NINE months home for FLORIE!

February 11 marked the NINTH month home for our daughter.  Life has been a little busy around here, but she tags along with ease!  Over the last two weeks she has potty trained!  She was excited to wear underwear (no panties here, she has three big brothers and they wear underwear so that is what she wanted!).  She had 2 accidents the first day, one the second, and none since then.  We initially used that wonderful incentive called an M&M, but that disappeared quickly and now she is doing great.  She is still in a diaper for night because I am not ready she is not ready.  We will try that one night soon.

Four days after we met and became FAMILY

and NOW:

I have a video but it seems to be moody...sorry for any "not available" that shows up!

We think sometimes that poverty is only being hungry, naked and homeless. The poverty of being unwanted, unloved and uncared for is the greatest poverty. We must start in our own homes to remedy this kind of poverty.
Mother Teresa

LIKES at 9 Months home:

Imitating....EVERYTHING.  She even uses Alex's new braces mini brush cleaner to "apply" pretend mascara!

Playing school...writing, painting, coloring

Reading....anytime

Matching games

She now eats Bread :)  No sandwiches yet, but bread, yes!

Chocolate.  sigh.  8 cavities filled from nighttime bottle use already.  She is off the bottle now and likes tolerates brushing teeth

Hair barrettes

Edamame.  With EXTRA salt!

Dressing herself, and yes she sometimes wears sundresses in winter

Playing on a playground

Jewelry

DISLIKES:

Being late for nap time...girl loves her nap!

Pretty much any vegetable

Being asked NOT to help, i.e. NOT to clean the toilet or try to change the toilet paper out for me.  She sometimes manages to make a bigger mess when she does not wait for an adult

The end of reading time

Being told NO, though she is learning this is part of a two year old's vocabulary

Urgent Help For Amanda at Starfish

My dear friend Amanda de Lange who runs Starfish in China needs HELP.  She has given selflessly for over 7 years to medically fragile orphans in China.  She has not received a paycheck for her work....it all goes for the babies.  Now, she has been diagnosed with cancer and needs to get to the USA as soon as possible.  Please read the note below, and if you have any contacts, please CONTACT them.  Also if you know any business executives who can help in a goodwill fashion, pleaseCONTACT them.  This is what she has done for the babies for years.  ASK.  PRAY.  HOPE.

From the Starfish Board of Directors; Tuesday end of day EST, Feb 7th, 2012, Dear Starfish Friends and Family, As you know, our Executive Director and beloved friend Amanda has cancer, and is in great need of immediate, top quality medical care.  We need to get her to a modern facility /hospital in the United States or Europe as soon as possible. We are urgently asking each of you for a very specific kind of help.  If you or someone you know has contact with a top senior level administrator at a quality cancer center, please let us know immediately. We need to know if they would be willing to let Amanda come and receive the complicated care she needs - pro bono - as their way of helping a person who has given the past 7 years of her life saving hundreds of babies through donated, medical care. Perhaps they would be willing to now do the same for her. This can only be the very highest level of hospital contact - we are short on time and need answers immediately. If you, or someone you know, has this kind of highest level connection to a top cancer care center, please contact Patrick McLaughlin as soon as possible, at: Patrick 917-494-7691  or paddymac0130@gmail.com --any time of the day or night -- time is of the essence. Sincere thanks, Patrick and the Starfish Board   Amanda de Lange

Where does the time go anyway?

I cannot believe it is the end of January ALREADY!  Where has time gone?  What have we been up to that has kept us so busy?

Haircuts

Creating Chess Sets from Lego Pieces

Career Day:  Future Doctor and Daddy to ELEVEN children....specifically 6 biologic and 5 adopted

Placing 11th in Pre-Algebra Math Contests

Taking the last dose of a six month medicine that was given THREE times a day!

Enjoying special lunch dates at school

And dinner dates before the Mother-Son Dance

I know how to win a boy's heart too!

Winning Soccer Tournaments

Celebrating Chinese New Year with Friends

That is what we have been up to, plus running, house cleaning and laundry care, getting our master bedroom and master bath painted (GOODBYE wallpaper forever!!), soccer practice, reading books, painting nails, playing soccer, snuggles....

I realized I never completed sending out my CHRISTmas cards...oops.  So, there may be a few HAPPY VALENTINE's cards going out soon.  Life is too short to worry about being late!

