THEN

One year ago today, Princess Layla was put in our arms and heart Forever!!

One year ago............... Our lives were forever changed when our sweet little Layla was placed in our arms and hearts Forever. I am so very grateful for this precious child.
She is very sweet but very stubborn, A girl who is wild and crazy around those she knows and feels comfortable with, but very shy and subdued with those she does not know well. She mimicks everything her brothers do(which is not always a good thing but quite funny). She loves to sing and dance with her brothers and follow them everywhere. Is very much a tom boy but is very petite and delicate. Her smile in the morning is what I love most!! She is a mommy's girl but loves to play rough with daddy.
I am in awe of the way she fits so perfectly with our family and know that God knew exactly what he was doing when he chose her for us. We are so very grateful to her first mommy who loved her so much that she wanted a better life for her. We strive everyday to give that to her and couldn't love her more.

PRAISE GOD THAT LAYLA IS O.K

We had the scare of a lifetime on Wednesday evening as we were scrambling to the basement because a tornado was sighted, Layla fell off the side of our stairway onto the concrete...........
I was going to check if we had everything we needed down there and was not even aware that she had followed me and our stairway is narrow and has no railing on it. We thought about waiting until the storm passed to bring her to the hospital but we could tell it was very serious so we rushed out in the bad weather to get her there. She was vomiting blood and we could not keep her awake. They put a tube in her throat in the E.R. to keep her from choking and called Life Flight to fly her to Fargo. They would not let me ride with and I was very upset to say the least to let my baby go in that condition. She also had a seizure while we were waiting for the helicopter. I can't explain the feeling of helplessness as they took her away and we had a 2 1/2 hour drive to get there.
I had a very strange PEACE come over me as we were driving however and truly heard my mom say that she is going to be O.K. (My Mom is one of God's Angels). Sure enough we arrived at the PICU and she was sobbing and saw me and said MAMA.... The sweetest words I have ever heard. All the thoughts of what could have happened had played through my mind and I know God had a big part in the plan for my sweet girl.
She had a severe concussion and they kept her for 2 nights to monitor her and keep her on anti seizure meds but she is home and seems like the same wild little Layla. Now it is imperative that we keep her from falling or having any sort of injury to the head for at least 2 weeks. I am at a stress level I can't explain because she just thinks she is invincible. Climbing backwards up the slide, jumping off steps, pushing chairs up to the counter and just being a MONKEY. I am contemplating a helmet just for sanity purposes. I have not let her out of my sight and will do every thing I can to protect her. We are so grateful that she is smiling and talking and acting like herself. We are praying that she has a full recovery and no learning disablilities associated with a brain injury. Time will tell.

We have moved back HOME....

Well after our 6 month rendevous in our apartment and big city, Steve's employer has moved us back home for a new project. We had not even put our house on the market so we just moved back in. I loved living in a small managable apartment and having a pool and mall so close by but it is also nice to be back home where the kids can be out in the yard and ride their bikes to the park. I have been busy unpacking and just got internet back up and running so I will post pics as soon as possible.