Kung Hei Fat Choy and Happy Valentines Day!!

Today was Valentines Day as well as the start of the Chinese year of the Tiger!!

We had great plans for our Chinese New Year celebration today but alas, as so often happens with a family full of little kid noses, 2 of those cute little noses (Em and Lizzie) got really yucky and not fit for public!! So, instead of attending the wonderful local celebration that we enjoyed last year, we took pity on everyone else who would be attending and who would be healthy and chose NOT to inflict our not so healthy and oh so cranky little ones on their New Year festivities!!

We did decorate the house,



and we did give the kids their red envelopes with a whole dollar inside (insert sound of crickets chirping)!!!



The girls did actually appreciate their dollars. The boys' are now bookmarks, I think!!! Sigh!! Anyway, we wish you a wonderful and prosperous year of the Tiger!!!

The Valentines part of the day was a bit more lively as there was candy involved!! The girls had their parties at school on Friday and had lots of fun and candy,



and cookies!!





So, of course, this morning, I just had to give them more candy (yeah, I know, but I never claimed to be a rocket scientist) and by this afternoon we had a house full of sugar crashing, Valentine OD'd, REALLY cranky children!! Don't ya just love Valentines Day???? Hehe!! Oh well, it was fun while it lasted and I must say that in a baby doll laden house, I loved what I picked out for the girls. They are called "Fur Reals" and they are soooooo cute and tap right into that maternal nature that my girls have without adding yet another baby doll to the mix!!



They even snore!! How cute it that???

The boys were happy with their skittles and starburst,



and the hit of the day which was once again, BALLOONS!!!



Balloons are just the best and something that the boys can use their new found bookmarks for!!! So there:)

All in all, it was a good day full of celebration and tomorrow we will celebrate our sweet Caleb's 7th birthday!! Please think good, sunny thoughts because if it rains tomorrow, we will (gulp) have a house full of 15 six and seven year olds!!!! Will update tomorrow, if we survive:):):)

So now I will leave you with the final thought for the day:

Is it????

Could it be???



I think it is!!!



I had to check Heather and TM's blog, here and here to be sure!!! Hehe!!

I mean we do live on the coast and we do live in the South and the last time we saw the white stuff was about 10 years ago, so I wasn't sure!!!



The kids were, though and could not WAIT to get out in it! Unfortunately, while the snow was coming down last night, this



Quickly turned to this



The kids really didn't care, though!!! It was cold and white and wet and they loved it!!!









I would have posted pics of the boys if I had any!! They spent the day out in the woods building snow forts and having snow ball fights!! Me??? I spent the day washing wet, yucky clothes, cause my big tough boys can't stay in wet, cold clothes!! I mean wouldn't you be uncomfortable if the BOTTOM OF YOUR PANTS are wet and cold?????? Geesh!!!! I know now why we live in the South!!! Hehe!!

The Dentist????

Who knew the dentist could be so fun???







Almost makes me want to go to the dentist!







Almost - but not really!!! Hehe!!

Update

As I posted on Monday, handsome JD found his family!!! Yay!!! Unfortunately, the beautiful, precious young girl who is aging out on Valentines Day, did not.



My heart is very heavy today and I pray for her future. Being an orphan in China, with brittle bone disease probably does not add up to a good or even bearable future for her. All I can do now is pray for her. Please keep her in your prayers as well!

I also had to update on one of the little ones who I have posted about before. Cute little Sherman is just adorable and I just found out that his file is going to be sent back soon, along with another beautiful little boy named Flynn. Here is what was posted about them on Asia's Hope Journey blog:

Flynn and Sherman are two boys whose files we are about to send back. They are both adorable and we have many pictures and updates of them. Flynn is almost 6 years old and has repaired cleft lip and palate. He is active, clever, lively and bright and likes to be around other children. He takes good care of his younger sisters and brothers.

Sherman is a spitfire of a little boy that I've been desperately trying to find a family to adopt him for a very long time. I'm going to have to face failure and send his file back very soon. So if anyone has any interest in a charming boy with a heart condition who is true survivor, a little mischievous and all boy, please contact me about Sherman before I send his file back!

