Lily was so excited about her party today that she was dressed and ready at 10:00 and the party wasn't until 1:00. Everyone was excited and looking forward to the day...

Since Lily has been home she will pick up on a phrase and use it a lot. First it was Oh my Gah. I wanted to put an end to that one, thankfully she did. Next it was Oh, Man! That one was cute. Today she created her own. At first I though she was saying holy cow but then I realized she was saying, Oh my cow! It cracks us up and she says it a lot. I can only imagine what others will think when my daughter blurts out, Oh my cow in her little Chinese southern accent! I am not going to correct her today, the smile it gives me is too worth it! Maybe tomorrow.

He wants to touch the water so bad...A little closer....Hey, I kind of like it...My nephew DavisMy niece Ella.A little mishap, courtesy of the rip current.Do you notice anything new in this picture (hint: look at her ears)Lily's shells she found.This child is full of surprises. She picked this string off the ground and did this..
We had a great time, Thanks O'Cain Clan for inviting us! We love you.

is it possible we live so close to the beach but haven't been in 2 years?

well yes. with nursing school, two little ones in 15 months, the adoption, building a new home etc. we just never got around to it. we were invited to spend Labor Day weekend with some family at the beach and took our kiddos, finally. our older ones were so excited to be at the beach again (having lived there for 3 years) and our little guys were excited for their first trip. lily,of course, was very curious. she shared with us that she had been to the beach in china but did not get in the water. she said only the boys did.

we left on thursday after i got off of work (yep, 7pm) and headed off to the beach. we only had one little traffic issue and then we had a big tantrum issue on the way there. you see, lily decided about half way through Kung Fu Panda that she did not "lika the mo-veeee" (it is a boy movie, so she says). she then proceeded to repeat this statement through tears, sometimes screaming, sometimes kicking my seat (grrr) for 50 whole minutes. imagine all 7 of us in the car listening to this. john and i both were about to have a breakdown but somehow we made it through it. she finally calmed down about 5 minutes after the movie ended ( yes I let it finish-I was afraid of reinforcing the behavior) and was fine. we got to the condo about 11pm. the kiddos cousins were up waiting for them. we got to bed late but as usual the kiddos were up bright and early and ready to hit the beach. the big boys headed straight for the waves ( which thanks to a storm at sea were pretty decent) and the others hesitated. they did eventually end up in the water but spent an awful lot of time in the sand. we had a great time and really enjoyed being with our family. 4 days was just perfect for 4 adults and 8 kiddos (2 to 12) to hang out in the condo at the beach. we left with a little sunburn (john), 6 hermit crabs, some cute clothes from the outlets, a big plastic shark and some awesome memories. I took some decent pics and will add them Wed.

Years ago I learned of Compassion International. I have always meant to sponsor one of their children and didn't. No excuse, just didn't. As you all know by now my mind is obsessed with the children around the world. Those that are homeless, those that are hungry, those with no parents. Recently on a blog I read she talked about her "other" children. I felt convicted yet still did nothing. This week our local Christian radio station started a drive for the children on Compassion International. I felt convicted again. Today I did something about it. I felt overwhelmed when I went on their site to select a child. Too many. But as I expected I found the child I wanted to sponsor. I was first drawn to her name, Jenifer. Then her beautiful face and then to the little red heart on her picture. After realizing that meant that she has been waiting for a sponsor for over 6 months I could look no further. This child needed me and my $38 more than I need a new piece of clothing every month. Which is what I will give up. Or just taking my lunch to work would make it up. But it doesn't matter, she needs it and I have it. Hop on over to there site if you haven't yet, there are plenty more, waiting....

I am still having a very hard time finding the time and desire to post. I have the intent just not the motivation so this post will probably be all over the place just to get updated.











All our kiddos waiting to ride the Great Smoky Railroad on our vacation.







First off I missed posting on my son #2's birthday, Sellers. On Saturday he turned 9. We had a small get together at home, his choice, and it was so much fun. I cannot believe this is his last year in the single digits. Just growing too fast. Sellers is absolutely obsessed with Star Wars. All but one of his birthday gifts was something Star Wars, as well as the cake and decorations. Here is a recent picture of this sweet little man.










I always seem to catch his seriousness in pictures but actually he is quite goofy and lighthearted.






Everyone started back to school. Lily is in kindergarten. The school has been so wonderfully supportive of us and she has the sweetest teachers. She likes it but would prefer to stay home with me if she could. She definitely thinks school in America is easier than China. I think her school was very strict in China and she didn't get to do a lot of related arts. Her English is amazing. We can pretty much talk about anything now. We have even talked some about her life in China and she has shared with me some of her history she remembers before she was abandoned. She is a very happy child and is looking forward to going to the beach for the very first time this weekend, weather willing (rain, rain, go away!). She is also looking forward to her Birthday in September. After being given the choice of any birthday theme she surprisingly picked Tinkerbell. I expected her to pick Hello Kitty or Princesses.



