Loving life with Lexi

ARTICLE 5 PICK UP!

2012-01-19T09:45:00.001-08:00

I am still without a computer!!!! Sigh.... BUT praise be to God, our article 5 has been dropped off AND picked up!!! It is on it's way to cccwa so we can be issued TRAVEL APPROVAL!!!!!!!!! Now for the bad news... Tomorrow, ( tonight really, since China is a day ahead of us ) is the last working day in China before the 1 week shut down for CHINESE NEW YEAR. So we will need to wait longer than we hoped for our Travel Approval. We were so close to squeezing in! Regardless, we will get an emergency consulate appointment as soon as the officials return from their little vacation and Brady and I will be off to China in just a few weeks!!! My darling friend Jill will be traveling with us and we could not be more excited!! My bags are packed, I'm ready to go!!! Lexi has been prepped and is so ready for her sister IBEE to get home! I pray I have a computer before I leave so I can blog and Skype while in China! I may have to steal one of the girls laptops if mine is still sick when I leave. You know I can't go to China and not blog, that would be brutal! At this time I am asking anyone who feels lead to do so, Please pray for Ivy and her transition to life with us. She is going to have her whole world taken from her, she is so close to her nanny and she is so terrified of strangers! Please pray that it won't take long for her to calm down, crying and anxiety will be so bad for her heart condition and we don't want any tet spells in China! Also, prayers for my sweet baby girl here at home. That Lexi will do great while I am away and that my heart will not break without her. Thank you!!!!!! Mary

Pressing on

2012-01-11T10:44:00.001-08:00

cid:55937523-052D-442E-8C8F-F7E40F9DC9EA/photo.JPGPosting from my iPad, my Computer CRASHED!!!! My i800 has been approved and was overnighted to NVC yesterday! I am supposed to call at 12:30 in hopes of getting the PDF. If all goes well my article 5 will be dropped off. After speaking to my agency today, TA before the 21st is highly unlikely, but.... We are pressing on, making great progress and IT WILL NOT BE LONG NOW!! Travel in February is certain, just not sure when in February.Mary

2012-01-06T00:16:00.000-08:00

December has come and gone and I have not posted in weeks. So much to catch up on, I will do a back post this weekend but for now I wanted to bring you up to date on where we stand with Ivy's timeline.

On December 19th we received our Letter Seeking Confirmation and we mailed out our I-800 to the lockbox in Texas. We left for the cabin to have a White Christmas and just an old fashioned fun filled week on the 22nd. I was feeling so giddy with joy and excitement! I just could tell that this part of our adoption was going to move really fast. I could barely stand how happy and excited I was! Soooo on December 28th I decided to email my officer. We were still up in the mountains, my email account had been hacked, my laptop was dead and I just wanted to touch bases with her. She replied that she had not received anything yet...hmm..
I was not worried, the holidays were here and I was sure I would have news from her right after the New Year! Happy Happy OH WAS I HAPPY!!!
We came home on the eve of the 29th. We started to go through Lexi's old things and made a list of what may and may not fit Ivy. I was nesting :) I was happy!!
On December 31, I went to get the mail and in the box was a big white envelope that said HAGUE!
I was sure it was my I-800 approval. My officer must had forgotten to contact me or the NVC must had forgotten to send me the email notification or something! I could barely contain my joy and excitement as I headed back in the house. I tore it open and about lost my balance, wanted to throw up!!
I-800 REJECTED!!! WHAT????? ARE THEY CRAZY? HOW? WHY?
Well, the paper said I was missing pages 8 and 9! And sure enough, I was. I made copies of each page and some how my original pages 8 and 9 did not get put back with pages 1-7! Failure doesn't begin to explain how I felt. I was a mess. Sobbing, yep, sulking, uh hu, total melt down!!!!!!
But soon, after about 50 emails and prayers and phone calls, I remembered who is in control here. I remembered that this is not about my plan and my timing. I remembered that the ONE who has held this baby girl in the palm of his hand from the day He gave her life had no plans of letting her go.
After waiting 3 looooong days for the uscis workers to get back to work, my officer allowed me to send the packet and the missing pages straight to her at Lee's Summit. It was received on Tuesday at 10 am and I have not heard from my officer at all. Am I nervous? ..... Do pigs oink!! I am
sweating bullets wondering if my paperwork was sent back to the Lockbox or if they kept it?
The security the mail goes through at Lee's Summit is insane!!!

We are now waiting on I-800 approval, NVC cable, Article 5 drop off and pick up and Travel Approval. We needed to beat Chinese New Year. We wanted TA by the 22nd of January. But we don't always get what we planned. God knows the perfect timing for Ivy, for our family. This adoption has taught me so much about trusting Him. It is a learning process,a healing process and
a geat time to remember that it is through tough things that we grow the most.

Here is our most recent treasure from Hangzhou China. Once again, very unhappy.....AYE
I think she is just waiting for her mommy to put a smile and some giggles on!!

Thank You Jesus!!!! Answered prayer!

2011-12-19T13:34:00.000-08:00

27 days from LID

My Christmas wish has been granted!

Time Flies

2011-12-10T22:34:00.001-08:00

When you're having fun!

But We do need an Ivy update and a Lexi update!

SO HERE WE GO!!!!!

IVY UPDATE:

WE WERE DTC ON 11-18-11
LID 11-22-11
OUR DOSSIER WAS IN TRANSLATION AS OF LAST FRIDAY. WE ARE EXPECTING OUR LOA....OR LETTER SEEKING CONFIRMATION (THE SAME THING) BY
12-20-11
THE SENATORS OFFICE CONTACTED ME AND GAVE ME THE INFORMATION THEY WOULD NEED FROM ME IN ORDER TO PROCESS OUR I800 IN JUST A FEW DAYS. I HAVE ALREADY SENT THEM EVERYTHING THEY REQUESTED.
SO RIGHT NOW WE ARE JUST WAITING!
THE LATEST I HEARD ON IVY WAS FROM A SWEET LADY WHO WAS VISITING ON A HOMELAND TOUR RECENTLY. SHE SAID THAT AS SOON AS IVY SAW HER SHE FLIPPED THAT LIP RIGHT UP AND BEGAN TO CRY. WHEN SHE APPROACHED HER WITH A BLOW UP BALL SHE QUICKLY WENT BACKWARDS IN HER WALKER WHILE CRYING! YIKES!!! SHE ALSO SAID THAT SHE IS VERY WELL CARED FOR AND LOOKED WELL FED. SHE SAID SHE WAS ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL!

LEXI UPDATE
LEXI IS TURNING 3 ON TUESDAY!!! PLEASE POP ON THE BLOG AND SEND HER SOME BIRTHDAY LOVE!!!
SHE HAD HER FIRST CHRISTMAS DANCE RECITAL TODAY!! SHE DID ABSOLUTELY TERRIFIC AND SHE ASKED IF SHE COULD BE IN 5 DANCES WITH 5 DIFFERENT DRESSES NEXT TIME :) SO CUTE!!
SHE IS TALKING NOT STOP, SINGING NON STOP AND JUST A HAPPY BUBBLY FUNNY LITTLE GIRL! I WILL TRY TO POST SOME PICTURES FROM HER RECITAL AND DO A BIRTHDAY POST LATER THIS WEEK.

Emotions causing a Cry Fest

2011-11-29T16:55:00.001-08:00

I could cry at the drop of a hat lately. Maternal emotions perhaps?
Every sweet word that comes out of this babes mouth just grabs my heart. She is so funny and so sweet! The way that she loves us is so Big, so Bold. And here I go with tears again.

I took Lexi to Lowe's to get a train to go around our Christmas Tree today. The shopping cart is a big race car with 2 seats and 2 steering wheels. She immediately looked at the second wheel and and said, "Mama, Ibee gonna sit right here. Ibee gonna dwive with me! Mama, Ibee still taking a wong time uh come uh home uh China!" I must here the word Mama 1000 times per day and it never gets old. I will not lie, by bed time I am ready to stop hearing mama for the night.... but seriously, she just melts my heart to mush! Tears

We are so blessed by the heart of our big kids! And Rylee, my oldest at home, she is such a huge help in our home and the relationship she and Cassidy has is so special! And all these bigs, they just take over and give loads of quality time and hands on fun to their little sister Lexi! And I just get choked up all the time thinking of these things, thinking of the joy and pleasure these children bring me! More Tears..

