So sorry that we haven’t managed to pop back on before now with an update. It’s been pretty much as hard as we expected it to be since Erin’s fall and surgery.

We are all busy trying to keep our normal Christmas traditions intact as much as possible while caring for Erin, and in the midst of everything, we are so very aware of all of our blessings this Christmas season.

Erin is continuing to heal. She came through surgery well, then returned a week or so after that to have a cast change. She is still not allowed to put any weight on that leg, and because of the aspects of her disability that affect her balance and coordination, crutches aren’t a safe option for her. So she is still using a wheelchair and help from others to get around the house during the day. The plan is to move her to a walking cast early in January, and if so, we are hoping that she will be able to manage getting around more independently then.

On the first day that Erin fell, Meghan and Robyn insisted on sleeping on Erin’s floor in shifts to help care for her during the night. Scott and I were so touched by their hearts and their love for Erin. They have continued taking turns with this night-time duty, and although they are growing weary, they remain cheerful and positive through each day and night. Even the younger kids are anxious to help bring her drinks during the day, take her little maltese Teddy out to potty when needed (although they have to pry him away from Erin’s side to do that), and just generally find ways to help everyone out during Erin’s recovery.

Teddy with Erin, peeking out from under her needlework project

God sent us incredible help through our dear friends, Mick and Betty. This selfless couple has been doing a large chunk of our laundry for us every week since Erin’s fall, and honestly, we would not be getting through this without that help. They used to run a dry cleaning business before they retired, and they know laundry. 😊 Now they spend their days helping others in a variety of ways, serving as great examples of how followers of Christ should live their lives. We so blessed to have them as friends.

Mick and Betty with Roslyn, Jaden, and Lilyan

Outings as a family are very challenging right now, but we have managed two of those.

To cut our Christmas tree. . .

Heading out to find the perfect tree

Bringing up the rear

Decorating this year’s tree

And then last week, we took the kids to see Santa. This is Lilyan’s first Christmas in a family, and she is just drinking it all in with such excitement. Roslyn and Jaden were also much more into everything this year, and couldn’t wait to sit in Santa’s lap. Roslyn even threw her arms around his neck and gave him a huge hug. This was a little different from last year when she took one look at him and declared, “I no yike San Cau!”  I wish we had managed to get better quality pictures of this, but I’m sharing what we have anyway.

Posing with Santa

Jaden and some one-on-one with the big guy

Roslyn hugging “San Caus”

Lilyan’s first Christmas — and she’s loving it!

Stockings all hung and waiting

Such an incredible blessing to see Lilyan’s stocking hung among the other kids’ stockings this year

One sad development and one happy one: as our little dachshund aged, she began snapping at the children, and we had to make the very tough decision to find a new home for her. This was so hard, but God sent us a new puppy, much more equipped to handle a house full of children whose disabilities make their movements a little uncertain — one who will grow big enough to handle being fallen on and hugged to death by kids who love to love their dogs. So . .  meet Murray – our new family member. He’s a four month old Goldendoodle and seems to be a perfect fit.

Murray – loving the attention and snuggles. The big, red bow? Not so much.

We hope that you all have a beautiful and blessed Christmas. Thank you for the cards some of you have been sending to Erin. She is very touched by your concern. Thank you for the prayers and all of the ways in which you encourage us continually. We are blessed to have each of you in our lives.

Merry Christmas!

Hello again. We want to try to catch you up on some things with our family and let you know about upcoming presentations this month.

Quick update on the children:

Jaden’s surgery went well, although he is still recovering from the very significant incisions in his back. His surgeon was very happy with the outcome, stating that he had been able to accomplish all that he had hoped to accomplish. These are always good words to hear.

Jaden’s back, one-week post-op

Wonderful news on Lilyan – Her headaches are gone! The medication her neurologist started her on seems to have done the trick. The only headache she has had since the day she started the medication was a week or so ago. After we processed that she was experiencing another one, we suddenly realized that we had accidentally forgotten her morning dose for the first time since beginning the medication. This seemed to us to be pretty strong evidence that the medication is controlling her terrible headaches, and we are just thrilled about this news.

Not so happy news, though – We saw Lilyan’s spine surgeon yesterday (Thursday) and, sadly, received heartbreaking news about what’s ahead for her, and her life expectancy. Rather than type it all out again here, I’m providing a link to my personal blog, “Owning My Nothingness” where I shared the details there last night in a post called, “This Just Really, Really Hurts.” This morning, after a good night’s sleep and time to cry and pray about the news we got yesterday, I blogged again. That post is called, “Nothing Has Changed — And You Know? 
 . . . I’m Okay With That!” God has given us a large measure of peace and joy about everything now, and we’re so thankful for the prayers of His people who carried us through the night last night after we shared the news with those who follow my personal blog.

