Our Beautiful Daughter

To celebrate Chinese New Year I thought it would be appropriate
to take some pictures of the kids dressed in their traditional
Chinese attire. Well tonight was Shaelyn's turn and I'll try to
get Aiden's tomorrow. Shaelyn is wearing an outfit we got for
her on our recent trip to China. It is actually PJ's but we
thought it was appropriate. Although in the pictures you can't see
much of the outfit. I was so overcome with the beauty of
Shaelyn's eyes that I ended up doing close up shots instead.
When she takes her glasses off you can see her beautiful eyes
so clearly. Ironically, Shaelyn was considered a special needs
adoption and her special need was crossed eyes. NOT! Her eyes
have always been perfect, just very nearsighted! This year is the
year of the Ox in the Chinese Zodiac. Shaelyn was born in the year
of the Tiger! Since our trip to China Shaelyn has become very
interested in her culture and is proud to be Chinese. When she
was little she used to tell me she didn't like her eyes, now she
thinks they look pretty cool :)

Shae is feeling better!

Shaelyn is feeling much better from her Strep Throat! We
are hoping this will be the last "round" of it! She takes
an antibiotic 4 times a day so hopefully that will be
enough to really give it a kick! She is working diligently
on trying to get her last baby tooth out. It's kind of sad
for me to think my baby girl is losing her last little baby
tooth! She is growing up!

Update on "Scrappy"

I called the vet today and they updated me on the cats
condition. He made it through the night and is resting
comfortably. They have him on IV's so he is getting much
needed nutrition and pain meds. After cleaning him up and
doing some x-rays, the Doc feels like his injuries now look
more like car induced injuries rather than ball bat! That
made me feel so much better! He has a broken jaw, a split
in the roof of his mouth, a fractured skull, severe road
rash, several missing teeth, a partially "removed" nose,
a broken hind leg and several others cuts and scrapes!
She said he would be in the hospital for about 2 weeks or
more before he is ready to be released to a foster home.
She feels like he will be adoptable. I told her to please
call me if he did NOT get a home. I feel better this
evening knowing he is comfortable and that his future is
looking better.

A Black Cat named "Scrappy"

As many of you know, I am an avid animal lover and hate to
see ANY animal hurt or mistreated. Today, I picked up Shaelyn
from school and was stopping by the house long enough to change
out of my dress clothes before taking Shae to an eye doc. appt.
at 3:15 PM. Well, as I approached our house I saw a bus stopped
in front of our house blowing its horn at something in the road.
I pulled up behind the bus and waited for just a couple minutes
before the bus pulled out and around whatever was in the road.
When the bus moved I saw the problem, a VERY injured black cat
was standing half in the road and half in our yard. My heart
sank as I quickly pulled in the driveway. I told Shaelyn to
go in the house and get her Daddy and I took of my sweater
jacket and approached this very scared and hurt cat. I was
afraid he might bite me but instead he heard my voice and came
staggering over to me with a pitiful meow. I swooped him up
and wrapped him in my sweater. It was pouring rain and he was
soaked. I shouted for Rob to get the laundry basket and asked
if he could take Shae to the eye Doc because I was heading to the
vet. So, off to the vet I headed. When I got there I explained
that he was not my cat, but was hit in front of our house.
They called the humane society who said they would pay for treatment
if a couple specified tests came back negative. They quickly
administered the test and the results were negative so they will
begin treatment. If they feel like he is able to recover they
will do whatever surgeries, treatments are necessary then find
him a home. We simply can not take him but I pray that someone
will want to give this little guy a home. He is solid black and
the vet said that solid black cats are hardest to adopt. To make
me feel even worse, the vet said her thoughts were that his injuries
were not from a car but rather something like a ball bat! Urghh! So,
if you are an animal lover, please keep this little cat in your
prayers. I said an audible prayer over him at the vet, (with the vet
attendants looking at me like I had lost my mind)and hope he will
recover and find a good home. The vet attendants gave him the name
"Scrappy" - so please pray for Scrappy!

Multi-Tasking!

Here is a cute picture I took of Aiden on the elliptical
with the tooth brush sticking out of his mouth. Not the
safest thing in the world, and I quickly removed the brush
after the picture, but I thought it was adorable. Maybe
he will be good at multi-tasking when he is grown??

Strep Throat Again!

