Sweet Collier....

Sweet Collier Anderson is finally here. He was born Tuesday November 23rd, at 10:42 pm. He weighed 5 lbs 13 oz and was 19.5 inches long! He is precious!! More pictures to come soon! Thanks for all the prayers and well wishes! We are both doing great!! Tired...but, GREAT!!!

Dr.'s visit....

Well, still no baby! But, it seems it will be very soon! At the latest, they have decided to induce on November 30th. With that said, she doesn't expect me to make it to Thanksgiving. My prayer all along has been to have this baby either over a weekend, or when the kiddos would all be out of school. It looks like I might get my prayers answered!! Hoping to make it until Friday, but as uncomfortable as I am, we can figure out the kiddos...I just want to get this baby OUT!! HA!! Anyway, I will keep you posted! Please pray for a safe healthy delivery. The perinatologist still thinks Collier is very small, and I am measuring several weeks behind my actual due date. Pray that he is not a NICU baby, and that his lungs work perfectly!!! Hopefully, we will update very soon!!!!!

Mina Ann...

I cannot believe that my sweet Mina is almost 8 years old. On December 5th, she will turn 8. Dec. 5th is also the day we knew that we would officially be Mina's new mommy and daddy. It was the day she turned 4 years old. We had met Mina in September, when a friend called and told us about a sibling group of girls that may be placed for adoption. Emory and I were not looking to adopt, we had Aidan, who was only 18 months old at the time. But the moment we heard about these girls in September 2006, we knew God had big plans.

We met Mina for the first time the next day, and would end up keeping her every Thursday-Monday until Dec. 5th, 2006 when she moved in permanently. Mina lived with us for over 2 years before her birth mother ever signed over rights to her. It was a long 2 years, but so worth every second.

Mina is beautiful, sweet, smart, kind, compassionate, athletic, and the list goes on and on. I cannot believe that she has only been in our family for 4 years, we definitely do not remember life without her!!

We love you, Mina and we are so proud of you!

Praying for a precious friend...

A precious friend of mine is 20 weeks pregnant, and her water broke last week. The entire amniotic sac is empty. Please pray for this precious family. The Dr.'s gave her 2 choices...she can be induced and deliver the baby, but it is not possible for the baby to survive, or they can hospitalize her, and pray that the baby can hold on for 4 weeks in the womb, and then deliver her when she would be able to survive outside of the womb. This 2nd option also poses great risk for my friend. The amniotic sac is what protects the uterus from infection. My friend has chosen option 2. Please pray that the Lord would put a hedge of protection around her, around this baby, around their other children and of course, her husband. Pray that this baby would make it to the 24 week mark, and then continue to thrive afterward as well! Pray that the Lord would be glorified through every decision, pray that HE would show HIMSELF mightily not only to my friend and her family, but to the doctors and nurses as well!! Please keep this precious family in your prayers. I will keep you updated!

Still no baby....

Still no baby...Can you tell I am getting anxious? I really hate being told that I am 3.5 centimeters dilated and that it could happen anytime....because I know that really means...we will see you in a few weeks for induction. UGH!!! I am no longer taking my contraction medicine, so hopefully some of these annoying contractions I am having will be productive. Meanwhile, back on the ranch, I have a sick kiddo....so, I guess I shouldn't rush Mr. Collier out in the midst of our little sicko storm. I am pretty sure that Mr. Michael has strep throat, we will find out at 11:30 or so. He came home from school not feeling great, and had a temp of 104.8...by bed time (which he put himself to bed for) he was over 105 degrees and that was with motrin on board. YUCK!! So, he woke up this morning, stating that his throat was the biggest concern. So, we will see. Pray that if it is strep, that he keeps it all to himself and doesn't share with the other 4, ESPECIALLY EMMY!!!

I will most definitely keep you posted!! Thanks for the thoughts and prayers, hoping baby C makes his grand entrance sooner than later! :)

October 2010

I cannot believe that today is November 1st! WOW!! Time flies! And the best news...I'm still preggo! That's right! I am over 35 weeks and still pregnant, pretty sure my doctors thought this baby would have tried to come by now!! I am 3.5 cm dilated and fully effaced, so I am hoping to go at anytime, but my pregnancy with Aidan was very similar and well, I had to be induced to get him out! So we shall see!!

October has been a crazy month! We had so many BIG things happen! We signed our adoption commitment papers for Michael and Carr! They are now officially, Michael Sims Lott and Carson Elias Lott. We plan to finalize the adoption sometime before the end of the year! We are so excited!!

