A growing family's journey...

Girls Just Want to Have Fun

2012-01-02T20:50:00.000-08:00

Proof girls are hardwired from birth to dance to club music

MERRY CHRISTMAS 2011!!

2011-12-27T11:28:00.000-08:00

Halloween 2011!

2011-11-19T10:08:00.000-08:00

Captiva Spring Break: photo book....

2011-04-29T11:33:00.002-07:00

Captiva 2011 | Make Your Own Book

Pipers First Step

2011-03-25T17:32:00.000-07:00

So Here it is. Her first step!!! March 20, 2011 It was really exciting seeing this happen and being there for it!

My Photo Book Mar 15 2011

2011-03-15T13:29:00.001-07:00

Click here to view this photo book larger

Child Dedication at the Wave Church

2011-02-20T21:17:00.000-08:00

We are forever a family of SEVEN

2011-02-20T21:07:00.000-08:00

Though SJ & Wylie have been home for nearly a year...Paul and I now legally and permanently have FIVE amazing kiddos.

Here is our photo from our day in court.

Is this where my surf life will go?

2011-02-10T13:50:00.000-08:00

Our New Years Card

2011-01-06T19:21:00.000-08:00

This had been an extremely BUSY year for us…and by busy I don’t mean simply a plethora of after school activities and vacations… I mean that we went from a family of four to SEVEN!

Going against the grain of Donica’s preference for a scheduled and planned life, THREE amazing blessings joined our family, all within the span of 5 months.

In January, after the devastating earthquake in Haiti, Paul was able to bring our little Stevenson (SJ) home emergently via military cargo plane. SJ continues to amaze us with his athleticism and appetite. I think he’s making up for years of lack of pizza; as he has almost polished off an entire pie by himself.

In March, Donica flew (29 week pregnant!) to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to meet our beautiful one year old daughter Wylie. While Wylie arrived completely immobile and silent, she is now a jolly 2-year old on the go. She’s our little cuddle bug who has also recently learned the meaning of time-out.

On June 4th, baby Piper Poet was born. As she is our last baby (our ‘bonus’ baby), Donica finally snuck in the name ‘Poet’, much to her families dismay. Little Pips is a giggler who is continually fascinated by all her siblings despite the occasional wack on the head from a HotWheels.

As for the rest of the clan….

Gunner has taken over the 3x5 foot “family desk” in the study and he continues to create, invent, and build for hours on end. We do occasionally pull him out for meals and bike rides.

Jetta Juice is still our sweet/sour little darling. Her ability to love amazes us, as does her insta-sourness if things don’t go her way.

After a six-month leave, Donica is still managing to continue working towards her PhD in clinical psychology, thanks to our Aussie Au-pair Esther, who helps keeps the brood in check.

Paul is still working as an ER doc at Kaiser and working hard to teach all his kids to ski. He’s quickly come to the realization that if he ever wants another Cat skiing experience, he needs to take a kid(s) with him.

We hope you all had an amazing 2010 as well!! In 2011 we look forward to continuing to follow God’s plan for our life and….

also for continued family and friend time, relaxation, and SLEEEEPPPPP!!

For those of you that we don’t see often….Please keep in touch! (email is best as the kids shrieks will likely overpower any type of conversation that we will try to have!)

Love to you all,
The Dohrenwends

GO PRO VIDEO skiing the Epic POW!!! Mammoth 12-20-2010

2010-12-24T18:47:00.000-08:00

I now present my epic run down Rogers Ridge at Mammoth after it stormed 9 feet of snow!!! The go pro was finicky with battery life and I wasnt sure what footage I got. I am psyched this made it home!!! Because I always want to remember this run!

The Epic Mammoth Trip

2010-12-19T20:49:00.000-08:00

This weekend I took the three older kids to Mammoth. I have booked trips on the hopes of good conditions. It appears it will snow for 5 straight days. Five feet fell before the day we took off.

We started on the road like any normal trip. "Has everyone gone to the bathroom?" Reply: a drawn out "Yeee-ee-essss" As to instill some sort of confidence that we will not be stopping 20 minutes down the road for our first pee break. I check the car, loaded. Luckily Donica threw the coffee and filters that were left in the kitchen in the front seat. I turn the key, 1/4 full fuel tank. Ok so we wont be launching and getting huge mileage under our belt but maybe we can get to Temecula or a bit further.

First pee break occurs before Temecula, 30 minutes in. Contemplating emergency lane but better judgement says no. We choose to fully exit and use an emergency lane on a secondary road. Every second counts right. Youd think this would insure a long time before the next break, because I witnessed it, so I know the kids are empty. Fifty miles later. Daddy, daddy I gotta go real bad! Whaaat! Its uncomfortable to have to go so I search the Droid for the nearest gas station. I also dont want to clean up a wet kid and car seat.

After fuel and el bano we are reset. The kids love the woop de doos of the 395, I like the peace, although I do love when Jetta has a 15 minute conversation burst where I cant get a word in and every sentance starts with "Remember Dad?". They watch about 5 movies on the way up. The drive outside of Bishop was epic as it was blowing snow and the headlights gave that star wars effect. Kids loved it. I had been looking forward to driving in snow since I heard it was dumping. Even though it was raining when they made us put the chains on, I still loved it because I knew I was going somewhere where I needed them.

As advertised there was a crapload of snow. Up to the windows of houses. Everywhere. The roads were adequately plowed. and yet still the first thing they ask for the second we arrive at the condo at Mammoth (Especially Stevenson) is, "Can we have movie?" We opt for 930p hot tub as the sky stormed over us.

In the morning I go to the car and take my first steps in the new fallen snow, and it comes up to mid thigh, but kinda heavy. Im 6'4" so thats about 3 feet that wasnt there when we came in, and usually the town gets half of whats on the mountain. Ohhh boy.

Its still howling and dumping as we head up to the mountain. No way this will be good for lessons. And it wasnt. Jetta threw a fit, acting like a 2 yo and clinging. I trust my instinct that her " My belly hurts, Im cold, Im hot, I have a headache, I have to go to the bathroom" is manipulation. I second guess when she starts with the " your not listening to me." I heard her, but true, I wasnt listening. Turns out she was totally fine and was the best one in the class. the opposite happened for Stevenson. He was cool up front. Then I got the call. "your son is not listening and crying" That means he is tired, hungry, cold and given up trying to have fun. Maybe late night hot tub to early wake up was not a great idea. Gunner and I got two runs in as the mountain shut down in parts, and the weather kicked up. So we are now back in the condo, playing scrabble, and sitting around the fire. I looked outside our condo and saw a large 40 foot segment of a tree top resting on the neighbors condos front door. I call it in to the management company and they say someones coming in tonight. No they arent. The tree is literally their front door right now. So as chaos is storming outside our warm retreat is cozy and fun and the kids are alright.

Our Beach Family Photo Shoot: CLICK HERE

2010-12-10T09:09:00.000-08:00

Halloween 2010!

2010-11-01T11:50:00.000-07:00

STEVENSON:"Happy Halloween...NO peanuts!"
As a first time Halloweener, this is the phrase Stevenson now associates with trick-or-treating.
Following his little peanut-allergic neighborhood buddy, he simply thought it was part of the repertoire.

WYLIE:
Our big pumpkin bellied Wylie nuzzled right in with the older kids when she learning CANDY was being handed out.

JETTA:
Was thrilled to have another angel friend to fly around the neighborhood with amidst the zombies and ninjas (thanks for meeting up Lauren!).

GUNNER:
Is getting very into the scariness factor of Halloween...he spent part of his birthday money on a talking Halloween witch and next year he wants a fog machine.

PUMPKIN PIPER:Snuggled into Grandma D who so willingly wore the Baby Bjorn so I could keep track of the other 4!

SOOOOOOOOO.....
Despite Paul having to work, we had a blast dressing up and hitting the neighborhood!

Nates But Farm A Halloween Favorite

2010-10-27T21:47:00.000-07:00

Gunner's 7th

2010-09-28T20:39:00.000-07:00

We no longer have 5 kids under age 7!!! So life is going to be much easier....right?!

Gunner just moved into his Seventh year and we followed his birthday wish of bringing his bestest buds to the Natural History Museum for a day of 3-D dinos, gems, and the learning of more fabulous facts that he can recite to us for the next month.

Thank you Gunner for your constant enthusiasm and re-teaching us everything we learned in elementary school science classes.

