First day of school...

Miss M. catchin' up w/some friends.
Miss M. sitting at her desk. Bri, my beautiful niece is off to the left of the picture. She accompanied me this morning and was a huge help w/getting the little tikes out of the car. Thank you, B'.

Mr. J. and his sweet teacher, Mrs. V'. He seemed happy to be back.

Miss M. and Mr. J. started school today. It was a little hard for mommy (aka. me!) to get up and get going this morning. Allow me to elaborate...... I get up fairly early, but I enjoy reading the paper and drinking my coffee at my own leisure. I like to make breakfast, enjoy it with my family, and then take my time cleaning up the dishes. I enjoy catching up on the morning news, throwing some laundry in the washing machine, and getting beds made. I enjoy going for my morning run, or riding my elliptical machine. I enjoy being productive, albeit comfortable in my bright pink chenille bathrobe. I should be embarrassed to say that outloud, but I am not. My bathrobe is my best friend and sometimes I would say that it is my "summer wardrobe." There, I said it. I love my bathrobe. Gotta problem with that? Huh, huh? :) Can you tell I'm feeling a bit spunky today?

I'm looking forward to being back into a routine, and I guess I'm going to have to put my beautiful bathrobe away for another 9 months until school dismisses again for the summer. I will miss it!

For you, G'ma.....

Look what I can do now, G'ma. I can hold my own cup! :)

Fair season....

To finish off the summer w/some family fun, we headed to a fair about an hour away. We had a blast enjoying a free barbecue, free admission, and free fun (ok.....I guess that goes w/admission, but who's counting!) We saw G'pa and G'ma VK, Uncle J., Uncle T., Uncle J., Auntie C., cousin Owie, cousin K., Uncle B., Auntie Gooch, and Logie-pie. The kids thoroughly enjoyed themselves, and J' and I had a pretty good time, too. J-man in a hummer. We took these for Uncle Benny who is in the Army. We thank him, as well as the countless others who serve, or have served our country. May God bless and protect our servicemen and women as they defend our country and ensure our freedom!
Cousins....Lookie who we found!

Miss M. showing Uncle Benny what she found.

Uncle Benny's recruiter.

Proud nieces and nephews.

Miss M. enjoying a purple cow. They are the BEST drinks EVER! Just ask my dear friend, Auntie K. :)

Milkshakes and purple cows. Can the summer be any better?

Draft horse show.

A' having some ice cream. She LOVED it!

Happy Birthday to all of you......

Happy birthday today to my beautiful sister and my darling twin nieces. Love you all! My sister, D' and Dunk.
K' and T'.....4 years old today!

Bethany reunion....

Today, we celebrated out 2 year gotcha date by getting together with another Bethany family from our state. We traveled together to China with them in 2007 to get D', Amanda, and Dunk. The H' family drove about 2 1/2 hours for our picnic this afternoon, and it was a lot of fun to see them and their beautiful girls. M' and J' loved playing with their older gals, while the younger kiddos played in the yard. Fun times! Bethany babies '07....D' is the second one from the left in blue, Amanda is the 5th child from the left in hot pink, and Dunk is the 6th child from the left.

Boy, have they changed!

Amanda enjoying the trampoline.

Dunk and A' looking for buttercups.

D' having a ball....harhar. :)

China babies!

My favorite egg rolls....

At times, Miss A. enjoys being swaddled in a blankey. We think it is pretty cute, and it also helps control a not so nice habit that she has recently developed....smacking herself w/quite a bit of force. When she gets tired, or overwhelmed she copes by giving herself a right, or left hook shot directly to the side of her face. Her physical therapist developed some braces for her to wear on her elbows to help alleviate the problem, but they don't always cut it. J., Sr. came up with the swaddling idea, and Miss A.' is a huge fan! The other day, she was relaxing on the floor just as snug as a bug in a rug, and D' decided to join her. A' thought it was so much fun and couldn't control her giggles. I think they are the cutest little egg rolls that I have ever seen!

She is one handy gal to have around....

As most of you already know, my 18 year old niece moved in with us in June. She is going to play soccer at a college nearby, and she wasn't too keen on living in a dorm. I didn't realize how much help she would be to us until she actually moved in. She happily helps out around the house and is always happy to grab a gallon of milk in town at the drop of a hat.

Today, I was feeling a little behind on school shopping and decided to venture out w/all four kiddos in tote. Bri ended up calling to see what we were up to and met up with us. As we were shuffling thru the stores, I think she realized it wasn't going according to plan. D' and J' couldn't seem to keep their hands off of each other and thought it was hilarious to watch mommy's face turn every shade of red with embarrassment (don't worry.....we visited the bathroom for a discussion on appropriate social behavior;). I told B' that it was time for me to wrap it up, and I would try another day. She happily replied, "Why don't I just take Maddy school shopping for you?" Ummm, hello! She made my day! I passed off my list of items, some cash, and they skipped away to Bri's car. M' was all smiles because apparently Bri's taste in clothing is way "cooler" than mine, and how fun is it to hang out with your older cousin? After about 2 hours of power shopping, they returned with bags of clothes. The best part is that Bri shops just as cheap as I do.....CLEARANCE!!!! Seriously, why would someone pay full price for anything, but I'll save that for another day.

