A Sneak Peek of Lucey

Jill, from Jill Huepel Photography (click here and go to customer galleries) was our photographer last week. Jill sent me several pictures to post here. Jill did a beautiful job with Lucey and she is talented and creative. Lucey was very relaxed and at home with Jill. If you live near the area, I highly recommend you giving her a call. Click the above and go to Jill's site. Lucey is featured on her blog so check that out. Also, you can take a peek at all the pictures she took of Lucey if you enter her site. You can't miss Lucey. You can also see other work Jill has done. Such beautiful photos!

Thank you again , Jill! I can't wait to bring the boys along with Lucey at the end of the month. I know you can handle the Tucker Troops.

Happy Mother's Day

Mothers hold their children's hands for a short while,

but their hearts forever. - Unknown

It's an honor and a privilege to be Adam, Andrew,

Christian and Lucey's Mommy.

I am a better person because of them.

This is my Mom---Happy Mother's Day

to you Mom!

Happy Mother's Day and blessings to all of you who are Mom's.
I hope you had a beautiful day.

Happy Birthday Dad

There's something like a line of gold thread

running through a man's words

when he talks to his daughter, and gradually

over the years it gets to be long enough

for you to pick up in your hands

and weave into a cloth that feels like love itself.

--John Gregory Brown

Have a beautiful day, Dad!

Bows and Bibs

Update: At the bottom of the post--

Yesterday, a package arrived for Lucey. This time it was from Mama. I ordered these sweet things from a company called Dimples and Curls--click here to go shopping. I found this company on line without knowing anything about them. Kelly was so easy to work with, very personal and it was a very quick turn around. Thank you Kelly, we love our new bows and that sweet bib.


The bib came beautifully packaged.

I bought a white bow for Lucey's baptism. The bows are on very nice alligator clips that have extra cushion to help the bow stay in place.

Lucey is going for her first "photo shoot" this morning. We are having professional pictures taken of Lucey by an amazing woman who I met through our church. I'll tell you more about our experience at a later time. I'm very excited and I hope to have proofs to share. So here we are, preparing for pictures and I decide to give Miss Lucey Lu a whole grain waffle this morning. I have never put syrup on her waffle. We have all this wonderful pure maple syrup from Michigan so I thought I would let her have some. She loved it. She ate a little quicker than usual and I didn't realize she was done and in her boredom decided to comb her hair with her fork. I guess she will need to wash her hair again....we can't have pictures taken with her crazy, sticky hair.

Oops: You probably were quite impressed that Lucey Lu could wash her own hair.....Ahhhh, I was in a rush and wasn't careful in my editing. Which isn't anything new here. I gave Lucey another quick bath and she was all beautiful for her photo shoot. Jill is an amazing photographer. She will let me know when she has done her work with the photos and will have them up on her web site. I'll post it once she gives me the word. I'll give you a little something...Lucey had 5 different outfits....some photos were taken inside Jill's studio. Some were taken outside, in a field, on a bed, next to a honeysuckle bush. I love, love those photos!! Lucey was in all white in quite a few shots. Lucey was very cooperative and smiled a lot. I'm so proud of her.

The Good, The Bad and The Hopeful

I've been trying to get my thoughts straight to compose this blog entry. Many people have asked about Lucey's appointment and I've procrastinated in answering. I will try and make it simple for my sake and for yours. I'm sure you don't want to read a bunch of complicated mumbo-jumbo.

Lucey has Hemifacial Microsomia (click it to learn more about Lucey's facial deformity).

I'll start off with the Good:

1. On May 1-- Lucey met with the Craniofacial Team at Children's Hospital. Here is a picture of Lucey Lu and I waiting to talk with the director/surgeon of the Cleft Palate and Craniofacial Institute at St. Louis Children's Hospital (our last stop of the day). He will be the one to do all of Lucey's surgeries. Our day started early. We were at the Hosp. at 8:15 a.m. and finished around 4:00 p.m. It was a long day and Lucey was a perfect angel.


2. Ron made it home the night before after being gone for nearly 3 weeks. Praise God!

3. Andrew and Christian went with us and did not complain one time. In fact, they did their homework like they were told and then played some games and took a walk around the hospital. They missed their dad so much and wanted to spend time with him even if it had to be at the hospital. Ron played games and walked the hospital with them when we were waiting to meet with a specialist. There was quite a bit of waiting but nothing too major.