Full circle

2010-09-19T21:17:00.000-07:00

Today was my birthday and Gunner's birthday. It has been always a great day of bonding for the two of us. I still am psyched that I got a son (first child) on my birthday 7 years ago, which will forever be the best gift ever. He now can understand fully that we share a day together and the high fives are great. A moment you are stoked on because its cool to have something special between you and your son, whether a handshake, a nickname, a favorite place to ear. Gunner had a big day yesterday cruising the National History Museum with all of his closest buddies for his birthday party. This place is his default answer for "What do you want to do today?" So if I dont want to go downtown I have to phrase the question on those days "What do you want to do, around the house today?" So they watched the 3D movie Dinosaurs alive and took over the museum. Suprisingly the gemstones exhibit was a huge hit with the 7 yo male demographic.
Today was Sunday, so we did a typical Sunday routine. with 5 kids nothing planned was planned for my birthday as its easier to parallel park in NYC than to plan around two napping kids and a tired wife. But this was not a typical Sunday, it was an painful Sunday. Today was the announcement that our good friend, my mentor, and pastor, Clay Stokes was getting let go from Gracepoint. His daughter is a great friend and has babysat our kids for over a year. I would meet with Clay in the morning with other men to mature in our faith. He had shown me more about being a Christ follower than any other person. He opened his home up to our family and our friends. He shared his life with us and there was no doubt he followed the will of God and loved the people in his life. He was let go for the reason of church growth and the lead pastor deciding that more growth was needed and Clay would not be part of the equation, "that his strengths were not a good fit for the church" Whatever that means. It was evidently clear, as our lead pastor was speaking, that the decision to dump Clay was not founded in love or Christ but in numbers and in programs. IT is crazy that the man who helped decide that Clay was deficient in some skill set to lead more programs preached on how Gods power is made more amazing in weakness. Should Clay have had some weakness unfit for their vision, wouldnt praying about Gods ability to help Clay out be reasonable to tryout first. Given this is a Christian church. Nope, he was blindsided by this news and was shuffled out of the church by a few people on the board and who lead the church. So we cried with Clay and prayed with Clay today. The church poured out their hearts to him as they placed their hands on him at the front of the church. The lead pastor could only stand on stage and watch the pain that was caused by this decision. As a close friend of Clays, I wept, feeling like I was at the funeral of living person. Knowing he would be seperated from this church because of this and that the possibilities of being lead by him were, hopefully for the short time, extinguished. I felt for him, to have to go through the feeling of rejection, the feeling of "what to do next?", and sadness over leaving things he created. I do love the Stokes and pray for strength through this. They have supported us through helping with our children, giving guidance, and being great friends. They do not deserve this. I find comfort only in the concept that God has a plan and even this bad situation will bear some fruit in the Stokes' lives. This day will change our Sundays from now on as we will leave this church and head out to find a place run out of love and not administrative decisions.

After a this unreal event, we headed to Gunners choice of lunch, the elegant, worldly IHOP. The result of this was a great meal and Donica coming to the realization that IHOP, aint that bad.

Finally, we cruised over to Sage park where the Bergstroms arranged a get together with all the people from the church we are friends with and the Stokes.

We had pizza at home and all the kids went to bed easily.

Ahhh.

For all who called and sent cards, thank you. Im sorry I didnt talk to everyone today but its friggin hard with 5 kids to get a second to be on the phone.

Much love to all.

New Kid pics

2010-09-17T13:05:00.000-07:00

Computer issues have now allowed up to upload pics in a while.

We've pretty much had it with our PC and are so close to getting a Mac. (So listen up PC, one more untimely shutdown, frozen screen or other quirky business and you end up in the electronic recycling pile)

Freshtimes...

2010-08-30T20:38:00.000-07:00

Where did the summer go??

Well in our case we spent it feeding, attaching, disciplining, loving, snuggling, teaching, and exercising, our FIVE kiddos AND most importanly adjusting to a family of SEVEN.

Though we were mostly housebound, we also squeezed in a few beach days, Boomers trips, swim lessons, camp days, bar-b-ques, and visits from family.

Now back-to-school is here...And after a last horray at Chuck E. Cheese last night in honor of Jetta's birthday, all the kids and their fresh clothes, backpacks, and luchboxes headed off to their first days of First Grade (Gunner), Kindergarden (Jetta) and Preschool (Stevenson)!

Grandma C!

2010-08-13T18:05:00.000-07:00

Thank you grandma C for lovingly storing all of moms toys in the attic all these years. My Little Ponies still rock!!

AND thank you for helping us scout out even MORE treasures from the neighbors 'spring cleaning' pile!

Worst hour and a half of my life...

2010-07-13T21:03:00.000-07:00

3:00pm...The boys and our Au Pair are supposed to be home from their walk in the canyon...hmmmm
3:10pm...Getting a little nervous that they are not home
3:15pm...Load all the girls in the car and drive down to the entrance of the canyon
(expecting to see them on the way)
NO SIGN OF THEM ANYWHERE
3:45pm...Check all the local parks, Vons plaza, side roads...
3:50pm....Begin screaming into the canyon, call Paul tell him to get home ASAP
4:00pm...Back home...Getting more nervous....(My mind flashing to the DateLine special on child predators that was on last night)...
4:05pm...Make the call to the police...descriptions of the kids given

Calling all cars...and helicopters...Paul’s racing home

Hearing the helicopter and having the police at the house is comforting but also freaking me out that this is real...

4:30pm...The officer at our house gets a message that they’ve may have spotted a group matching the description I gave. They asked if the sitter had a backpack on... YES!!!

Five minutes later officers confirm that they have been found! Gunner, Stevenon and Esther are greeted by the cops when they exit the canyon and they get a police escort HOME!!

After hugging and kissing the boys and thanking the rescue team, I feel a little bit like a neurotic mom, but I don’t really care...RELIEF, I can breath again, the boys are home!

Once we’re all home (including Paul who is now home from work) we exchange stories (E lost track of time and the hike took longer than anticipated) AND we promised to buy our poor freaked our Au Pair a cell phone.

Oh, and she learned the hard way never to be late with the kids again.

E with her new cell phone :) (Which Paul was able to buy TONIGHT because he didn't have to go back to work because backup docs were called in when he left)

Housebound for the 4th

2010-07-05T14:11:00.000-07:00

Paul had to work on the 4th so I had all 5 little ones.

People ask if it’s crazy taking care of 5 kids under 7… the most accurate way I’ve come to describe it is ..moments of shear chaos mixed with moments of feeling like I can handle it.

Soooo, when the 3 olders are playing K’nex or sitting in front of Veggie Tales- all is good. BUT, when Stevenson hits Jetta with a plastic lizard (2pm), the cat vomits and 2 kids step in it (2:15pm), Piper soaks my shirt with spit-up 2 times in 7 minutes (2:18 & 2: 25), and Wylie poops in the hottub (3:10pm) I pray for patience (seriously) and calmly just remind myself how blessed we are to have happy healthy kids (no, not really)…
I usually call Paul in a panic, HE reminds me ‘it could be worse, we have happy, health kids, blah blah blah’ and I muster the strength to attain some sort of peace and cleanliness in the house, all the while keeping one eye on the clock, wishing & willing it to hit 7:30pm.

So, despite the BBQs and party evites in our inbox, I had to decline because I am housebound and busy cleaning cat vomit off kid’s feet, changing my shirt for the 3rd time and, scooping poop out of the hottub.

Yay for me!

Despite our day, we did have a highlight….

Gunner watched the tiniest little firework display from our deck. Every now and then the tops of some fireworks lit up the sky miles and miles away. But he exclaimed it was the “best fireworks EVER!”. I was excited for his enthusiasm, but I also questioned his long-term memory…because last year we were at a party on the hills of La Jolla for the 4th , which was truly amazing...

Maybe next year (or the year after, or certainly in 3 years) we will hit the downtown display as a family of 7. Till then, mini-far-away displays and NBC broadcasts may be all we can handle.

the caboose

2010-06-26T21:22:00.000-07:00

She is so small and wonderful. Our caboose of the kids.

It's going too fast...It's going too FAST!

2010-06-19T13:40:00.000-07:00

Having little Jetta graduate from Preschool and Gunner graduate from Kinder AND being flooded with post-pregnancy hormones is just a little too much to handle...

I've been crying all week. Paul doesn't know what is going on with me...he's the optimist, seeing these milestones as 'positive progressions' and keeps saying "this is GOOD, this is GOOD...it means all the kids are closer to being in school full time!!"

Yes, I often dream of that day when the house will be silent from 8 - 2:30, but it's also hard to say good-bye to princess lunchboxes, silly kiddie songs, huge-hugs at pickup time, bringing lots of silly crafts home, writing backwards letters, and that preschool/ kindergarten innocence where parents know everything and issues can be solved with hugs and kisses...

I know there are 3 more kids down the pipe that are just emerging on all this amazingness, but it's still sad that our two oldest are growing up so quickly. I'm NOT ready for the Hannah Montana paraphanalia and Xbox obsessions. I'm NOT, I'm NOT, I'm NOT!

