, so make the two people taking naps! John was working, so it was my mom, Cameron and I. We went to La Crosse, WI and I dropped my mom off at the mall. I surprised Cameron with a Railroad Show that was going on! We’ve been to it every year, and he loves it so much. It so SO hot! We spent a couple hours there touring a train and walking through the swap show. We then went back to get my mom, stopped at Toys-R-Us for a small treat, then Wendy’s to eat. Cameron couldn’t have been better! No complaining, no sassing, no fighting, he ate great, and fell asleep on the way home. In fact we got back around 5:30pm to get Rylan, and Cameron never got up! We got home and he went right to bed and slept until 6am this morning. Rylan got some nice playtime in (uninterupted by his big brother)…. it really was such a relaxing time. Today. Well, that is another story. Both kids were up at 6am and were hell on wheels! I’m not kidding. If it could be fought over, they did it. Hitting, hollaring, pushing, attempts at biting…. you name it! It was hot again, so we did stay inside most of the day. Rylan had a short nap, which didn’t help the situation either. I’m trying my hardest to understand how to help these two kids meet in the middle. Rylan, well he can get pushy and can irritate Cameron. I understand some of Cameron’s anger. But mostly, it’s Cameron. He has zero patience. I know, at 5yrs old what can we expect? I have to say, I expect more than this though. I’m trying really hard to stay consistent with time outs and taking toys away. I’m trying to jump in before a fight escalates. I’m trying to understand how much of an adjustment this really is for not just us, but Cameron. Most of all, I’m trying NOT to loose my cool. Cameron’s behavior is following through to daycare. My daycare mom is my cousin and she lives block from where I work, and where my mom lives. It can’t get much better for us really. But I think of combination of things are happening. First, all this. It’s overwhelming for Cameron, it really is. Then at daycare most days he’s the only boy his age. The rest of the kids are either 2yrs old or younger. Then girls 5-9 years old. He’s sort of stuck in the middle with nothing to do but find trouble. We are thinking of switching him to a daycare center for the rest of the summer (5-6 weeks). Maybe that will offer more kids his age, more of a structured day, and time away from Rylan. It may help him starting kindergarten this September too? My fear is that it would make it worse. I seriously want to cry when thinking about it. It breaks my heart to see him struggle because I know he is a GREAT kid! I know what he is capable of. I only hope my choices help him, not hurt him. I can’t do nothing and hope it gets better because I have a daycare mom that will be driven to the nut house! It’s bothering me so bad that I worry about it all the time, and most importantly, I need to help Cameron. I just don’t know how. Urgggg…. I knew we’d have some adjustments period. I just hope and pray that we start getting more good days. That we can find the right balance. Never in my life would I have dreamed parenting would be filled with so many ups and downs. You love these little beings so much it hurts! You want them to do better, and be better than you were. You want so much for them. I love my boys and am very lucky to have them. We just need to find the right way to get over the speed bumps! I have feeling after we pass this one, there’s going to be many, many more to come!

How do babies get out Mom?

John and Karla — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 19:43:55 +0000

I had the interesting question asked of me the other day. “Mom, how do babies get out?” Well, babies grow in tummy’s until they get nice and big. Then when it’s time for them to come out, the lady whose tummy they are in will go to the doctor. The doctor will help get the babies out. “Mom, how do they do it?” Well, the babies come out the ladies bottoms. “Mom, was I a big baby?” Yes, a very big baby with very big lungs! “Mom, did I puke on dad?” Yup, you spit up and coughed at the same time and blew it all over daddy’s face (a favorite story of his that happend to be caught on video by me)! “Mom, did I poop on you?” Yup, all over me. I was changing you and apparently when I lifted your legs, you weren’t done yet (another favorite story of his that John caught on video)! Cameron, did I answer most your questions about babies. “Yeah, I think so.”
Whew….. the 5yr old mind is satisfied for now!!!! But I should have know. Just a few minutes later….. “Mom, how do the babies get in ladies tummy’s?” Hmmmmm….. let me think on that one! Luckily it makes sense to him that God works miracles and he puts them there. I can hardly wait for the next round of questions!

Happy Birthday Rylan!

John and Karla — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 05:39:17 +0000

Happy Birthday Baby Boy! It still amazes me that finally, we can celebrate something together! We missed his first birthday and lots of other irreplacable holidays… and as long as he is home, it will never happen again! We made up for lost time by throwing a nice big party. Lots of family, friends & neighbors stopped by for some good food, drinks, and fireworks to end the night. The weather cooperated and kids had a lot of fun! Our baby, 2yrs old…. WOW!

~An Assortment of News~

John and Karla — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 16:50:33 +0000

First, I need to start this post off by saying congratulations to Sean and Sonja, our friends! Their daughters case finally exited PGN after 7 months!!! They started the adoption of their daughter in November 2006, just a month or so after us. They have had an incredible journey faced with so many challenges. So CONGRATULATIONS to you both!!!! I can’t wait to see Ms. Kayla home in Wisconsin! Rylan misses his girlfriend!
To Terri, who just came back from visiting her daughter Abbie in Guatemala…. my heart breaks for you! Terri’s adoption was started even before mine and Sonja’s! She has endured more ups and downs than any family I know and is still facing the trials of getting the process started under the new laws of adoption in Guatemala. Her blog link is on the lower right side of mine.
Summer is in full kick at our house!  The weekends are full of activities, and Rylan’s 2nd birthday is approaching on July 15th!  I look at him and can’t believe the amount of time that has passed.  What a little character though!  Last night when he was getting into the bathtub he ran to the potty. I plopped him on and he went pee pee! I was shocked! Normally I put him on and he wiggles down. Kuddos to his big brother who is showing him the ropes! At least he does teach him something good once in awhile ; )
Cameron’s been having a bit of a rocky road lately. His listening skills are putting everyone to the test! He’s got a little mouth on him too! We’re working really hard at having patience… some days we do better than others.   We’ve made another reward chart which really seems to help. We’ll see how it goes, but for now, he’s added a few gray hairs to everyone’s heads!
Never a dull moment at our house, that I can guarantee you! The other night Cameron came out of our bedroom while watching cartoons with a disgusted look on his face. It was storming and we have satellite. I said what’s the matter? He said “that damn satellite isn’t working again”! Hmmmm, wonder where he gets that word grandma farm? Or he was overly excited in the car the other day and said “oh crap, look at that car.  Holy shit, he can’t go there”! I did address that one and said “Cameron, that isnt’ a nice word”. His reply, ”what mom, crap isn’t bad”. He didn’t even realize what he said, so I didn’t pursue it. Hmmm, grandma truck, wonder where he gets that word? Don’t get me wrong, it isn’t that he has a terrible potty mouth. Just every once in awhile he blows you away with something out of nowhere.
I can happily report that Rylan’s new word is Cocoa Puffs! It’s Cameron’s favorite cereal, so of course Rylan loves it too! Thanks Cameron for teaching him something other than swear words ; )