I'm Parting From It

I'm going to part with the beautiful Tralala outfit that I bought almost one year ago with the two other mamma's from my travel group. Only problem, it did not arrive before we left for China. Oh, don't get me wrong, I did expedited shipping. What I should have done was just gone a head and did over night that way I knew I had it. It arrived six hours after we took off in our plane for China. My dear friend Carla talked how we could possible take Katie's , Audrey's and Lia's. Well Katie was very sick and obviously Twink's outfit never arrived in time so that never happened. Unfortunately I lost most of my pictures of Lia in her pretty outfit when out computer crashed. She is wearing it in the picture in the blog banner.

So I have decided to go ahead and sell it. I may have kept it if it had arrived on time and had special meaning but it really does not hold any meaning. She only wore it two maybe three times. I hope to put it on the big auction site sometime this weekend.

Hey, wish us luck Twink has her pre-school eval. in a little while. Oh and did I tell you her and I had our hair cut yesterday? She looks really cute and I really look umm, well let me work on it. I'll post picture soon.

After Many Months

We received and e-mail from Angela at Ladybugs and Love that Lia's foster mom had sent a letter in response to the one we sent in June. She also sent 3 pictures which Angela scanned so we could see right away! One was Twink stark naked looking like a Buddha baby. She had the biggest pot belly on her. The second was of her and her foster dad days before we arrived in China. I believe it was the day they had to bring her back to the orphanage but that is only a guess (date stamped picture). Last was a picture of her foster parents and her foster sister! We received more information on her and lets just say the two of them have a lot in common. She is still living with the foster family as of now. I know of no plans for her future. :(

It is always so exciting to receive these letters and pictures. It gives me a glimpse of what Twink was like when she was younger. I don't just look at Twink in the photo, I look at the big picture. I look at the couch, the blankets, any pictures, books, etc. I am getting ready to send her orphanage an update with pictures. I am going to ask for an item and I pray that they send it to us. I know it's there but I'm not sure how likely it will be for me to obtain it. Wish me luck and a pray wouldn't hurt.

Game, Birthday and a Box

Jewel just finished up her first year of field hockey. I must say it worked her like she has never been worked before. At first I didn't think she was going to stick with it. Our rules are once you start you must finish. She ended up loving it. Their team ended up being 1-1-8. It wasn't until their very last game at home did they win. It was a sweet victory for those girls on that team. Here are the pictures from that game.

This is my now 10 yr old son! I can hardly believe it! It does not seem possible but here he is trying to grow as tall as me. He does not like cake but likes cupcakes so that was his request. It makes no sense to me as they are the same thing but hey, it's his birthday and he can have whatever "cake" he wants. :)

It never ceases to amaze me what a box can do for an imagination of a child. These two played with this box for well over an hour and still like to play with it. There were a few little arguments but they were short lived. I did think Twink was going to go in head first at one point but she did not. They love to play together and here is my proof.

Help Bring Owen Home

Please head over to To China for Owen and check out what Rebecca and her husband Andy are doing to bring their son Owen home from China. There is great fundraiser going right now with multiple prizes. One of which is a Canon Rebel Xsi with all the trimming. Don't take my word for it, go check it out.

Fun Days Ahead! (NOT)

We finally have a date set for Twink's botox injections. This will help relax the muscles that are tight in her right arm and right thumb. It is set for November 3rd and then on the 14th we are going to cast her unaffected arm or lack of a better term "good" arm. (I really don't like using good arm bad arm) This is in hopes to have Twink start using her right arm and hand more. She has actually started to use the arm more but not the hand. She is going to be very frustrated and very angry. If you could all keep us in your thoughts and prayers that would be great.

I was also able to schedule an appointment with the new neurologist. That visit won't happen until the end of December. Man, that seems so far away. I'm praying that everything goes smooth until we see them. It sounds like a very busy practice that attracts three different states! (YIKES) I know our state is in desperate need of good neurologists right now.

Twink's evaluation for the next step of EI is coming up. She will actually move out of EI and into the school system. That eval is next week with a CP group. I am excited about that because I am in hopes that maybe they can answer a few questions that I have. If they have an opening in one of the preschools then she will be placed in one of the five schools they have. It will be five days a week and five hours a day. She will receive therapy EVERYDAY!! This is something Twink is in need of. Her speech right now for an almost three year old is at 9-12 months. She is making improvements, slowly. Sigh

My next area of concern is does she fit in? I know she is a bit more *special* than some but let me tell you, she knows what your talking about. There are times she could careless what is going on around her and other times she def. wants in on the actions. She is frustrated when she can not get her point across or tell you what is going on. I've noticed we are not asked out on play dates which saddens me. Is it me or is it her or both. I fear things will only get worse as she gets older. I pray that this is just me being silly but it is a concern. I have an opportunity to talk to her teacher on Friday and will see how things are going in the class room. I am starting to catch a glimpse of what our future looks like with people on the outside world.

