Busy times at the Boger House

Please check out Amanda's blog at www.chinesestarfish.blogspot.com to see how Amanda is doing!

We are praying for April 11....please join us!


Psalm 107:19-21

Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress; he sent out his word and healed them, and delivered them from destruction. Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love, for his wonderful works to humankind.

Ten Months Home....and a new friend in town

Has it almost been a month since my last post?  WOW.  Life is flying by.  I just cannot believe it!  We have been super busy with the usual suspect stuff, but last week our friend AMANDA of the STARFISH FOSTER HOME (see her blog)  arrived in Nashville for treatment of her newly diagnosed cancer.  We have been so blessed to have Amanda at our house, but I have not been in front of the computer too much! Please pray for healing for Amanda.  She has over 50 Starfish babies waiting for her in CHINA.

Hanging with Ms. Amanda her first morning here

Now to FLORIE. She has been home a full 10 months.  She speaks.  A LOT.  She pretty much talks nonstop and will not stop until I repeat her sentence so that she knows I know what she has said.  This is easier said than done sometimes, but she does a good job communicating.  She loves to sing....loudly.  I think cheerleading is in her future.  She loves to wrestle.  Watch out future boys....she will have one up on you with her three older brothers.  She is a tough cookie!

One afternoon at the park

She usually dresses herself and now has a special "smile" for the camera!

10 months ago I never thought she would EVER touch Izzy!

Watching her big brothers throw the football....from a good vantage point

Florie loves to GO.  She constantly asks, "I go?  I not stay?"  So here are a few "GO" pics:

With her great-grandad at a soccer game in Alabama

Hanging with Mom at Target...which she points out when we drive by.  One of our top shopping places!

Rainy day waiting on the boys.  Being silly with Mommy in the car

Really, she is very easy to travel!

At a soccer tournament in Tennessee...with snow cones. There are benefits to GOING places :)

10 MONTH LIKES:

Her ladybug nightlight

READING BOOKS....x 1000

Saying My Mommy, My Daddy

Looking at pictures of herself

singing and dancing

having tea parties

Loving on her baby...giving her a diaper, a bottle, putting her to nap, taking her to Whole Foods, etc

Pretend play

Colors and scissors aka "homework"

Saying Mommy instead of Momma now

Chocolate

Orange juice

Amanda...her new reading friend

10 month DISLIKES:

Raw veggies

Toast

Potty accidents

Wet diaper in the morning (funny....she wears a diaper at night. If I tell her she can have an m&m in the morning if her diaper is dry, then it is dry.  If I forget to tell her before bed, it is wet).

not being allowed to do it HERSELF

Pizza

Boys leaving for school

Still Mommy leaving the room. She prefers to follow me....though we are working on this slowly :)

She has grown so much....it is amazing!  What a tenacious soul....and so precious!

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!