On a positive note, Gunner started calling me "mommy" again, which I haven't heard since he was 2. Not sure where that came from, but I sure needed it this week. Thanks baby boy!

Piper Poet

2010-06-11T09:49:00.000-07:00

Introducing our freshest Dohrenwend!
Born on Friday, June 4th. Weighed in at 7 lbs...

We always forget how tiny and precious newborns are. She makes us feel so lucky and blessed (and she makes the rest of her siblings look HUGE!)

After a smooth delivery we dined on take-out sushi and were home within 20 hours.

Our house and lives are chaotic and messy, but she's perfect- and I guess that's all that matters...

Pre & Post Piper Poet Dohrenwend

2010-06-07T09:19:00.000-07:00

Adjusting...

2010-05-25T08:50:00.000-07:00

Though shortly our world will be rocked again with a newborn, we are enjoying our short-lived time together as a family of 6. (Plus our Au Pair, from Australia!- who makes our family life less about 'putting out fires' and more about quality time with the kids- thank you Esther!)

Au Natural is best

2010-05-05T22:33:00.000-07:00

Inside Jetta's mind...

2010-04-27T11:17:00.000-07:00

Jetta, how I love your logic.

I love how you want our new baby to be a girl because if we have a playdate with your friend Kyle (who’s mom just had a boy) the babies won’t get mixed up.

I love the time and effort you’ve put into planning the menu of our play/dinner date for this Wednesday. After much consideration, you choose pizza, the bottoms of asparagus, and green grapes…”Mom, the grapes must been green because he’s a boy”… (Yes Jetta, I guess green grapes are much more appropriate for a boy than the purple grapes I usually buy)

I hope your unique thoughts and the logic behind them never cease! You bring so much entertainment to our world.

Our Fabulous Four...

2010-04-15T10:42:00.000-07:00

We are still adjusting to the concept and reality of 4 kiddos.

The laundry and schedule organization is out of control, but the joy and life they bring to our lives makes it all worth it.

GUNNER VANCE (6.5 yrs)

JETTA WEDNESDAY (4.5 yrs)

STEVENSON (4 yrs)

WYLIE PATIENCE (1 yr)

Introducing WYLIE DOHRENWEND

2010-04-13T13:28:00.000-07:00

She finally has a name!

"What doesn't kill you makes you stronger"

2010-04-11T09:37:00.000-07:00

This has been my mantra for the past couple of weeks. It resonated especially loud my trip home from Ethiopia, as I was stuffing our brand-new daughter's brand-new coming home outfit down Delta's lavatory garbage chute... only 2 hours into our 24 hour journey back to the US she had one of those massive diaper blowouts. I repeated my mantra again, each hour as a wrapped our diarrhea soaked little one in the scratchy airline blanket, shuffled my seven-month puffy exhausted body to the back of the plane (hoping that the only bathroom with a baby changing station was free) and prayed that my patience (and my diaper supply) would hold us through.

Fortunately, her sweet little face helped with my patience levels and the free Delta diapers on board worked well, despite the fact that they were newborn size and I had to tape two together to cover our little girls booty.

In a nutshell...yes, the trip was rough. While I wouldn't normally recommend flying 1/2 way across the country at seven months pregnant with a brand new one-year old...I must admit that the bonding that our new little one and I experienced was well worth the hardships. By day three she was cooing, babbling, and snuggling up to me at night. I have no doubt that being able to give her my full attention for 24/7 definitely helped us bond before introducing her to the rest of the family.

And when the time finally came to reunite as a family I was ready ready ready to see Paul and the other kiddos. Despite our smelly, bedbug bitten, desperately worn out bodies, everyone greeted us with hugs and smiles.

The reunion was bliss and I thought how funny it was that our family grew for a second time at the San Diego International Airport.

My promise to Paul was to come home with one baby in my belly and one in my arms. Promise kept. Thanking God for that!

When the machine breaks

2010-04-03T02:00:00.000-07:00

Ok when we had two kids we thought we knew how to keep life within the system. The system being how we keep chaos from occuring and thus winding up in bed in time to get 8-9 hours of sleep. Routines ruled the machine, bedtimes, school drop offs, etc. The same principles apply to 4 kids and probably five except you have to incorporate Ford's manufacturing philosophy and make sure you have a strong line for making lunches, dressing kids, doing baths. If all parts of the machine are healthy the goal of us getting into bed and the house reset from the days trauma is achieved. Tonight that machine broke, but luckily we had help from visitng family. It broke because Gunner had a melt down after we tucked him in over a sentence he wrote in school that the teacher erased. "i wrote the letters so good and the teacher erased it." The worst of it was he was crying by himself and I saw it when I opened his door to check that he wasnt upsided down in his bed or with his reading light searing his forehead as he lay in his typical bizarre sleep positions. So heartbreaking. So add 45 minutes for crisis negotiation. Donica spiked a fever, that takes one major cog in the machine out. Not that much else needed to happen to cause a problem but then I found out I had to work the overnight shift with no sleep. Machine completely broken. Tomorrow the pieces will be picked up.

For all you with kids that dance to Beyonce

2010-03-31T21:03:00.002-07:00

We are HOME!!

2010-03-29T21:59:00.000-07:00

A Taste of Spring Break

2010-03-24T23:03:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we kicked it at the beach with a crew of kids. It was a great warm up for summer!

And our family grows again...

2010-03-16T20:43:00.000-07:00

I don't think I've fully processed the fact that...

I leave for Ethiopia on MONDAY (!) to pick up the little girl we are adopting!

Though our original plan was always to adopt two little ones; it was also our plan to space out the arrival of our adopted kids.

However, I've since learned that the 'World of Adoption' does not follow its members timelines, wishes, or plans...

There are so many unknowns. For us, the only way to get through is to trust God's plan and timing. However, this has been one of our greatest challenges over the past 2.5 years...

There have been many:
-sleepless nights worrying that Stevenson will grow up in an Orphanage
-freak outs about bringing a 1 year old into a 'transitioning' family of 3 kids
-hours trying to wrap my head around the fact that we spaced out our adoptions by 1.5 years, BUT the kids are coming home within 8 weeks of each other!

But overall- we do feel blessed that we are able to adopt two kids-- it's been a dream for so long. Now, we are just tying to catch our breath long enough to get amped up for little girl #2!

ONE OF OUR FIRST REFERRAL PICTURES IN DECEMBER 2009

FEBRUARY 2010

Freshies!!

2010-03-11T22:47:00.000-08:00

Here is a sample of this weeks ski adventure.

2010 Last Run, maybe

2010-03-10T12:51:00.000-08:00

Here is my last run. I abide by the rule "you got to be there to get it" with Mammoth. Even though a dump wasnt predicted it turned into one of the best days ever.

Mammoth Memories

2010-03-10T07:06:00.000-08:00

"We got a 10-83, We got a 10-83 on Stevenson!" the supervisor of the Wollyworld Ski Center says into the walkie talkie, ironically after I posted on twitter that all kids were accounted for.

I took the three kids up to Mammoth from 3-6 to 3-9. We had a blast! Stevenson experienced snow for the first time. His reaction was laughter at the site of a world of white until he touched it. Haitians hate being cold. They hate cold food. And Stevenson did not like how cold it felt and tried desperately to get the stuff of his hand screaming "Wye." Because of this he adamanatly wanted gloves on before leaving the condo. I skied with Gunner and found out alot about him. At 6 he is a tough kid, a fun kid, and a sweet kid. He is improving so quickly and is thrilled with skiing a double black. One day it was storming and we were in some heinous conditions, but still no tears and he held up a great attitude. Chocolate milk in the lodge fixes everything. Jetta was not digging skiing but dug the daycare, so she played, and played and played. Stevenson was his curious athletic self and took to skiing well. He skis like Ingmar Stenmark with his legs together, and dont try and tell him to ski otherwise. Its not stable but he has style.

As a treat to the kids we did reversed dinners : ben and jerrys after skiing followed by dinner. Kids eat more dinner this way suprisingly.

At the end of the last day I was collecting the kids between 2 buildings Wolly World and Daycare. Both buildinga have front and back exits. At one point I had Jetta and Gunner looking for Stevensons. Stevensons instructor was taking him out the back of the building looking for us. As we were entering the front they would leave the back. This happened at wolly world and at daycare and there was a moment in time where either party couldnt find each other. I grabbed the supervisor to help find him and she was caught in the loop. After not finding him at 2 locations she called the 10-83 which freaked me out. But with in 1 second of the alarm the instructor said she had him and we all met up safe.

NOLA: Michelle & Doug's wedding!!