Ecclesiastes 3

A Time for Everything

 ¹ There is a time for everything,
   and a season for every activity under the heavens: ² a time to be born and a time to die,
   a time to plant and a time to uproot,
 ³ a time to kill and a time to heal,
   a time to tear down and a time to build,
 ⁴ a time to weep and a time to laugh,
   a time to mourn and a time to dance,
 ⁵ a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
   a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
 ⁶ a time to search and a time to give up,
   a time to keep and a time to throw away,
 ⁷ a time to tear and a time to mend,
   a time to be silent and a time to speak,
 ⁸ a time to love and a time to hate,
   a time for war and a time for peace.


That is where I am now.  Learning there is a time for EVERYTHING.  Praying that my children will learn this too.  

EIGHT months home....

January 11 marked 8 months since Florie arrived HOME from China.  She continues to grow and learn
everyday.  She is a big imitator and copies everything that we all do....she loves to play with her brothers, and is very quick to snatch up any special toy they might accidentally leave on the ground/table/chair.  She knows the difference between right and wrong, and we have learned to decipher her real cry from her manipulation cry.  (Actually, William could do this first. I am a big fat sucker so it took me a bit longer, but thank goodness for him!).  She will cry HYSTERICALLY when I take Alex to school, but once William carries her back inside, she immediately stops and is ready to play.  She goes to "school, aka bible study once a week and just loves it.  It does help that the same two ladies are there every week in her class.  Familiarity goes such a long way with her.  We continue to work on giving her voice.  For kids to have VOICE means that they are IMPORTANT enough for someone to listen to....in most orphanages, the babies will just stop crying after 30 days of not having a response.  The babies just GIVE UP.  It breaks my heart.  Florie has a VOICE.  Sometimes we have to remind her to use her WORDS, or even give her the words she is trying to express.  She speaks in 3-4 word sentences now....but as a two year old, it is about 60% comprehendable.  (I can get about 95% :)).  She will play "alone" in the same room with someone but does not like me to leave the room still.  We are trying to make a big deal out of me actually leaving the HOUSE so she knows the difference between leaving the room and the HOUSE, but something still makes her upset.  She is OFF the BOTTLE!  She stopped cold turkey and no big deal!  She loves to potty in the toilet, but I am waiting till April for THAT...

Last Bottle

At the dentist

Riding in the stroller while Momma runs

Her SLEEP is good.  William puts her to bed a lot which really helps with their bonding.  He also plays and does tickle tortures which she LOVES and asks for ALL DAY LONG!  She continues to be a "good helper," and helps make coffee...like at night when I prepare the coffee for the next day and am cleaning up something else, she will push the ON button on the coffee machine.  Helping Moma make coffee...at night :)  She also unloads the utensils in the dishwasher.  Clean OR DIRTY.  Helper :)

Helping in the pantry

8 month LIKES:

Orange Juice

Lovey/Soft Blanket

Her necklace Daddy gave her for Christmas

Going bye bye---we are staying home more to work on this!

Backpacks/Purses

Haircuts

Dresses

My high heeled shoes

Reading Books

Putting US to bed...she does the whole routine!

Coloring/Cutting

Helping William make pancakes

Oranges

Tickles

Playing on the Wii

Tofu

Turkey/Ham

Peeled Apples

Exercise with Momma...p90x

DISLIKES:

Someone walking out of a room without her

Unsalted almonds

Marinara sauce

Sandwiches

Leaving the house in PJs

Wearing a coat in her car seat

Door being closed to her room...so it is wide open :)

Running out of orange juice

It has been a fast and amazing 8 months.  She has come so far. We look at pictures of her orphanage, and her nanny, and her friends a lot.  We talk about China, and coming home on the airplane with us.  We talk about adoption. I am not sure how much she "gets," but I want the words to be familiar to us both when the time does come for her to GET it.  We treasure and love this little one.  She is precious!

Loves her new outfit from Grandad

In Alabama visiting her GREAT grandad...with the boys

Florie and Big B

Before Alex goes to school, with Izzy getting some love too

A little reading before middle school

SNOW DAY!