And when I think of leaving my Babycakes for 2 whole weeks while in China! Oh my heart!! My heavy heavy heart. Tears and more tears!! I know it is best, Ivy deserves to have me all to herself as she gets to know me and goes through these huge changes in her little life. We know this is going to be best for everyone. I am so excited to have that time with her. To love on her 24/7! But I am going to miss my little girl soooo much!!! And she is going to have a tough time too. She does not handle time away too well and she tells me I was gone a looooong time when I am gone for 1 or 2 hours! And to not hear her sweet voice or her contagious awesome laugh, or hear Mama Mama Mama or hold her, ughh..... more tears!

She will have her precious Daddy who loves her more than life!

And her precious siblings who would do absolutely anything for her!

So why on earth am I still choked up, still an emotional bomb?

Maybe because I just love them so much? Most likely because I'm just a mess :(

Either way, I am blessed!

And I can not wait to get my newest bundle of LOVE in my arms FOREVER!!

No worries... The train does not do its runs on Sunday.

The answers to your questions

2011-11-22T08:05:00.001-08:00

Here we go!

Where is Ivy, her SWI looks amazing!

Ivy is in Hangzhou CWI. CWI as opposed to SWI means it is children only. It stands for Children's Welfare Institute. Lexi was in an, SWI, (Social Welfare Institute) there were elderly people as well as disabled adults. All separate, but all there in one institution.
The province Ivy is in is a very rich province so the locals can afford the fee's one pays for having a second child. That being said, the kids being abandoned all have some sort of a special need. Ivy's orphanage has a great number of kids with very serious heart conditions. Many have already been adopted and are living examples of the miracles our God is capable of!
Ivy was abandoned at 3 months and I am certain that her birth parents would have kept her had they not discovered that her heart was very ~special~ and was NOT going to heal on its own. I hope the CWI will share with us if she was left with a note or any personal items. She was so fat and rosy when she was found. Those first photos we have of her...... there is no doubt in my mind that her birth mom loved her dearly and took very good care of her.
The CWI gets a lot of donations from the wealthy locals. A recent visitor at the CWI said that while she was there a BMW pulled up to the grounds, a well dressed Chinese woman got out of the car and dropped off bags of diapers and formula.
You can see by her bed that she is certainly in a comfortable place. I do not doubt that she is still with us because of where she is.

Who is going to China??

I must have 30 emails with this same questions haha!
It's a really good question. One I don't have a complete answer for yet :)
I will tell you this much,
I am going to China! Bryan will stay home to take care of the children. Lexi is staying home. My Big Girls are staying home. My son may be coming with me.... we have his passport ready but it will depend on what is going on with school once we get close to travel.
My dear friend (who I will keep private for now so she doesn't feel any pressure) may be traveling with me. Again, was we get closer to travel we will know if the dates are agreeable with her schedule.

When do you think you will travel?

We are still praying for January. We really do not have any gaurantee of any dates though. I know that Chinese New Year could cause us to be going in February. That would really be so sad for Ivy. She has waited her entire life for this surgery. Please join us in prayer, that whatever God's plan, we would be still and know that His plan is always best!

What are these bracelets we have seen on facebook and around church?? Are you doing a fundraiser?

Our 15 year old daughter created " A HEART For Ivy" bracelets. Knowing that the upcoming surgery is going to be a Big One.... It had been heavy on her heart to do something. I came home from my week visiting my mom, to 400 red bracelets that she is hoping to sell. Right now she has sold 40. So if anyone here would like to buy a HEART FOR IVY bracelet, there are plenty to go around!! The Bracelets are 2.00, then add .50 Cents if you need it shipped. So 2.50 :) You can use paypal.com Click send money and make sure you send as GIFT or Paypal keeps a large percentage of it. Then put in the email address of recipient: missmary5@cox.net
I wish I were savy enough to put a paypal button on my side bar to make this easier..... but I'm not.
Anyway, wearing the bracelet is a great reminder to be lifting Little Ivy in prayer. We all wear ours every day and I think my precious daughter Cassidy has a heart of gold for moving forward with this idea.

I hesitated to use this picture for several reasons. The main one being that it is pretty scary and I don't want to freak anyone out, especially my family. But the reality of it is that this is her life. This is the amount of oxygen she is living with. I won't sugar coat anything here, this is not good and that is where my faith needs to outweigh my fear. And it does, now, it didn't always though. And so, day in, day out, this is how she lives. She needs to be home, she needs surgery, she needs a mommy and a daddy, sisters, brothers aunts and a loving grandma! I know she is being cradled in the palms of my Fathers hands, I know He loves her, I know.

Thank you everyone for loving on us through all the sweet emails, encouraging words and prayers!! We get a lot of "Your such good people to be doing this". No, we really aren't. We are just like all of you. Blessed to be called, blessed to be used, blessed to be forgiven, blessed to be the ones who will walk beside Ivy Joy through whatever God has planned for her. We are Blessed.

DTC

2011-11-18T21:21:00.001-08:00

Dossier To China Baby!!!!

Our agency will be working with China now to expedite our LOA. We are told if everything goes as planned we will have it in 30 days or less.

Then we will go back to our wonderful officer at the USCIS, who got us from I800A application to I800A approval in hand in 14 days! We will ask her to work her magic again to get our final approvals and then it is back to the China side again for TA. If we need to contact Senators, we are prepared for that as well.
So where does this leave us in guessing when we will be in China??? Well since it is all just a guess right now, I'm not saying! I will just keep on doing my part to get it done fast so I can bring our girl home and get that special little heart of hers on the mend!
I have been getting lots of questions via email lately about Ivy, her heart, who's traveling and lots more so I will do another post this week and chat more about that. As for now, here's Ivy

Sad again!!!

Poor sweet baby does NOT like strangers!!

And that is going to make for a very

difficult transition to her new Mama

But with time and patience and loads of kisses, she will we realize we have always been meant to be together. Forever

2 Glorious Years!

2011-11-12T22:38:00.001-08:00

glo·ri·ous

adjective

1. delightful; wonderful; completely enjoyable

2. conferring glory

3. full of glory

4. brilliantly beautiful or magnificent; splendid

5. Archaic. blissfully drunk

2 years ago

I held you, I kissed you, I told you I loved you

All for the very first time!

2 years ago we met and became Mother and Daughter

It has been nothing short of Glorious

You bring us more joy than we could ever know what to do with!

You are beautiful inside and out and you are loved beyond measure!

Happy Forever family day baby girl.

Ivy Timeline update

2011-11-04T22:25:00.000-07:00

We have been fingerprinted!! We have not been assigned an officer yet as of this morning but we are keeping very close communication in hopes of helping to speed things up. So far everyone has been quite kind. We just need them to be kind and QUICK!

I do not follow RQ so I'm not sure what the time frames are looking like for anything right now, I guess I should do that. I just keep plugging away, checking in at the uscis office, checking in with XQ from Baas and if nothing else they will all speed things up just to not have to deal with my *checking in* phone calls any more!

Heading off to the airport tomorrow for our special trip! I'm sure going to miss my Big's and my Hubby! Please P M me or comment here if you have tips on expediting with uscis. We have included our cardiologist letter of urgency in all paperwork so far. We hoped to get an email or something just saying yes we will expedite?? Is that me dreaming?

My latest update on sweet Ivy Joy is that we should hurry and get there... errrgh!!

Happy Halloween

2011-10-31T23:07:00.000-07:00

Little Red Riding Hood and The Big Bad Wolf

pumpkin carving time!

2011-10-26T21:28:00.000-07:00

I love the joy this little girl brings in our home!

She takes pumpkin carving very serious but she is just giddy with excitement once daddy gets this thing cleaned up!

Sorting the seeds for sister to bake. Another thing she would rather someone else clean, she does not like to get dirty!

The finished pumpkin! She told her daddy she wanted ghosts and thats exactly what she got!! Daddy rocks!

Happy Fall everyone! We had chilly weather here tonight and a bit of rain as well! Looking forward to a little week away with my baby girl very soon and the upcoming holidays! My favorite time of year!

Darling Baby Girl, You Are So Loved!!

2011-10-23T23:48:00.000-07:00

Lexi has set the tea table for 2. She is ready to spend the days giggling and romping around with her new sister!

Her blanket is finished and looks oh so cuddly! We hope it will bring her lots of comfort as she begins her attachment to us. And her crib is tired of laying empty, waiting for that sweet little body to fill it!

And my dear friend Jill got her, her very first gift! Matching bracelets for Ivy and Lexi! Have I mentioned how much I love this lady? Yep, she's a gift from God indeed!

And our second gift came from my sweet bloggy friend Melody and her precious Hannah! Matching purses for the sweeties!!! We were blessed with a visit from them this week, they were in Az for an adoption conference.