We would treasure your prayers also, along with those already being offered for Lilyan, as the next few months pass. We are scheduled to bring Lilyan back in to see her spine surgeon in May. In the meantime, he is planning to consult with top spine surgeons all over the country to be sure that there aren’t some other options out there that he isn’t aware of. We would love for him to discover another much more hopeful and less scary option. We’ll let you know what we find out.

Lastly, we wanted to let all of you know that we will be presenting in three churches over the next three weeks for Orphan Sunday 2014. This year, Meghan all be sharing her own story and Lilyan will be singing with some of our other children. When our children come home, Scott and I choose a song as their own special song. Our children will be singing Lilyan’s song this year.

Here’s a very small peek at Meghan’s talk:

“I remember one a day, a family had come to pick up a little girl. I had actually thought that I might be the one picked because the dad had come over and talked to me, and that didn’t ever happen. I remember he crouched down, eye level to me, had a kind voice, and played with one of the toys I had given him . . . later, I saw them walking away with a different little girl. I remember I was sitting on a bench and wondering if there really was someone out there who wanted me, who would ‘choose’ me. And, it turns out that there was; someone, across the ocean, was praying for me and trying to get me home.”

If you can join us, the schedule and details are as follows, but feel free to write to us if you need more information:

Nov. 16: North Cincinnati Community Church Mason; 10:30 a.m.
Nov. 23: Faith United Church of Christ, Hamilton; 10:30 a.m.
Nov. 30: Living Hope Fellowship, West Chester; 10:00 a.m.

We hope to see some of you at one of our presentations. Thanks, as always, for your prayers and love for our family.

We did it! We survived another family portrait day! I’ll share three photos here — one of the entire family (including kids-in-law; Ryan’s girlfriend, Anna; and the seven grandchildren);  one of us with just our 18-still-at-home kids; and one of just the two of us. It was a fun day, and the weather was beautiful. The only negative was that the sun came out brightly — right in our eyes — just as we were snapping the shot in front of the barn.

We have some other news to share about the kids and family happenings, but no time now. Jaden’s spine surgery is scheduled for tomorrow, and we’ll try to update the blog a bit while we’re in the hospital with him.

We would certainly cherish prayers for Jaden’s surgery tomorrow — no complications, a short hospital stay, and that all will go well with the kids back here at home. Thank you (THANK YOU!) to those of you who are providing meals for our family during this hospital stay.

More later!

With our 18 at-home kids

As part of our continued search for answers about Lilyan’s terrible headaches, we took her to see her ophthalmologist this week — and also to her neurologist to discuss the results of her EEG.

Our eye doctor confirmed that, although it was very clear that Lilyan badly needs glasses, this is not the source of her headaches. We had her fitted for glasses, and she should have those in a week or so. We’re glad that this was caught so soon after her homecoming, and we’re anxious for her to be able to see the world around her more accurately. (Owen also needs glasses now after a drastic and sudden change in his vision. Poor guy.)

Depth perception part of her exam

Owen’s exam

Our first choice for Lilyan. Had to take our second choice because these weren’t covered by our insurance. Second place ones were super cute, too.

Love the way Owen will look in his new glasses as soon as they are ready!

Then yesterday we saw Dr. Franz, our neurologist. Lilyan’s EEG was completely normal, so we can be pretty confident that the headaches aren’t seizure related. This was good news, but we are still hoping for some kind of clear answer. For now, he is going to begin treating them as migraines and start Lilyan on a daily medication.

In the meantime, we will see her neurosurgeon, Dr. Stevenson, again in about ten days to discuss the results of her shuntogram and also talk about the possibility of a trip into the OR for a visual of her shunt as the last piece of confirmation that there is no malfunction there.

That’s about it for now. Our family portrait is still on for tomorrow, and I think we’re all the way ready – — even down to hair accessories for all those female heads of hair. We’ll try to post some of those after tomorrow, and also post any updates with Lilyan.

Happy Weekend To All!

Hello and Happy Fall! This is hands-down my (Kathy’s) favorite season. Scott loves spring best — probably because of all of those long, cold Wisconsin winters when he was growing up. Fall is everything my soul longs for throughout the long, hot, sticky summer. I love the smells, the colors, the sounds, and the foods that go along with this time of year. But it brings along some challenges, too.

