6 months!

Amazing! Can't believe that we were united with Jailyn 6 months ago last Sunday! I am still amazed at how easily she has become part of our family! With a lot of prayer God prepared our family for this journey! Jailyn loves her siblings and loves mommy and daddy! She is so fun to play with, but even more fun to just watch as she gets a feeling of overwhelming joy spring through her body and she just runs and hops across the family room and down the hallway giggling! I wonder what she is thinking when she does this - she just looks so happy!
Jailyn loves swimming! Well, being in the water! She spent 2 hours playing in a friends pool on Sunday and only got out because mom made her! Yesterday we caught her taking her stacking cups to Cosmo's (our black lab) water bowl and playing in the water with her cups. This would be okay except for the fear I have of her slipping on the wet tile floor.
Speech is going well! Her therapist said yesterday that she is catching up to be close to her peers in speech. Her articulation will need extra work because of the severity of her cleft. We are still working on getting her to suck. She still drinks from her bottle and sippy cups on the side of her mouth - so that is my new goal to work on this month. Hopefully, we can break her of this habit! She does smack her lips together after we put on her lip gloss! :)

Update on the rest of the family!
Brady begins 8th grade in a few weeks! One more year of Jr. High! He loves soccer and is all about soccer! He even decided not to pursue football this year, so that he can give all his energy to his club soccer team (that Dad coaches). He is also the Asst. coach of a U-5boys soccer team! The Head coach is a close family friend who is excited to have Brady join him. Brady will also be a referee too - Here's hoping his too busy to get into trouble! :)
Kenzie begins middle school this year, entering 6th grade. She is busy with karate and soccer! Karate is her first love and she is excelling in this sport. She is a red belt presently and her goal is to be a black belt by the beginning of 7th grade! Dad is hoping this will keep the boys at bay! She has also joined club soccer this year (Dad is coaching). She is enjoying this too. Kenzie has been invited to travel with People to People Student Ambassador program for next summer. We will be looking into that more!
Conner J begins 3rd grade! Not sure who is more nervous about this Conner or Mom! He is also into karate and soccer. Soccer being his favorite, like Brady. Conner plays on two outdoor teams, one recreational team, and one club team, (Dad coaches).
He loves both teams! In Karate he is a blue belt, getting ready to test for red belt later this month. At this rate he will be a black belt by the end of 4th grade! Wow!
He wants to interview for the STORM team, Student Team of Role Models. This team helps lower belts learn their drills, patterns, kicks, punches, leadership... He is already looking forward to helping Dad coach Jailyn's soccer team!
Dad is working hard at Raytheon, still in the Naval Reserves, and coaching the kids teams and being the President of Manchester Soccer Club youth division. He loves soccer and has really found his niche!
Mom is busy chasing everyone! and will be baby sitting a little guy this school year. We are also looking into other adoption options and praying that God lead us to our next child. Please pray with us as we begin the adoption journey again. :)
Hope you enjoyed this longer post. Good thing they aren't all like this! :)
Have a great day! My children are beginning to stir for the day... here we go!

Love,
Jodi