2010-03-01T20:51:00.000-08:00

We had an amazing time at Paul's sister's wedding in New Orleans...

Witnessing two people that we love, join together as husband and wife touched our hearts. In addition, there was spectacular food, amazingly excited family members greeting Stevenson with open arms, and a few kid-free hours at the reception (we relished the reality of being able to enjoy a complete conversation without constantly scanning the premises for our three kids)!

We also learned a few things about traveling cross country, to a much more "liberal" city, with 3 little ones...

1. Have excuses handy for the MANY times your 4.5 year old daughter may beg to go into the "Barbie" stores on Bourbon Street ("Jetta, I know there are pretty ladies, and colorful lights, and lots of fun looking toys, but we're running late. Look, look, look up at the beautiful blue sky, do you see any birds up there?? Here's my purse...I think there's a piece of gum in there with your name on it! Can you find it?!")

2. Don't leave your newly adopted non-English-speaking-four year-old in a bathroom stall alone...even if you're right outside the stall. He will lock you out...he won't understand you when you tell him to unlock the door..you will have to crawl underneath the stall door in your rehersal dinner dress- it doesn't matter that you're six months pregnant.

3. Dont' schedule a layover shorter than 1/2 an hour...you may miss your connection, be put on a later flight, and assigned FIVE middle seats. It would be a nightmare trying to negotiate & plead with other passengers to give up their isles and windows...(I know you prefer an isle Mr. 29C, but do YOU want to deal with a non-English speaking 4 year-old who just may have an accident if/when he falls asleep!!)

4. Bring pullups for the plane! (Don't forget to factor in plane-napping...)

5. Enjoy the positive multi-cultural attention...Enjoy random people from various ethnic backgrounds approaching you and telling you how beautiful your family is...Don't wonder if they thought you were just an annoying white family before?!

6. Ignore the negative...If your Haitian child races down the plane isle- a bit too rambunctiously, and the flight attendant asks rhetorically, "Where is that kids MOTHER!" smile, take credit, and watch her squirm.

7. Fly direct (see #3)

8. Keep 'bribery items' on your person at all times (lollys, gum, etc.)(see #1)

9. Pay the $6 per kids for individual in flight entertainment. So worth it!

10. Hire someone to fold the 6 loads of laundry that resulted from the trip (We love you Maria!)

And finally...

11.Try not to think about how hard traveling will be when the next adopted child comes home.

12. Try really, really hard not to think about how hard life will be when you have a newborn.

p.s. bring your camera charger!!!!
(you may not be able to download pics onto your blog b/c your camera is dead)

Dance-Off 2010

2010-02-23T20:21:00.000-08:00

Oh Stevenson, please don't hold the fact that some members of your new family are rhythmically challenged, against us.

Maybe one day Gunner will retire his 'seizure-dance' and be open to some or your moves. Until then...the music will be on and the video camera rolling.

(Sorry dear children, this stuff is too good not to be shown at sweet 16's, graduations, weddings etc...Love, Mom & Dad)

It's over been 3 (!) weeks since Stevenson's arrival...

2010-02-14T20:23:00.000-08:00

We are still exhausted and adjusting...but we continue to feel so blessed that this new little guy is now, and forever will be, a part of our family.

Here are a few highs and lows:

Our Highlights
1. A quote from Jetta: "Having Stevenson here is like having a playdate all the time!"
2. Attachment progress: Stevenson is snuggling and seeming to attach well: He's calling us 'mama' and 'papa', lets us comfort him, etc.
3. Sibling bonding: G, J, & S have so much fun jumping, pillow fighting, bicycle riding, building forts, watching movies, playing kitchen...until jealously issues (from Jetta) or rough-housing issues (Stevenson) arrrise....
4. He has the cutest sense of humor and an amazing sense of rhythm. The second he hears music he's clapping, dancing, and showing some of the more rythmically challenged members of our family how it is DONE!

And Our Challenges
1. Disciplining: It's been challenging; his attitude can turn on a dime, he trows toy, kicks, and spits when he's angry or frustrated
2. Language barrier: Now that he's more comfortable he'll ramble on and on and then ask some sort of question in Creole, cock his head, look at us with an 'I just asked you a question face', and wait for our reply. We either just repeat what he said or say "oui" ... he must think we're total idiots...
3. Lack of trust: Its hard to go anywhere by myself with the three of them b/c Stevenson BOLTS if he gets upset, angry, or frustrated. And he's fast, way faster than my out-of-shape 6 month pregnant self!
4. Administering meds: One would think we were torturing him by the fit he throws when we try to administer a tablespoon full of meds! Paul deals with forcing meds on unwilling kids in the ER all the time and last night even he couldn't get the meds down. We may have to resort to daily injections...fun!

But despite the challenges, we love the little guy and are taking it a day at a time as we bond and grow as a family. Thanks again everyone for your thoughts and prayers...they really made, and continue to make, a difference!!

It has been an amazing & exhausting 2 weeks...

2010-02-07T20:17:00.000-08:00

but fortunately, we’ve had some time to bond as a family of five, reflect on the devastation resulting from the earthquake in Haiti, and recount the many miracles that resulted in our little guy being placed in Paul’s arms on January 21st at the US Embassy in Port-au-Prince.

I’ll let Paul post the details…he’s writing it up so that we never forget just how amazing Stevenson’s homecoming story really is.

Until then, here are some pics…

Firsts....

2010-01-26T09:16:00.000-08:00

Stevenson's Homecoming: SD Airport

2010-01-23T14:55:00.000-08:00

Port-au-Prince, Haiti

2010-01-23T06:25:00.000-08:00

Aid arriving

Paul's flight into Port-au-Prince

US Embassy with Stevenson!!!

Military Cargo flight out

Paul's experience in PAP, Haiti

2010-01-23T06:20:00.000-08:00

Destruction

Paul's bed the first night in Haiti

Used for amputation

Our Happy Ending...as captured by San Dieog Local News8 & 10News

2010-01-23T05:55:00.000-08:00

http://strongmail.real.com/track?t=c&mid=701&msgid=407&did=1256773177&sn=1244659862&eid=dcdpbd@gmail.com&uid=93493&extra=&&&2001&&&http://www.10news.com/news/22319634/detail.html

http://strongmail.real.com/track?t=c&mid=701&msgid=407&did=1256773177&sn=1244659862&eid=dcdpbd@gmail.com&uid=93505&extra=&&&2001&&&http://www.cbs8.com/Global/story.asp?S=11868323

OUR BOY IS COMING HOME!!!!

2010-01-21T19:51:00.000-08:00

He is, he is, he really is!!!

I've waited so long to say those words.

Thanking God for this tremendous blessing...a blessing among many other blessings, but also among many other unthinkable tragedies.

Haiti is now, and forever will be, in our heart. It is more that just another country, it is part of our family now...part of our family tree and our family culture. I feel honored, proud and excited to be part of Haiti and especially honored, proud, and excited to start the journey as a mom to our little Stevenson.

Haiti Update

2010-01-20T20:28:00.001-08:00

Paul made it to PAP by private jet and hooked up with Heartline Ministries. They took him under their wing and are going to assist him with processing kids at the US Embassy tomorrow.

Paul still cannot get in touch with Marie, our O. director, so he does not know where Stevenson is (either Cayes or PAP).

Pray that tomorrow he can get Stevenson and other children processed and escort them home!!

I am too protective of my heart to get too excited, even though everything is moving in the right direction...

but I do have FAITH that everything will work out...

Our San Diego News 8 Interview

2010-01-20T04:14:00.000-08:00

http://www.cbs8.com/global/category.asp?c=155799&clipId=&topVideoCatNo=149659&topVideoCatNoB=155712&topVideoCatNoC=155713&topVideoCatNoD=155710&topVideoCatNoE=155711&clipId=4472482&flvUri=&partnerclipid=&topVideoCatNo=0&autoStart=true&activePane=info&LaunchPageAdTag=homepage&clipFormat=flv

Update

2010-01-19T09:42:00.000-08:00

Thank you everyone for your thoughts and inquiries over that past few days. Here is the latest...

Paul left for Les Cayes, Haiti today. He and 2 other doctors and a nurse from Kaiser along with a crew from Ft. Lauderdale, are flying on a chartered flight sponsored by International Humanitarian Aid Foundation (www.ihaf.us).

They are expected to arrive in Les Cayes Wednesday afternoon and will begin working at the local hospital and “tent city” and outdoor triage and treatment area. (Due to the devastation in Port-au-Prince, patients are being brought over to Cayes, a city about 85 miles southwest of PAP, for medical treatment.)

Regarding our adoption:

On Jan. 18, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano, in coordination with the U.S. Department of State (DOS), announced a humanitarian parole policy in regards to pending Haitian adoptions.