October was also the 1st month that we didn't have to make a trip to Scottish Rite for Miss Emmy!! She is doing really well! We started her on a new med at the beginning of October, and it is doing it's job! Her hemoglobin was 10.3 last Wednesday! That is the highest it has ever been, without a blood transfusion! Praising the Lord for this medicine!! Please keep praying that it continues to work and that her counts will continue to stay high!! October has been a fabulous month!!!

I cannot believe that October has already come and gone! We made a visit to Burt's pumpkin patch, as well as a trip to the Boo at the Zoo fest!! We had a great time!! I'll post some pics of all the kiddos in their costumes, and also picking out our punkins at the punkin patch!!

Here are the pictures of my sweet kiddos!!

Our kiddos, plus my brother and sister!! They joined us for Trick or Treating Sat. night!

This is all the children in our great friend group in our neighborhood. Lovingly referred to as the Timba-babies!! There are 27 this year, and at least 3 more before next Halloween!!

Emmy Faith, my sweet Owl!!

Isn't she adorable? This was her 1st Halloween!!

My little elephant, Carson Elias!!

Our 5 kiddos at the Punkin' Patch!!

Fun at the Boo at the Zoo fest!

Burt's Pumpkin Patch 2010

Quick pic at the Boo at the Zoo fest!!

Check this out....

Check out the sweet post my mom wrote on our 3 little musketeers!

Faithfulmommy.typepad.com

Thankful Tuesday...

Thankful Tuesday is ALL about Emory, my wonderful husband. I don't often tell him or anyone else how grateful I am for him, and for all he does. So, I thought I would write a quick blog entry telling you all how spectacular he is!!

There are not many husbands that are as patient and sweet as he is. You need to remember he has 5 kids 7 and under...and a VERY pregnant wife!! Anyone that can be patient through all of that deserves some serious recognition. Here is a list of things that I am thankful for when it comes to my hubby!!

• He is my best friend
• He kisses me every morning before he leaves, whether I acknowledge it or not
• He is a SUPER father to our 5 (almost 6) kids
• He is patient with me and with them
• He feeds Emmy her morning bottle at 5:30 am every single day
• He LOVES to vacuum, so he does all the vacuuming in the house
• He reads the kiddos their daily devotional every night, and in such a fun, animated way
• He puts the kiddos to bed most nights lately so I can take a bath and unwind from being with the kiddos all day! LOVE THAT!!!
• He lets me hang out with my mom, sister, sister-in-law or whoever it is I am asking to break away with for the night...ANYTIME I ASK.
• He leaves for the work at the crack of dawn, so that he can be home early each afternoon to help me with dinner, kiddos, homework, etc.
• He is a fix-it man...the guy can build, fix anything. LOVE THAT...it has saved us a lot of money!
• He is patient with the kids, he helps them with their homework and can teach them so much faster than I can.
• He runs the house soooo smoothly when Emmy is in the hospital.

Really, the list goes on and on!! But, I will stop here!! I really am just super thankful for Emory!! Thought he deserved a little recognition!! :)

Ahhhh, Fall is here!

Cannot believe that it has been so long since I posted. Jane, I am posting just for you, since you made fun of me for waiting a month to post! :)

Anyway, life has been a LITTLE crazy the past month!! Just when I think we are getting into a great routine, something happens. Miss Emmy was hospitalized 3 times in a matter of 2 weeks. This was our scariest little venture to date. She has been doing so well. She started out with a 72 hour admission with fever and no other symptoms. WE did IV antibiotics, fluids, etc. and within 72 hours we were back at home. Not even a week later, we were readmitted with fever. This time her fever was much higher, and her blood work was quite scary! She woke up with a 105.7 temp. I put her in the car and headed to the ER, unfortunately, it was 8 am here in Atlanta and I needed to get from Marietta to Sandy Springs. Not an easy task. On our way to the hospital in traffic, Emmy started having trouble breathing and we had to stop and call 911. After being in the ambulance for 45 minutes, being iced down with ice packs, her fever was still 104.8 upon arriving at the ER. Bless her heart her fever just would not go down. Her initial labs showed extremely elevated CRP and WBC as well as lowered hemoglobin and platelets. So, they immediately got her antibiotics and fluids going, and of course, admitted her. After 4 days of antibiotics, a clean kidney ultrasound, many DR. opinions, we came up with no cause of the bacterial infection, and they sent us home. Two days later we were back! This time I believe they did every test humanly possible on this baby, with no luck as to the source of the infection. They think she may be hiding infection in her bones, that is the most likely place to hide bacterial infections!! Or so I hear. Anyway, during that 3rd admission her hemoglobin dropped very, very low and she had to have a blood transfusion. I now know why they call blood power juice. AWESOME!!! This baby is like a new person. She has energy, and color. I never knew how little color she had until she got some. Amazing. It didn't take long after the blood for all of her blood counts to stabilize, so again we went home. So far so good! I am really thinking this blood transfusion is a miracle worker!!!

