Halloween Cuties!

This Halloween was so much fun! Khari enjoyed all of the pumpkin carving, dressing up and trick or treating. Emma wanted to match Khari this year, so we had two Cinderellas! They were so cute!

Samuel was so excited about the scary pirate costume he was going to wear, but Khari was not so sure about it. She didn't even want to stand by him for a picture. Then everytime he  would look at her, she would yell!
     

 Max has decided at the ripe old age of 9 that he shouldn't trick or treat this year, and the only time we actually saw him in his costume was to entertain my grandparents. He just doesn't understand that adults would do anything to undo all of the maturity and responsibility and he just wants to be old enough to make his own decisions.

Fall Happenings!

So life is just crazy! I know I probably say this in every post. Really, four kids ages 9,7,5, and 1.... we are busy.  Just in case I thought things might be calming down after Khari was discharged from her rehab services, I decide to go and do something crazy!  Samuel was turning 5 on September 8, 2010. The only thing he would tell me that he wanted was  a gyro bowl, and a wiener dog. So obviously, the last option was out of the loop. My sister hooked him up with the gyro bowl, how could I fall short and not bring him his second request?  So we started researching "wiener dogs"! We found a breeder and she was making a great deal on a pair of older pups that were supposedly "almost" housebroken. Kent could not bear to split them up, and knowing that they would be left at home a lot, together, made the thought more bearable! So we did it! He was so surprised! He named them Buzz and Woody in honor of Toy Story!

So then we were off and running to New York City in October,  to visit my sister and her husband. My kids adore them and could hardly wait to see where they live, when they are not staying in their bedroom downstairs in our house (aka, the guest bedroom). We had a great time, but it was not a break. My sister was so excited to show the kids all of the things in NYC that we just hit the ground running.  The kids had a blast and Max said that he would enjoy living there. I am not so sure that I would enjoy him living there, but we will see, he has a few years to change his mind.

We went to Central Park, we rode the subway (a lot), went to the American Museum of History, saw some Broadway plays, went to Coney Island, walked all over Manhattan, went to Macy's, rode the giant ferris wheel in Toys'R us, played on the piano from Big in FAO Schwartz, and lots more. We had a great time!!! Max's favorite thing we did was going to the top of the Empire State Building. He talked about that for days!!! My favorite thing was spending time with my little sister on her "home" turf. I still refuse to believe that she lives so far away from us. We are praying that one day that will change!

                      When the week was over, everyone was sad to go,

 but we had to get back to school and back home to take care of those two new puppies!!  What a fun trip! 

One year home video montage!

So, I have been meaning to make a video montage from the beginning of our journey to Khari, to the end of the first year of having her home. I just posted it on youtube, so check it out if you want! If you watch it on my blog, you should probably scroll to the bottom and pause the music player, or just click the youtube button to view it there!
Blessings,
Sally

One year home, an amazing feeling!

 So August has come (and gone) and school has started back. Max is a grown up 4th grader this year, this will be his last year at the elementary school. Next year he moves to the middle school across the street! I can't believe it!  Emma is in 2nd grade and loving her new classroom. It seems just like yesterday we were bringing her to Kindergarten. But this year it is Samuel that we are bringing to Kindergarten. We are so blessed with a wonderful Kindergarten teacher who has been all of the children's teacher thus far! She is an amazing woman, and knows our family pretty well! I was a little worried about starting Samuel as he is only 4, and only made the cut off by a few weeks. He was so excited and cried when he didn't start with Max and Emma. She feels he is ready and so we trust her opinion!!! The great thing is, she has been in the middle of our family during our adoption planning, waiting and traveling and is very helpful with Samuel explaining to his friends about his baby sister and why she doesn't really look like him.  We LOVE Mrs. Moore!!!!!!

So in the mean time, Khari and I are staying busy with house work, grocery shopping and all sorts of fun house stuff!
The big kids have all signed up for soccer this fall, so we will be practicing and gaming quite a bit!