4. Each team member was very compassionate and had such nice things to say about Lucey and her development. Lucey makes everyone smile.

5. Lucey had a hearing test and did great. She sat on Ron's lap in a sound proof room and she understood what she was suppose to do right off the bat. She is a sharp one. Her left ear hears within normal range. GREAT news! We received a brochure on the BAHA (click BAHA to learn more) hearing aid for her right side. It's a bone conduction hearing aid. We are waiting to hear more about that avenue. (BTW: Lucey would wear it on a head band while she is young)

6. We feel confident in the team and feel very confident in the surgeon who will be working with us until we are old people. This is a long process involving many years for Lucey. Which means Ron and I will be 60 or more when we say good-bye to the surgeon.

THE BAD:

1. Lucey's CT scan.... Where to start? The obvious, Lucey is missing a functional outer ear, an ear canal and a middle ear. It appears that she has an inner ear. What she has is an ear remnant which is located very low and forward. Dr. K said, "It's out in no man's land." True. Dr. K. gave us several options with that ear remnant. It's really not usable in it's current location. We don't want to put Lucey through many more surgeries than necessary to save that piece of tissue and then to have more scaring and a possibility he would not be able to use it in the end (for an ear reconstruction).

2. What we can't see is that Lucey is missing a large portion of her right jaw. Lower and upper. Dr. K has classified it as severe. Lucey does have her facial nerve. (Yes, the big smiles!) She is missing part of her ramus (lower jaw) and zygomatic bone (upper jaw) She is also missing cheek tissue...We knew this....we can see and feel her to know this. The CT scan took our breath away. Ron and I had eyes as large as saucers as we looked at the 3D imaging. Neither of us was prepared for what we didn't see. Dr. K was compassionate. He said it was bad. There is no great solution but there are ways to make Lucey look and function more normal. Right then I thought....the ear is secondary to her jaw. We believe the jaw needs more attention right now.

HOPEFUL

Ron and I are praying for wisdom as we begin to make critical decisions for Lucey and her future. We have resumed our prayer walks. Last year Ron and I would take nightly walks together lifting up in prayer our family needs, needs of friends and most of all if we should adopt. (It's obvious that prayer was answered). I love walking with my husband and praying with him--it makes me feel closer to him and to God. Here we are, over a year later and we are strolling Lucey along with us and praying for her future. We have confidence that the Lord will give us direction like he has in bringing her into our family. We are human though and this is not easy. No one said it would be easy. But, we feel so incredibly blessed. The boys feel blessed. That warms my heart. They love her so much. We love her so much. We are all ready to help Lucey through her journey by giving her unconditional love, support and a future. We feel even more than hopeful....confident! Confident in the Lord to guide each and every step we take.

If you have any questions...I'll be happy to answer anything that comes to your mind. Some have asked how many surgeries will Lucey have. I asked that question too.....Dr. K explained that we don't go to the store and buy everything we see....if we did everything possible to "fix" Lucey then it would be easy to come up with 30 surgeries. No kidding....that's what he said. But, we are not going to "buy" everything. We will take it one step at a time and do what's necessary for Lucey. Doing what's best for her and her future. We want to give her wings....

On a total different topic....

We are all tickled that Lucey is taking a liking to her books! Whooohooo....she stacks them all up on the couch and then looks through them one by one--upside down too. We all LOVE to read in this house and Andrew, especially, was worried that she was not interested in books. He has said that he wants to be the one to teach her to read. She's a Tucker and she'll be a reader! ;-)

One more thing...Dr. K is ready to perform two of the surgeries this summer (at the same time). He said we could take time to think about it. He gave us his phone number and email in case we had more questions. He said he would make time for Lucey so not to worry about getting on his calendar at this time. Ron and I are praying through this strong possibility right now. Please pray with us as we make this big decision. Thank you so much.