She has been out for a little over a week, and all is well! We go to Aflac this Wednesday, with hopes that her counts are still stable and that we will be able to start her on a new medication. We are pretty excited about the new med. The new med is suppose to raise her fetal hemoglobin levels and lower the amount of sickling that her blood does!! This should help keep us out of the hospital!!! Please pray for us as we start this medication. As with all medications it does have risks, but the pros definitely outweigh the cons!! I will keep you posted!!

Mina, Aidan, Michael and Carr are doing fabulous!! They are loving school, and all doing very well!! The boys have started gymnastics again and seem to really love it!! Carr wants to play baseball and asks me on a daily basis when I will let him. He's only 2! I can't believe how much he has grown up this past year. He loves being a big brother, he adores Emmy and it is so cute to see him interact with her. He is constantly talking to her, loving on her, giving her his toys, etc. Super sweet!!

I know fall has begun, because so has Michael's first asthma attack of the season! He had his first bad one this weekend, praying that we can keep better control on his asthma this year!!!

Other than ALL of that, we are GREAT!! The kiddos are happy, and we couldn't ask for more than that! Love that our children get along so well, they are proud of each other and would do anything for one another!! God is good!!!!

Thanks for all the emails, calls and support the past month!! We appreciate it so much! The meals that our sweet friends have provided have been delicious and super helpful!! So thankful that God gave us such wonderful, Godly friends!!!

Emmy's new toy....

EMMY IS LOVING HER NEW JUMPEROO!!! And I am able to get a lot more work done now that she has new and

School begins...

FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL 2010

Lotts going on...

We have been quite busy here at the Lott house. With 5 kids, there is always something going on. ALWAYS! Our summer is coming to an end this week, and the kiddos are thrilled. They are at the point, where they are just plain bored these days! So, we have been really busy trying to get all of our supplies, book bags, lunch boxes, etc. The kids have really enjoyed getting everything together, especially Michael and Aidan. They are thrilled! They are so excited about kindergarten and riding the bus. Can't wait to see how long the excitement lasts???

I am still seeing my perinatologist every week, and so far so good. My cervix didn't shorten anymore, so obviously the "couch potato" thing is working. So, for now, we will keep it up. Thanks for the prayers, please keep them coming!!

We have had a pretty healthy couple of weeks as well, Emmy has not been in the hospital since July 11th, PRAISE THE LORD...we go to Aflac next week for her monthly check, so I am anxious to see what her blood counts are. Hoping that they have all improved. She had a rough day yesterday, I think her legs were bothering her, though in a 7 month old, it is really hard to tell!! Can you believe it?? Tomorrow our little punkin' is 7 months old. I cannot believe it!! She is so stinkin' cute. She is trying so hard to crawl, she almost has it, it won't be long. She sits up beautifully, and is starting to enjoy solid foods. She loves her high chair, so she sits at the table with us for every meal, and usually provides the other 4 kiddos with lots of meal time entertainment, she is in a new spitting stage!! The other 4 think it is hilarious, which Emmy thinks is hilarious! She is such a blessing!

Then there is Mr. Carlos, which much to everyone's dislike we will be changing his name to Carson. So from here on out I will refer to him as Carr or Carson. We have had him for 2 years, and have always called him Carr or Khari, so that when/if we adopted we could easily change his name to Carson, but that it would also not be too confusing if we didn't adopt. So, that is the story behind the name change. We have lots of reasons for changing it, but I will share those some other time!! He is doing great though, he is 100% potty trained and not even 2.5 years old yet. can you tell I am proud??? He did great with it! I am so thankful that I went ahead and did it, because I don't think I could have waited until he was 3. He is into everything as usual, but such a sweet heart. He is talking up a storm, and can say just about anything! He goes to school everyday, he really thrives on a set routine, and school has been great!! He loves it, and I love how much he is learning. He is also getting Spanish lessons at school, and Michael will start them as well. It is a good way for us to introduce them to their culture since the foster care system was so worried that 2 caucasian people couldn't raise 2 honduran boys!! I think that is so CRAZY! Anyway, Carr is doing great, he does have 3 little stitches in his head from where he fell at the pool Sunday night, but he is such a trooper. Like I said, that boy is into everything!! I LOVE IT!!! He is ALL-BOY!!!