Currently, no formal strategy has been placed to get the children out, but things change every few hours, so we should know more by the time Paul is in Haiti. He is bringing copies of our adoption paperwork (though most was destroyed in PAP) and if he receives clearance, he may be able to bring Stevenson home and perhaps escort other children as well. This is our prayer!!

Also, an interview that Paul and I had yesterday will be aired on San Diego local news 8 tonight at 5pm. And I just did a second interview with SanDiego 10News, airing at 7pm. Hopefully getting the word out and getting the kids home!!

I’ll keep you posted…

Donica (& Paul)

Adoption Update

2010-01-18T18:24:00.001-08:00

The Dept. of State has made a formal statement approving humanitarian parole visas for children in pending adoptions!!

Pray that we qualify!

Paul leave tomorrow for Les Cayes for a medical mission and to FIND STEVENSON AND POSSIBLE ESCORT HIM & OTHERS HOME!

Words can't describe how anxious we are...

For those who want to help....

2010-01-14T22:30:00.000-08:00

below is a Paypal link to assist our son's orphanage.

http://pachaitifund.bbnow.org/index.php

We have received word that the children of PAC (both in Port-au-Prince and Les Caye) are safe. During the aftershocks the nannys and children slept in the streets, as all were fearful of more building destruction.

Currently, the Orphanage director, Marie France Simon, is working diligently to keep our children safe and healthy, but this is a growing challenge as food and fresh water are becoming more scarce.

My family, my friends in the adoptive community, and officials from the Joint Council on International Children's Services are pleading with the US Department of State to grant refuge visas for all children who are in the process of adopting. We are requesting this from a humanitarian perspective because of the imminent and growing need to house newly orphaned children. Currently all of the Orphanages are filled to capacity...without exits, children who lost their parents as a result of the devastation will have no where to go.

Pray with us for REFUGE VISA for all children currently in the adoption process!

On another personal note, my mom- who was in Haiti on a mission trip at the time of impact- is safely on her way to JFK. Her group was rescued yesterday by a humanitarian aid flight and brought to the Bahamas. Their guesthouse in Haiti collapsed, but thank God, they were not in it at the time...

More details as soon as I speak to her.

Happy 4th!!

2010-01-05T10:08:00.000-08:00

We pray every day for you to come home...
Paul, Donica, Gunner & Jetta

NY, NJ, CT Christmas: Highlights

2010-01-01T21:02:00.000-08:00

The kids indoor/outdoor snowball fight... b/c Jetta wouldn't get out of her snuggie

NYC Lehigh girls kiddos...

Christmas #1 with Grandma D, Shelly & Doug

Christmas party #2 with Whitmans

Christmas party #3 with family friends

Another Christmas morning with Grandma & Grandpa C

Thank you Paul...

2009-12-13T18:02:00.000-08:00

...for keeping the kiddos by your side as I wallow in nausea and exhaustion.

(I'm not even going to express my concern about you letting them play on random machinery...or sit on your shoulders over an open flame)

But seriously, thank you...AND thank you Grandpa C for letting Gunner work aside you in the early mornings during your visit!

My really really really good excuse for being a blog-slacking, moody, antisocial, highly-emotional, exhausted wife & mom…

2009-12-07T09:49:00.000-08:00

We are super excited to announce that we have another little one due in June!

Though not part of our ORIGINAL plan of 2 bio and 2 adopted kids… after an especially frustrating few months of adoption delays, we decided it was ‘now or never’ to try for another.

It’s been over 4 years since I was last pregnant and I forget just how sucky all the first trimester symptoms are. Aside from my wonderfully hands-on and helpful husband…. drive-thrus, Blockbuster, and frozen kid dinners have truly been lifesaving. We’ve frequented McD’s so often that we now have to ask for alternative toys in the Happy Meals (as in, “we were here yesterday and already have the pink My Little Pony, can you see if you have a purple one”).

But it gets better, right?? And of course, we know it’s totally worth it…at least Paul and I think so. The kids have expressed some other thoughts on the matter.

Gunner exclaimed that he would prefer if Stevenson could come home instead and Jetta declared that she only likes “fake babies”. When asked if she would share some of her toys, she stated that the baby could only play with the toys that were broken or that she no longer wanted.

Oh boy…this should be interesting.

Halloween 09

2009-11-02T09:47:00.000-08:00

Pinkalicious & the Mummy

Why Jetta will be sleeping in our bed for a month...

2009-09-21T12:56:00.000-07:00

This weekend was our first time ever trip to Disney as a family. We waited until Paul and Gunner’s birthday to take advantage of the ‘free on your birthday Disney special’, and we figured 4 and 6 were the perfect ages for the experience.

Perhaps for Gunner it was…but Jetta was freaked out nearly the entire time. By the time we were on the third ride (Alice in Wonderland, Mr. Toad’s, Pooh’s) she had her hands over ears and she was rocking back and forth saying “it’s not real, it’s not real, it’s not real” over and over again…

At that point we decided ‘no more rides’, so we made our way towards the princesses castle…when Jetta spied it, her eyes lit up; she relaxed and become super excited and giddy…until we actually went inside the cold and narrow, pitch black castle hallways with little windows depicting the Snow While story (with heavy emphasis on the Evil aspects)…freaked out again, poor girl.

Oh, and the evil Queen from Snow While just happened to be the one Disney character we crossed paths with on the Enchanted Pathway.

Despite the challenges, we stayed until the Fantasmic show (by which point Jetta was in her stroller with a blanket over her head).

DESPITE these challenges, we are hitting up Disney again, and next time we are determined to have an amazing Disney experience… either we are going with more of a kid-friendly (or scaredy-kid friendly) agenda...or waiting until the little one grows out of some fears…

P.S. There were highlights for the little J…

She had ½ of a frozen lemonade…(the other ½ melted into the stroller when we left it to ride Alice).

And she decompressed the next morning at the mini-pirate ship water park at the Ho Jo...who would've though there would be more fun had at a Howard Johnson...

Another Joint B-day Bash

2009-09-06T20:55:00.000-07:00

4 & 6!!!

I wasn't sure the kids would want to do a joint party again this year...we actually tried to talk them into Disney in lieu of a party, but either they wanted to celebrate with their friends or they had too many toys on their wishlist, because they both opted for a big pinata-bashing, gift-giving, cupcake-eating fiesta...

And so it was...

and it was the best!

And the toys...oh the toys...a spin-art maker, a mad science kit, a slip-n-slid, and Operation!! OPERATION! One of my favorites from when I was their age...Personally, I think the kids made the correct birthday celebrating option!

Whats New????

2009-08-31T21:08:00.000-07:00

A LOT!!!

In the past 48 hours our familiy has had some pretty amazing experiences...not all of equal importance, but each super significant in its own way...

1)Paul's baptism...down at Mission Bay and it was amazing! And he wore his "Gunner" shirt from medschool- a shirt that he and his buddies wore long before our Gunner was even on the horizon

2)Gunner's first day of Kindergarden...he was super psyched and I managed to hold back the tears (yay!) with a little help from my next-door-best-friend who was dropping of her FIRST(!)grader

3)Jetta's fourth birthday at Chucky Cheese...(AKA Chucky Grime) or as my friend says, "the only restaurant that chooses to have a rat for its mascot"

oh, and we finally got my mom hooked up with video chat and she was able to watch Jetta open the gift she sent...PRICELESS!

Paul's countdown

2009-08-22T14:28:00.000-07:00

Countdown to 4.
Day 10: Yesterday we went for cupcakes at Cupcake Love (obviously Jetta can appreciate this kind store)
Day 9: Late night swimming at Bergstroms and holding her own with the two boys

9 more days of 3

2009-08-22T12:20:00.000-07:00

Jetta has only 9 more days of being 3...
This is bittersweet, b/c we all LOVED the Jetta 3,

We loved how the 2-year-old frustrations declined but the cuddling increased.

We loved how she was big enough to dress herself but small enough to be propped on a hip.

We loved watching her independence bloom but also watching her come hurling towards us with open-arms every time we came home (even the 5 min milk runs).

We loved her special shelf on her bookcase where she arranged and re-arranged all of her "treasures"...daily.

We loved how she could curl up in the tiniest ball on your lap.

We loved her insatiable appetite for yogurt and her sugar seeking ability.

One day in the car when Paul and I were recapping similar jetta 3isms she exclaimed, "Mom and Dad, 4 is going to be great too!"

Yes we know, I'm sure we will love 4...

But we're holding on tight to these final 9 days of 3.

Apparently we are a 2-cat family...