With love,

Beth

Blessings From Others

So many blessings being poured upon our family. We have been receiving beautiful gifts since last year. Although we feel completely grateful for receiving the gifts, it's not an expectation that we have. Since this is our family journal and Lucey's journal...I know she will want to know all about her journey home. To see pictures of the sweet things that others have sent to her. The prayers poured upon her by others. The love that brought her to us. Those material things that became a part of her life.

My Mom, Nana, bought Lucey's car seat for her. What a wonderful gift. I really researched and found this one based on safety ratings, being able to face rear up to 35 pounds and cost. Thank you Mom--she will be using this for a long time. Hopefully she will gain strength and weight and we will be able to turn her around and face her forward some time this year.

My long time friend--from 28 years ago--Who I have kept in touch with via snail mail and phone calls all these years --who I talk to almost everyday as we support each other through love and prayers--Jeanne--bought this thoughtful gift. A Life Book for adopted children. She knew exactly what we needed because she and her husband have adopted two kiddos of their own. It's so comprehensive. I have never seen anything like this. My goal is to work on it this week. Now that Ron is home, I have a little more time. There are two of us to run Tucker Taxi Service. Ron is doing the dishes as I type. Ahhhh....so nice to have my love and my helper back.

Jeanne bought these extra inserts....how great is that?! Did you see the one at the top of the second picture? "My first PCS." Permanent Change of Station. At the end of this month, Lucey will be experiencing this as we make our move across the state. It's exciting yet, a lot of work to move a family of 6 plus one very cute dog. Thanks Jeanne!!!

Thank you Katie, the sweet floral dress will be perfect for next year and look at that...a matching dress for her baby. Ron actually thought that the dress was for me and the baby dress was for Lucey....okay, that's hilarious. I know I'm a small person but really....Ron, you crack me up. I love the pink bathing suit and cover up. Every girl needs a nice cover up.

Shea-Shea, Thank you for the beautiful V*ra Bradley bag, Vera Bradley jewelry box and toile "holder" Right now it's holding tissue. Shea sent a huge box of so much....I'll have to catch up later with photos. Shea, you spoiled us girls.

Katie met me at T*ys R *s. I thought we were meeting there to hand over a kid....but she met me in the store and surprised me with purchasing Lucey's mattress and cover. Thank you Jim, Katie and Ben for such a generous gift. We prayed over the mattress and voile....Lucey feels so cozy in there that she has slept through the night from day two. I love the S*rta lamb....so cute.

This is actually not Lucey's crib....we had quite the crib saga of epic proportion. This crib was damaged and then recalled and so on. It's such a long story...I don't have the energy to even explain it. All that matters is that Lucey has a beautiful crib now that we only paid a small amount for because of the company messing up.

OOPS: I made a mistake...I took this picture after the first crib left. This is Lucey's crib. Well, you get the idea...we had crib trouble.

The cover....

Lucey's crib--the one we finally ended up with and one I didn't choose. When I opened the box I realized they had sent the wrong crib and I said, "The heck with it..." I put it together anyway. After two months I was tired of dealing with the crib issue. I actually love it!!

My Dear, Sweet Friend, Jilly--Lucey's first piece of jewelry. What a sweet and thoughtful gift. Thank you!! It's so tiny. I wondered how it was ever going to fit Lucey. Well guess what? Lucey is even tinier. We try it on a lot while we are getting dressed in the morning. It's something she will have to grow into though. Something to look forward to. Lucey can't wait! So for now, she is wearing her plastic bracelets. ;-) Jill has three handsome boys and husband who is getting ready to deploy. Please pray for Jill's husband, Brian....for safety, for absolute protection as he leads his Battalion into harms way. For Jill and the boys...for peace and for rest in the Lord's arms. For protection over them. For some reason, when the men deploy, things tend to break down. I know this first hand. We had a broken arm, two water leaks, a staff infection and some people around us who were toxic to us and it created unnecessary stress. So please pray that Jill and her boys will be protected and that everyone around them will be supportive and loving. Jilly, I'm praying for you...I love you!!! Call me if you need anything!!!

I've know Katherine for almost 18 years. She was just a young girl when we met ;-) She has many talents...one of them is making beautiful blankets. She has made blankets for my boys...she made Adam's 16 years ago. Thank you so much for this beautiful blanket you made for Lucey Lu. It's absolutely gorgeous. It's so soft and so elegant. She loves it!!!

