Dino Dig and Happy Baby

Merry Christmas Eve!

All bundled up for Alex's first Electric Safari.

Hmmm, what's in that sippy cup?  And this is the only pic he would hold still for!

Woo Hoo!  Chimichangas!!  No, it's really the entire Magic Tree House series.

Last night we went to CCAI to meet with a delegation of orphanage directors from Henan Province, including 2 from LuoHe, Lily Orphan Care Center.  Now that may not sound very exciting to some, but for those who have kids who started their life in an orphanage in China, it's amazing!  You assume that you will NEVER see the people who had a huge hand in bringing your family together.  You may see the director when you first hold your child, you may not.  I honestly don't remember if we met directors from MaoMing or LuoHe, we had other things on our minds :-)

We took a bunch of pictures for the directors of Alex: when we first held him, casting, braces, walking and just being cute with his big sister.  As soon as they saw Alex and heard his Chinese name, they remembered this special little boy.  Of course the first thing one of them did was to play with those cheeks, who could resist?  They were fascinated with the club foot correction and asked a lot of questions (through and interpreter) about him.  The photographer with them took pictures of all of us and followed Alex around for a while so they could video tape him walking and climbing on chairs. 

The directors didn't smile for the pictures but when we were talking to them, they didn't stop smiling.  They didn't speak a word of English but we could tell that they were so happy to see these kids that have found their forever homes. 

The gentleman in the tie said to me "Thank you, thank you for caring for our children and helping him get his feet corrected."

Really?  I told him "Thank you for bringing our family together".

He's Walking!

9 months ago this little guy was standing on the outside of his ankles.  8 months ago he started a 4 month stint of full length casts on both legs.  3 months ago he started wearing his brace.  Today, he started standing and walking on his own.  That is what we consider priceless!

One Year Ago

It's hard to believe that one year ago today I got "The Call" from CCAI that there is a file of an "adorable little boy with club feet that they would like us to review" and of course I said "Absolutely!!"  So I call James and tell him to meet me at home, he's busy and doesn't want to leave work.  I told him to meet me so he can see a picture of his son.  Dead silence....What? 

So as soon as we are both home we open the e mail from CCAI and see these cheeks!

 and those feet!

And I'm thinking "That boy is mine!" and James is thinking "Hmmm, not too sure about those feet, but he sure is cute."  I had no doubts whatsoever but James was concerned about those adorable feet.  How are they fixed, will insurance cover it, will he be able to do "normal" things.  Ponseti Method, Yes, Absolutely!  Me being me had already researched EVERYTHING before we even turned in our Waiting Child paperwork so I explained everything to James and he said to call CCAI! 

That afternoon when Syd and James were home, we opened these pictures and told Syd "This is your little brother"  She was thrilled, "not too sure about those feet mom, but he sure is cute".

Happy Thanksgiving!

Waiting in line for the go-carts.

Clear the roads!

The big boys racing each other.

Thanksgiving crafts to decorate the table.

Mmmmmm, potatoes!

The group before eating all of our wonderful food.

Ahhh, Vacation

Tired before we even start the trip!



Fun in the hotel pool.



Nicholas, Emma and Syd in front of a beautiful Golden Eagle at the Phoenix Zoo.



3 headed turtle.



Swallowed by a clam.



7 years ago...

today, I got the phone call that I'd been waiting 9 months for.  Back then 9 months was a really long time!  James called me at work and said "We have a daughter!"  Of course I wanted to know everything possible about this little girl but James being a man didn't think to ask questions like "where is she?, orphanage or foster care?, how old is she?"  So we both got off work and drove up to Denver to CCAI so we could see our little girl together for the first time.

   

 We could barely see her because we were both crying so much.  She was the most beautiful little girl we had ever seen.  Those sad, serious eyes and those cheeks!  I'm sure that we were given all kinds of info, but I don't remember a thing except that I was finally a mommy.

Syd still has those serious and sometimes sad eyes and she is still the most beautiful little girl that I've ever seen
.
We've been told that she's lucky that we adopted her. 

We are the ones that are lucky to be the parents to this beautiful, spunky, funny, smart and sometimes wacky girl!

Busy, Busy, Busy!

So I didn't actually get any pictures of the kids together on Halloween, things just go to quickly for me sometimes!  Alex was a puppy and kept saying "Bark Bark" and Syd was Ben 10 (a teenage boy who turns into good aliens to fight the bad aliens).  Syd and I went trick-or-treating with a big group and got waaay too much candy while James and Alex stayed home to hand out everything but the Reeses :-)

 

This is Syd and her pig that she earned from a fundraiser.  It's a huge deal at school to have a pig in the pig race.  "Shamrock" didn't win but he has an honored place on her bed.  Alex thinks the pig is hysterical and just can't stop giggling when it's oinking along the floor.

Syd has been invited to play inline hockey on the recreational league here in town!  She is super excited about being part of the Lightning team.  She'll only have one tournament a month and practices are on Sundays which will be nice.  Running to the rink right after school can be tough some days!  She'll still be playing on her regular team at least through December, then we'll see what she wants to do.  She really enjoys playing and she's good at it too.  So as long as she's having fun!

Alex is starting to walk, with and without the brace.  He's taking 2 or three steps, then realizes what he's doing and breaks into giggles and falls down with a big "BOOM".  We'll find out in a couple of weeks if we can start tapering down on the time per day he's in the brace.  Right now he's in them 23/7.  When he's out of them, his feet are golden!  He just talks and talks to them, rubs them on his cheeks, sucks on his toes and whatever else he can do with his cute little toes.  He's trying to say all kinds of words and is super proud when he says something we can actually understand.  He calls Syd "Nineee" and she thinks that's pretty cool!

Painting Pumpkins

Fun things to do with Washable Paint and Pumpkins!

Syd and Coach Jesse

Alex and Syd

This is a story written by Syd in her TAG class.  I have a fantastic daughter!

There was a sea monster and his name was Alex.  Alex played in the sea and he caught fish every day.  Alex got good at catching fish, but he needed a friend to play with. 
One day there was a sea monster that just moved  in the sea that Alex lived in.  The next day Alex was up and he had already had his fish and he went exploring after he was done eating.  When Alex was exploring, he found a sea monster.  He was surprised to see a new sea monster in his sea.  Alex asked the sea monster if he was new to the sea Alex lived in.  
The sea monster said, "Yes I am new"
and Alex asked "What is your name?"  
The sea monster said "My name is Syd".
Alex said "Did you want to be friends?"
and Syd said "Yes."
The sea monsters played tag, ball and after they were done, they asked their moms and dads if they could have a sleepover that night.  Their parents each said yes and they had a sleepover that night.  The sea monsters had fun exploring, playing ball and had fun playing tag.  Syd and Alex had fun being neighbors.  They had breakfast together every morning and had fun eating together.
Alex was glad to have a friend to play with.  One day, the two sea monsters and their moms and dads went exploring.  Alex and Syd had fun together.  The moms and dads talked and the kids played the sea monster game which was called motorcycle where the sea monsters pretended to be motorcycles going down on the road and having stop lights and highways and stop signs.
They had fun playing motorcycles.
Syd and Alex were best friends forever!

 

Just Pics

 Who doesn't love spaghetti?

Who's there?

It's me!!

Walking without his special shoes!

Fun at the pumpkin patch and corn maze.

The kids buried in corn.