2009-08-19T11:23:00.000-07:00

I though we could be a 4-cat family, Paul hoped that we could be a 4-cat family, the kids wished that we could be a 4-cat family….BUT our alpha male Jags was pretty sure we were a 2-cat family, and he made his decision crystal clear by “marking” his territory…one time missing the new Persian rug by 2 inches. ahhhhh!

OK, time to find the kittens a new home.

After 100’s of flyers, 2 craigslist ads, a few email chains, and many prayers…

We got the call from the most amazing family who had just had to put their much-loved cat down. They just got back from a week long vacation during which they morned the loss of their cat and decided that when they returned that they would look for new kitties…

Amazingly, when the family returned they checked their email to find 2 forwarded messages about our kittens…one that originated from Paul’s work email and one that was forwarded from our friend Rick’s law firm!

We all felt it was meant to be…so after many kitty kisses and one last squeeze from Gunner and Jetta… I drove them off to the cutest craftsman home in to North Park.

The family got introduced and fell in love, exclaiming how much Thunder looked like their old cat. The kitties acclimated nicely and with a huge sigh of releive, I returned home to our 2-cat family and a very happy Jags.

Welcome to your new home kitties!!

What a differnce a week makes

2009-08-05T19:08:00.000-07:00

A lot can happen in a week, and this Paul-free week was particularly action packed.
Some of it good, some bad, some ugly…

The Good
Gunner and Jetta are finally learning to swim! Gunner is actually doing the crawl instead of the ‘struggling doggy-paddle’! Jetta’s following suit and doing few feet of mini-underwater swimming!

The Sort-of Bad
Jetta has resumed her nightly habit of crawling into our bed in the middle of the night. She’s a squirmer, so Paul and I had to bread this habit in order to get a good night sleep. Not sure he’ll be too happy about her resuming this behavior, but I have to admit that nothing is sweeter than waking up next to a sleepy-head 3 year old!

The Really Bad
I just found out that we need to do a homestudy “update” for our adoption…and after receiving the paperwork, I now understand that “update” really means completing an entire new homestudy.

This paperchasing will be a huge hassle and adds insult to injury in this crazy long process. (Not to mention the additional $1,400)

The Ugly
Ill let the picture speak for itself….

To make a long story short, I ripped out the family room carpet last night due to a bleached and toxic mishap resulting from my not-so-bright idea of trying to get out cat pee with oxy (still smelled), enzyme cleaner (still smelled), weak bleach mixture (still smelled), and finally stronger bleach mixture (smell gone/ rug bleached/toxic fumes).

After reading online about the dangers of chemical mixing…and realizing my pee-eliminating concoction is slowly seeping into the floor and continuing to bleach the carpet and toxify the house …I got down on hands and knees and ripped, ripped, ripped....

The kids thought I went crazy (“mommy, what are you doing to our carpet?”), but it was surprisingly easy and somewhat satisfying.

Luckily, Paul has no access to the internet on his Outward Bound trip, so can’t read this… and by the time he comes home on Friday, he’ll have missed us so much that he won’t even notice….

Surviving

2009-08-04T17:13:00.000-07:00

Paul is away for 8 days...8 long-kid-filled-mom-exhausting days, so by the time 8pm rolls around I am D-O-N-E done. I do the obligatory 3 books, prayers, goodnight kisses, then I shut their door, sprint to my bed, grab the remote, and relish the next few hours of kid-free, mind-numbing tv. Since my kids don't need the 12-14 hrs of sleep that the lucky mom's kids need, they will be up till at least 9:30...but I don't care, because I'm done. So I turn up "Jon & Kate Plus 8" to drown out the kid circus going on in their room and enjoy my 'kid recovery time'.

Since I'm four nights into this routine, I know what I will face the next morning...

BUT, I don't care...it's totally worth it!

Missing Stevenson

2009-07-31T20:24:00.000-07:00

I thought he’d be here by now…I really did.

This November will be the two year mark from when our paperwork arrived in Haiti…
(that sentence was even hard to write).

This summer has been particularly hard…G & J have been having so much fun; fun that should have been shared with another little brother….

Milestones are also hard …holidays…birthdays… our annual tri-family vacation…and so are random Tuesdays when Paul is off and we spend the day together, BBQing, trampolining, and lounging in the hot tub.

Though we are frustrated, sad, and hurt…we will not give up this fight or lose faith that we will get our little guy home….

Soooo, come ON people (Haitian office officials, USCIS, Orphanage directors)…lets get our act together and move our paperwork on through!

9th annual tri-family vacation: Park City, Utah

2009-07-27T12:00:00.000-07:00

We love you Park City and your amazing hiking, watersliding, golfing, fishing, wakesurfing, wakeboarding, and other outdoor family-bonding, kid-tiring, adventure-filled opportunities...

We one day hope to have a house of our own to continue said activities with ALL willing family and friends!

Thank you, thank you, thank you...see you in on the slopes!!

Big brother Jags

2009-07-18T21:23:00.000-07:00

The kittens are no longer confined to the study and for most of the day they have the run of the house...they are thrilled little explorers romping around being cute, but also quite bold... they chase the older cats tails, steal food off the kids plates, and occationally Thunder snuggles up to Jags despite Jag's ears down you're-annoying-me glares.

Land of good food and amazingly good nieces

2009-07-02T05:59:00.000-07:00

Our 2nd annual trip to Marquette was blast, especially since we got to chill with our TWO latest editions….our beautiful brand new niece and our soon-to-be brother in law who is soon to be a west coaster (yay!).

We love this growing Dohrenwend crew...here are some highlights…

The traveling pickle! Seating for 10 cannot be beat…thanks Pete!

Crafty gifts to keep the kids entertained for hours….thanks Amber!

The kids new catchy phrase, which was sung the entire week…“Fishin’ in Michigan”

Another soon-to-be uncle to play practical jokes on

Kickin’ it shirtless and tattooed on the front porch

Thanks to all...until next time...

Snail goo

2009-06-20T12:56:00.000-07:00

Paul drank the "snail goo experiment"...

the kids had just brought their "experiment" inside because the lawn mowers (or 'mow lawners', as Jetta calls them) were coming. They had just finished mixing up spices (rocks/dirt/sand) broth (water/ice/blue food coloring) and snail goo (dead snail remains)...

poor Paul saw that Kool-aidy looking iced beverage and took a swig...

and yes he almost vomited when we told him what was inside.

First meetings

2009-06-17T12:10:00.000-07:00

After a few days of hissing, puffy fur, and grrrrrrs...the cats are finally able to cohabitate nicely in one room...

at least until Jags, the ever-alpha, has decided he has had enough of the rambunctious tail chasing kittens, and bolts with a final hiss.

Eva is less interested and leave the little ones alone.

Sooooo, all is well, but I still can't believe we have 4 cats. I hope I don't turn into one of those weird cat ladies...

Names

2009-06-13T09:42:00.000-07:00

The kittens were named on the car ride home from picking them up. We allowed the kids got to come up with names, but explained that Mom and Dad had veto power...

Gunner's first choices:
1-Black Ant (vetoed)
2- Catfish (vetoed)
3- "ok Mom and Dad, this is my last and final name and you have to say 'yes'....Thunder!" (oh, ok, approved)

Jetta's choice:
1- Kitty Meow (vetoed)
2- Kitty Meow (vetoed)
3- Kitty Meow (vetoed)

Not fully grasping the power of the parental veto, Jetta continues to call the little Eva look-a-like kitty 'Kitty Meow'....

As of today, almost a week later, 'Kitty Meow' has stuck.

I feel like every time I tell someone what the cats name is, I'm going to have to explain..."well, my daughter named her, she was only 3 at the time...."

Gunner graduates Preschool!!

2009-06-10T19:19:00.000-07:00

So many thoughts, so much emotion...I think Paul expressed it best in the letter he wrote to Gunner for a pre-school project...

"Congratulations Gunner!

Gunner, Mom and Dad are watching you graduate from pre-school and we are so proud of you. We are wonderfully amazed by you and all that you have learned during the past 3 years. When you started you had short hair, were much smaller, and you wore pajamas to school (or at least insisted). You barely knew numbers and letters but Miss Jennifer was your teacher and gave you a great foundation. Miss Wendy took you through your letters and helped you put them into words and taught you how to count and use numbers. Today after a wonderful year with Miss Norma you are reading! writing! and doing math! We love that you love school and get so much out of it. We sometimes just want to press the pause button on life and soak up the moments but like all kids, the batteries are fully charged and your switch is on. We will encourage you in whatever direction you take us as you pursue your passions. This year was marked by K'nex building and you showed your class about every creation for show and tell. This was a great moment for us as we had no idea you would be so enthusiastic about building these things. Thanks Miss Norma for letting him bring a small city worth of K'Nex into the classroom. Because this is such a cool day, we will take lots of pictures and video so one day you can see where it all began. We love you. You rock. You are ready for kindergarten!