I want a bubble!

No need to respond to the last paragraph, it's more for me to get out my thoughts. Just an FYI, I am thinking of going private on the blog. If you'd like to continue reading please send me an e-mail so I have it in case I do.

Wordless Wednesday

New Camera & More Pics

So my lovely husband bought me this camera (early Christmas present). It is the Canon Rebel Xsi. I must say I love it. I am still learning and it may take me a bit but I'll figure it all out with some time. The software is what might actually take me the most time! LOL Here are a few more pictures I took from the weekend while we were at the corn maze.

Fun Weekend!

Oh my, did we have a busy weekend! Saturday we went and did a Lantern Walk with our local FCC and it was so much fun! We had some amazing Chinese food and the children listen to a story about the significance of the paper lantern. After the story all the children had a chance to make a paper lantern. They had tables set up with different items to decorate the lanterns. We chose a table with markers and stickers. About half way through I realized they had a separate room for toddlers in which they were making their lanterns into bunnies. Now Spitfire would have LOVED that but we could not have picked a better table for Twink. When everyone was finished we went outside and walked around this huge circle. I wish I could show you how beautiful it looked but you'll have to use your imagination. The event had a great turn out and it was a ton of fun! I look forward to it next year!

Sunday we went to a corn maze that opened this year. We had a blast! I can't wait to see what they add for next year. It was so kid friendly and not like the other pumpkin places I've been to. Although they did not have a pumpkin patch it is one of the items they will be adding next year! Spitfire's favorite thing was the corn pit. I must say I really thought Twink would like it but she wouldn't even try it. She loves to play in a much smaller version of it at school but wanted nothing to do with it there. She loved the swing, as always! LOL Enjoy the pictures! I actually added a picture to Spitfire hair cut and glasses post. :)

Haircut and Glasses

I think I may have forgotten to mention that Spitfire gave herself a haircut! LOL Although I did not find it funny at the time I can now laugh at it. You see this is the second time she has done this. The first time she had hair down past the middle of her back. She manage to only cut the very front and only gave herself bangs. I must say she did a very good job. I did not respond very well to the new look though. She had curly hair and pin straight bangs. Not a good combination.

This last time she did a number. She gave herself 1/2 - 1 inch bangs, she cut the side, the back, and underneath of her hair. At first I didn't notice anything until she whispered something to her daddy. Then he ran his hand on the back of her head and GOBS of hair come off in his hand. Well if you could have seen my face! We had hair everywhere. Needless to say she had to go and have it fixed. She now sports a bob and those 1 inch bangs are usually hidden by a piece of comb over hair. So if getting used to the new hair cut wasn't bad enough the vision place called while we were at the salon to tell me her glasses were in! Between the two changes I have visual overload.

Once I am able to I will upload pictures but that probably won't be until next week. Oh and the glasses, Spitfire picked them out. Next time momma will pick them. :)

Back On-line

Phew, we are back up and running. Our computer died on us last week so we've been without a computer for a couple of days. I have a ton of pictures I want to share but don't want to load the software on the new computer. I will do it when the kids computer comes. LOL So I've been MIA for awhile nut I'm back. I have a ton to tell you but that will have to wait until tomorrow. Hope you all had a great weekend! :)

For Your Viewing PLeasure

Like most of you who have already received your referral, I'm sure you remember where you were and what you were doing when the phone call came in about your beautiful child to be. I was one week post-op from a two level cervical neck fusion, in a neck brace and The Count was at work. I was trying to relax on my couch between phone calls from my anxious husband while my children were doing school work. When the first report of referrals hit the AWAA SN Yahoo Group I was done for. I was pretty relaxed most of the day up until that point. I remember Liz had a May LID and she received her phone call an 1 1/2 before ours and announced Mei Mei's referral arrival. At 3:22pm on October 5, 2007 we learned about Chu Meng now officially our daughter.

As I sat and learned of her medical condition I could feel my stomach knot and my mind/heart race. I was told she had an arachnoid brain cyst. I thought to myself "what the heck is that, I didn't check that off on our medical list." I knew of the process of how our agency worked. They looked at your LID, how long you'd been on the SN list, your medical check list, and most important they pray over each child's file. I was then told of the reason our family was chosen. I must say I was very quite the whole time just trying to absorb everything that was coming at me. How was I going to tell my husband our child has a brain cyst?

I called The Count at work and he hurried home so we could all review her file and look at her sweet face. That night I looked up her condition on the internet and found probably every scary website I could on arachnoid brain cysts. I must say I was pretty discouraged when I went to bed that night. The next morning I was able to talk to our local doctor and then over the LONG weekend a neurosurgeon at Boston's Children's Hospital. What we heard was very reassuring. After much prayer we knew that this was our Twink. We knew that there could be risks but also knew we served a big God. This verse came to mind MANY times throughout our processes of the unknown.

