the many faces

We want to start off by saying sorry for our lack of posts, but we have now made it through a long but great basketball season! Although Jerod was sad to see it come to an end, I will admit that this was a bit of a bittersweet good-bye... We are now getting back into a "normal" routine, so this is good! And we would also like to say a HUGE thank you for all of your prayers over the last nine months - YES, Eliana just turned 9 months yesterday! We had no idea of how hard the adjustment would be, but Cayla finally seemed to turn a huge corner a couple of weeks ago and is now doing soooo well with Eliana and us! It just seemed to hit her all of the sudden, and she is now loving her sister so well, and we love it!!! We were hoping to have our video camera charged up this afternoon, as Cayla was making Eliana laugh quite well while somewhat wrestling her (with the perfect amount of roughness and kindness)! It was really cute:) But yes, thanks again for all of your prayers and support for our family, as we feel as though we are finally getting there...

And I wanted to share a few photos from the past several months, as we obviously have a few to go through... Here are a few from Halloween (yes, just finally got these downloaded) - just had to share - Cayla as a mouse and Eliana as a banana:)

And my friend Allison let us use their adorable pumpkin for some pics - gotta make you laugh!

The next ones were inspired by a thought I was having one morning recently... As Cayla and I were folding the laundry one early morning, I watched her take such great care of laying the clothes down and getting them "just right." I got a chance to think of what she might be one day, and a seamstress popped into my head. And then the ideas kept flowing... A nanny? A cheerleader? A zookeeper? A musician - possibly playing the guitar or bassoon or piano? This picture was taken at Christmas, and we randomly found Cayla like this - precious:)

Or maybe a dancer? She just started taking dance classes, and this includes both ballet and tap. Although she struggles to stay on task, she loves learning the dances, esp. now that we've added tap shoes!

And our thoughts haven't gotten too far yet with Eliana, but we thought this one was quite a hoot! The daycare kids had fun calling her Dr. Ana:)

Merry Christmas 2011

Merry Christmas from the Garlands! Sorry this is so long--we're making up for lost time!

We have had an eventful 2011! It has been very challenging and very rewarding, at times frustrating and at times exhilarating. We've leaned on the love of family and friends like never before, and we've collapsed at the feet of Jesus more than a few times. Through it all, we've never been alone.

The new year found us doing well, with a pregnant belly on Leah and lots of basketball games for Jerod. Cayla really began to love being at games, and she spent many nights in the gym. Jerod enjoyed moving to the high school this year and coaching girls' basketball and 9th grade baseball. Though the basketball season ended 3 points away from the state tournament, Jerod enjoyed coaching another great group of seniors. When spring break came, Jerod took his annual trip to the NCAA tournament with three buddies for a few days of basketball and fun. This year the boys went to Chicago and had a blast, waiting two hours for Chicago-style pizza, walking around the city, and zipping around on the trains.

Leah saw her job at Bethany Christian Services transition a bit, allowing for more family time and learning more about fundraising and family support. Although this change took her out of meeting with families regularly, the trade-off has been well worth it. She loves the opportunity to share her passion for the kids and families Bethany serves with the community and churches in Central Iowa. She was also able to plan her first big fundraiser throughout the summer, and it culminated in a great success last month. The dinner and dessert auction raised over $25,000, which will help Bethany support women, men, and children facing unplanned pregnancies.

In May we welcomed a new member to the family! Eliana Lynn was born in Pella and man, this one was a much easier process for Leah. As much as we love Cayla, there was a small part of us that was anxious about Ana being born with Down Syndrome and somewhat relieved that we wouldn't have the same challenges with our second child. We know there will still be challenges, but they will be different.

In regards to Cayla's adjustment, it has been like Jekyll and Hyde. At times she is incredibly sweet with her sister, wanting to kiss her and acting worried when she cries. At other times, it has been very difficult for her to deal with someone stealing some of our attention away. At her age, she doesn't really know how to handle these emotions--they just come out. Unfortunately, it usually comes out in the form of aggression. Let's just say Eliana may be the toughest 6-month old kid of all time. We're just glad she still has both eyes and hasn't needed any trips to the ER yet. The relationship is a work in progress. We're praying our daughters would one day have an incredible bond, laughing at each other and combing each other's hair. For now, though, there is a lot of pulling each other's hair instead.

One huge step for Cayla this fall has been successfully saying adios to diapers!!! Woo hoo!! We are so excited for her because it's yet one more thing she has conquered on her journey. She is so good about telling us "poop" when it's time to head in there. And she no longer needs M&Ms as a reward. She hasn't worn a diaper for 2 or 3 months!

