Growth,looking different and Dr. Bowers

As I said before, all of the kids will be seeing or have seen Dr. Bowers before we move. I still remember the day we met. I had just moved home with my three 10-month-old babies, one of whom contracted RSV on the flight from San Diego to Sheridan. I was staying with my parents, while Mike finished up his last month in the Navy. She managaed to weed through their histories: preemie delivery, reactive airways, Kael's cardiac surgery and follow-up, and jump quickly into keeping my little ones out of the hospital. Since then, we have come to know each other VERY well and we love her.



At the time of that first visit, Elli was the biggest, strongest, most verbal baby. She still is the most verbal, but as you can tell from the picture, she is definitely not the biggest anymore!! It's amazing to me that three kids the same age can be sooooo different in every part of their being. Who would have thought that at 11 years old, there would be a 30# weight and 4.5" height difference between 2 of my 3? I haven't even talked about personalities, which are just about as far from the east to the west. These differences make me smile....

Sometimes, though, differences are hard for kids. Yesterday, I was reading an Uncle Wiggly story to Layne and Gavin. It was about a freckled face girl who was trying to wash her freckles off because she didn't like how they looked. Layne kept snuggling into me, closer and closer. I stopped and asked her if she was okay. She said, "I wish I had freckles and skin like your's Mommy." Being different is hard for her and I find myself wanting to shout out to everyone how much I love my little girl, so she knows, the differences in her make me smile...Adopting Gavin has been such a neat thing for Layne as she has a best bud to hang out with all day, but it has stirred up lots of questions in her own mind, as people ask, "Are they both from Ethiopia?" or "Where did you get her from?" Adoption is such a wonderful gift, but it's not always easy, on everyone involved.

Every night, we sing, Jesus Loves the Little Children. I feel like God has truly given me the picture of His love for all of His children, by putting these 5 unique, wonderful children in my family. As we sing, red and yellow black and white, I can look at each one of my children and know that they are indeed precious in HIS sight, as well as my own. I'm sure the differences make HIM smile.

Circle back to Dr. Bowers. It was through her encouragement that we were able to adopt Layne, through her encouragement and reference that we were able to adopt Gavin. It was through her encouragement that I had the pushiness to take Kael to Boston Childrens Hospital 3 years ago where he had the best cardiac interventionalist in the country. My kids LOVE her and can't wait to hug her when they see her. We are blessed.
The next two pictures are of her nurses, Stephanie and Cameo. These two ladies have also taken great care of the Sweeneys while we lived in Sheridan and will be missed when we move...(as soon as I have a picture of Megan, we'll post that too).