Weekend Pics

Here are the new pics from last weekend. Kobe is Ian's tutor, he is in the
picture with the little girl from the orphanage. Looks like they all had a
great time playing basketball together.

One More

Look who else is now sporting glasses in my crew. Took Travis to the dr this morning for a strep test. Figured out during the exam that he couldn't read the poster right there on the office wall when the nurse asked him to pick which picture best described how he felt. He couldn't read the numbers right there in front of him?!?!
Needless to say, yes he does have strep but more importantly he needed an eye exam.  CJ took him today and it turns out he needs glasses for reading.

One thing for sure when you have a boat load of kids...expect the unexpected ;)

Video from China

Woke up to a wonderful surprise from China this morning, a video of Ian!  Check out my boy shooting hoops in Xi'an. Oh and love that they are already calling him Ian :)

Five of my Own

It's Beginning To Look...

Santa Baby

3 Bugs on my Rug

Ian's Writings

I think his English handwriting is already better than my "Dr. Travis" HA!

Chinese School

The girls and I have been going to "Chinese School" for a couple of months now, and they love it!  It is a neat little group that is organized and taught by some of the Chinese students at Emory.   Here is their description from their website:
Welcome to Emory China Care's Dumplings Playgroup, a Chinese cultural class provided by students of Emory University. The playgroup is designed specifically for families with children adopted from China and Taiwan, between the ages of 2 and 6.

Dumplings meets most Sundays at 4:30 p.m. in the Rich Building and is located on 1660 N. Decatur Road, Atlanta, GA 30322. Free, covered parking is provided at the Fishburne Parking Deck.

Playgroups are free with generous funding provided by the Confucius Institute.

Come out and learn, laugh and play with us!

The girls have a great time, and I get to attempt to learn some Chinese (not so easy).  Hopefully I can pick up a few words before traveling to meet Ian.  This week was a lot of fun as the girls got to make Sticky Rice Balls with Red Bean filling-yum!

Ian's Weekend Adventures

Zoom in on the board and you can see that Ian is hard at work learning about what a family is, and what a Mom and Dad are all about :)

Weekend Full of Fun

Thankful

This week I have had the privilege to attend all of my kids' Thanksgiving Feasts at their respective schools.  I have to say that it has been quite a job to juggle all the time slots, all the extra driving here and there, to and from work, hurrying around to get to them all on time, on the right day...

SO worth Every.Single.Minute.

I love to spend time with my kiddos and seeing them "light up" when they see me there at their school for their special lunch, well just makes me light up too!  It is times like these that I am reminded why I do all the things I do.  Late nights, hard days at work, diapers, laundry, cleaning, groceries, yelling, homeworking, bathing, feeding, sacrificing.

I LOVE MY KIDS

 
And today Shelby gave me a precious gift to really remind me why I am yet again putting myself through the ringer for yet...another child.  The paperwork, the money, the headaches, the cutting through all the red tape of the adoption process, oh and of course all the negative criticism.

I wouldn't trade any of this for the world.  Priceless my friends, priceless!!

Twelve

Twelve years ago today, my life was forever changed.  I became a mom to this precious baby boy...

Before I was a Mom I slept as late as I wanted and never worried about how late I got into bed.
I brushed my hair and my teeth everyday.

Before I was a Mom
I cleaned my house each day.
I never tripped over toys or forgot words to a lullaby.
I didn't worry whether or not my plants were poisonous.
I never thought about immunizations.

Before I was a Mom I had never been puked on.
Pooped on. Spit on.
Chewed on.
Peed on.
I had complete control of my mind and my thoughts.....
I slept all night.

Before I was a Mom
I never held down a screaming child so that doctors could do tests.
Or give shots.
I never looked into teary eyes and cried.
I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin.
I never sat up late hours at night watching a baby sleep.

Before I was a Mom
I never held a sleeping baby just because I didn't want to put it down.
I never felt my heart break into a million pieces when I couldn't stop the hurt.
I never knew that something so small could affect my life so much.
I never knew that I could love someone so much.
I never knew I would love being a Mom.

Before I was a Mom
I didn't know the feeling of having my heart outside my body.
I didn't know how special it could feel to feed a hungry baby.
I didn't know that bond between a mother and her child.
I didn't know that something so small could make me feel so important and happy.

Before I was a Mom
I had never gotten up in the middle of the night every 10 minutes to make sure all was okay.
I had never known the warmth, the joy, the love, the heartache, the wonderment or the satisfaction of being a Mom.
I didn't know I was capable of feeling so much before I was a Mom.

 

Today is my first born's 12th birthday. Mixed emotions today as I watch my baby boy growing up to be a man. I am SO very proud of the person Caleb is today. He is such a caring and compassionate human being. I know God has big things in store for my precious baby boy. Happy Birthday Caleb!!

LID 11-8-2011

Received our official Log In Date today.  It is MUCH sooner than I had thought it would be. That is a good thing!  Still hoping to travel around Aprilish :)

Four Moms

Four years ago, four moms met. Nine miracles later...

Improvements

Looks like my boy is doing well and even been able to sneak out if the hospital for some ice cream with his tutor.  Love it!!

Photos After His Surgery

Received these pics last night.  He is on his way to a good recovery!

Successful Surgery

Good news this morning...Ian's surgery went great!  He was in the OR for about 3 hours, and was very upset when he woke up.  However, everything went as planned and he is now in the hospital recovering.

Ian's tutor was able to sneak him out of the hospital prior to his surgery to help ease his nerves.  His tutor took him to get some new books for hospital entertainment, and of course a quick bite to eat.  Apparently my boy loves to eat.  Then back to the hospital they went.

The surgery was the next morning, so his tutor came back to the hospital and was with him before the surgery to help keep him company.  After surgery, the tutor said that Ian was upset but that he would be OK.  The tutor plans to go back in a couple of days to visit with Ian again.  Ian is expected to stay in the hospital for another 4 days.  Praying for a speedy recovery!!

Oh and it appears that the orphanage did hire someone to sit with Ian in the hospital.  So thankful he is not completely alone.  VERY happy that his tutor has been so kind as to go above and beyond to visit with Ian.  God has His hand on my little boy for sure :)

My Little Leesy Bug

Rescheduled

Here are the emails I received today after I inquired about how Ian was doing...

In the city and i'll c him again tmr. he's good, will have surgery tmr morning. 

and then minutes later I get...

i'll tell u more about him! i'll be with him before the surgery(8:30, pray for him) ! don't worry!

So there you go, you know as much as I know at this point.  Needless to say, please send up some extra prayers tonight for my son.  Surgery will be about 7:30pm our time tonight.  Don't worry...yeah right.

Waiting No News

I heard from my contact today.  He is going to try and find out what hospital Ian is at, then he will go visit tomorrow.  Praying I hear something soon...