            So time just seems to be moving so quickly and we were at Occupational therapy one day her therapist says to me, well Khari is making me sad! I said, why? She replies, she is testing at around 20 months on her skills (she is only 18 months) and it is time for her to graduate. I am so stunned at this point! With PT, I had one week to really think about this, here she is just springing this on me! But, I am so happy!!!! She will have graduated all of her rehab services before the official day we have had her home for one whole year!! I am so amazed by her and all of East Tn Children's Hospital Rehab center. She has really come a long way! So here she is saying goobye to Ms. Katie!! We can't say thanks enough!

Since then, Samuel has learned to ride his bicycle with the training wheels off. Why not? He does everything else that Max and Emma do, might as well join the club with the bicycle! He is so excited about his upcoming birthday! Hopefully he will be getting a new "big boy" bike!

So the big thing is this! We have officially been a family of 6 for one whole year. When we came home I was completely overwhelmed. I was wondering what God had planned for me, for our family, for Khari. I can't believe after making it through this whole adoption journey safe and sound that I still was questioning my faith after we had made it half way around the world 2 times and back home with our tiny sweet girl! Looking back on one year ago today, I can see. God is good all of the time. We don't have to be perfect. We can't be perfect. But I was being obedient. I was listening to the call he had given us. I am so amazed by God's overwhelming love and care for his children everyday, and our family is such a testament to his love. No we don't always do things right, yes we have to try very hard, and things are a little chaotic most of the time. But this past year has really given me perspective on what is important in life. I feel so blessed to have the family we have! I am so glad God chose us to be Khari's family. I am amazed at how he pulled her through, and how she is such a gift to us all!

 I know her Enat would be amazed by her the same way we are!

 So just a thought about where we were last year, I was starting to watch fall football with our family and I was so consumed with worry for Khari that it wasn't enjoyable. This year she is all decked out in her Vol's outfit running around and full of life. I can't believe I ever doubted that God would take care of her, that his plan is always bigger than my plan, I am human, I am a sinner, but I am forgiven!!!!

Blessings from The 6 McQuilkin's!!!!

Catching up, Summer Part II

So at the McQuilkin household, summer means time to be on the move, and having 4 children doesn't hold us down!! After Max finished baseball season, we were free to travel some more. We are so blessed to have a beach house in the family, and we were determined to put it to good use. The only thing holding us back was Miss Khari's physical and occupational therapy once a week. As Kent said, being at the beach was good enough therapy, she could miss a few weeks worth! I was not so sure of this.

Warning: This is where I will rant for a short while about my crazy parenting style of Khari!!
 You have to understand. I am by profession a pediatric (intensive care) nurse. I have seen tons of kids with  all sorts of medical issues and I knew exactly how resilient each of them has been.  I stopped working (outside the home) after Khari came home. When we decided to do a special needs adoption, I wasn't really aware of what a chunk I had bit off. So when I realized that this tiny, developmentally delayed baby was not going to just decide to do things like my other children have done, I decided this was a priority to get her motivated. So at that point I took the job of mother to a whole new level, because that is what she needed. My children are all so different in such wonderful ways, but Khari needed a new "hard core" mommy version that I wasn't used to giving out. (By the way our wonderful Physical Therapist "DeDe" is the one that named me "hard core".) I will agree, I was a little over the top. But.... then you had to see our sweet baby girl, she was soooo behind. At one point the eye doctor thought that she had a pretty bad brain injury at birth and that she had a cortical brain injury and could see but not make the connection with her brain as to what she was seeing.  Anyway, back to the point, it worried me to miss much therapy. Kent was much more sure of Khari's progress and even stated that she wouldn't need therapy much longer. So anyway.....

We took off for the beach. We were joining family for our annual July 4th gathering. This time last year, we were enjoying our family, but scheduling our travel to Ethiopia. When we took our family pictures, I couldn't help but think of the next year when we would be +1. So this trip was so rewarding!

So all of our family returned home, but we stayed. We were there for about 2 1/2 weeks! It was so nice.
The kids really enjoyed the beach, almost every day. Khari was a little indifferent to the beach. Some days she was happy, others she wanted nothing to do with that icky sand. I can't blame her!

One of the last 2 days, she started walking on the beach! Up to this point she has taken series of steps, but was really just interested in crawling. She was 16 months old when she started walking, and crawling was much more familiar and a lot easier! It was so rewarding watching her work hard on walking on the sand and very uneven surfaces! She was so cute!