Thank you,
Marci

Again, if you would like to email Marci to get their password in order to see these terrific little boys, please email her at marcisk@asiadopt.org

It's the little things...

Do you know what this is?



Yes, it is a very cute Dora plate but to me it is so much more! Sweet little Lizzie asked, yes asked, for pancakes with syrup this morning. After catching my breath and doing my best impression of Wonder Woman by flying to the fridge and making those pancakes as fast as my loving Mommie hands would go (picture Flash on steroids), Lizzie had that plate of pancakes in front of her faster than she could change that determined mind of hers! As I tried desperately to watch every bite without Lizzie knowing that I was watching, I knew not to get my hopes up and to stay calm and not make a big deal about her lack of eating - again!! However, this morning, this glorious morning, Lizzie ate her pancakes! She ate ALL her pancakes - in less than 5 minutes, not the one hour that it normally takes her to eat 4 measly, mommie prodded bites!!! As I sat there completely stunned, trying to compose myself and suppressing the urge to scoop her up in my arms and do the happy dance, Lizzie quietly said, "Look Mommie, I eat all my bwekfas! I a big girl now!" OK, all composure lost and I am scooping and dancing:) Just perfect for my sensory girl!!



Little did we know that when we brought Lizzie home, with all of her so called "special needs," that we wouldn't be dealing with them nearly as much
as we would be dealing the effect of living the first 2 years of her life in an orphanage with nothing but boiling hot formula in a bottle with a HUGE hole in the nipple (to allow for quick drinking)



and congee (comparable to southern grits or oatmeal but still food that doesn't need to be chewed). Hello, she is 2!! She needs to use her teeth!! Sigh! Oh the things we take for granted and don't even think about until we love someone who has been deprived of them! I know I have talked about her lingering "orphanage issues" and her sensory issues before (sometimes it is very hard to tell where one ends and the other begins), but honestly we do deal with them usually every day in some version or another and at some level of intensity or another, but every day. I do expect most of them to continue to fade away after a certain amount of time or at least continue to lesson in intensity, but the truth is, we may be dealing with some of them forever, but hey, don't we all have issues that we deal with daily - orphanage or not? From her tantrums to her eating issues, our little Lizzie can be a handful but at the end of the day (each and every day), I thank God for my wondrously amazing little girl who enriches our lives beyond words. So this morning, another baby step, among so many baby steps, and we will celebrate them all because she is our beautiful little Lizzie!

Fixed Feet!

We saw Lizzie's wonderful clubfoot doctor today. She said that Lizzie's foot looked beautiful! Of course!! She wants to continue to see her every 6 months because and I quote, "she has been through so much that I want to stay on top of things to make sure we don't miss the signs of a relapse." Amen and thank you!! She wants to get at the very least another year of brace wear but optimally, 2 more years. No prob! If Lizzie even starts to fuss about putting that brace on at night, the mere mention of having to recast is enough to get 2 very cute little feet in that brace in no time flat!! Lizzie had 18 (yes 18) clubfoot casts and it was, at times, very difficult. While she never, ever complained about those casts (even in the middle of our southern summer), it was hard on her and her skin suffered. Oh how it suffered. There were times that I honestly did not know if the skin on her leg would ever recover, but it did and we forged ahead. My brave, determined little one was even walking in 2 casts at one point! I was very glad to hear how well her beautiful little foot is doing and I am eternally grateful to my bloggy friend, Stefanie, over at Ni Hao Y'all for enlightening me on the Ponseti method for clubfoot casting. I am hopeful that the road we chose for Lizzie and her treatment will help her to be pain free, hopefully, for the rest of her life. Thanks Stefanie!! To read all about Lizzie's clubfoot treatment, you can go to her website here .

I love feet pics and couldn't resist this one. You can see how much smaller Lizzie's foot is compared to Em's. No worries, good things come in small packages right? More to come on that statement later!!



Oh and please excuse the peeling polish on Em's feet!! Thanks a lot JuJu!!! Hehe!!

My Heros!!!

Well maybe!! Hehe!!