I took Shaelyn to the Doctor today and sure enough,
she has strep throat again! She has already had one
dose of antibiotics and is feeling some better.
Hopefully we caught it before it got really bad this
time. Keep us in your prayers as she gets VERY irritable
when she is sick! It makes for some stressful evenings
at our house!

Not Feeling Good!

Please say a prayer for Shaelyn this evening. She had a
really severe case of strep throat a week or so before
Christmas and we were hoping we would never have to "go
there" again. Well, today I picked her up from school and
she was unusually quiet on the ride home. I asked her if
she was okay and she said yes. Funny how a Mommy knows
something is up with her kids even before the kids will
admit it. When I got home from work I noticed a very quiet
subdued Shaelyn and when she didn't want to run to the store
with me, I knew she was sick! I began the 101 question
routine and she finally said her throat hurt her really
bad. I took a look with the flashlight and lo and behold...
I'm pretty sure she has strep or at least tonsillitis.
Her right tonsil is NOT a pretty sight! I took her temp
and it was 101.8 and she just feels lousy! I have dosed her
up with children's Motrin until I can get her into the
Doctor in the morning! Thankfully they are out of school
tomorrow! Oh, and to add insult to injury, while I was
looking at her throat I was very surprised to find that
she is cutting her 12 year molars on the bottom! They are
about 3/4 of the way in! They are very early!! She is only
10 1/2! No wonder she's been cranky lately!! Please pray
that she feels better real soon!

Party Time!

Here are some pictures of Ethan's first Birthday party!
It was an Elmo theme and was just too cute. Ethan was the
star of the show of course and was just adorable!! We
think he's the cutest little one year old around!!

Ethan's Party (pictures later)

Unfortunately, I think my camera got left in Rob's truck
and he has headed to work, so.....the pictures will have to
wait. (bummer) My Niece's little boy was one year old
today and she gave him a really nice party tonight. He
was so adorable as he made a huge mess with his cake. I
couldn't help but think of how proud his Daddy would have
been of him. David was sooooo excited about being a Daddy
and simply could not wait! We will never know why he was
not given the chance to see his son in person. Some things
are beyond our understanding. We are so thankful for this
little guy who has been a "bright spot" in some pretty dark
days! Happy 1st Birthday sweet little Ethan! We love you!!

Sledding!

Here are some pictures of Aiden and Shaelyn enjoying
our big purple sled that we hardly ever get to use:)

So This is Snow!

We got only a trace of snow overnight (not even an inch) even though they were calling for 3-5 inches. Shaelyn was disappointed that it wasn't more, but had fun in what we did get. We feel sure this was probably Aiden's first snowfall and he wasn't too sure about it. Rob let him touch it without his gloves on at first so he could see that it was cold and wet. Here is a picture of his curious little face as he is discovering what snow is all about. Rob took this video of him touching it for the first time as well. So cute! He wasn't sure if he liked it or not. Turns out he had a good time playing in what little we actually had. The sun came out and all the snow is gone now. Oh well, it was fun while it lasted.

Into Everything!

Our little guy is never far away from mischief. He is
into everything!!! I wondered how long it would take
him to try and get his own ice out of the frig door. Rob
said we were in trouble when he grew tall enough to reach it.
Well who needs height when you have a chair? (lol) Here are
the pictures I snapped when I came around the corner and saw
him taking matters in his own hands and trying to get his
own ice. As you can see, he succeeded in getting the cup to
its proper location, then must have gotten down and tried to
reposition the chair to get a better angle at pressing the
ice lever. He never ceases to amaze me with his creativity
and determination!!

Thank you Chris and Kathy!

We are so fortunate to have Chris and Kathy in our lives!
They took care of Sophie while we were in China and stayed
at our home to make sure all of the other pets were
cared for. It took a huge load off of our minds! They are just
like family to us and of course SPOIL us and our kids terribly:)
Tonight they came over bringing Aiden his birthday present and
Shaelyn an early "Forever Day" present. They got Aiden a toy
laptop computer (With it's own mouse! Yeah, Aiden has an unusual
interest in our computer's mouse). Aiden loves it!! They got
Shaelyn the most beautiful Precious Moments Chinese doll I have
ever seen! Shae was thrilled! In life there are certain people
you feel so blessed to know and Chris and Kathy are some of those
people for us. They love our kids and we can always count on
them to be there for us. They are TRUE friends and we care so
much about them! Thanks Chris and Kathy!!! You are loved not
just for all the stuff you get us, but for just being you!!