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not unto your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths." Proverbs 3: 5-6

On November 15th we received a brief update letting us know that she was still not walking but we were not worried. We were prepared for her not to walk until she had surgery. What a surprise it was to see her walking on our Metcha Day. We went to China with no expectations and we were blessed beyond belief for just trusting the Lord!

“Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The LORD, the LORD, is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation." With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. In that day you will say: "Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done, and proclaim that his name is exalted. Sing to the LORD, for he has done glorious things; let this be known to all the world. Shout aloud and sing for joy, people of Zion, for great is the Holy One of Israel among you." Isaiah 12:2-6

Now today we all know that Twink does not have an arachnoid cyst but has had a stroke. She is wonderful and we are so blessed to have her in our lives. It feels as though she has been with us much longer than 10 months. These were the pictures we saw one year ago today in the very order you see them. Enjoy! Oh and I hope you liked the video!

AWAA Associates

Well I was going to wait until Sunday to share this exciting news but The Count and I received an e-mail from AWAA (our adoption agency) asking us to be Associates! We are so excited. What this would mean is that we would hold a couple adoption seminars a year and possible a monthly/bi-monthly fellowship meeting. I still remember the first seminar we attended, it was one day after we found out our LID. The second seminar we attended a year later was awesome as well. I really like our local Associates and was excited to show them Twink's picture last November at the SCC concert.

What a gift from the Lord to be able to share information on adoption! To possibly bring more children to their forever family - only the Lord can do that but we can help.

Oh and there IS more sharing to come on Sunday! ;)

Improving Everyday!

It's been awhile since I've given any updates on how well Twink is doing so I thought I'd take a moment and share some things Twink is doing. It seems positive peer pressure is working to our benefit! :) Since school has start she is trying to do so much more in so many different areas. Twink is now able to walk up and down the stairs holding on to a railing or the wall (she used to crawl up and scoot down on her bum). She is feeding herself most meals with a fork or spoon, she is working on holding her own sippy cup (she still prefers to use it like a bottle), she can use a straw, she waves, she starting walk holding hands and when you ask for her hand she hold out her hand that the stroke left week. I'm not sure if school is working with her on that but that is the one she always gives me.

Are you wondering about the sensory issues? Well......we are getting there! LOL She does not like the thought of getting in the tub but once in there she is fine. She will play and laugh until it is time to wash her hair. She hates that with a passion. She is better about me washing her little body! :) She does not cry anymore and will stand up for me. She also does not mind having lotion put on. She likes to rub it in except on her arm that the stroke affected. It must feel different. She does still hate to have her teeth brushed. We are working on it. As far as brushing the hair, it's getting better. She lets me put a clip in or one pony but not two. If it's two then it's a fight!

As far as speech, this is where we get frustrated at times. She is very good at getting her point across but some times it is hard not knowing what she is thinking. Right now she says uh-oh, ding-dong (belly button), uh-m (for no), up, cracker, meow and hi. A couple of these words you have to ask her to say and she'll say them but we hear the rest a lot. She has said the following during speech therapy or early on - mama, dada, goat, tree, hello, kitty, boat, and car. Now I'm sure I missed a few but this gives you an idea of what she has been working on. (I can also look back for future reference) Some of those words have come out clear as day, some not so clear. Car comes out like she should be in Boston! ;) We do not live in Boston. LOL She is using more signs to communicate. She is doing very well with them too. I think we are going to work with her a bit more with it. I must say Twink understands EVERYTHING we say to her. I get rather frustrated when people imply that maybe she does not. Our daughter follows directions better then our 4yr old daughter! Just because she can not talk does not mean she does not understand. I think this is going to be my biggest struggle until she can talk. Trying to get people to understand that she does understands!

We have hit a turning point with her recently. She has started to just blossom. She is loving, playful and her tantrums have lessened. She loves the children SOOOOO much and really looks forward to them coming home from school. The first thing Spitfire usually asks when she gets off the bus is if Twink is home and if she is still awake. :) She will usually then tell me that she loves Twink so much. It just melts my heart.

I know this is getting long and I will stop for now but I wanted to share what our baby girl is doing. I know I usually post about all her medical stuff and it can get overwhelming but I wanted to just tell you all the good going on. We thank God everyday for her. She is ours thanks to Him! :) Oh check back this weekend we have some thing exciting to share! :)

**Edited to add that Twink is trying very hard to jump. It is sweet to see. She likes to dance. I'll try to catch that on video because it is really sweet. Oh and did I tell you this child can eat! She eats everything and anything. She LOVES food. I actually have to cut her off because she can eat more than I can. Ok no more for now!