Familes are Forever

Angela loved this dress. When she would be getting dressed she would just smile big and all excited. I know she liked it because she tried on another one and hated the lace on the sleeves. She would grunt and pull at the lace, we couldn't it off her fast enough. This is the dress she wore when we were sealed forever as a family last week. This was a special day for all of us, and we were joined by family: grandmas, grandpas, great grandmas, aunts, uncles and friends. Since June it has been a wonderful adventure, and we are pretty confident her personality will lead us in many adventures.


in her pretty white dress


in front of the Jordan River Temple

It's Final

Can you believe it has been 6 months since we have been blessed with Angela in our home?! What an adventure. This past week we were fortunate to go to the courthouse and have the adoption finalized. What a blessing. Our lawyer asked our social worker some questions, the he asked both of us questions, then the judge signed the documents and we were on our way. We don't feel any different, just glad to have it final. We love her and are so grateful to her birth parents for their decision and sacrifice that we can have her joy in our home.

Waiting with dad

waiting with mom

after finalization

Helping mom cook

Angela just can't stand it when mom is cooking anything. She likes to see what is going on and get her hands in it. One night making dinner that included pie dough she had to be up there with her dough - but that wasn't good enough, so she helped roll out the 'real dough' and put it together. Then when making treats, she likes to see what is going on and help put things in the mixer. She is a good little helper that requires extra clean up.

Doggies

Angela continues to love the dogs. Jake is the most gentle with her and pretty much likes to be with her. Angela likes pet them and feel their fur. We have large boxes in our basement that she likes to play in -what is it with boxes and kids? They have been bathed so they are pretty clean - but still, thank goodness this was a bath night.

with Osa

Video with Jake

Cookies and Milk

Angela is a Chocolate lover... she gets big smiles on her face to show how delighted she is by the treat as she doesn't get it as often as she would like. When she gets to eat it on her own, she thoroughly enjoys it.


loving the treat


wanting more...

With the Dogs

When we did our basement we made it so it would be easy to bring the dogs in and out, and also basically be child proof. Both are turning out lovely. The dogs can come in only after they have been bathed - which we did last week. They are so pleasant to be around when they are clean. Angela loves the dogs, and they love her. Osa has gone deaf so it is harder to give her commands and help her be gentle, but as you can see below, if she has a bone, it's not a worry. Angela loves to tell the dogs 'No, No' and gets her hands going. She also likes to pet them and play with them.

Playing with Osa


Saying hi to Jake

Pretty Crafty

The past couple weeks we have been fixing mom's craft room - she LOVES it. The room transformed from boxes and a little path to a desk, to being able to actually see the floor, have a big open desk and lots of room to work. During the process the kitchen was full of the boxes with all the stamping toys. While we were working Angela had to be right in the middle, of course. As we were removing the old storage she would climb in and play. We had the chair in the kitchen and she would get up in in, with some stamping toys and play. She had a ball and loves to be right in the middle of everything.

playing in the chair

crawling in the cabinets.

Snow Day

Last week we had a great snow day. We got about 4 inches at our house and Angela loved it. She had fun playing in the snow. She liked to walk in it - on the driveway. She wanted to get down and crawl in it, but mom wouldn't let her because it would get her all wet and soggy - guess mom should have let her - there will be more days. She cried and cried when it was time to go inside. We are looking forward to many more snow days. When you see her smile, how can you but not smile yourself?

burrrr....it's cold


posing for the picture


just cute!!

Almost Walking

We can't believe it has already been 5 months since we have been blessed with Angela in our home- how time flies. She is growing up right before our eyes; new things every day. Her latest thing is standing up. She'll be playing on the floor and just stand up. Her balance has gotten better since we took this video - soon she'll be walking.

Happy Halloween

Hi - we hope y'all had a safe Halloween. Not one of our favorite holidays, but we did carve pumpkins, one of mom's favorite activities (she can do without all the others). Angela had a great time carving pumpkins with her cousins and tasting the raw insides - yuck! Angela didn't get to out this year - not until she can walk to the doors. She also had a good time greeting all the kids as they came to the door.

mmmm.... pumpkin

aren't they cute?