Love

Mom, Dad, Jetta."

A new car and 2 kitties!

2009-06-08T20:33:00.000-07:00

Last night we drove to Canyon Lake to check out a used Suburban...While Paul test drove, the kids and I went into the owners home. Upon entering the house we were swarmed by Bengal cats....almost 10 of them. The homeowner explained how she breeds Bengals and then told us a "funny" story about how their female Bengal escaped while in heat and had a little too much fun with a neighborhood ally. The owner was clearly upset at her Bengal mommas mating decision... NOW she was stuck with the five little halfbreeds. Which she promptly brought down from her master bathroom.

Just then Paul walked into the house and the owner turns to Paul and says "2 kittens come with the car". Paul spied a little tuxedo kitten that looked just like Jags. And unbelievable to me, he replied, "OK". So the kids go nuts with excitement and we leave with two kittens. A mini Jags and a mini Eva.

Currently they are in the study as we sloooooowly aclimate them to our beloved 8 year old cats.....

Fun with Mom v. Dad

2009-06-04T13:28:00.000-07:00

Admittedly, I'm more of a homebody than Paul, so when I have to work and he has kid duty each Tuesday, he opts for way cool outdoorsy stuff like Legoland...

and strawberry picking...

When the kids are mine, I usually hang around home and see what fun stuff 5229 has to offer....this week it was harvesting Gunner's first radishes (grown from a seed!)...

and making shoes out of leftover waterballoons...(totally their idea)

Kid's 2nd annual trip to Land of Make Believe, Hope NJ

2009-05-23T16:40:00.000-07:00

Mom, Katrina, and I had so much fun taking Gunner and Jetta to a place I remember going as a child...

Roller Coaster anticipation

The Sweet Tooth is in Heaven!!!

Lehigh girls & our kiddos

2009-05-20T12:43:00.000-07:00

My college roommate's daughter, Anika and Jetta...immediate best buds...

Cheers to more NY pizza...

Bulls, Bears, People from Connecticut...

2009-05-17T16:38:00.000-07:00

We're four days into our trip back east and we've already visited with all of our immediate Dohrenwend relatives....
most in person, and a few via google chat.

The kids are also having a blast exploring Grandma D's house....finding Michelles old 80's Rocker Barbie , playing with Grandma's magnifying glass, and trying to catch the elusive Siamese Chocolate Face...

We are looking forward to continue the adventures tomorrow in NYC...

Why this Mother's day rocked....

2009-05-10T20:46:00.000-07:00

1.Paul rallied after an overnight shift to take us out to a forgotten favorite Thai restaurant, and….

2.We ate an entire meal with no spills, no dirty looks from the staff, and only a minimal amount of food on the floor…this is huge for us!

3.The kids amazingly self-entertained while Paul and I chilled in the backyard and read the paper (well actually we read In Touch, which was a gift from Paul because it had the “Jon and Kate plus 8” storyline which we debated earlier in the week)

4.We watched Madagascar II, as a family, in its entirety, on our somewhat obnoxiously huge but amazing new TV (and for an encore, we got to watch our two rhythmically challenged kids dance to it’s theme song “I Like To Move It”).

5.We realized that we don’t have that ‘my hands are so full’ feeling about our kids anymore...which led us to realize how more than ever we want our adopted kids home.

6.AND while on the subject of adoption, we talked about what a miracle it is that the additional paperwork that the USCIS requested WILL reach the Embassy in Haiti by its due date (on Monday)!

Humorous imperfections (?)

2009-05-04T15:15:00.000-07:00

At this stage in the parenting game, Paul and I are pretty confident that we’re got the whole thing down…but occasionally, we have our slip-ups as two events from this week clearly illustrate…

1.Jetta stuck on the banister while I’m showering…dressing…drying my hair…and constantly replying “Jetta, I’m upstairs, if you need something you need to come get me” as she repeated calls out “mom, mom, mom” at three minute intervals.

2. Gunner, the morning after he lost his first tooth, excitedly running into our bedroom with his glow-in-the-dark tooth holder…only to open it up and curiously question why his tooth is still inside. (For this one, Paul gets the blame. While he did manage to bring money upstairs, he somehow forgot to fill the awaiting tooth holder)

Sorry kids, we love you to pieces and hope our imperfections will make for funny stories in the future!

The joys of a 3 year old...

2009-04-23T15:01:00.000-07:00

Whenever I see the two kids in this position, in this specific place in our backyard...

I know exactly what they're up to... and it has nothing to do with spying something interesting in the canyon.

This is why I know....
When Gunner was little we taught him to pee in the canyon...usually because we were in the hottub or relaxing outside and were too lazy to walk him inside to bathroom.

Unfortunately, this habit stuck and was quickly passed on to little sis.

Now, for some reason, they get a huge kick out of aligning their bladder timelines and heading off to the canyon potty.

Jetta, imparticular, finds it hysterical to wait in line for the potty.

"Look mom, I'm waiting in line....I"M WAITING IN LINE to use the potty!!"

Leave it to a three year old to find it hysterical to wait in line to use the bathroom.

Easter Overkill??

2009-04-13T12:33:00.000-07:00

By the time Easter Sunday rolled around, the kids had already participated in 3 different easter egg hunts....clearly the novelty of egg seeking had worn off because on Sunday they declared that they wanted to hide their own eggs...

Not wanting to be a buzzkill, Paul and I obliged and handed them the candy filled eggs.

One would think that hiding one's own eggs would lessen the genuine excitment during the egg quest...

Oh no.... not for a 3 and 5 year old (or maybe just our 3 and 5 year old?)

During the hunt, they scavenged excitedly around, exclaiming, "Mom, I found one!!!!", "Dad, I just found another by the recycling can!", "Can you guys believe how many we're finding!!!!!"

Better than Jelly Beans

2009-04-12T21:49:00.000-07:00

While we were all looking for beans in eggs Pete and Amber hatched their own. Weighing in at 8lbs and born on Easter - Eleanor Quinn Dohrenwend was born! This means that Gunner and Jetta's first cuz enters this world. Now "whats up cuz?" is totally legit and will be used often on video chats with her (in 2 yrs). We are so happy for Pete and Amber and congratulate them on this wonderful day.

March Family Highs.....(and one Low)

2009-04-05T20:40:00.000-07:00

Grandpa: chilling with the grandkids

Gunner: leaning the concept of having the highest bid on Ebay and enjoying his 1,250 new pieces of K'nex...

Jetta: finding a piece of turkey that looks like a seahorse

and one that looks like a mustache...

Paul: early mornings wakeboard sessions

and one minor low...a washing machine flood soaking three rooms downstairs

Eastcoasters come West

2009-03-25T09:46:00.000-07:00

Aunts, Uncles, Grandparents, Mothers, Daughters, Sisters, Brothers, & Grandkids....
had so much fun together this week...

Thanks to everyone who came out to visit. We love you!!!!!!

Thanks goodness for family and friends...

2009-03-16T16:51:00.000-07:00

who are silly and beautiful and precious and make life so much fun...

What could have been...

2009-03-09T20:51:00.000-07:00

This week was supposed to be a good week.

This was the week we were going to share the news with our extended family and friends about our Ethiopian adoption.

This was the week that we were going to share the fact that a month ago we received the referral of a beautiful little one year old girl.

This was the week that we were going to share the news about how blessed we felt to adopt her and how excited we were that we were scheduled to pick her up in three months.

Unfortunately, we will not be able to share this news because the little girl died.

We don’t know all of the details, but she probably died from a complication from chicken pox.

We are heartbroken and don’t understand why all of these things happen the way they do.

We are mourning the fact that we never got to meet or hold her. We are also sad for all the experiences that could have been.

Even though she was only in our hearts for a month, we loved this little one… Jetta named her Beanna, and this was what we called her as Paul and I said a prayer for her sweet little soul this morning.

The kids benefit from Mom's adoption worry & school procrastination!

2009-03-06T13:12:00.000-08:00

This past week was plagued with sucky adoption news and mounting schoolwork stress...I needed a day OFF from worrying about our adoption file and from my school work soooooo.....

I procrastinated from my school work and consumed my mind with a totally non-necessary but totally fun kid room project. Despite my many hours logged watching HGTV, I rarely take on crafty home projects like this, so I'm super excited it all worked out and it actually resembles the the wall hanging tent I had envisioned!

p.s. I was totally inspired by a round ceiling hanging tent from Land of Nod. I took an old hula hoop, painted it, hung it to the ceiling, and put curtains around it- wall-ah, a perfect kid retreat and book reading nook. And the kids have been sleeping in it for the past 3 nights...precious.

A true family ski day.