In other big Cayla news, this fall we got her a

backpack, crayons, markers, glue, kleenexes, and scissors. Can you believe she started pre-k already?? I think it officially hit us in August while we were walking around Wal-Mart with the school list of ITEMS STUDENTS SHOULD HAVE. This is just weird, we thought. We're not ready for this. But sure enough, our spunky lil' girl started school at Madison this fall, just a few blocks from our

home. She goes in the afternoons and she loves her teacher Miss Amy, or, as Cayla calls her, "S'Amy." Cayla enjoys the kids in her class a lot, and can often be found trying to sit on their laps (when she's not pinching them or pulling their hair). She also loves going to gym class and running to the music, as well as Center Time when she gets to play with the dolls. Leah joined the class on a field trip to the Pumpkin Patch, and she enjoyed seeing Cayla interact with her classmates. She usually gets good reports from school, although she does bring home the occasional "mischievous" label. Sounds about

right. :)

Eliana has proven to be a wonderful baby girl! She is very content, a good eater, and usually happy. It's easy to get a smile out of her, which is something we didn't experience much with Cayla. She is sitting up very well and loves to play with toys. She gets very focused when she is looking for toys to play with. Ana is also good for pooping through her outfit at least once per day, which is a running joke with Joy, her daycare provider. She also loves her jumper, bouncing up and down so much we think she's going to get sick. Cayla can often be found trying to get Ana to stop jumping so she can give her a kiss.

Cayla continues to love music, and tries to get up to the stage after church to see the instruments up close. She has even started singing to Eliana, and it has been awesome. She is putting together 2-word phrases all the time, and even a few 3-word phrases. She knows most of the numbers from zero to ten. She loves the bassoon and can draw a figure 8. Much of this has come from the hard work her daycare provider Sonya puts into her during the day, as well as her continued development with school. Cayla continues to surprise us with her ability to comprehend things, and she seems to learn something new every day. It's so fun. The main areas still lagging behind are her ability to feed herself and speech development.

We want to close by thanking everyone for loving our family so well, especially over these past six months, which have been such a major adjustment for us. We hope to do a better job updating the blog in the future. We want to wish you all a Merry Christmas. May you be blessed richly in the coming year.

With love,

the Garlands

fall fun at the apple orchard

We had the chance to head out for some fun fall activities with Gramama and Papa at the apple orchard (thanks to Respite Connection)! This was the first hayrack ride for the girls, and the first s'more for Cayla (with she loved)! It was fun spending time with the family in such beautiful weather! More pictures to come soon...

a night with CJ

I cried on Cayla's pillow tonight. It surprised me. It's been a long time since I cried about anything. Probably too long. Jimmy Valvano once said that a human should laugh every day, think about life every day, and cry every day. He said if you do those things, you've lived.

We had a pretty good night tonight, Cayla and I. Leah and Eliana are in Des Moines until late, so I picked up Cayla after school and we got to hang out, just Dada and Lala. Just like the old days.

We played for a bit down stairs. She loves it down there. You know when Cayla wants to go downstairs because she points toward the floor a couple of times and says, "downce, downce" while looking at you hopefully. So we went downce.

Cayla loves going down her slide or sitting next to it and putting toys down it. She prefers you sit at the bottom of the slide and catch her. Or the toys. Legs must be spread in a "V" formation or she gets a bit cranky. Sometimes I try to sneak one by her and bend one of my legs inward. She notices right away, drops whatever is in her hands, and comes over to "help" me improve my position. This usually means tugging my foot. When the "V" formation is back in place, she returns to her toys happily.

Sometimes I get bored when she's picking out things to toss down. So I try to spin a plastic fruit at the bottom of the slide like a top. The pear works best. Followed closely by the smaller lemon. Still looking for a third fruit with balance. At times Cayla watches it spin and gives her assent by just ignoring it. Other times my spinning fruit messes with her and she says, "no, no." She wants a clean landing for the hot dog or french fries or zebra she's about to drop down. How can I argue with that?

After that we went upstairs and ate some supper. Beans (a definite "go-to" food), pizza rolls, and... hmm... I thought I did a better job than that... sorry Leah. Guess that was it. And milk. Cayla was fun. Her new thing is to point somewhere to make you look. Of course I look every time. I ham it up and act confused as if expecting something really important to be there, before eventually "realizing" I got scammed, smiling and saying, "Hey, you!" and tickling her. Repeat. Over. And over. She must think I'm the dumbest Dad in the world. I'll gladly take that title for all the giggles.

It was supposed to be bath night for her, although Leah gave me an out and said we could do it tomorrow night. She's sweet. But after Cayla spread some pizza roll sauce all over her neck and in her hair, I knew it had to be done. Points back for the horrible supper?

She finally started to get a bit crabby toward the end of the bath, but considering she went napless today, she did pretty well. A quick brush of the teeth and comb of the hair later and we were heading to her room. She was a very tired girl, so I just took her right to bed. We laid there together and I reminded her of all the great things in her day (the pinching of the poor girl at preschool notwithstanding). Sometimes when I talk to her at night I'll get done and she'll say, "more, more." That's when I go into Dora-story mode and make her a character with Dora in an adventure. (Move over, Boots). I try and use words she understands, so most of the "adventures" probably wouldn't be must-see TV. We go to the park and swing a bit with Dora. Sometimes we go through the forrest and hide from Swiper. By this time she's pretty much out and I usually have time for a quick prayer.