It's the Great Pumpkin

Just walking distance up the road from our house is a fun pumpkin patch. The family is really nice and decorates it all cute. The Wednesday before her surgery, we took Angela there to pick out our pumpkins. We met Ron, Marci, and their family there. Angela had fun with her cousins picking out pumpkins and seeing all the fun things. This is pre-surgery so she still had her hair. We have so much fun seeing her expressions while she observes and takes everything in.

With the scarecrow

which one should I get?

click play to see Angela play with the pumpkins.

Coming Home 2

We're home!! This homecoming is little different from the first; this time we actually think she is happy to be here. She is playing and smiling, and eating - but now she is napping (I think her first real nap in 5 days). The doctors are pleased with her progress and how she is looking, and so are we. We got the discharge about 9:20 this morning. We were so excited. But it wasn't fun taking all the sticky tape off Angela; she did not like that no matter how careful they were. It will be tough until she heals, keeping a 16 month old from falling or hitting her head, or being rough - fun huh? We have been extremely blessed this past few days, thank you for all your prayers in her and our behalf. We couldn't have made it through this without you.

Getting ready

(new Cinderella pjs)

At the elevators - going home.

She's baaack

Oh holy cow!!! Angela is back in full swing. It was as immediate as switching on a light. It started yesterday afternoon, she has kept us running. We learned that morphine is a stimulant for her when she is awake. We gave her a full ml of morphine about 9:30 - and she didn't get sleepy, in fact, she woke up even more. So Lorena spent the ENTIRE night chasing her up and down the hallways. Then once she learned she could leave her room, she never wanted to go back in - still. Finally about 12:00 Lorena got her settled, but it was time to take her vital signs, so she awoke and we thought, maybe she is in pain the way she was crying, so we gave her 1/2 ml of morphine - wakey wakey. we spent until 2:20 playing more. How fun is this getting? At 4:00 time for more vital signs and wakey, wakey - this time until 5:20. Then at 7:00 am she woke up for the day and we have been going ever since. Hopefully she will sleep tonight. Needless to say, morphine is out of the routine. Angela had her drain removed today, she cried of course, but is loving life without it, and so are we. The doctor confirmed that we will get our marching orders tomorrow morning.

Walking halls with mom

Just chillin'

Bandages Come off

Today is the day Angela gets her bandages off. Be prepared before you look at the pictures - her head is shaved, and there is a strip over her sutures. We have held her most the day so far. She gets excited when one of us walks into the room. We still can't get her interested in drinking water or juice (she doesn't like juice anyway but there are limited clear liquids) but she got excited when she saw a donut - so we let her have some. She didn't eat a lot, but enough - plus she kept it down. I brought in her own bottle and sippy cup so hopefully that will entice her a little more after she wakes up. She has started to interact with toys and respond to music so her personality is surfacing again - which is good to see. Her head has some bumps but the doctor ways the brain will fill those in as she grows. The plates and screws that are supporting the bone will dissolve after about 1 year. We are quite pleased with the doctors and the care she is getting.

Removing Bandages

Cozy with Dad

Getting settled back into bed

(of course mom's eyes are shut)

Bye Bye ICU

Yeah - today Angela was discharged from the ICU and transferred to the Children's Surgical Unit (CSU). This morning she had her central line removed, and her art line removed. Before all that they were concerned with her lack of output so they removed her catheter. Shortly thereafter, she had a hefty wet diaper that spilled over onto mom. Needless to say, the catheter malfunctioned. Angela has been quite the trooper. She is in and out of sleep. When she is awake we take that opportunity to read her a book or play a song, then after a few minutes, back to sleep - which is ok. She hasn't showed any signs of pain, except her heart rate and blood pressure go up, so based on that we give her some Tylenol with Codine. She is still quite swollen and puffy from the surgery and the doctors say that
will get worse, and could even turn black and blue. She is quite amazing.