M' was happy. D' was happy. J' was happy. A' was happy. I was happy. Oh happy day!

Bri and D'

The experts have it....

Since Miss A' has been having some eating issues since our return, our doctor requested she be evaluated by another doctor at our local Children's hospital to make sure she was free from any swallowing/muscular disorders. We were asked to pack a few of her favorite snacks (difficult to do when she won't eat anything!), and bring her down for an evaluation. Upon arrival, Miss A. seemed to enjoy her surroundings. She wasn't interested getting down to business (eating), but rather wanted to play with all of the lovely toys made available to her. After a few minutes of discussion, we propped her into the high chair to see if she'd give it a go. Normally, at home when she is placed in the high chair, her lips automatically "zip," and she checks out....done! Today, she decided to make mommy and daddy look like big boogers. She happily opened her mouth and chewed every bite of her banana/life cereal concoction. The doctor was looking at us like we were completely nuts-oh for bringing her in, as she was doing just fine on her own. We kept explaining that she is NEVER this eager to eat at home, but I think the doctor didn't believe us:). She actually ate better this morning than she has in a long time. The doctor also reported that she didn't think that Anna suffers from CP either. She questioned an infant brain injury, too because she didn't display any of the classic signs of that either. She said the same thing as 5 other docs now.....developmental delays from institutionalization and neglect. So, next week we will see yet another doctor who specializes in neurodevelopment, and hopefully he can shed some light on all of this. Miss A' continues to make incredible progress, and we are so thankful. She really is a delightful little peanut, and we are so blessed to have her.

Happy Gotcha day, baby....

The L' family from NY. They are anxiously awaiting their gotcha day with their second beautiful boy from China any day. This handsome little guy is from the same orphanage/foster home as D', and they were forever united with him on the same day as we were with D. Happy G' day, L' family! Prayers for a speedy travel approval for you.Yet another picture of D' on gotcha day. Trust me, I have tons!
D' with daddy.


Look at how our boy has grown!

I just want to pinch his cheeks.

Today marks the two year anniversary of our "gotcha" day. Two years ago today, we were in a small, rickety van traveling thru the back streets of the outskirts of Beijing on our way to be forever united with our amazing little D'.

I have some fairly vivid memories of that day. I remember the pungent smells that wafted thru the streets, and the worn looks on the peoples faces as we drove thru the narrow streets where they worked their fingers to the bone. Work that we would rely on machinery to complete was completed with a shovel and tired hands and backs. I remember people pushing carts along the sides of the road overflowing with melon, peaches, and corn on their way to sell it in nearby markets. I remember the stares from the locals as it was probably a little unusual to see fair skinned people outside of the cities. I was conciously trying to take as much in as I could as I wanted to remember it all. But, as all memories do, they've faded with time.

Anticipation doesn't come close to describing what we were feeling after 15 months of waiting for our son. So many other words come to mind. Nervous, excited, overwhelmed, elated, but the most important word that comes to mind is utter and complete love for our boy that was born half way across the world. Happy Gotcha Day, D. We love you!

Fair time......

My lovely little 8 year old niece spent a few weeks with us this summer, and we had a great time with her. I wanted to do something fun with her before she left, so I decided to venture off to a local country fair that I've attended just about every year since I was a child. Everyone has a great time! Miss A' and D' waiting for Miss M., Dunk, and Syd to finish up their ride. I really need to invest in a double stroller! Pushing two stollers thru bumpy grass was......interesting.
"Hey Cowboy Dunk!"

Miss M' riding her pony

Cousin Syd

Uncle Mark, Mr. J, Darling D., and Miss A.

Who is this girl??

I can't believe the progress that Miss A' has been making lately! When we met her for the first time, we were instantly in love. Her smile was infectious, and her giggle melted our hearts. She was pretty passive, though and didn't seem too interested in toys, moving around, or playing with other kiddo's. She also seemed happiest when she was lying on her back in her hotel crib staring at her fingers.....alone.

She, thankfully had been moved into a foster care center outside of her orphanage a few months before we arrived, and they had made great progress with her both socially and physically. Before her move, she was very resistant to human contact, among other things. She received regular meals, love, and care from ICC, and we will be forever grateful to them! If you are interested in finding out about their mission, you can google International China Concern. They are an amazing group of people!

Fast forward 1 1/2 months.....Anna is now "army crawling" everywhere, getting into a seated position from her tummy, rocking herself on all fours....close to crawling, is quite annoyed when we are not nearby and expresses it rather vocally, doesn't like to be in her crib because she is afraid she may miss something exciting, and loves to chuck her toys across the room for attention. She is also becoming quite obstinate about certain things, so it has been fun to see her personality come out. She is definitely a typical kiddo in a lot of ways :).

She is currently trying to get her 3 year old brother to play with her by rolling over next to him and kicking him. D' is surprisingly patient with her and just responds with, "bushi (no in Chinese) A'."....too cute!

Miss A' on "gotcha day."