Life is Great

I know it has been several weeks since I posted a blog and I have gotten many emails asking how things are going. So here goes.....AMAZING, WONDERFUL AND INCREDIBLE all rolled up into one. I cannot even put words to what a joy and blessing Annabel has been for our family and our relationship with God. She is one of the greatest examples I know of in our life of how God takes each and every one of us in and loves us unconditionally. She has adjusted so well that it doesn't even feel as though she is adopted any more, other then the obvious (Mark and I are not Chinese). haha She fits in beautifully and the kids absolutely love her like crazy. The last few weeks have been some firsts for her. She now climbs stairs, has met Santa, attended her first dance class and eats food that is not broken up into microsize pieces. I am sure she could do that before now but I have been nervous about her choking (yes the new mommy in me again). Now I just hand her a cookie or a slice of cheese and she chows it down. She is no longer gorging her food and that was the main reason we didn't give her whole pieces before now. She now understands that we are here to stay and are going to keep feeding her. I believe before she was afraid each meal was her last. She sleeps all night at least 10 hours (PRAISE GOD!!!!) She naps during the day and last night she actually had her first babysitting experience. Mark had a command Christmas dinner so we left her with a friend and headed out. I will not say it was easy for me though. In fact one hour before dinner began I was suggesting different people he could take in my place because I didn't want to leave her with anyone. But I went and had a blast. They hired a hypnotist and he performed a show with several of Marks friends and coworkers. I don't think I have ever laughed that hard in my entire life. When they were asking for volunteers I wanted to go up there so bad but Mark wouldn't let me. He knew they would do things to embarrass me and he wanted to spare me of that. Thank God he did because they did some crazy things. Annabel is having her surgery in less then three weeks so please be praying she stays well. The last one was canceled due to a cold. So from now one I will do my best to keep her out of large crowds and other small children in order to help keep the spread of colds under control. Some of you have asked if we are still thinking of adopting again. ABSOLUTELY!!! I cannot imagine not adopting again. It has been an amazing experience. Now we just have to wait on God to tell us when to start the process again. The other day at bible study someone asked me how I personally am doing. I told her I don't think I have ever been happier in my life then I am right now. God has used Annabel to do amazing things in our family and in the lives of Amber and Joey as well. I feel we are all closer and better connected then we have ever been and I owe all of that to God. It has all become a reality because of His amazing way He allowed us the opportunity to step out on a leap of faith and follow His Will. I believe with all my heart that the inner peace , contentment and satisfaction are the gifts He gave us for stepping out on faith and trusting in Him.

Joey turns 12

It is unbelievable to me that my son is now 12 years old. This is a very important birthday for him because he now gets to argue with his sister over who is going to ride shot gun in the car. It's been fun watching that battle take place every time we leave the house. Let's just say we are getting out of the house faster because it is a race to the car. haha He celebrated his birthday twice. Once on Wednesday (his true birthday). I cooked his favorite dinner and baked a cake. He opened a few presents that night as well. His favorite being the big monster motorized truck his uncle Ed sent him. Annabel thought it was for her as you can see from the pictures. He then had a great birthday party on Saturday at the bowling alley followed by a trip to the movies. I would have to say he had a pretty great birthday this year.

Pre-Op appointment at Childrens Hospital

Today was Annabel's pre-op appointment at Children's Hospital. She was suppose to have her surgery this coming Friday....but it had to be postponed. She has a bit of a cold right now so they will not risk surgery. Her operation requires putting a breathing tube in her while she is being operated on. They cannot put the tube in if her throat is irritated in any way from coughing. So we will know more later in the week. We were told she needs at least 2 full weeks of being healthy before surgery so I think we will just wait until after Christmas for the next attempted date. I hope we don't spend all of winter scheduling and canceling surgery dates due to our winter crud. haha We spent about 6 hours at the hospital today being seen by so many different doctors and nurses. They were very thorough and extremely helpful. She is in such great hands. The last appointment was so funny. She was soooooo ready to leave that when the nurse opened the door she darted out and down the hall. We all just laughed and said "See ya, I am so out of here". Besides having a cold, she is doing amazing. I have her involved in a couple of children's groups now and she really enjoys the other kids. I purchased a sling this weekend and she absolutely loves me carrying her around in it. It has really helped my back too. I wish I had it in China. Since being home, Annabel has only gained a couple of ounces. She is only 2% on the weight chart so today we met with the nutritionist, along with many other specialists, and she gave us some great ideas on how to beef up her calorie intake. She has grown in height a little bit though and her head measurements have grown as well. They were very pleased about that. All in all it was a great day. We met a young woman with a new baby born just like Annabel with bilateral cleft lip and palate. She was so scared. But I really think that seeing Annabel and talking with us helped ease her mind. She couldn't believe that Annabel looked like her son just one year ago. Modern medicine is just amazing. His surgery is later this week. I pray is goes well for them.

Annabel's Toddler Shower

Today was Annabel's Toddler shower. I had a combined shower with a friend from my church named Jennifer who just had a baby girl. We had such a great time. It was a Mexican potluck and it was fabulous!!! I am so grateful for my mother-in-law for orchestrating the entire event. I know she worked herself to the bone to make sure we had a wonderful day...and we did. Thank you so much Jan. And thank you to those who helped her make it so perfect. It meant more to me then you will ever know. Annabel was a ham of course, especially when Mark played our adoption video. Annabel watches it all the time at home and knows the pictures by heart. Each time her picture came up she went nuts. She definitely knows herself in photos and on video. She loved the Mexican food and loved playing with all her new toys when she got home. As you can see she got more gifts then she knew what to do with. We have really been holding out on buying toys and clothes since we knew the baby shower was coming up. So thank you to everyone who attended and thank you for all the wonderful gifts. It meant so much to me that you came to celebrate with us. I also want to thank all my other dear friends who could not come today who have taken the time to mail or stop by with presents for Annabel over the past few weeks. You have all been so generous. It has been such a joy opening each and every gift and reading each card. You have all made Annabel feel so welcomed and warmed my heart with your kindness. She loved it all today and especially flocked to her new dolls. Which is so wonderful considering she was terrified of dolls when we first received her. She has been feeding her babies all evening. Thanks again for everything. I feel very blessed to have so many amazing women in my life. God Bless!!!!