Waiting at the park for our meet up with Melody and Hannah

It was sooooo hot that day!! Bad idea to meet at the park. By the time they got there my little furnace was already a sweaty Betty!!

The girls were so sweet to each other and I so wish our visit could have lasted all day!

I learned that Hannah had a very serious heart condition, very similar to Ivy's. Spending this time with Melody was most certainly God's way of comforting my heart and keeping me sane as we get through this waiting to bring Ivy home!!

The Big Girls finished Ivy's block letters this week! So now one closet has

Lexi's name over it still, but....

The second closet, now occupied with Ivy's things,

has Ivy's name over it! I think they did a terrific job!

We decided to put the girls in the same room, keeping the guest room open for now. Lexi is soooo excited about this so we will see how it goes. If we have issues we can always change the plan.

We are trucking along with the paperwork, hoping to hear something from uscis soon!! We have not been printed yet :(

Pictured here with her nanny, this woman takes care of only Ivy (yes she has her own personal nanny!) I long for the day I can hug her and thank her for the love and care she has given my girl. We are told that Ivy and this woman have the most precious relationship. I know that leaving this sweet woman who has been like a mother to Ivy is going to be heart breaking for both of them! On the left is beautiful Jane. Jane is from Red Thread Charities and she is the Angel that along with her husband and several other women, fly's to China twice a year to train the nannies that work with these children in Hangzhou. She is a nurse and her husband is a doctor.

Darling Baby Girl,

You Are So Loved!

Wordless Wednesday

2011-10-19T00:00:00.000-07:00

Ivy, we love you baby!

2011-10-13T22:21:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, while we slept, my new sweet friend Jennifer took a little trip.

She and her husband adpoted their baby girl just a few days ago. She happens to be from the same orphanage as Ivy! They were roomies!! And yesterday, they took the trip back to the orphanage to say goodbye, thank the nannies who cared for their princess for 13 months, and..... get a peek at our girl!!

They call this one of the top 5 orphanages in China, a model orphanage if you will. I can see why!

Looks like it was a rainy wet dark day.

Inside, it was nap time for all the babies.

The model of the orphanage is in the flooring inside the loby of the oprhanage

I think my sweet girl was very unhappy about being awakened from her nap! To see first hand, where she sleeps, where she spends her days and nights, oh my heart!

And though my heart is saying oh my, sweet baby Ivy was saying oh why!!! Can't a girl get some un interupted sleep around here?

Looks like she is giving the *look* to whoever it was that woke her!

But, happy or sad.... this baby girl just takes my breath away!

Wordless Wednesday

2011-10-12T23:59:00.000-07:00

Got Love?

2011-10-07T23:42:00.000-07:00

We sure do!!!

It is amazing how much our little blessing is talking! Talking and talking and talking. She never stops talking. It is so much fun listening to the things she says and the funny adorable way that she makes tones with her voice just like Chinese language. She is really in to letters right now and she knows almost all of the sounds that go with each letter. Tonight I was wearing a pair of VS Pink sweats. She was standing behind me poking the letters and saying look mama P, pppI iii N nnn K kkk! It is amazing to me. And she loves crafts so she is forever at the table with a bottle of glue and construction paper. Today she said she was making Birthday presents. I told her Quincie's birthday was coming soon and she said, "Oh mama, Queesee gonna be sooooooo happy! She did the same thing when we put a package in the mail for her earlier this week. All the way to the post office, "Queesee gonna be soooooo happy!" She has been asking to lead in her bed time prayers for the past several weeks. Cutest thing on the planet hearing the sweetest 2 year old voice in prayer. She folds her hands and squints her eyes and says, " Dear Jeeze, Thank you a mama, dada, ry ry, Cass, Buba, Queesee, Grama, Auntie Kim, Aunt Nat. Pweeze fix Ibee's broken heart, bring her home from China. Amen"
I love this little girl with every ounce of my heart. She has the sweetest soul, the sweetest heart. She gives thanks for everything ALL day long. She is precious in every way and she gives more to us than we could have ever thought possible. She is a gift, a blessing, a joy to love!

Now, in case you are wondering where you can get this adorable shirt? Go here http://www.gotloveadopt.com/index.html
This family is adopting from Korea and this shirt is part of their fundraising. I love it because not only are we helping bring another child home by purchasing them (my entire family is getting one!) We are also publicly sharing the beauty of adoption. James 1:27 calls us to care for orphans in distress and to take on a missionary attitude. This world is a broken place in need of hope, healing, and love. And baby, we've got love! We've got Hope, and thanks to Him, we've got healing. There will come a day when there will be no more suffering and no more oppression. Until that day, we will press on. We will Love and we will bless and we will be blessed. We will bring Ivy home and there will be even more Love, even more Hope and even more Healing (lot's of healing please Lord) And seriously, come on, who could look at this little sweetheart in this shirt and not be nudged to consider adoption?

Heal my heart and make it clean
Open up my eyes to the things unseen
Show me how to love like you have loved me

Break my heart from what breaks yours
Everything I am for your kingdoms cause
As I go from nothing to
Eternity

Hillsong

Pumpkin Patch

2011-10-02T23:27:00.000-07:00

This is the first time we have ever gone to the pumpkin patch the first weekend in October! And October 1st seemed sooo early! But we had some nice weather and a very excited little girl so we decided that it would be the perfect weekend for us. Well, it ended up being awesome. There were NO lines, very few people, and Lexi thought is was the best time ever!

I was so excited to put Lexi in her special Halloween outfit and she was beyond excited to wear it!

She did not like the way the hay poked her. I should have known better than to sit her on it from the start!

The farm that we go to is huge and has so much to do. We didn't have time to do everything because it got to be Lexi's bed time.

She sure did LOVE her first pony ride!!

We put her on the tiniest pony they had!

We went on train rides and airplanes, the bumble bee, the merry go round and a roller coaster. We saw pigs and cows and goats and bunnies. She ate ice cream and a hot dog and then she looked at us and said, "Time go home, Time go to bed, Time to go home now". When she is tired and ready to go home, look out! She will say it over and over and over and over until we are in that car. She doesn't cry or make a fuss, she just says it so many times over that you will want to leave! It's like a broken record, one can only take so much before they go crazy :)

Good thing she's super cute!

Ivy Timeline

2011-09-30T11:10:00.000-07:00

Our home study has been approved
Our I-800A has been mailed along with a letter from our cardiologist stressing urgency in hopes of moving us along quicker than normal
Now we wait
We have an Ivy update coming in a few weeks when a precious blog friend will be traveling to Hangzhou to get her beautiful Myah. She is taking a little care package to Ivy for us!! I can not wait to see how she is doing!
Then a little later in October there will be another group traveling to Ivy's orphanage, this time a group of doctors and nurses. They too will be checking on our girl for us. Not sure about pictures on that trip but I will get some needed details on her health to give to our cardiologist.

Now for some Lexi Sweetness!

Lexi's necklace

2011-09-26T22:49:00.000-07:00

I have had several comments and emails about Lexi's necklace. I purchased it at Dazzle Boutique in Chandler. It was one of the things I put in her easter eggs for her egg hunt this year. She loves it!! Probably for 2 reasons, 1~it's blue, and 2~it has the piggy tails she is trying so hard to grow herself!! Anyway, Amy if you would like me to see if they still have them I would be happy to check and bring with me the next time we see eachother. And anyone else, let me know and I'd be happy to mail it. I think it was about 10.00

Mama I Do My Self!

2011-09-25T05:00:00.000-07:00

She is really enjoying her new found Independence!

And I love watching her find it!

She told me this week that I could not go to school too because I am too big.

We got the backpack from Etsy! So cute, perfect for Pre-School

After school my low key kiddo is exhausted so she needs to make herself a glass of what she calls Choc Milk

Everything must be done by herself these days!

And she is so proud when she does things like this herself.

She is very careful not to make a mess!

Too bad my pantry door was open.... nice background??

Taste Test

Mmmm

Perfect!!!

Thankful

2011-09-22T22:43:00.000-07:00

Oh so thankful!!

Below has nothing to do with the pictures of my sweeties above. I just needed to post it so I'm putting it here :)

While my little buddies Ruby and Sienna were here Ruby and I had the most precious conversation. I wanted to post it here right away because I knew everyone would get a kick out of it. Then I had second thoughts, thinking I would share it with Di first. And here we are 1 month later and not only has it not been posted, but I never had a chance to share it with Diana!! So here it is, the sweetest conversation with a 5 year old girl, once an orphan and now a hero!