One of the toughest things about this time of year is trying to get the clothes switch-out done for so many kids. We have all those summer clothes to get packed away, the fifteen-or-so huge bins of fall clothes to bring up from the basement, the trying on to see what will hand down and fit whom, the loads and loads of laundry to get it all washed up and put away, then the almost-overwhelming task of doing the final inventory to see what everyone still needs to fill in the gaps after the hand-me-downs. Finally, there’s the shopping to get those things, and of course the challenge of even being able to pay for them. This involves faith and much prayer as we strive to trust God to determine our true needs vs. the things we just really like to have. Sometimes God showers us with the necessary funds ahead of time, and other times, He seems to be so very slow about answering those prayers. There have even been some seasons when He never sent the money needed to provide everything on the list. But He got us through anyway, and we grew a little bit more in our understanding as we went through the questioning process — searching for a deeper knowledge of this Father and His ways. We are so grateful to all of you who allow Him to provide for us through you. There are never words to fully express our gratitude. We could never fulfill this calling without all that you do for and with us. It’s always such a beautiful encouragement to watch how God brings so many of His people together to not only bring each of these children home, but to also give each of them all that they need to grow and thrive and become all that He has planned for them to be.

This year was one of the years when God did send us what was needed ahead of time, and this was a blessing because we ended up with quite a number of gaps that had to be filled in. Here are a few shots of the insanity that defined our lives for the past couple of weeks.

First we have to divide all of the clothes from the bins into twenty separate piles, making our best guess about what will fit which people.

Then the try-ons begin

This is always more difficult with so many who can’t stand and/or dress themselves

I could never, ever do this without the help of all my teens and Kristie – whose kids just join in with ours since they share so many clothes with some of their aunts and uncles.

Saxon, doing his part by babysitting our youngest grandbaby while we all work. 🙂

We’ve pretty much finished this task now, and next on our agenda is one of the hardest things we ever do as a family — a new family portrait. If the weather cooperates, we hope to take care of this on Saturday, October 18 at a friend’s farm. We haven’t had a family portrait taken in four years, so our three newest children aren’t even included in the one currently hanging on our family room wall.

Last family portrait – October, 2010. So much has changed since then.

It’ll be so good to get this new one done — and exhilarating to have it checked off my list. I have finally managed to gather and organize the wardrobe for this momentous event. Trying to figure out what everyone should wear is tough. If we went with the whole white-shirt-khaki-pants thing that many families do, we would look like a cult. But if I let everyone wear whatever they wanted, that would be pure chaos and probably painful to look at. We have settled on the same thing we did four years ago — just casual fall-colored shirts with jeans and denim jackets or hoodies if it’s cool out.

I think this will work

After we complete this more-than-daunting task, we have a spine surgery for Jaden on November 6, and then we will spend the rest of the month doing our normal presentations for National Adoption Awareness Month. This year Meghan will be telling her story herself, and the kids will be singing again. There is much still to do in order to have us all ready for those presentations, and prayer for endurance, available prep time, and clear thinking would be appreciated. Our presentation schedule is as follows:

November 16: Our home church, North Cincinnati Community Church (Mason)

November 23: Faith United Church of Christ (Hamilton)

November 30: TBD

Then the holidays will be upon us and after that, in January which is Sanctity of Human Life Month, Scott and I and our three youngest will be taking a trip to Tampa where we will do three or four presentations on adoption and children born with special needs. We’ll let you know more about that as it gets closer and the plans become more definite.

In the middle of all of these things, we still have our regular, grueling appointment schedule (ten just this week alone). Most of the appointments this week will be about getting final test results for Lilyan as we continue trying to find the reason for her horrible headaches. Please keep praying that her doctors will be able to find some answers and ways to relieve her pain. It’s so hard to stand by helplessly and watch her suffer when they hit.

Lastly, some of you who have been following our family for years, may remember Jasmin — a little girl we tried to adopt from Romania years ago. We got some very sad news about her this week. If you want to know about that, you can read that on my post, “God, If  You’re There . . . “, at my personal blog, Owning My Nothingness. This news was so difficult for us to hear and caused us to question — again — a number of things about God and the ways in which He works in and through the gut-wrenching circumstances that make up life in this world. Sometimes . . . it’s just hard.

We’ll stay in touch as we move through the coming months. if you have any questions about TSC presentations – or anything else – just let us know.