Tonight was different. She was out fast. I asked her if I could kiss her on my favorite place between her ear and her neck. She was so tired she barely nodded. So I buried a couple kisses and whispered "I love you." She gave a tired chuckle and closed her eyes. I started to pray for her. It was nice to have time to lay there with her and think.

I thought about how frustrating it has been to see her develop so slowly, yet how many things she had been learning lately. Her vocabulary is growing like crazy! And running. Walking in the grass with no fear. Climbing on things. Her sense of personality starting to come out: goofy and a bit rambunctious. I thought about how hard having Eliana enter her world has probably been on her. I felt guilty for the bitterness and even anger I've felt after seeing her grab or claw at her sister again. I thought about her throaty giggles and the way she says "Yeah!!" when excited. I thought about her trying SO HARD to go on the potty to make us happy, and how she loves seeing us cheer for her, whether it was just a few drops or the mother load.

I began to feel very humbled that the Lord of the universe has chosen Leah and I to get to be the people she sees first thing in the morning and before she goes to bed every day. I felt grateful for all the progress we're seeing. I prayed for her continued physical and intellectual development. I want her to understand who Jesus is some day and to know that he loves her more than we do.

And as I thought about her growing up and moving up in school, I thought about how kids won't always be nice to her. I think many will. But all it takes is one. I thought about some kid making fun of her at recess and saying mean things to her. And how much it might hurt her. And when I thought about her heart hurting, it was tough. I just wanted to go hug and comfort 7th-grade Cayla right now. I wanted to leave my class at the high school, have them find a sub for the rest of the day, and just go be with her and tell her how wonderful she is until her tears dried. I wanted to remind 7th-grade Cayla to listen to our words, not theirs. Shortly after, I reminded her that she was Dada's pretty girl, wiped my eyes, and left. It was a great moment that I know I needed.

This has already been long, so we'll get to preschool and Eliana in a future post. Cayla's almost 3 and Eliana is almost 4 months. Crazy!

the dog days of august

Gonna be a short one! We have lots to share about our girls, but not lots of time to post it yet. Let's just say August was a tough month for us. We struggle with not wanting to write "downer" posts, but at the same time we know there are a few people with special needs kids of their own and we want to be completely honest about our experiences.

All that to say it has not been an easy road lately. Cayla has continued to struggle with some things. It's been pretty frustrating at times. And yet she can be so sweet, too. She often asks to hold Eliana and puts her hands out in a "holding" position. After about two seconds and a quick kiss, she is ready to give her up again. Cute.

Cayla has now started preschool!! Yep, that's right. Our little girl is spending a few hours in a classroom! More on this, including pictures, later. Cayla has also been perfecting the art of potty-training! Again, more later. Eliana is still a sweet little girl, smiling and cooing to us frequently. She is now "blowing raspberries" and has rolled over twice from tummy to back, while getting close to it from back to tummy. Exciting stuff! Okay, more later.

We'll leave you with a picture of our two girls from a few days ago.

cayla's sense of humor

Cayla thinks it's really funny to put things in places where she probably knows they don't belong. She figured out how to open up the kitchen garbage a while ago. We are now missing a couple of plastic animal magnets. We've caught her putting them in the garbage before and told her "no." But she's snuck some in when we weren't looking. And yes, we fish them out if we can. So now we're down a few and waiting for her confession.

Cayla also loves to put things into the toilet, which is a great reminder for me to make sure I put the whole seat down. She has put things into hampers that weren't clothes. She has put items into her potty. She also things it's hilarious to throw things into the bathtub as we're filling it up for her bath. Usually, we catch her. But Cayla is getting sneakier. She will now hustle in, throw whatever she has into the bath (like a roll of toilet paper), and hustle back out before I can turn and say, "Cayla, no!" It's almost comical. Like a superhero that you only see the back of. Boom! Toy in the bathtub. I grab it, turn around, and see... a little blur go out of the room. She struck again!

Here's one from a couple of days ago. Apparently Cayla thought it would be fun to put a few rolls of TP onto the changing table. Which is taller than her, by the way. I guess this one is harmless, at least. We lost a roll into the bathtub water yesterday.

When it comes to Eliana, Cayla thinks it's funny to "help" Eliana do various hand motions. Sometimes it's clapping. Sometimes it's sign language. Cayla usually does a good job but at times can get a little too... helpful. But overall, CJ is doing better dealing with our 4th family member. She has her moments, but they are getting less frequent. She is mostly sweet to her sis, kissing her and wanting to hug her. A lot. We are praying that these two will have a special bond as they grow up together.

some pics!

Our good friend Brooke Jarzombek came over to take some pictures a little while ago and we think they turned out great!

When we tell Cayla to smile, we get something like this! Not quite the real deal, but close.

Now this is the real deal.