Right after we returned home, we went to North Carolina to see Kent's cousin perform in an opera, Hansel and Gretel. The kids enjoyed it and even Khari made it all the way through. (with lots of snacks, toys, and finally the long awaited nap) The best part was Samuel commenting on how the witch was supposed to be a girl, but it was an ugly boy dressed like a girl. Ha, ha, ha!!! After the opera we enjoyed a delicious italian dinner to celebrate! The kids were so cute all dressed up!

On our way home, Kent remembered a place called Sliding Rock and we went to check it out! There is a huge rock that people use as a slide. It is pretty cool. There is even a handrail and a lifeguard on duty.

When we arrived home, it was time to celebrate our 1 year anniversary of Khari's official adoption in Ethiopia! July 28, 2010, she was legally ours, but had to remain in Ethiopia until her visa was ready. So what better way to celebrate then to take all of our local family to our great Ethiopian restaurant, Gosh, to celebrate!! Our families were such good sports in trying the food, even the great grandmothers came!

If that isn't enough action for one post, the final high point of the summer was Khari graduating from Physical Therapy. It was bittersweet as all of these people have become like family to us! But we are so proud of the gains Khari has made in the past year we were celebrating! I never thought within 11 months of bringing her home, that she would be walking!! ( Much less graduate therapy) So I will leave you with a few of our pictures of our last day at PT! Blessings!!!!

What a moment, seeing her walk through those doors!!

Famiversary teaser!!! (One year home as a family!)

Stationery card

View the entire collection of cards.

That summer made my head spin!!!!

Catching up: Post #1!!!

                  I am not really sure where to start! This summer has been complete chaos in the McQuilkin household! With four children running around and one husband that never wants to sit still I have been completely exhausted. We started the summer with an immediate trip to the beach the day school was dismissed. We are so blessed to have the chance to spend so much time by the ocean! 

        As soon as we returned from that trip we were playing a little baseball and getting ready for a big reunion trip with our Ethiopian Adoption travel group in Branson, Mo.  We knew we were going, but had failed to look up the traveling distance until the week before. Wow, we were surprised, it was a 12 hour drive. The kids are troupers! They made it no problem. We were so excited to be reunited with all 6 families that had traveled to Ethiopia and met and brought our children home at the same time. I pray that we will be able to keep this connection throughout the years and the busy-ness of life! These children were all placed together in the House of Hope before our families were all united together. What a special bond these children will always share.  So here are a few pictures of all of the kiddos, getting to know all of the other siblings!

All of the families children, minus a few older siblings!

By the end of the photo shoot, all of these little guys were quite tired of posing for pictures. I have to tell you the matching t-shirts didn't exactly make us blend in with the crowd. It was an amazing testimony to other families that passed by and were curious what we were doing. Everyone in our group is amazing and more than willing to share with curious people. We explained that we were reuniting our children and people were touched that our families felt it important to keep this bond. 

We spent time going to silver dollar city, eating a Lambert's (a restaurant where they throw rolls at you), swimming and enjoying an indoor water park. The kids had a great time, and so did all of the adults, catching up on how life has changed since we met our sweet children almost one year ago. 

Mezzi and Khari enjoying the pool!

We have been able to catch up with the Freking family a few times in this past year, so our kids were already friends before arriving for this week!  It has been such a blessing, because our children are such similar ages, they get along great!

Max and Brennan pushing their sisters!

Before we left, we were all trying very hard to motivate Khari to walk, she was now aware that other babies her age were on the move (and not just on all four)!!

So, when we made it home from Branson, we were back to baseball season. Our team, The Phillies were in the playoffs! Max was so excited and nervous for this game!

 

We won in a very tight game, and the kids were so proud of their hard work with several players on vacation. It was one exciting baseball game!

Next thing you know we were on to tennis with Max. He was playing in a junior tennis league this summer and it was really fun to watch him play tennis with other kids his age. We knew he was good when he played with his daddy, but it was even more fun to see him play with other kids!

So that concludes part I of our summer update, the other two are back at school now, Samuel is asking for breakfast and I hear Khari waking up. I will try to catch up the rest in another one of my rare downtime moments!!!  Blessings!!!!