Introducing the Potty Chair

We are very early in the potty-training process with Aiden!
Tonight we simply introduced him to the potty chair. He gladly
set on it but then decided at the end that he'd rather use it
as a stepping stool. I couldn't help myself,I just had to get
a picture of his cute little self sitting on the potty chair.
I am not pushing the potty-training just yet just simply getting
him use to the idea. Maybe in the next few months we'll get
serious with it. Wish us luck!!

A Cute Picture

Thought I would share this picture a co-worker shared with me.
She came across it on the Internet. With all the garbage you
see on the net it's nice to see something wholesome for a change.
I just love the dog's face! He is "earnestly praying". TOO CUTE!

Brother and Sister

Tonight Shaelyn was a big help and got Aiden out of the
tub for me and got him dressed for bed. The pajamas she
picked out for him were actually not pj's at all. These
were the shirts we got for them when we were in China.
They are printed with the Chinese characters and the English
words for "Brother" and "Sister". They have not worn these
shirts since the plane ride home from China. I thought it was
so cute to see that she had picked these out for them to wear
tonight. I overheard her telling him tonight that she loved
him with all of her heart, forever and ever! They will not
realize this until they are much older, but they have "walked
the same path" and are so fortunate to have each other!

Playmates

Here is a video of Aiden and Sophie playing together. It is just too cute. Sophie is so patient with Aiden and clearly loves him very much. We are thankful that Sophie loves kids and accepted Aiden into our home without any problem. You will also notice in the video at one point Aiden is whining and pulling at the socks on his feet. Rob had just taken off Aiden's shoes and did not take off his socks. Aiden HATES socks!! As soon as I cut off the camera the socks came off:) Ironically, Shaelyn hated socks too. Enjoy the video. It should make you smile:)

Birthday Presents!

With just having Christmas, Aiden is really getting
the hang of opening presents. He was so cute tonight
earnestly opening his gifts and adding special sound
effects with each one. A special thank you to everyone
who made Aiden's 2nd Birthday so special!!

Let's Party!

Here are some more party pictures! As you can see
Aiden (and all of us) had a really good time!!!

Happy Birthday to You!!

Our dear little Aiden is 2 years old today! We had a small
family party at our home with my sister and her family and my
Mom and Dad. The party was terrific and we all had a good time.
Aiden wasn't sure what all the fuss was about but I'm sure he
realized he was the center of attention. The party was a
Micky Mouse theme, my niece Shan and baby Ethan put the finishing
touches on the table decorations when they came bringing in the
HUGE Micky Mouse balloon! (Thanks Shan!!)It was too cute. Aiden
got lots of presents and tons of attention and of course we took
lots of pictures! Aiden will one day look at these pictures and
realize just how special he is. We thank God for this little boy
we have been blessed to call ours. Happy 2nd Birthday Aiden!!!
We love you so much!

Almost Aiden's Birthday

Aiden's second birthday is fast approaching. Monday my baby
will be 2 years old! Today as I put the finishing touches on
plans for a small family party I found myself in tears on more
than one occasion. I looked at my precious little boy
running around "destroying" my house (lol), and realized that
yes this will be his 2nd birthday but it will be the first
birthday anyone has celebrated his life. How could that be?
How could anyone not celebrate this wonderful gift? It takes
my breath away to think that on his first birthday it was just
an ordinary day in a Chinese orphanage. Oh how I wish I would
have had his first birthday here at home but for reasons that I
can't understand Aiden was not made available for adoption
until he was nearly 15 months old. I know in my heart that God
orchestrated the timing of this adoption and all its impeccable
details because Aiden was meant to be our son. There is no
other explanation. As we approach Aiden's birthday, I can't
help but wonder about the circumstances that led his birth
parents to make the decisions they made. I don't know if Aiden's
special need was what prompted their decision or if Aiden was
the 2nd child born when only 1 child per family was permitted.
There are many things about his birth that we will never know.
The above picture is of Aiden taken for his "finding ad". It
is the youngest picture we have of him. He was about 1 week old
in the photo. The finding ad is placed in the local papers with
the baby's photo and information about where the baby was found.
We do know that he weighed 8 lbs 5 oz and was 22 inches long when
he was found (with his umbilical cord still attached). While we
do not know much about the circumstances surrounding his birth,
what we do know is that this beautiful life was not born in vain or
by accident. HE WAS WANTED and will be CHERISHED for as long
he has life!!! I am so thankful we have his 2nd birthday and
hopefully many more birthdays to come!