Ruby~Miss Mary, I made you go get Lexi.

Me~ I'm sorry Ruby, you made me get Lexi? From where? I don't understand?

Ruby~ You see I was born in a very special way. When God made me, he made other mom's want to go to China to get babies just like me.

Me~ Well you are awful cute and very sweet, I bet you did make lots of moms want to go to China for a baby like you Ruby.

Ruby~ Yes I did! And Sienna made moms want to go get sisters!

Me~ Oh Ruby that's so great that people can see you and Sienna together and know that lots of sisters are waiting for families in China!

Ruby~ Yes

Me~ And Emme? What about Emme?

Ruby~ Oh God didn't do anything with her, we just wanted a baby sister!!

Out of the mouths of babes people!! She already knows she has a purpose! Created in His image wonderfully, beautifully made! PRECIOUS! Missing my Little R friends tonight. Thanks for the card Di, it made me cry.

The actress

2011-09-21T23:55:00.000-07:00

This little girl can bring it when asked

I told her to make a bossy face

A cry baby face

A whiny face

And a precious face

And she did!

Big girl bed update

2011-09-20T13:56:00.000-07:00

Jumping for Joy!

Growing up right before my eyes, but forever my baby!

Well, Lexi has officially transitioned in to a normal sleeping schedule again!!! Yay! She is staying in her bed, going to sleep all on her own and when she wakes up in the morning she just shows up! Walks up stairs and if any of the bigs are up she scolds them to get back to bed! It is sooo darn cute!! We did find a rail that barely peeks over her mattress and it is just enough to keep her from falling out. Thank you for all the sweet emails with helpful hints on that one! It has been a great week! Lexi even had her first dentist appointment and was a STAR patient!! Not a fuss from her! Life is GOOD!

Big girl stuff

2011-09-17T00:42:00.000-07:00

My baby girl is doing all sorts of big girl stuff these days. She is sleeping in a twin size bed now (because she was climbing out of her crib!) And she is going to school (at our church) on Thursdays for 2 hours! She loves loves loves her teacher who happens to be my dear friend. She was a little hesitant the first day but stayed and did well with no tears :) And now, 3 weeks later, she and her teacher are the Best of friends and she lights up at the sight of her!! It is so precious to see their relationship blossom and to see my girl 100% fully trusting someone other than her immediate family. I will be sure to get some photos of her next week before or after school. So far I have had to wake her every morning and getting out the door on time with a little food in her tummy has been tough enough without adding a photo shoot!! But when you are so busy climbing out of your crib after being put to bed 5 times, well... the girl needs to sleep in!
So on to the big girl bed. We planned on keeping Lexi in her crib, well for as long as she fit in it!! Seriously. She is such a great sleeper. She naps 3 hours every day and she sleeps 11-12 hours each night. But for some reason, about 2 weeks ago she decided to climb out of her crib one night and it was history from there. So we debated on what to do. She has a lifetime crib so it does turn in to a toddler bed, a day bed and a full size bed. On the other hand we will still need a crib for Ivy. So we decided to get her a twin size bed. We got way too big of a mattress (double pillow top) so now the bed rail is shorter than the mattress and she falls out of bed. She was afraid of staying in it by herself but she will not go in the crib and well all I can say is she is lucky that she is so darn cute and lucky that she has the sweetest voice and the cutest way of saying mommy pwease and daddy pwease because I am soooo tired!!!! Last night she went down pretty quick but she cried out for me 5 times in the middle of the night!! I almost gave in and stayed with her but I know better and I did not. Lexi is pretty black and white so if you tell her something is supposed to be one way she does not usually try and bend the rules. Tonight she went down in no time at all and I have not heard from her yet. I am pretty sure I won't until she falls off the bed.... probably any time now. Tomorrow Bryan and I are heading to home depot to get some things to make the bed rail taller and hopefully I will start getting to sleep through the night too. Lexi sleeps like a ninja so putting her in a twin bed was probably not the best idea. We should have made her crib a full size bed so she would have room to thrash about. She really is just all over the place all night! But she really wants Ivy in her room (she is so excited for Ivy!!) and we didn't feel there would be enough space for the full bed and the crib and her tea table and chairs and dresser and you get the picture. So it is what it is right now. If things are not working out once Ivy is home, we do still have another bedroom open to move one of the girls in to but for now I am thrilled that I could keep that open for grandma!!!

She is obsessed with her nails. They always have to be painted, new colors regularly. Loves Loves Loves going to the salon to get them done. She can paint her own fingernails with her right hand and does a darn good job. She insists that she NEEDS her toes done by the nice nail lady because she can do a flower and mommy can't. (I'm pretty sure I could!)

Holding her brothers chameleon, Phil.

She remains the bravest child when it comes to the non human type ha!

And in answer to the emails as to where we are on the road to Ivy,

Our home study is being written and should be completed this week. We are still waiting for Ca clearance and Az clearance. We have our I800 filled out and ready to go but our agency is telling us not to send it until they have the home study in hand and it has been approved :(

We have high hopes of breaking records on our race to bring Ivy home but we will see what God says and we will follow Him. He has held Ivy in the palm of his hand this long and He will continue to do so until we get there!

Cute things:

Tonight Rylee and Lexi were having some special sister time and they they decided to make dirt cups, you know pudding and cool whip with crushed oreos and gummy worms? (Lexi is all about the kitchen!)

So we all sat down at the kitchen table to try her master piece and one chair was empty. Cassidy had gone to a sleep over last minute tonight. So I said to Lexi, Lexi look at the empty chair... Who's missing? And she quickly replied, "Ivy"! We all just melted in our seats. She is so excited for her sister! She talks about them having matching clothes and teaching Ivy to swim and telling Ivy not to climb out of her crib. She tells me the second seat in the Costco shopping cart is for Ivy and that Ivy is going to go to the hospital but she will sing her rock a bye baby on the twee top!

I know that sharing her mommy is going to be tough and I am certainly not expecting the transition to be perfect, but I am thrilled that she is expressing great joy and anticipation for her newest sister! I have all ready started saying "the girls this, and the girls that" as I had done forever with my big girls. I can not wait to see these two Little's grow up together. God is so good!

The Learning Tower

2011-09-07T12:57:00.000-07:00

Let me tell you how much we LOVE this product!!!!!
We mentioned that we had our eye on it for a while but had not made the plunge to actually get it. Well, with a little hunny who loves to help in the kitchen, loves to do all things standing up and loves to hang out with the bigs around the kitchen island.... we really NEEDED this :)
Put in action from the second it arrived!

Making Rainbow Cake!

Made from scratch 100% by herself!! And no shells

in the batter! Impressive!

So the final say is, if you were wondering if this was worth the money, Yes! And I wish I had purchased it 6 months ago. Also, it has an adjustable base so it grows with your child. Right now we have it on the tallest level for Lexi. As she grows or if she is using a table that is lower, we can bring the base down for her. Wonderful Wonderful product, go get one!!!

All about our baby girl!

2011-09-05T10:59:00.001-07:00

Song LiQin ~ Song is her last name and is pronounced as it is spelled... Song

Her name, LiQin is pronounced LeeCheen

We will call her Ivy Joy

She is in a fabulous orphanage,

We have been blessed with many photos and even video from people who have visited there recently

This is Little Miss Ivy when she was 4 months old! She was abandoned about 1 month before this photo was taken. You can see she was very well fed!

She can even make a sweater vest look cute!

A nurse involved in a program that trains the nannies at this orphanage blessed us with these very early photos of our little chunk! We are so grateful for both her ministry and her gift of these photos!

And just these past few weeks, 2 wonderful families took these photos of Ivy while they were visiting the orphanage. These are photos are what Ivy looks like today.

Ivy's Health

You can see that our little one has lost her chub....

Ivy has a serious heart defect and her little body is working very hard as she waits to come home and have a life saving surgery that should have happened in her first week of life. Her orphanage has tried 2 times to get it done in China however they have been told that due to the high mortality rate for this particular surgery, they will not perform it in China~ever.

I will be honest with you

Because we all learn from each other not by making everything look rosy and wonderful, but by our honesty.

I was not quite ready to start our second adoption. I planned on Lexi being at least 3 when we began paper chasing.

I never ever wanted to be matched with a child before we were logged in with China, never wanted a child to have to wait longer because of me.

I wanted to adopt a preschool aged child, maybe even a boy!

I did not want to do diapers or bottles or cribs.

Yep, I wanted easy street :)

But..... God had other plans

Because God is so much smarter than me and he knows me so much better than I know myself!

