Myla Update

Myla's ECHO was normal...woohoooo!!!  Turns out she has a functional murmur:)  We're still pursuing  all of the physical therapy business but the fact that her heart turned out normal is fantastic.  Thanks for the prayers!

The beginning of an adoption story

I have a lot of thoughts on this so bear with me, it should be worth it.

There are over 100,000 kids in foster care in CA and not enough people are doing something about it.  As a generation I think that we're really good at helping those less fortunate than us but I also think some of us take the easy way out, including Andy and I.  We send money to organizations thinking we've done our part, but not anymore for team Koning.

I've always wanted to adopt.  As long as I can remember I've said "I want 12 kids, 6 naturally and 6 adopted".  Andy knew this marrying me and now that we've had some kids our overall numbers may have changed but my heart for adoption hasn't.  Since our wedding, Andy and I have slowly looked into adoption and pretty much gave up when we found out the cost of it all.  We thought that we would never be in a place financially to afford the adoption that we thought we wanted and so we gave up that dream and moved on, living happily and contently with our two biological children.  Then, as it always seems to happen, both Andy and I felt like adoption was put on our hearts at the end of last year.  I don't remember who brought it up but one of us did, and the other one admitted they felt like God was putting it on their heart too; since that talk, we haven't looked back.


So we'd like to anounce that we're in the "pregnant phase" of adoption.  This is when we tell everyone we're doing it.  It takes time, it's a long, emotional, crazy process and we won't be getting a child any time soon, but we will be adding to our family via adoption.  We've learned about something called the "CA waiting children's program" or "fos-adopt".  This is something AMAZING that our state has, so that we have oppurtunities to help children that are in the foster care system.  It's very detailed and if you have more questions about it feel free to ask Andy or I but one of the best things about it is the government assistance with cost and the affordability of helping a child in need.  We don't have all of the details hammered out and I'm sure details will change, but for those that want them, here are some decisions we've made:

-we're adopting from CA
-we don't care if our child is a boy or girl OR what race or mix of races they are
-we plan on adopting just one child
-we won't be getting a newborn but the oldest we want to take is as old as Avery (we don't want to replace her as the eldest child)

We have been SO blessed in our journey so far...we're using a really great company based out of Modesto called FCCA (Family Connections Christian Adoptions) which utilized the "fos-adopt" system differently than other companies so that once we are fostering a child in our home, they will not be returned to their biological family.  While you don't have to be a Christian to use this company our most recent classes consisted of 4 young christian couples and we had a really great time challenging eachother, teasing one-another, and praying for each other.  We even took a picture together for our future child's "lifebook" which we're really excited about (pictured below with the social worker that taught the class:)

Both Andy and I are aware that not all of our friends and family will understand the decision that we've made but we do encourage you to talk to us about it.  Also, if you have questions about it either ask us or look into this amazing book "Adopted for Life", it talks about the role that Christians need to take in adoption (WARNING: I do not agree with everything that is said in this book but it's a really good read and can help you understand why we have made the decision that we have).

Because this is such an emotional rollar coaster and such a long process we do ask for prayer.  We have a lot of steps to go and a lot of hoops to jump through.  In our spare time (wink wink) we're working on jumping through those hoops, then we meet with a social worker, do our homestudy, and once all is said and done, we're open to start our child search process.  We will keep you updated throughout the process.  We're very excited for this journey and can't wait to meet the newest addition to our family!

Becoming an Auntie

A few thoughts on becoming an Auntie (and Uncle of course:)...IT'S THE BEST THING EVER!!!  I never knew I had given my siblings such an awesome gift when I had children;)  No but really, being a part of the birth story with my studly sister Erica and my first, my only, and my favorite nephew Malachi was amazing.  I love holding him, burping him, kissing him, changing his diaper even!  And then I get to give him back and go home, it's amazing.  My sister did an amazing job pushing this big guy out.  I'll probably get my statistics wrong because I didn't write them down but he was around 8lb. 14oz-ish and 21ish in. long, so handsome!  And of course, Erica and Brian are nothing but fabulous parents.  Here are some photos of my cute nephew and the day's events:

We OBVIOUSLY had push team t-shirts made, even for the kiddos!