2009-02-25T21:41:00.000-08:00

Its official we are now a skiing family and Dad is psyched. Jetta, who we knew had enormous potential, was kept on the sidelines for the past several trips due to weather and she knew it. "why didnt I ski today?" She would ask and we would explain that it was too windy or snowy. She could also just infer from Gunners whinng about why a wind gust is "the worst" that those days were not the right days. But on the last day of this trip the kids wokeup and Jetta noticed it was SUNNY. So as promised we got gear and headed to lessons. She took a few warm up runs with Dad walking her up 20 ft and letting her go. She's a natural. No problem. She next is dropped off at the lesson where we watch her go up the magic carpet ride (conveyer belt of kids) to the top of the 30 foot hill. At the top she crashes and burns and her legs are in some ungodly position not meant for human limbs, but of course she's 3 and legs at that age are like pipe cleaners. No instructor picks her up and we are watching her get hit by another downhill grom. Now its two kids, limbs in directions not thought possible without severe injury (think craziest game of twister ever) and no one is getting em. I just went up the hill, picked her up, and took her out of the lesson. Dad was once an instructor. I could do this. After about 1 hour of picking her up and walking up the hill she had about 150 runs under he belt. A real good season by most standards. She noticed Gunner was on the lift and wanted to go so I said yes, after 2 obligatory "not yets" to make it seem like the chairlift was forbidden fruit, we took her up. Filled with enthusiasm she rides her first lift and we all are together as a family and Jetta says "This is fun!" And for the rest of the day nothing else mattered - we were a ski family.

My husband is hard core...

2009-02-23T10:51:00.000-08:00

Which is great, except for the fact that some members of the family are not…

Today was one of many, where our individual levels of hardcoreness were evident…

Paul, fueled by his excitement of fresh powder, was up at 7am; bundling up kids, gathering skis, poles, boots, gloves, and goggles in an attempt to hit the first powder runs.

Gunner was concerned about the “snow stormy” conditions and reluctant about going out in the wind.

I was wondering in my head if this attempt at skiing was going to last very long.

Despite Paul’s hype and enthusiasm, the nonhardcoreness of certain family members disintegrated the game plan.…

By 9:15am Gunner has shed all ski-related garb and was chilling in the cozy “Bear Den” childcare room surrounded by art supplies and three year olds.

I followed suit, figuring that catching up on school work back at the kid-free condo, might just be more enjoyable than low visibility snow storm snowboarding.

I could tell Paul was slightly disappointed, especially as we passed the 4 year olds in ski school. But, minds were made up.

Dear sweet hardcore husband, if I had anything to do with Gunner's occational softcore ways, I apologize, but hey, guess what? the outlook for Jetta’s and Stevenson’s hardcoreness remains promising …So there hope that one day we'll have a little mini-hardcore you, willing to brave the elements-in every situation, at all times,- whine free!

Anyway, despite our truncated snow day today…last night we romped over to Paul’s co-workers cabin, which had the best sledding hill, longest icicles, and most delicious tasting snow EVER!

Our adoption status...

2009-02-18T13:27:00.000-08:00

Here is the lastest in our quest to get little Stevenson home. (These days I consider it more of a quest than simply a "process")

ON THE US SIDE here is what we have left:

The USCIS did not deny our approval to adopt (I-600 approval)…yet, they simply requested that we “Provide appropriate legal adoption documents indicating that the child has no birth parents”.

Our adoption facilitator and the attorney who works for the Orphanage are currently working on a document that will constitute the “proof” the USCIS is looking for. This document is called “console de familie” (or something like that), which requires that six (yes 6!!!!) members of Stevenson’s maternal relatives to agree that he has no living birth parents and they agree to relinquish him to be adopted.

After this document is submitted we will hopefully get I-600 approval and our file will be transferred to the Adoption Unit of the Consular Section for visa process.

MEANWHILE, ON THE HAITIAN SIDE:
Our file needs to exit the Haitian Ministry of the Interior (MOI) and a Haitian passport must be issued.

So that is our status…

And we are trying not to lose our minds as we anxiously await the day we get “the call” to pick him up. After which, I swear I’m going to be on the next flight to Haiti!

So, please pray for our I-600 approval and the beautiful little visa stamp that will be stuck in Stevenson’s passport, allowing him to get into this amazing (though often administratively challenged in the area of international adoptions) country of ours!

Thank you, Grandmas!!

2009-02-16T20:24:00.000-08:00

We hate that you are so far away, but love the fact that you use this as an opportunity to send FUN MAIL!!

Thank you both, the kids loved their Valentines days surprises!

Holiday Birthdays

2009-02-14T17:27:00.000-08:00

I win. The day selected to honor the day of St Valentine and now the day we go love nuts is also Donica's birthday. Its an obvious win because the whole country reminds me with big hearts that Donica's birhday is coming (thanks Hallmark). So today I celebrate my great wife, I love you, and the day she was born (thanks Carmen and Jim). Her favorite thing to do is go out to dinner to a restaurant that is nice, but not too nice, good food, but laid back, sceney but still off the beaten path, and edgey but not dangerous. Thats a hard ticket to fill. After 4 confirmed and then cancelled reservations I think I got the place. DISH. Im glad I got dinner reservations yesterday.

Stress Release

2009-02-13T11:02:00.000-08:00

In the midst of our stressful adoption situation, we all decided to have a family day and do something fun…the kids voted for Scripps Aquarium so we drove the grueling 10 min down the road (another reason we love S.D.) and had an amazing time exploring the beauty of the ocean.

The squeals of excitement from the kids as they touched a sea cucumber and searched for Nemo and the elusive Lesser Weaver (Gunner’s favorite fish, which he will tell you is “the only fish humans cannot eat because they have a powerful sting”) were just what we all needed.

Even though my original vote was to go furniture shopping, I cherished the day.

p.s. Gunner, next time we will find a real live Lesser Weaver

Who's your Daddy?

2009-02-08T21:25:00.001-08:00

Where did he come from? We know so little already and now know even less after finding out Stevenson's birth certificate father is not a dna match. It makes my head spin thinking about the situation and what may have happened to end up here. No matter what is on paper in Haiti or the results of this test, he has a Dad waiting for him here, hoping.

Crushed

2009-02-06T12:58:00.000-08:00

I just found that the DNA of Stevenson and his “father” did NOT match….

I’m crushed beyond words, I’m not sure what this means for our file, but our adoption coordinator warned us that it could result in a huge delay because of the need for additional paperwork. It has extended other cases in similar circumstances up to year…ugh.

I am trying to stay positive…there are a number of ways the timeframe could be shortened… so I have not lost hope completely that he will be here in/by the summer. But still I am majorly bummed… and hurt… and sad… and a little mad.

I know God placed this adoption on my heart so I am motivated to stay strong until the end, but boy oh boy is that freakin’ tough…

25 Random Things

2009-01-29T16:47:00.001-08:00

So my fellow future adoptive mom friend tagged me on FaceBook and since I have no camera (b/c Paul took it on his backcountry ski trip- which he assures me is not as dangerous as everyone thinks it will be) I can’t post any pictures this week, so I will post my 25 Random Things list here…

Oh, the rules are that you have to post 25 very random things about yourself and ‘tag’ others…

I’m learning so much randomness about my friends, I LOVE it!!!

OK, here goes...

1. My appetite only kicks in when I am in complete equilibrium. I can’t eat if I’m too tired, too hot, too cold, too excited, too sad, too happy, too preoccupied, etc (and it drives my husband crazy)
2. I ONLY wanted a boy for my first child
3. I recently spent waaaaaayyyy too much money on my cat
4. I think I am athletic, but I haven’t played sports in FOREVER
5. I never put the top all the way back on anything in the fridge (this used to drive my mom crazy, now it drives my husband crazy)
6. I NEVER know what to write when it says “hobbies” on an application form
7. Somehow I turned out to be a democrat even though my dad was a conservative republican congressman
8. My sister and I slept our whole lives in the same room even though we had separate ones
9. I think I am addicted to Target
10. I never like to be all alone
11. I love reality TV and have since the Real World in 1991 with Eric Neice
12. In highschool I loved the Grateful Dead, Bob Marley, and Blues Travelers
13. I tried going to boarding school for like a month
14. I pray all the time about Haiti and our adoption file
15. I’m always cold
16. I hated being pregnant but loved labor and delivery
17. I think studying serial killers is fascinating
18. I miss NYC pizza and bagels
19. I’ve been training my kids since they were 9 months old to like sushi
20. I have a love/hate relationship with my minivan
21. I am proud to be from New Jersey
22. I sometimes go to the gym but don’t work out
23. I love fresh avocado on pizza
24. I miss the carefreeness of college
25. I hate odd numbers