Last year with a little reluctance, we retired the boys blankets that Katherine made to their memory boxes. I just wanted to show you how much we treasure them. Oh how they were missed. I miss them too...they were such a part of them for so long. They were loved. I hope you and the girls come visit soon!

Thank you again to all of you....for all of your continued support and prayers. I treasure each and every person who is a part of us.

With Love,

Beth

Lucey Had A "Play Date"....

.....with developmental therapy. Through Early Intervention, Lucey Lu qualified for developmental and speech therapy. A sweet lady came to our home to "play" with Lucey...she brought two huge bags of toys. Puzzles, doll house people, and books to name a few. She did a lot of roll playing and she used sign language the entire time. She explained to me that sign language helps to stimulate the language center of the brain. It also helps to lessen the frustration for Lucey when she wants to communicate a need to us. That all sounded great until we went to Children's Hospital and met with the speech therapist there. She told me that there is absolutely no proof that this is true. She explained that this was a trendy idea and that we want Lucey to learn the English language so why teach her something that we will want her to drop. She can understand if we want to learn it as a skill but right now it's English that's most important. Wow---another great point. So now what? I am definitely not one to jump on trends. It's easy to see that in the way I dress and the way I educate my children....we are all about classic education here. I was having fun with teaching Lucey sign language. My sister uses sign language at times....it's beautiful. I wished I had learned sign language a long time ago. I think we will use what we need but also really work on Lucey's verbal communication. I'm not going to get caught up in either strong opinion. We will do what's best for Lucey. Now that's a peaceful feeling.

Random Photos:

Christian decided to take Lucey out to play. Now that's a load!

"I'm ready for gymnastics...Mommy and Me class at the YMCA."

"I'd better practice a little before we go."

"Do you think Max would mind if I took him for his walk?"

"While Andrew and Christian are taking their piano lessons, I'm watching Ben and Adam play Rock Band. I don't know why they won't let me try?"

Happy 16th Adam!

My baby is 16 today. Can it be true? Where do the years go? Adam, Daddy and I are so proud of the boy you have been and the man you have become. You are so kind to others, confident, comfortable being you, you are a team player, you have a great sense of humor, you are smart, you are very respectful of others.....you love The Lord. We are so blessed The Lord trusted us to care for you. What an honor.


Adam's last performance of Oklahoma was today. He came home to a small party with family and the Hanley's who are like family.

Lighting the 16 candles.

Did you make a wish?

The Hanley family with Adam.

Aunt Jennifer, Adam and Uncle Rob.

Adam and Ben.

Nana, Adam and Papa.

Wishing you a year of many blessings!!! I love you Adam!

O-K-L-A-H-O-M-A!

We went to this evenings performance of Oklahoma. Ron is still gone so I bathed Lucey and put her in her "lounge wear" and packed everyone up and off we went. Adam did not try out for the play. Several weeks into rehearsal, the cast was short cowboys. Several teachers approached Adam about being one of the cowboys. After some thought, Adam stepped outside his comfort zone and became part of the cast. I was so impressed with the production. They had a live orchestra made up of some adults and some students. I enjoy all music by Rodgers and Hammersteins and this was absolutely delightful. For such a small school they gave a huge performance.

We are waiting for the lights to dim. Lucey is confined to her stroller with some drinks and snacks on hand.

Adam is the cowboy in black. The sheriff-- So Adam!

Adam looks on at the marriage scene.

Take a bow Adam.

Adam and his posse in the receiving line.

What a fun night!!!!

Fishing Is A High School Sport If You Live In Illinois

Yes, you read that correctly. Adam's High School math teacher was thrilled to put a team together and Adam was chosen as one of the 6 kids representing his school. Adam's school is small and all of the kids have to participate in order to be competetive. I am proud of Adam for being a team player. He was thrilled to participate on the fishing team. I had no idea that he was going to be part of Illinois history. He had to be at school by 6:00 a.m. this morning...so an early morning for us. I picked him up from school at 5:00 p.m. He came home, showered and then back to school for opening night of Oklahoma!!! Busy guy! Adam caught the largest bass for his team. Go Adam!

If you want to read more about this new High School sport go here.