And this little girl was waiting. Even though she is young, she was waiting a long time.

Many people fell in love with her gorgeous eyes and cherub face.

But when it came time to make the big decision, they were afraid of her tiny broken heart, and she was left without a family once again.

I was advocating for this LiQin and learned that she was in great need of surgery. I have families emailing me regularly asking me to help them find a child that matches their SN list. I was emailing with a few families, she was too young for one of them and the other was not approved for a heart baby, nor interested in one.

She was on my mind, in my heart, I knew God was telling me she already had a family. At the moment I was unaware that is was us.

I prayed for her daily, I visited her photo, memorized her little face, asked God to continue the miracle and keep her healthy until her family came.

Then after an email to the agency that had her file, and learning some new info about her and the care she is in. After asking God to tell me straight up what to do and make it loud and clear, after a meeting with the kids and much support from all 5 of my darling angels, after one last review of the info from the cardiologist who reviewed her file, after some texting with my precious sister who was truly a ROCK for me that morning, after a final conversation with my Darling Husband who was 100% on board with this from the first time he laid eyes on Ivy Joy, we locked her file and sent LOI.

And we knew from that moment on that this was right.

That she was ours.

That God would not give us more than we could handle and that we could handle more than we gave ourselves credit for.

And suddenly bottles and diapers and cribs sounded just fine.

We would be blessed with more than we deserve once again.

And Ivy will have the family she has been waiting so long for.

And both Ivy and Lexi will have a same age sister to go through life with.

Introducing Our Newest Daughter

2011-09-03T22:37:00.000-07:00

             Something has been in the works here at the S house!
                                    Something beautiful!
                                        And here she is!

                                       Song LiQin
                                       Born 5-6-10
                 Children’s WelfareInstitute of Hangzhou City
We will be so blessed to have 2 beautiful little girls from China. God is so good! We can't wait to share all the details with all of you!

Irene

2011-08-27T00:07:00.000-07:00

I don't like her! Irene, that is. My oldest baby hopped on a plane to Newport News today. This will be her first week living in her new home with her new husband and Irene is trying to get in on the party!
Praying she stays away and that everyone is safe and unharmed!

As for Little Miss...
She spent the entire week sick!!! She was sick and whiny for so long I almost forgot what a sweet little doll she is! Honestly, it was a rough week. Burning hot fever, lots and lots of sleeping, not eating and whine whine whine. But when mom finally got smart and realized something was up and took her to the doctor... and found out she had a terrible terrible ear infection.... Well that was that! A kick in the pants for me, some antibiotics for her and a very happy little girl in 48 hours! Just in time to say goodbye to big sis.

FEELING MISERABLE

ON THE MEND

I know she looks really excited about something.
And as much as I wish I could tell you she is excited about some news I will be sharing with you all very very soon....... she's not! She's singing and clapping to Mickey Mouse Clubhouse :)

Breaking the silence

2011-08-25T00:50:00.001-07:00

THE DUST IS FLYING AROUND HERE!!! IT IS ALMOST LIKE WE ARE GETTING READY FOR SOMETHING!!!!!!

From Az to Ca to MN

2011-08-16T09:06:00.000-07:00

Our fun with the Little's is coming to an end. We have enjoyed their company so much And Jill and I had a blast with them in Ca.

Friday we arrived at the hotel after the 6 hour + many potty stops drive.

Ruby having a pretend phone call at the hotel before dinner.
And Lexi playing with her train.

We spent Saturday playing the day away at Sea World. I don't know if it was Sienna's first time on amusement park type rides but she was totally in to the rides and the Sesame Street Characters! So was my little Lexi! She is going to be a total roller coaster girl!! And you already know she is crazy about the characters!

Ruby does not like the characters and no way was she going to take a picture with them!! The greatest part of Ruby's day at Sea World was seeing the sharks and eating the Lemon Ice Cream she had looked forward to all day! Keeping track of 5 little kids at Sea World was a breeze thanks to our awesome bigs~ Rylee, Claire, and Cassidy!! They are the most wonderful teens 2 mom's could ask for!!

These 2 have a very special bond! It is precious to watch!

Claire trying out a game that looked soooo easy? Not so much! It was HARD!!!

Touching starfish for the first time! This was the last event of our day, it was almost 9pm!

They were so proud of their bravery!

We almost lasted til fireworks......but not quite!! It was a long day!!

On Sunday it was off to the beach. We took our time getting there, knowing the Little's would be beat from the day before. They appreciated the leisurly morning and took thier time getting ready that day. It is a ~~little difficult~~ terribly hard to get photos of 5 Little's all together in an open area. They just run and run and want to play!!! So here are some mixed up photos of our fun day at Mission Bay.

Straight to the water! And YAY Lexi likes the sand this year! Last year she would not put her feet down the entire time we were at the beach!

1,2,3

4, 5

Everyone was so happy and playful!

Ruby dug a hole to China!
All By herself!!

Jill and I thought it looked like a Squaty Potty!

And all of the girls were able to get the kite up, all by themselves!!! Oh were they ever proud!!

Jeff and Diana,

It has been an absolute pleasure hosting your girls with Jill these 2 weeks! We have had smiles and giggles every single day and they have been 100% happy!!!!! I hope you have had worry free days and I thank you for trusting us with your angels!

Honestly....... this is my dream job! My dream volunteer job, hosting little gems while their parents are in China bringing home ONE LESS ORPHAN, UNITING ONE MOE FAMILY!

I could do this every day!!

Love,

Mary

More fun at Camp S

2011-08-12T07:41:00.000-07:00

The fun continues at Camp S but Jill and I are so excited to be moving the fun to San Diego tomorrow! We are taking the kids to Sea World and the beach and we can't wait!! This will be ALL of the Little's FIRST time going to Sea World. What a joy that will be to see them all experience it together. The cooler temperatures sure be a treat as well!!
The R girls are doing amazing!! I am so impressed by the patience and trust these girls have shown me! They hug me and ask me to hold them and sit on my lap and allow me to fill this little gap of time without mommy and daddy here to do those things right now. They are funny and adorable and they say things that just crack me up!!!! I have to share some of it because I know some of you are here from Di's blog :)

When Ruby saw me get out the vacuum this morning she came running and took it from me. She said, "I better do that for you because I probably made the crumbs!" She was so cute with her little helpers trailing behind her and that big ol' vacuum!

They LOVE our ipad!! They love the cookie and candy making apps and the nail salon app especially! Sienna usually wakes up about 45 minutes before Ruby and she always plays the ipad while she waits for Ruby to wake up. She tells me that she likes when Ruby sleeps long because then she gets the longest turn and she thinks if Ruby wakes up too soon she should take a nap! I asked Ruby if she was going to ask for an ipad for Christmas and she told me that they would need 2 of them because they don't share the same at their house as they do mine! Oh this had me laughing all day!

They had a great time baking and frosting cupcakes after bath! Bryan was teasing them and pretending he was going to eat their pink creations!

We take them for a pink swim every night after dinner. We have a color wheel light in the pool for night swims so we have been freezing it on pink so the girls have what they call a pink swim each night. They get so excited when they see the sun going down, knowing that the water will be turning pink soon. They are CRAZY about pink and we try to make sure we have at least 2 of all things pink!!!

Looking out for the Toe Shark!!! The Toe Shark eats little girls toes while they are eating sorbet by the pool.

Watch out!!!!!! I see Him!

Ruby told me that she likes juice but it really lights her up!!! She said if she's tired, drink some juice cuz it really does the trick! And they both have the absent R so when they say trick its twick and tired is tyowd Ruby is Wuby, you can imagine how adorable this is!!! My big kids just love listening to them talk because it seriously is so precious!! They use big words and great detail and then the little R thing just makes it so darling!

I told them to say stinky feet and smile..... this is waht they did ha!

Well I better get some sleep, I just wanted to make sure Mama and Papa R had some pictures of their sweeties to look at today!

The most beautiful days!

2011-08-09T03:28:00.000-07:00

It has been quite a ride here in the desert! A fun and wild ride!

Having 11 kids all together is like having a never ending party!

And we LOVE never ending parties!

Especially when it involves all these cuties!!

Tomorrow is Cassidy's last day home for the afternoon fun :( She starts school on Wednesday. She is none too happy about that!

I am sure the Little's will miss attacking her in the pool!!

Up until now just the day play has been at my house, but tomorrow the sleepovers will start here and we can't wait!

Sienna is FEARLESS!!! Check out the belly dives she was doing today! Is that cute or what?