There he is right when he came out:)

All Myla wanted all day long was to be held by Auntie...finally she got her chance!

Me and my Malachi:)

Even when he's mad he's cute!

***The even better news is that soon I get to be an Auntie times 2!!! Stay tuned***

Just keep swimming just keep swimming...

I'm not sure why this quote comes to me in hard times, I'm pretty sure it's from my seestar.  In my head it's from when I was giving birth to Avery but I'm pretty sure I made that up, "just keep swimming, just keep swimming"...sometimes, that's all you can do.

We went in for Myla's 15 month check-up, not usually mandatory but because of her issues we had to go.  It turned into a 2 hour adventure at Kaiser.  The good news: she gained 2.2 pounds and they are no longer worried about her growth (although we'll keep giving her donut holes because...why not?:)  The bad news, the heart murmur (did I mention that before?) is still present.  It's too hard to tell whether or not it's a big deal by just listening so we were sent to get a chest x-ray (2 view for you nurses out there) and an EKG, both of which my little Myla had to hold still for.  Dr. Weisser, our pediatrician felt that it was better to be safe than sorry but he didn't expect any abnormalities.

24 hours later a voicemail from Dr. Weisser...the chest x-ray was abnormal.  It showed an enlarged heart.  This could mean 2 things: first, and most likely, absolutely nothing is wrong, Myla just didn't take a deep enough breath when the x-ray was being shot; secondly, her heart is working hard for some reason and is enlarged.  So, we won a referral to cardiology!  This poor little kiddo, what can we do but just keep swimming?  Oh, and just keep praying:)  We got this!

She looks good to me!:)

Myla's Progress

It has definitely been an emotional week as far as Myla's progress goes...last time we checked in we mentioned a few upcoming appointments.  Last Thursday, we took Myla to "the" developmental specialist for the bay area and both Andy and I thought that it went terribly:(  The Doctor started off telling us we weren't allowed to interrupt and that we were supposed to treat the next hour as a test for Myla.  IT WAS AWFUL!  It felt like we were watching Myla fail time and time again for a whole hour...the Doctor moved so quickly from one test to another we don't feel like she even had a chance.  Despite the fact that the test was awful the outcome seemed to be the same.  The Doctor officially diagnosed her with a gross motor developmental delay.  She concluded that Myla is functioning physically at a 10 month old level and made an appointment for today (Tuesday) with a physical therapist in Walnut Creek.  Because the appointment was so last minute neither Andy nor I could get the day off so our amazing new babysitter (Rachel McDonald) who is a nurse awaiting her first job was able to take her and learn everything we needed to know.  The physical therapist today came up with the same information, Myla is physically functioning at a ten month old level.  She showed Rachel various exercises we can do with Myla to help her and told us to hold her less.

Andy and I are a little bit emotional about everything...the physical therapist said today (and another one mentioned) that part of the reason she's struggling could be related to the fact that she spent a lot of time in the johny jump up and the exersaucer.  The reasoning behind this is somewhat complicated but basically she gained too much confidence in the jumper and exersaucer so now she can't stand because she doesn't have the confidence or the muscle memory.  This is all obviously "fixable" but it's hard for Andy and I to face.  

Now we wait and see what Kaiser officially says before moving on to physical therapy and working on exercises we've been given at home.  We fully trust in God's plan and know that He's go us in His hands.  I can't help but think of the song, "Forever reign" which goes like this,

And Oh, I'm running to your arms, I'm running to your arms,

the richness of your love, will always be enough,

nothing compares to your embrace

light of the world forever reign.

It seems silly to be concerned, we understand, but saying the words "she's been diagnosed..." is difficult.  Admitting there is something wrong is hard and we want to take it all away.  So we're running to God's huge embrace.

Because I know you all love pictures...here are a couple:)

Ms. Sassy Pants on Valentine's Day before heading to school


Millie on V day playing around the house (she's standing!!!)

Progress!

Every day Myla seems to show us a little something new with her physical progress, here's just another example of how far she's come!