Michael just turned 5, and is really starting to come into his own. It is so neat to watch. His little personality is starting to show! Much like Mina, Michael was very reserved and quiet until he knew for sure that we were adopting, and now all of a sudden he is a different child! IN A GREAT WAY!! He was great before, but wow, what a difference stability makes in a 5 year old. He is talkative, less introverted, less timid, etc. No more accidents, no more direct disobedience just to get a reaction....seriously, he is a different child!! He is doing fantastic and cannot wait for school to start on Friday!

Aidan....also doing great! He is super excited about Friday and his 1st day of school!! He is doing wonderfully, and I am so grateful that God blessed us with such a go with the flow kind of child! He has done so great with each adoption, and I am so thankful for that. He loves all of his brothers and sisters, but he has a special fondness of Emmy and her of him. It is so cute. She will laugh hysterically at him, and he will lay on the floor and play with her for hours! He is such a good big brother. I think he is getting excited about a new baby, the more we talk about Collier coming, the more he realizes he will have a sibling that looks like him. He always says, " Mina and Emmy are alike....Michael and Carr are alike....Who am I like? " SO, I think he is excited to see what baby, or who baby Collier looks like, and I think he is hoping for a little twin! HA!!!

Mina...she is about to start the 2nd grade! Can you believe it? I can't! She was this tiny little 3 year old when we got her, and now she is a snaggle-toothed 7 year old! She is doing great! She is a competitive gymnast, and is very good if I do say so myself!! She loves gymnastics, and it seems to really help with her confidence in other things as well! I love it! I love that she has found something that she enjoys, but that she is also extremely good at. If only gymnastics weren't breaking the bank, this sport is expensive!! :) She is quite the helper with the other 4, and loves to help with Emmy. She is an excellent big sister, and we are so proud of her and of who she is. She has come so far over the past several months, and we have enjoyed watching her change and grow. She is starting to really enjoy reading, and loves to read her Bible. She loves to read Bible stories to the boys, and act like she knows it all!! I love it! I love watching her grow and change!! She is such a sweetie!!

So, that about catches you up on our busy life!! Can't wait to update you on the 1st day of school!!!

Sweet moments with our kiddos...

Isn't it funny how the most simple things can make your kiddos so happy? Today was such a quiet day at home and they loved it! We went to my nieces birthday party this morning, and then spent the rest of the day at home. We all took naps, which was FABULOUS!!! After naps, we let the kiddos play the Wii, because it was storming outside, and that is the only time we really let them play it! Emory and I made dinner together, it was just spaghetti, but our kids were thrilled! Michael kept saying, "how did you know this is just what I wanted?" Love making them happy, especially when I wasn't even trying!

Next we made dessert together!! We made puppy chow, which is the first time the kiddos and I have made it together, and we made rice krispies!! We had a blast, the kitchen was a DISASTER afterward, but we had a blast!!

Excited about tomorrow! We are going to hang out at my parents pool for Michael's birthday bash, and then over to Emory's parents to have cake and treats with everyone, including Emory's grandparents!! Excited that they get to share our kiddos birthdays with us!

Pictures to come tomorrow of our newest 5 year old! :)

Welcome to Holland...

by Emily Perl Kingsley Print Version I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this... When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting. After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome To Holland". "Holland?!?" you say, "What do you mean "Holland"??? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy" But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay. The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place. So you must go and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met. It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around…and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills...Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts. But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy...and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned". And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away...because the loss of that dream is a very significant loss. But...if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things...about Holland. **I just really loved this! I just wanted to share it!

Couch Potato...

So, I had my 21 week check-up today! Loads of fun! I was hoping to be told that I could either continue coming every other week, or maybe even start coming once monthly!! They did a very detailed ultrasound, and Praise the Lord, baby Collier looks great. They had some trouble seeing his spine, so we will recheck that in a week, but other than that, I am carrying a healthy baby! WhooHoo!! No DOWNS, no anything that they can tell! They said he is growing better, still small, but he may definitely catch up, which is what we have been praying for!! God is sooo good!