She always made sure Cassidy was ready to catch her. This girl swallows a lot of salt water!!!

Look at sweet Shaelee's jump, Sienna wanted
to help Cassidy catch her BFF! So sweet!

Having these girls around, seeing my Lexi just fall in love with little Ruby, it has given me clarity. My girl needs a sister her age. She is 10 years younger than her brother. She will be an only child. She needs someone to have tea parties with and play house with! She will never have what our other kids have without a sister her age. She loves these girls being here! She shares her mommy and her sisters and her brother without a fuss. She shares her toys, her home her pool, she loves that they are here.

And it's no wonder why! They are the SWEETEST girls!!! And they are so loving. They are sooooo excited about their new baby sister and they are going to be the best big sisters Emme could ever have wished for!

Lexi was so excited to give these hippo pillow pet sleeping bags to the girls for a late B-Day surprise! The one in the back that is not open is for Miss Emme! I can't wait to see Lexi and the girls all snuggled up in these tomorrow night for Lexi's first sleep over, but more than that, I can't wait to see a picture of the 3 sister's cuddled up in them when Emme comes home!!!

Saying goodbye to the woods

2011-08-07T05:37:00.000-07:00

2011-08-06T05:01:00.000-07:00

Holding a frog with Daddy. She is brave like her biggest sister, not a scaredy cat like the other girls in our family, me included!!

I have never seen a 2 year old with this much patience! She didn't catch anything more than this weed all week but she eagerly held that tiny pink pole, waiting and waiting as she sang songs and told us to be quiet or we might scare the fish!!

I think this will be a favorite of mine for a very long time! I am so blessed! And these two are such a blessing to eachother!

Size has no limits for this peanut! She has to try everything!!

More Pictures

2011-08-05T08:06:00.000-07:00

Just pictures for the next few days!

2011-08-04T10:23:00.000-07:00

First Time Fishing!!

How Hot is it?

2011-07-30T07:32:00.000-07:00

It was 100* at 10:20pm Wednesday.

We are off to cooler temperatures and sooooooooo excitied about that. I don't know why I'm so much less tolerant of the AZ weather these past few years? I think it is because little ones need outside play time and we just can't have much of that right now. Lexi overheats and throws up if we are outside too long. Anyway, I'm thrilled that we will be able to go for walks and play outside!!! AND take lots of pictures!!!
You see, when it's this hot outside....... my cute 2 yr old model does this when asked to take a picture

See ya mommy! I'm not melting out here with you!

_______________________________________________________________________________

Thank you everyone for the excellent suggestions on the stepping stools for kids!!! I loved every comment and email and checked out each one.

We ending up choosing one from here:

http://www.stepstoolsforkids.com
They had the biggest selection and the tallest models. Thank you Sarah! And thank you everyone!

oh real quick.......

Has anyone seen this????

It's called the learning tower and I sooooooo want it for Lexi!

It would be so nice for baking together and ~~making a mess~~

helping with the dishes! Lexi loves to be in the kitchen helping but sitting on the counter isn't good and standing on a chair that's not really high enough anyway isn't safe. Sooo I have had my eye on this since last winter but she was only 12 months at the time. Now I see it again and so want it but do I really NEED it? Will we get 200 dollars of use out of it??? Will it be in the way when not in use?

So, anyone out there have one of these? Do you love it? Are you glad you got it? Talk to me :)

Can you help me?

2011-07-27T13:52:00.000-07:00

I am not a fan of floor sitting potty seats... honestly, they really gross me out. When my big kids were potty training I used a potty seat that covered the adult toilet seat and had steps leading up to it. I looked in every store known to man in hopes of finding one for Lexi and had not luck so I went ahead and purchased this.....

It was fine for that first week that she was training but after that I was DONE! So I purchased some little cooshie seats to place on the big toilets and I just lift her up to it.

Well this morning I decided to look on line......DUH? And sure enough, I found the one with steps that I had been in search of!!

I know its not the prettiest thing but at least my girl will be able to get herself on the potty without having to search for a helper when she needs to go! I ordered 2, one for her bathroom and one for the guest bathroom on the main level. Well now I am hoping that someone out there in blogger land can help me. Even in the bathroom with the low pedestal sink, Lexi can not reach the water in the sink on an ordinary stool. We have looked and looked for a step stool that has 2 steps and that is not too unsightly.......no luck. Right now I have this little trunk to get us by but it is not safe.

I know there are some household stepstools that would work but come on, they are horrible looking! Our speech therapist has a wood one that is perfect, they told me they got it at hobby lobby and painted it. I went straight there and they told me they have no such thing! Ugh
Sooooo... If your little shorty has a step stool that is a bit taller than most, please please please will you share where you found it! Thanks :)

Bored out of my mind!

2011-07-20T08:39:00.000-07:00

I love the part of summer that means loads of time with my kids, trips to the beach, sleeping in and staying up late. I love swimming and traveling and cooking outside every night. But, for some reason, this year I am just bored out of my mind. We missed out on our beach trip due to the competition in Vegas, its a million degrees outside and I'm tired of it already, one can only swim so much without getting bored of that too and yes your right.... I'm having a pity party!! Truth is, I need to be busy ALL the time! It's what keeps me sane. And even though there really is plenty I could be doing, my wheels are turning and I'm going no here! Sigh.... I just really want to be at the beach right now!
All that aside, sniff sniff, getting over it now! We do have a trip up to the cabin planned and that will give me a break from this horrid heat!! We have some visitors coming while their mommy and daddy head to China to bring home their precious baby sister so there will be plenty of fun going on during that time. (Lexi loves Max and Ruby and when I tell her Ruby our friend the girl, not the bunny is coming to visit she says Roo Bee and Max!) So she might be in for a little shock when she sees Ruby is NOT a bunny and Max is NOT coming with her!
In another month we will have our oldest moving out of state, another starting at ASU, Cassidy will be a Sophomore, and Brady starts Junior High! And Miss Lexi has all sorts of fun things set up to start this school year, I'm so excited for her! She loves to be busy like her mommy.

Wordless Wednesday

2011-07-13T09:26:00.000-07:00

Getting Down!

2011-07-10T23:28:00.000-07:00

Terribly blurry as all the photos taken in the house are, sigh... but none the less, worth posting any way. I am in awe of the coordination and balance and core strength of this little love bug!

Vegas Baby!

2011-07-06T02:46:00.000-07:00

We spent the past week in Las Vegas, the girls were competing at Nationals for Star Systems. It was soooooo HOT!!

We took Lexi to the Secret Garden to see the Dolphins and White Tigers. She loved it!! We were no quite as impressed especially since it was 112 degrees!!

I'm pretty sure the Las Vegas strip is one of my least favorite places in the world..... and with kids??? No way! So we just hung out, watched an awful lot of dancing and took the kids to a few fun places. By Saturday I was soooooo ready to come home!!

Lexi on the other hand thought Las Vegas Rocked.... She loved the loud music, the bright lights, the never ending dance competition, the hotel rooms, the constant together time and the monorail! When we were heading to the car on Saturday I told her we were going home and to say good bye to Vegas and she said, " More Vegas!"

Last year we went to nationals in California. We packed diapers, bottles, pack&play.... this year, exactly one year later we packed panties, the ipad and polly pockets! Potty training Lexi was such a breeze, we said we ran out of diapers so we aren't going to use them any more we are just going to put all the potty in the toilet. She said, Kay!! She was 100 % potty trained by the 2nd day. Pull ups at night, good thing, since she is still in a crib!

We made it home just in time to celebrate the 4th. And my new son in law got to come home for the weekend to be with his new bride. Lexi would not let him out of her site!

The newly weds!

Practicing for the circus!

Hope you all had a blessed weekend and a terrific 4th!

Happy 4th of July

2011-07-04T16:29:00.000-07:00

We're Back!!!

Look at how strong this girl is! She did a full front flip last night. Scares me to death!!

I call her crazy legs, because she is ALL legs. She has the shortest little torso and these legs that never end!

And I call this her ~Say what?~ face.

Wishing everyone a fun, safe holiday weekend! I will be back to some regular blogging very soon! Thanks for the precious emails, we love them all!

Daddy I Love You! Happy Fathers Day!