Headed to church in her sweater and hat made with love from her MAW

CHRISTmas 2011

Merry Late CHRISTmas this year!  I am still working on my cards going out....soon, soon.  We had a busy CHRISTmas season with school activities, end of the season Bible studies, travel to Arkansas, and helping with the foster care CHRISTmas project (a blog to follow soon on that!).  We kept our own CHRISTmas simple.  We did our Jesse tree, and Advent candles which were a great reminder of Jesus' birth.  This was Florie's FIRST Christmas and we wanted it to be special for her.  Little did I know what my sweet hubby had planned!  Alex's big hit was a new phone, Ben's big hit was Alex's old phone, Jack's big hit was his Lego, and Florie's big hit was her lip gloss and container to keep it in.  William surprised us each with donations to the Humane Society for the boys, to Half the Sky Foundation for Florie (who sponsored her orphanage and care in Beihai!), and to Starfish Foster Home for me.  THOSE were my favorite gifts!

Alex and his sassy running shirt from Maw and Papaw

Christmas with Maw

South Arkansas family Christmas

Legos are always a hit

CHRISTmas morning at home!

BEN loves Christmas and feels the full JOY of the season...especially helping others

Daddy's homemade gifts

My sweet eldest

Daddy giving Florie her special gift and explaining it to her...she kept saying she wanted a necklace and a ring like Moma.  So, William measured her neck and finger without me knowing, and special ordered a necklace from James Avery that fits just HER, and has a little heart pendant with her initials on it too.  He also got a little heart ring for her.

Testing the ring out to see if it fits

She loves it! and Mommy was a bit weepy in the background...

Working on the new high chair for Baby

Testing the new Wii game with Ben and Jack

baby is hungry

The end to a perfect day....we stayed in our jammies from Christmas Eve to the morning of the 26th.  It was simple, calm, and GLORIOUS!

Happy Birthday Jesus!

Seven Months Home!

December 11....means we have been home 7 months with Florie.  We have been WITH her 1/3 of the time we were WITHOUT her.  She is a bundle of joy....she is spunky, she is curious, and boy is she mischievous!  She is stubborn and loving and smart and busy and a JOY!  She does not sit still unless colors, preferably markers, OR reading is involved.  She adores her brothers....ADORES them!  She loves to sleep (never thought I would say that!), and she loves to GO....on errands, on walks, just to GO!

My friend Vickie Pewitt  at www.vickiepewittphotography.com recently took our family pictures.  She captured Florie in so many beautiful ways...some of my favs:

Saying her favorite phrase "A-ha!"

With Whom she now calls MY DADDY

How I love this girl!

Seven months Likes:

Singing

Drawing and "writing" her name

Counting

Pretending her drink is chocolate milk when it is water to make a "joke" then cracking herself up

"reading" aloud to us

Being pulled on a blanket by her brothers

Following Jack anywhere

Cooking ANYTHING

Green Peas (yes...a vegetable!)

Tofu from Whole Foods

Orange juice

Vitamins

Dressing herself

Saying "I do it!"

Feeding the dogs

Playing with her baby..she bathes her, dresses her, feds and diapers her

Dislikes:

Momma AND Daddy leaving

Santa Claus or any reference to possibly sitting on his lap

Dirty diapers

Crest toothpaste

When I unload the car from errands like Costco and have to go up and down the steps

Sitting still 

Being told NO :)

I look forward to the next two weeks.  This is her first advent season, her first Christmas ever.  She loves the Christmas tree and all of the Christmas lights in the neighborhood.  We are so excited to see all of the kids, but especially Florie on Christmas morning.  She is a blessing to us....a handful, and a blessing.  I cannot imagine our family without her!

Thanksgiving on the Lake

This year we went to my Mom's house in South Alabama for Thanksgiving.  My brother and his family came as well.  We headed out to my Mom's "sweetheart's" lake house to celebrate Thanksgiving.

It was an outdoor affair

Lots of food, wine, juice boxes, and conversation

Her first Thanksgiving

Then the fun really began

Pulling wagons and swinging on swings

Checking out the local wildlife

Driving around

Simple smiles

Football kicks between pine tree "goals"

Boat rides

Family photos

Even time for naps

The kids also enjoyed the zip line across the lake. It starts out 40 feet high and goes across the entire lake.  I did it once.  Enough said.

And then, it was dark.

Time for the biggest bonfire ever....

Thanks to these two who planned it all!

More cousin fun

Watching in amazement....before the s'more eating began

and then it was day two...

time to share our thanksgiving

how fun is it to feed seagulls

outdoor cousin breakfast

Having CHRISTmas too?!

Burning off calories

we found the softest grass EVER!

We even took time for school

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving...the older my kids get, the more quickly the days seem to pass.  I treasured our family time....and was so thankful all 4 of our kids were home for this year!