ICU

After 6 hours of surgery Angela finally made it to ICU. Everything went smoothly. She was stable the entire time. There was some blood loss and she had to be given some blood, but the doctors say that is normal. Tonight she will be in the ICU where she will be constantly monitored to make sure she stays stable. There are quite a few tubes coming out of her and she is on morphine to help her stay comfortable. She's sportin' a turban to protect her incision When she wakes up she'll get to start with clear liquids, but if she doesn't drink anything tonight that is ok, she just has to be doing good before she can go home, currently planned for Tuesday. Thank you for all your prayers, but please don't stop yet.

Angela's PreOp

At 9:45 this morning we arrived at Pimary Children's Hospital for Angela's surgery (cranial vault). The doctors further explained the process and what will happen. The cut her head in a wide zig-zag fashion so as to minimize the effect on the hair growth. They will put her under using general anthesia, put in a breathing tube, a central line, a catheter, and an 'art' line (straight into an artery in her arm to monitor her blood pressure). The anesthesiologist (Dr. Miller) came and took her about 11:20; we tried the wagon but she was too curious to stay in it, so he carried her; from here it is 5-6 hours!! Angela seemed to be doing ok this morning, especially with no food or water. But she slept until 8:45 and woke up just happy as could be! She had some fun playing before she was taken in for surgery.

brrrrrough

For a week or so Angela was on this kick where she would bounce on the couch and vibrate her lips. It is so funny, and also nerve-racking because she doesn't have the best balance yet. Our couches have a soft cushion at the lower back, and she would use this as leverage... check it out, click the play button below.

Go BYU!!

In Celebration of the great BYU football season Angela is sporting her dad's favorite school garb. Not to mention that in December 2008 he will be officially graduated from BYU -- gooooo team!!

My Own Seat

When we picked up Angela the adoption agency had coined her with a nickname - Boo. Because they thought she looked like the little character Boo in Monster's Inc.. Check out this picture - isn't it the cutest in her own little chair, with pony tails.

Silly Angela Things

Angela's personality is really starting to come through. She is so much fun and does such silly things - sometimes we catch them on camera. One day Lorena was on the phone and Angela was playing. She heard Angela start fussing just a little bit. When she found her - she had worked herself into the circle of the bar stool - Lorena's immediate thought was to get her out - but wait -- get a picture first!! We have to remind ourselves to get the camera before we get her out of her situations. She is fun, but don't doubt - it is a good thing she is cute.

Dancing Queen

Angela loves music! She responds anytime music comes on and starts to excitedly dance and play. She's got rhythm - or at least will find it.

Grandma's 94th b-day party

Grandma great turned 94 this year. The whole family got together in her backyard for the celebration. Angela had fun meeting everyone and seeing all the pretty flowers in Grandma's yard.

Angela & Mom

09-06-2008

She's moving

Angela is all over the place!! If she isn't crawling fast, she is using the furniture to get around. One of her favorite toys is paper, and there is plenty of it once she found the magazines. She squishes into the end table, pushes out the magazines, then plays with them. She is quite the mess maker; but she is in heaven and loves it.

Getting in

Settled in

Who let the dogs out?

Angela and the dogs (Osa and Jake) get along so well. When she is outside they play and the dogs will lick her and she tells them no, or just laughs. But we can't always go outside with her, so she sits at our back door and can play with them for hours. It is fun to watch her and hear her jabber with the dogs. The dogs will play with her, until they realize she can't open the door to let them in. Check out the video.....

Reunion Season

Some would say summer is a season, but it has a season in itself - Family Reunions. Angela has had a fabulous time meeting all the extended family. We've attended two family reunions; and were privileged to host family and cousins from California. We have enjoyed it and Angela loves all the attention and new friends. Too bad they all had to go home.

With Collin @ Higginson reunion

With Badal family

With Grandpa

with Nicki, Kelsey & Kiersten

Just chillin'

This summer has been so hot that we take time to just chill. Angela loves to drink water, which is a good thing. One of hers (and daddy's) favorite pastimes is to relax before a nap or from playing outside by drinking cold water (and sometimes slurpees). Still from the bottle, but not for long as she is figuring out the sippy cup.