Kathy (for all of the Rosenows)

All eighteen still-at-home Rosenow kids

Many of you have been following the adventures of our family for years and years. We are moving to a blog format. Please click the “Follow” button in the right-hand sidebar, and you will continue to get these updates in an email like you did before. You’ll never know how much it means to us to have you by our sides as we walk the path that God laid out for us before we even had any idea what was ahead for us.

We’ll use this first post to update you on the happenings in our house. First, the kids.

They are all doing great right now, for the most part. We now have eight teenagers in our home, so life stays even more exciting than it was before. Yikes! Seriously, though, they are all amazingly good kids who pitch in to keep the machinery of our lives running smoothly. Almost always, they even do this without being asked. We honestly couldn’t make this life work without the great attitudes, the hard work, and the love and commitment of each of the kids.

There are a few medical updates. Some of you know that Jaden was scheduled for another spine surgery in August. Unfortunately, that has been rescheduled now for November 6. We’ll post updates here as that gets closer. He has grown and is doing so well after his traumatic year last year. He has continued building up the strength in his arms and trunk, which will help him go far as he works around his lower-limb paralysis. Check out those biceps! 🙂 And be jealous.

Jaden waiting for his surgery at the hospital – before they cancelled it

Jaden, showing off his muscles

Lilyan has continued to settle in and do so well with her new family. We really have never seen a child adjust so quickly and smoothly. She’s the most genuinely joyful and contented child we’ve ever met. That really is not an exaggeration. We’ve completed most of her initial evaluations, and every doctor who has seen her — every test she’s had done — has confirmed what we already suspected. She has many severe disabilities and trunk deformities, and a very long road ahead of her. Our spine surgeon has chosen to hold off on any surgeries for now, tentatively planning to begin this work sometime next year. In addition to her obvious (and already known-to-us) medical challenges, though, she also suffers from horribly debilitating headaches. These come on very suddenly and leave her unable to do anything but lie flat or in our arms and suck her thumb — often with tears coursing down her little cheeks — until they pass. Each headache lasts anywhere from thirty minutes to three and a half hours, and we have found no pattern to when they occur. They don’t seem to be food-, sleep-, stress-, or environmentally-related. She might have two in a day, two or three in a week, or she might go as long as ten days without any before one hits her again. She’s been through quite a few tests as doctors continue looking for the cause of these headaches. We have more tests and appointments scheduled, and we will also continue to keep you posted here about what we learn. We would cherish prayers for answers. It’s heartbreaking to watch her suffer like this. Enjoy some of the pictures of this joyful little one. You will see in a couple of these just what a change comes over her when her headaches hit.

Lilyan with her sister, Roslyn, rockin’ their ponytails — or “pony hairs” as Roslyn calls them.

Lilyan’s first birthday with a family – surrounded by brothers and sisters, nieces and nephews

So excited about her special day!

Waiting out a headache

Using her thumb to try and find relief during a recent headache

Kathryn has remained fairly stable for quite a while now, although her neurologist did just recently decide to increase her anti-seizure medication a bit, based on the results of her latest blood test to check her medication levels. Our biggest concern for her right now is her continued, unexplained weight gain. No one can figure out what’s causing her weight to increase so consistently in spite of a healthy diet. This makes it so much harder for her to work toward independence in the areas where this is a possibility for her, and it’s very hard for all of us as her caretakers. We will be consulting with the endocrinology department at Cincinnati Children’s and we would also be so grateful for prayers as we look for answers for her, too.

Sweet, beautiful Kathryn

Ian is still struggling with constant severe ear infections in spite of multiple surgeries on his ear, but we do think that they are finally lessening in frequency. We will keep seeing his ear surgeon once a month and pray for full healing eventually.

Ian, mustering the courage to tackle all those candles.

The other kids all remain healthy and stable medically, and we’re thankful for that.

We will all be busy from now until the holidays preparing for National Adoption Awareness presentations during the month of November. This is always such a special month for us, and we love any opportunity to advocate for adoption. This year, Meghan (who is now eighteen!) will be sharing her story and talking about what adoption has meant to her. We’ll post more about those dates and locations as we near the month of November.

Scott and I are both doing well, but sometimes we do struggle with the grueling appointment schedule required to keep all of the kids healthy and keep everyone involved in their care abreast of any changes. We always appreciate prayers for strength, patience, wisdom, perseverance, and a faith that knows deep at a heart level that God is the Source of these things for us.

That’s about it for now. It’s our goal to post short, more frequent updates to this blog. If you’d like to follow these, be sure to click on the “Follow” button to the right.