So, that part of the appointment went fantastic. THen they measured my cervix, which is truly why I am seen every week or every week this far, my cervix is on the shorter side, and I already have a border-line incompetent cervix, so they follow the cervical measurements very close, in order to make sure I do not have a 2nd trimester miscarriage. Well, this week my cervix has shortened a lot, and the baby has dropped, and my placenta is on bottom, underneath the baby! I guess there are many troubles with this particular scenario, so they have put me on "couch potato" status as my Dr. called it. She said with 5 kids, she doesn't expect me to never get out of bed, but no lifting, no grocery shopping, no up and down stairs, etc. She said I can drive the kiddos to their activities and back and forth to school when we start back, but other than that, I need to be on the sofa! UGH!!! How am I going to stay on the sofa with just one kid at home, even with just Emmy! I did bedrest for 10 weeks when I was preggo with Aidan, it was horrible. I am the worst person in the world about movement, I am constantly going, so it will be really hard for me to slow down! Praise the Lord I work from home, or this could be even worse!

Anyway, for now it seems that this is the plan, so if you could...please pray specifically that my cervix will not shorten anymore, pray that I do not dilate, pray that Collier will stay where he is, pray that I do not have or get placenta previa, pray that Collier will stay in the womb as long as possible. At 21 weeks, there is nothing they can do, so we wait, and we pray that he stays where he is!!

Thanks for all the prayers, I will keep you updated!!

Flipsyde - Happy Birthday

A little more personal...

Wow! Thanks for following me, even though I am making it a little more difficult to do so!! I apologize for the inconvenience of having to log in to read this blog, and I realize that many of you will not check it as often! However, it has been made very evident to me in the past few weeks, that as a business owner, my personal life is a little too exposed. SO, with that information in hand, and some advice from one of my favorite adoption agencies, I have decided to make my blog private. My only other option was to start from scratch and I really don't have time for all that!! Anyway, I just wanted to post a little note as to why I went private!! Thanks for sticking with me!

3 weeks and 2 days until school is back in session...

Oh MY!!! I just realized that school starts in almost 3 weeks. That means we have 2 weeks to get everything together and ready to start back. UGH!!! We are headed to the beach the week before school starts to see my best friend Stace and her family!! I better get busy! My 2 boys will start kindergarten and Mina is headed to the 2nd grade. I cannot believe that I will have 3 kiddos in elementary school! They grow up way to fast! Pray for me as I try to get prepared quick, all while trying to work and keep 5 kiddos under control!! YIKES!

Emmy's in the hospital AGAIN...

Well, once again, here we sit at our local children's hospital. Miss Emmy had her 6 month shots last Thursday, and by Saturday her fever had gotten up to 102.6, and as you have probably learned along with us, fever and sickle cell are not friends! AT ALL!!! So, we headed over to the ER, and packed for at least a 48 hour admission.

We are really hoping to be discharged this morning. Yesterday her hemoglobin was lower than her average, her retic counts were low and platelets were low, all of those combined can indicate that her blood cells are all getting caught in her spleen, which could be a life threatening emergency if not treated quickly. Her spleen was a little enlarged on physical exam, but after seeing how happy and active she was yesterday, they were definitely less worried that she was about to have a spleen sequestration.

Her counts this morning had all improved, thanks to all of her IV fluids and antibiotics, it's amazing how fast medicine and fluids work! She is feeling good, and we are both ready to go home!! Here are some pics of her latest trip to the hopsital!!

PS- I took these with my phone, so I apologize for the quality!!

My Cute Family

EMMY is OURS!!

So we have lots of news this week! :) Thursday morning we finalized Emmy's adoption! She is officially ours!! What a sigh of relief!! So glad that it is final, this was an exhausting adoption process! We had a lot of hoops to jump through, but God worked out every detail!! Her adoption story is incredibly long, and probably more than you want to read, so I will spare you the story, but know that our Lord provided every step of the way. There were many details of this adoption that were impossible in the adoption world, but the Lord worked out every kink. He is so faithful, and we are so grateful that He chose us to be Emmy's family! She is such a blessing!!

Emmy enjoying her first time in a swimming pool!

Emmy Faith at Disney with all of her stroller fans!

Playing in her favorite toy...her exersaucer!

BIG NEWS....

Okay, so most of you may already know this, but...WE ARE EXPECTING #6! Yes, that is right, you read that correctly, #6! HA!!! We are 17 weeks pregnant with a little boy! After 5 years of miscarriages, we are pregnant and have stayed that way for more than 12 weeks! Boy, does God have a sense of humor! Shortly after getting Miss Emmy Faith, we found out we were preggo, but didn't share with anyone other than family and of course, my best friend! We typically miscarry around 9 weeks, so we figured it was just a matter of time. Well, 9 weeks came and went, and all is well! We have had our share of complications, but as of yesterday I believe everything is looking good! For the first time yesterday, we got a good report! WHEW, what a blessing!!

So, Collier Anderson Lott will be here in Late November!! So excited to share our news with you all!!