Another fun filled week

Well have you ever watched the movie Ratatouille? Today was our first time watching it and I have to say Annabel really made me laugh. Our little friend, Kendra came over to play so I put the movie in to help entertain them. Annabel doesn't really like TV but I thought she might like the rats. Well the funniest thing happened. As soon as the rat started pulling on the boys hair to operate his arms, Annabel went nuts. She started squeeling at the top of her lungs and pulling her hair. Not hard enough to hurt, just enough to get her hands around what little hair she has. She then started hitting her self on her head. Kind of like you would if you thought there was a rat on top of it. It was probably one of the funniest things I have seen since she has been home. The only thing I can imagine is that she thought there really was a rat on her head. Eventually, she figured out it was just on TV and settled down and just laughed hysterically. You will notice that I also included a picture of Amber in uniform the night of her Pass in Review for ROTC. She refused to get in the picture with the boys but thanks to Chief Peterson (I bet you like the sound of that don't you Pete?) she finally smiled. I thought it was going to take a bulldozer to push her closer to David in the photo. Teenagers are so funny. It cracks me up because we have known Curtis (on the left in uniform) since he was 2 years old. That is my friend Tammie's son. Now they are in uniforms and towering over their parents. I can't believe how fast they grow up. The funny thing is that the high school TV station was there video taping. We were in the front row so if you get a chance to watch it on TV you will probably see me moving around aimlessly trying to get Annabel to sit still during the silent review. It was quite funny. She did really great though. The best though was when the drill team came out with their weapons and my friend Laura's 4 year old son told everyone not to talk or else they would shoot us. Kids say the funniest things. Annabel is doing great though. She had her first encounter with other children this week at preschool story time. She had a blast and I look forward to taking her back next time. As you can see, Annabel and Mark both operate on the same wavelength....go go go, then crash, crash, crash. I couldn't resist that picture. They both look like they are resting so peacefully.

Happy Halloween

Tonight was a great night for the kids. Amber and Joey both went trick or treating with their friends, even though they both claimed they were too old to put on a costume. haha I was impressed as they both put their costumes together at the last minute from what they had in Ambers closet. They had a great time with that. Annabel's costume on the other hand was purchased months ago from a garage sale. It's a small adoption world we live in. I was in Vancouver about 5 months ago and happened to stumble upon a garage sale. I saw the most adorable lady bug costume and had to have it. It was only $3. Who can pass that up???? As it turned out the women originally bought it for her brother who adopted two little girls from China. So she was thrilled to hear it would be worn by another China baby. And she looked adorable in it as you can see. Annabel and I went to three of my neighbors homes so she could see what trick or treating was all about. But I think she definitely preferred staying home and greeting the guests. The hardest part of the night was keeping Annabel from kissing the glass door. Why do kids love to do that?? YUCK!!! The kids came home on time with a ton of candy as usual and headed off to bed. All in all it was a great night for everyone.

Visit to Children's Hospital

Believe it or not, that is actually a great big ice cream grin on her face.....Well, things are going very well in our household these days. We feel as though we are almost settled back into some routines and the best news is....Annabel is sleeping all night long (well at least the last four nights) Praise God!!!! One of my dear friends, Diane, gave me a port-a-crib for my office and today I officially tested it out for the first time. I was able to get a few things done at my desk while she sat in there playing with her toys. She actually fell asleep for a few minutes too. Thanks Diane!!! Well, we had our first visit to Children's hospital this week. They treated us great as I knew they would. We met with the entire cranial facial team of doctors and nurses who will be taking care of all her needs in the upcoming months and years. Her first surgery is scheduled for November 23rd. Her palate will be repaired that day. To my surprise her plastic surgeon would like to do an additional surgery several months down the line to redo her lip too. I wasn't expecting to hear that because I felt she had a pretty good repair already. But he said he can do an even better job. I am so thrilled for her for that. So it will be an extra surgery but well worth it for her sake. Next week we have many appointments here in town...dentist, hearing, vision, speech eval...etc. But we wanted to get the ball rolling quickly so she has the best care possible. As many of you know we had a friend of ours from church pass away yesterday. His name is Duane and he has been battling cancer for almost a year now. Please pray for his family as they go through this terrible time of pain. Out of respect for the family we decided it was best to postpone Annabel's toddler shower to another weekend so that the church could be fully utilized for the funeral. So we moved it to November 10th. You are all welcomed to come. I know many of you have called to ask about our home in San Diego. Thank you so much for your concern. The latest is that they are evacuating some of the surrounding areas, but as of now it is our understanding that our neighborhood has not been evacuated. According to the evacuation map evacuation is only a few blocks down the road though. I continue to pray for that entire area. I was born and raised in San Diego so it is very sad watching the news and watching so much of it being destroyed in just a few days. Sadder even is hearing about families losing their homes and the injuries that have taken place as a result of the fires. God is good and through all of this devastation I know a lot of greatness will come. We have already seen so much of that in the way the people of San Diego have stepped up to help one another during this very difficult time. God is good...all the time.