2011-06-18T20:49:00.000-07:00

I didn't have a Daddy, and you didn't have a Lexi. So God made us for each other. He made me so much like you. He even gave us matching hair do's when I was a little baby! He knew I needed a Daddy who would rough house with me, but also a daddy who would bathe me in hugs and kisses, patience and kindness, love and respect and who loves me with every ounce of his being! He knew you would need a little girl who has the most precious laugh on the planet, who loves to be tickled, who follows the rules to the T, who has the sweetest voice, who looks cute in anything she puts on, who is a bit crazy about the word NO right now, who thinks bugs are awesome, who thinks you can fix anything, and who loves you with every ounce of her being!! Isn't God AMAZING!

Together 1 week. Guangzhou China, November 2009

Home 3 months

There is nothing in this world your daddy would not do for you! Nothing!

And if he could, he would skip work every day just to be home, hanging out with his family. He so loves being a Daddy!

If we get home after your Daddy is already home, he comes running out to the car and straight to your car seat! He takes you for bike rides and sometimes the two of you go early in the morning to pick up a surprise cup of Starbucks for Mommy. He watches Dora with you and even does the ants in your pants dance with you. He gives you the best shoulder rides and elephant rides, all because he was made to be your daddy and you were made to be his Lexi!

He takes us on special vacations, he comes to all of your doctor appointments, he reads to you and sings to you. He works so hard so mommy can stay home and take care of you. He makes it possible for us to visit Grandma whenever we want and even though he just loves it when you wear just a plain pair of jeans and a t-shirt (~~rare~~ never), it is daddy that makes it possible for us to shop til we drop for all of your precious baby clothes! (Thanks babe!)

He chose your name.! Yep, that's right. Daddy named you.

Holding your first lizard..... Daddy taught you that you will never have to be afraid of anything!

Daddy is so protective of you. Even though your little 32 inch tall, 22 pound body could handle the big kids trying to push past you on this ladder, your Daddy was not going to step away!

Daddy, I love you to the moon and back!

Lexi, I love you to the moon and back!

And they lived happily ever after!

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2.5 Today

2011-06-13T17:47:00.000-07:00

You've come a long way baby! Today you are 2 1/2 years old!

You are adorable, hilarious, and so incredibly smart!

Your first full body person drawing.

Your first face drawing.

You love trains!!!

You love the color BLUE

And the color PINK

You turn bright red when we go out in the heat and you sweat like no child I have ever seen!! (just like your daddy!)

Look at these shots, her hair is dripping from root to end!!

This is from a little outside time.

You love swimming and playing in the water

You love gymnastics and dance

You don't like dolls. Shortly after we gave you this one to play with you shoved her in your closet and put a towel on top of her! You do love to take care of your stuffed animals though. And you LOVE polly pockets!

You can count to 10 perfectly on your own and count to 20 with a little help.

You can identify many numbers and letters and all of the 8 basic shapes. You know 13 colors and you are learning about mixing colors to make new colors. You tested in 99th percentile for receptive vocabulary, expressive vocabulary and pre-school skills. With an age equivalent of 4 yrs 10 months. On the other hand, you have a really tough time with articulation and stringing words. We are starting speech therapy in a one on one pre-school setting next Monday. You will go 4 days a week for 30 minutes at a time in hopes that the intensity of these short visits will help you to make a habit of using multiple syllables and gain better articulation.

You love to sing and do flash cards. You love to draw and play games on the ipad. You love to help grocery shop and often eat what we are buying before we even make it the the check out line. You love lip gloss and hair flowers. You love counting and saying your ABC's. You love doing puzzles and reading books. Your favorite foods are Eggs, Cantaloupe, watermelon, pure chocolate, milk, Gatorade, water, mac n cheese, broth, corn, green veggies, sweet potatoes, sweet potato fries, grapes, nutella, cookies and cream ice cream, frozen yogurt, soft yeast rolls, granola, yogurt, bananas, mandarin oranges, vegetable soup, goldfish crackers and Chinese noodles. You still do not like meat! Your diet is still a bit limited but we are so glad you like veggies and fruit!!

You love your big sibblings and you love their friends!! You think your just one of the girls when they all get together and we think it is so precious how you have favorites, Mia and Baylee!

We love you to the moon and back baby girl!!!

My Tiny Dancer

2011-06-11T23:16:00.000-07:00

How amazing it is that God created her to be so much like her sisters. Loving dance like Rylee and Cassidy!

And tonight she had her *moment*, It was dance recital night, something she has been waiting a very long time for, Dancing on Stage!

At dress rehearsal where no flash photography was allowed.

They took her up on stage during a little skit and had her say hello to the audience. She did :)

I know we've been absent from the blogging world for a while. Thank you for the many sweet sweet emails asking for a Lexi fix. You are all so funny and so kind. I'm really blessed by your loving words for our little China Blessing!! Our craziness has about settled down so be sure and check back Monday. Lexi will be 2.5 on Monday and I will be sure to do another post with lots more pictures!

Rylee I Love you!!

2011-05-20T00:04:00.000-07:00

Today is my precious Rylee's last day of High School.

She will walk with the rest of her class on Thursday of next week.

My precious girl has grown up.

Every day she just seems more mature to me. She is amazing, smart, beautiful and driven!

She is the best big sister!

Here she is the day she became a big sister. Holding little Cassidy like she had been doing this kind of thing forever! She was like a mini mommy!

And here she is hugging her big sister.

She was a die hard pooh fan

Always a girlie girl

Loves her family like no other!

And her family is pretty crazy about her!

So this week I have shed some serious tears. I don't know why, she is going to Arizona State University but living at home.... She's not leaving. And here I am crying? I think it's just because I am so very proud of her. I love being her mom!

Rylee's Senior pictures

2011-05-20T00:02:00.001-07:00

I love every single one of them!!

Hall of Fame

2011-05-06T00:40:00.000-07:00

School is finally wrapping up and things are in full swing Chaos around here! I can barely keep my head above water as we whirl through everything that year end brings. We are swallowed up by Brady's Gym meets and basketball games and the girls dance competitions on the weekends. We have a senior graduating in 3 weeks so graduation stuff, college stuff... We had 4 nights of dance concerts for school dance, talent show, guitar concert, parent information meetings for this and that, if you have school age kids you know exactly what I mean and you are probably going through the same motions right now! It's crazy!! Little miss is on the run a lot, and she just seems to go with the flow and keeps us all smiling and laughing along the way. We are so lucky to have such a joyful little girl.

When we are not on the run we are working on things like.....

Wearing panties and using the potty!!!

Getting just the right piece of toilet paper is very important!

We are blessed to have so much together time! We also love to have special get togethers with Big sister Quincie. Lexi and the little boy Quincie cares for during the day (Sam) have become good friends and love to have play dates. Sam pronounces Lexi's name "Lucky", so cute!

Sam looks out for Lexi, helps her climb off and on things, holds her hand, keeps her safe. And Lexi likes to make sure Sam has plenty to eat!!! So funny!

Adorable Sam!

He is all boy!! Very important to be biggest, loudest, fastest, loudest, first, loudest and have the most of everything! Lexi could care less! The perfect friends!

Getting a real ~kick~ out of splashing her!

It was 99 degrees today and will be again tomorrow!!! I am thinking we will be hitting 100 and not looking back from there quite soon!

And before I sign off and head to bed I have to share our sweetest little weekend story.
This past weekend we were at Hall Of Fame Dance Competition. It was an all day thing and usually I take Lexi home and she goes to bed and I head back until it is finished and awards are over. This was Sunday and Bryan had an emergency Elders meeting at church so I had to keep Lexi with me. She was dancing in the isle for hours watching every dance and doing her thing, putting on her own little show. So now its after 9pm and its time for awards. Rylee asks her if she wants to go on stage for awards and she just starts to shake with excitement! She carries her up there ( All the dancers are on stage, waiting for the judges to tally up the last scores) the music is playing loudly and Lexi goes up and starts dancing at the front of the stage. She went on for about 20 minutes!!! The judges were just clapping and laughing and then the whole auditorium is clapping and she is just beaming!! They got on the microphone and presented her with an MVP Hollywood plaque and a T-shirt! She still randomly will just come up to me to tell me how everyone clapped for her. There is no photography or video allowed so I didn't even have my camera but Hall of Fame did take a bunch of photos of her up there and they are emailing them to me. I pulled out my phone and took a video when she first went up but it was before she was really in to doing her thing and its poor quality, oh well. Here is the video and here are some pictures with her ~prizes~ the next morning!!!

If only I knew how to make this right side up???

I could seriously suck the cheeks right off her face!!! They are as soft and kissable as they look! Promise!

Happy Easter. He is Risen!!!

2011-04-24T23:27:00.000-07:00

Jesus paid the ultimate price for us. He died for me and you on the cross so that we "should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:16). But the best part of the story is this.... He is Risen! And get this, not only is he risen from the dead, but he is coming back again soon!

