Welcome spring... Welcome Tae Michael Sattan

So let today be the official welcome to the Sattan clan. Today was the court date to have our request for permanent adoption of Tae into our family granted; and everything went well. Thanks to all family and friends that have helped us, supported us, been there for us, and been happy for us as we moved through this experience. So I think that Tae is happy that the judge said OK.. don't you?

And this better be the only time that either of these two little men share a room with a judge, unless they are joining the supreme court!!!! But you have to admit, he's one cute little bugger...

Sooooo... anyway.... been a little preoccupied lately so no real updates... SORRY for those who follow along the BLOG scene religiously... eagerly awaiting each little nugget of information that is offered up....

AND for those who have completely forgotten or given up on the BLOG, but just happened to check back because your Facebook alert told you do so, welcome back....

Our little Kira has just been plugging right along in Kindergarten - all she wants to do when she gets home from school is go up in her room and 'teach' her brothers or her dolls, or whomever will listen. And read, and read, and read... THANK GOD she got mom's interest in reading!!! But our pride in her was only bolstered as she received the 'Character Counts - Responsibility' award as nominated by her teacher. On to the last leg of the year.... softball is starting and she is gearing up for a great season.

Olivia has finished a great winter by skiing her heart out and just killing the mountain. She even went on a full weekend away from the parents and stayed/ skied with PopPop - even heading to the TOP of the mountain without so much as a problem. Wish I had the pictures, but it seems that all the ones PopPop got were either 'posing' at the top of the lift in her cute little snowsuit, or eating chicken nuggets in the cafeteria. If I can get hold of some, I will send them out. Softball has continued through the winter for the traveling team - Under-10 Stingrays and now she will head outside to see if they can defend their undefeated season in the town league (but who'a counting because nobody keeps score or gives out a championship trophy or anything.. it may be too psycholigically damaging for those who lost..... boo freaking hoo.....) BUT I digress.... the good thing is she seems to be really getting along with her brothers and is becoming more responsible in helping them and watching them as they play...

Alas, poor Cooper has survived his harrowing time in the hospital... THANKS TO ALL who prayed for his health and for those who helped in ANY way during this ordeal. But you can see for yourself how his time went... and these are when he was actually feeling better about a day before discharge. We tried to keep him busy in the dayroom.. Mimi trying to get him interested in Thomas... but I suppose feeding the baby won out.... He just was not happy... and it was just heartbreaking to see how tired/ fatigued/ and downright beat up he was... If you look closely, you can see just how bad his mouth looked... and again this was 2-3 days after high dose antiviral meds and was looking better... but those sores initially spanned both lips and along the gums all the way down his throat and tongue. But he's doing well now... the prevailing theory (mostly mine and Susan's since they never actually gave us one at the hospital) - he developed severe CoxSackie virus causing severe mouth and throat sores... he literally could not eat for 3-4 days and developed stomach pain from the continuous flow of acid into his stomach and the inability to eat or drink at all... once the sores started clearing up and he could eat small amounts, his stomach felt better and he was back to normal within a week of full eating and drinking.

Of course, Susan thought it would be funny to capture me in the middle of my attempt at home repairs. Unfortunately, it is not finished yet since January..... ooops. But thankfully she did not get a picture of my leg hanging through the ceiling for which I was repairing. Yup, that's right... even AFTER putting floorboards in the attic, I still managed to step right through and open a gaping hole in to the bedroom... still have to spackle and sand 1 more time on the seams and then paint.... I'll get to it....

So, that's about it for the recap... now that spring has sprung, there should be much more outdoor activities and opportunities for pictures and funny stories... talk to you all soon.

Scott