John 14 (Jesus Speaking)

1 Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.

2 In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.

3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.

I'm ready for Jesus to return! Who is with me????

9 But when ye shall hear of wars and commotions, be not terrified: for these things must first come to pass; but the end is not by and by.

10 Then said he unto them, Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom:

11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.

25 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring;

26 Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken

27 And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.

28 And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.

Enjoy this day. Jesus loves you SO SO MUCH!!!

And now for Little Miss Lexi's 2nd Easter with us! It was Perfect in every way!!!

Having a blast at our church Easter Egg Hunt!

Hunting for Eggs this morning. Or as she said it, Easter Bunny made a mess!

Easter Eve, coloring eggs!

Easter Bunny brought Lexi a new bike with pedals!! And a butterfly habitat!

Happy EASTER!!!!!!!!!!

Cassidy's 15th Birthday

2011-04-22T22:47:00.000-07:00

Cassidy turned 15 on Sunday!

She wanted a girly party centered around CHOCOLATE!

I have done so many chocolate fountain parties.....but apparently not enough because I assembled the fountain UPSIDE DOWN this time!!!!

So after adding several pounds of melted chocolate and seeing that the chocolate was getting stuck in the ~bowls~ that should not have actually been ~bowls~ we realized it was upside down!!! I was actually going to have to take the thing apart! With hot melted chocolate in it!! And the guests were to start arriving in 5 minutes!!! Yes of course one showed up early, the second my hands went in. So the pieces that I had to take apart were stuck and I flicked Chocolate all over the blinds and the wall and my husband! Oh it was the biggest mess but we got it all fixed and all cleaned up and it ended up being a really awesome party! And my husband, I tell you, this man of mine is a saint! He truly is such a darling man. After all the mess I created with my really really dumb mistake, not one negative word out of his mouth, not one! He was so sweet, he cleaned 99% of the mess and still washed the fountain when the party was over. He is such a beautiful example of how a man should love his wife and I thank God for him, I am so blessed!

And here is what it looked like when we got it reversed and flowing properly!

A few of the girls checking out the books that I have made of our year with Lexi.

This child is obsessed with holes and tape!!! Thank you Dora! She is concerned by the decorative ~holes~ in her shoes and is getting ready to apply the tape!

There were 12 little big girls standing around the chocolate fountain. One of them said, OH JUST GIVE ME A STRAW!!

We could not get Lexi to eat a single thing dipped in chocolate. She thought the chocolate fountain was ridiculous! She did shove a great deal of bananas in her mouth in a very short time though. As you can see by this picture she has a mouth full!

We a certain that Little Miss thought We were all singing Happy Birthday to her! She was so funny with a little embarrassed look under her smile.

After some of this yummy cake the girls worked off their mounds of sugar playing Just Dance 2 followed by swimming.

I really can't believe my sweet girl is 15!! She is such a fantastic kid and such a funny, fun, joy to love!! She has the sweetest group of friends and loves to be a social butterfly! We love you Cassidy!

Ladybugs

2011-04-16T23:58:00.000-07:00

This is an alfalfa field. And it is just covered in ladybugs. We didn't know it at first, we just wanted to get a picture of the 3 Hunan Hunnies after a play date and the ladybugs were just a pleasant surprise. Well for Lexi anyway. The 2 S's did not like bugs at all! Sienna said, "I hate bugs." Shaelee said, "I hate them too!" Lexi said, "Nice bugs!" And she was off to catch as many as she could!

When the big girls saw Lexi acting as if these bugs were pretty cool, they started to ease up a bit and began to look for them too! Things were getting serious now!

The next thing we knew, all three girls were holding the ladybugs. Lexi would help them put one on their arm or their dress and they would get a little creeped out and shake it off and she would pick it back up and in no time they were all doing it themselves.

She was so proud of Shaelee!!

Putting it back on Shaelee's hand for her.

Siennas first attempt at letting it crawl on her hand!

Squishing it! Just kidding!!! It's on her wrist, you just cant see it in the picture. Those eyes take my breath away!

I love this picture as it really tells the story!

The best of friends! These 2 love each other so much!

3 Little girls from Hunan, China. The older 2 grew up together for their first 4 years in China. They were neighbors, both orphans, both in foster care. God placed them in their forever families, the families he had perfectly planned for them, just over a year ago. And while they live many many miles from each other, they remain the best of friends. The third little China girl, my precious one, lived in an orphanage not far from these girls. And while I live just a 5 minute drive as well as attend the very same church as the family who adopted Shaelee, it took a trip all the way to The Peoples Republic Of China for me to meet this wonderful family! Our girls met in China but they are neighbors in the United States! God's plan is always so much greater than anything we could ever imagine. We are so blessed!

This and that

2011-04-14T23:31:00.000-07:00

It seems like April and May fly by so fast every year, I hardly blink and they are gone. And this year with a graduating senior, there is even more going on. Cassidy turns 15 on Sunday!! We are throwing her a party at home with 12 girls, loads of sugar, chocolate fountain and some swimming. She has been counting down to her birthday for 6 months!!!
The homework load has been a bit out of control too! I seriously think some of these teachers need to give us some slack. It is 11:00 right now and poor Cass is on my bedroom floor doing what I call her typical Thursday night stay over in Mom and Dads room. She dances from 4-9:30 on Thursdays and that is always the day that she gets the most homework. She doesn't get home from school until almost 3! If I stay up with her and have her do it in my room she goes to bed tired, but happy. If I send her off to finish in her room and go to bed when she is done, not only does she go to bed and wake up very grumpy.... most of the time she falls asleep before she is done. So it's our special little thing now, hey whatever works..right?
Lexi had new orthotics made this week. She finally outgrew her first pair. So she has new cute little inserts that go inside her shoes and she will keep wearing them until she is at least 4. She wears them for 3 or 4 hours a day and it's really hard to find shoes they fit in. Well, actually the truth is it's hard for me to find shoes I find cute enough that they will fit in. I have a shoe fettish! They do not go in sandals because they have to be worn with socks. They are hard plastic and make her wear a full size and a half bigger shoe than her actual foot. Good thing she has a tiny foot! Since we live in AZ we do most of our orthotics wearing in the am as soon as she wakes up or in the evening while playing at home. This way she can still wear sandals outside.
Bryan has not missed a single appointment for Lexi since she came home. If she has an appointment he takes the morning off to be with his baby girl. I love that about him! This time he took the whole day and we went the the Childrens museum after!

Noodle Forest!

The pizza kitchen

Painting a castle

And after lots of playing Daddy took us to lunch

Lexi was so excited when Baxter (AZ Dbacks mascot) pulled up!!

She ran right up to him and he just scooped her right up!

I think he liked holding her!

He held her for a long time and we finally had to take her away!

On Wednesday we had one more swim day with our friends Sienna and Shaelani (I love this picture of L, she looks like a cherub!)

I tried so hard to get them all to look at the camera but at this point the big girls were starting to get a little feisty :)

Tried

And tried!

Ahhh but they were so sweet when I asked for a group hug!

Help! I need air! :)

That's better!

OOPS, Maybe not :) These girls are so funny and so good to each other! We had a fun time with them!

I was noticing today as Lexi played outside and picked my roses that her hair is getting a little bit pixie like.

Like a big girl!

And I love it!

Wordless Wednesday!

2011-04-13T20:34:00.000-07:00

3 Hunan Spicy Girls!

2011-04-12T23:00:00.000-07:00

We had the pleasure of hanging out with 2 big girl friends today. Our 3 little Hunan Spicy girls swam and went on a ladybug hunt. It was hilarious watching 2 year old Lexi help these girls to not be afraid of ladybugs as she hunted them down and let them crawl all over her! I am saving those pictures for Sunday Snapshot post so be sure and check back, they are so cute!!

Loving this Zero entry pool at the Y!

She was absolutely in heaven having such shallow water. And she used the potty all day!

Tagging along with Big Brother!

2011-04-12T22:47:00.000-07:00

After breaking his hand in February, Brady was finally able to compete again this weekend! It was a great weekend for him even though watching him do back hand springs on that hand made my heart beat a little faster. Now that we have a healed hand and his asthma in control we should be good to go for his last few meets. He is also still playing basketball. Our kids like to keep busy and that's just fine with us!!

Brady's Basketball practice is at a park that any little sister would be happy tag along with!!

Complete with carousel, kiddie rides and a train!!

A Rockin Bridge!

And Ducks!!!

What a life!!