Our daughter just weeks before we came to China to bring her home.





Our daughter today:


















Wyatt striking a pose... One of my favorite pictures from vacation. This is what I found in the backseat after a ice cream cone on the ride home from tubing. So funny. (and just so you know I don't ride around with my kids in car seats unstrapped, I unbuckled him for the picture. Just had to get the full effect)

Happy Birthday to my first born. You are such a great young man, I can't believe next year you will be a teenager (ouch!). You are truly a gift from God!

The O'Cain family journal is moving. I have found a blog server that I am going to try. I like the way it is set up and that I can have my site put on a memory CD as a keepsake. My blog serves two purposes. One is to share the blessings of adopting a child and the other is to chronicle our family times together. You Belong is designed for both of those purposes.

To see our new home please visit: www.youbelong.net/theocaincrew

Another reason I like this site is because it is easier for people to leave messages, no having to set up a blogger account. This should be nice for the grandparents to be able to leave messages and those who don't have blogger.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ONE OF THE GREATEST JOYS OF MY LIFE, WYATT!!!!!

As of today Lily has officially been ours for 26 days and home for 16 days. Things are still going very well and each day we learn new things about her and we learn how to live together as a family of 7.

Lily's daily schedule starts with sleeping in. As I write this it is 9:54 and she is still in bed. It is not usually this late everyday but she usually sleeps until at least 8:30. She always comes downstairs with a smile and sort of sleepy look. ( She just came down, grabbed my hand and pulled me upstairs to her room. She had spent the last hour making her bed and cleaning her room. She even refolded and straightened the clothes in her drawers). First we have breakfast which usually consists of Egg Drop Soup or rice or noodles. She doesn't seem to care for any typical American breakfast foods. After breakfast she will say " take a bath" and off to the bath we go. I start the water, help her pick out clothes and then leave. She will be bop downstairs about 15 minutes later, dressed and ready for the day. For the rest of the day we spend our time doing many things. Lately she has discovered those little tadpoles we found turn into the cutest little frogs, if it is not too sunny and hot she will walk around outside looking for those frogs and if mommy can, she helps because she has a very good eye for them. We also like to draw and this has proved helpful when trying to communicate more difficult subjects. We have used drawings to explain mommy going to work, Lily's future trip to the dentist, when some one's birthday is and as suggested by a article on attachment we used it to show Lily who her immediate family is and who her extended family is. This big family thing is so new for her but she is doing great understanding it.

Sellers brought home a 2nd grade left over math book for Lily and daily she works in it. She catches on quickly with math but we need to spend our time on letters. She is starting to want to learn them so that has helped. We went to the bookstore this week and I let her pick out some books. Later that night when going to bed she got one for me to read to her, when she opened it she seemed surprised that it was in English. She just looks at it and says " I don't know". She let me read it but hasn't since. She just isn't ready for that yet and that is OK. She has almost learned the whole alphabet (she was familiar with some letters when we got her) and we have some little alphabet books we look at. Her English comprehension is good and she says quite a few words, I couldn't even begin to list them all here.

This past week she got her first baby doll and she loves it. It makes little noises and moves. For the first few days she took it everywhere, now she just plays with it at home. She also plays with her Barbies and this week her and her brother's put on a Barbie fashion show for me. She loves to cook and we have been cooking a lot of fried rice, noodles and soup. She copies a lot of what I do and even puts on an apron when she cooks as I often do so I don't get stains on my clothes.

She does not like hot. She will refuse to get in the car until I have cooled it down. Outside in the sun she will carry an umbrella to keep the sun off of her as did many Chinese when we were in China. She does not like cold either and wants to sleep in long sleeve and long pant pajamas. She doesn't have a lot of meat on her bones so I imagine she is always cold inside.

I am usually the one to put her to bed unless I am working. It takes about 30 to 45 minutes but that includes a lot of learning. We usually do some letters or math before bed. She is always the one getting the books out. This girl LOVES to learn. I still lay in bed with her with lights out for about 5 or so minutes. I then leave and we don't see her again until morning. She has never gotten out of bed.

The longer she is home the more comfortable she is and the more she tests the water. We are consistent with her and treat her just like the boys, if they can't do it then she can't. There doesn't seem to be any jealousy between them. She shares with them, looks after them and truly adores them. They are so sweet with her and understanding. One day we took her to get some toys because we had not got her any yet and didn't buy the boys anything. No one said a word. They just understood, that made me proud.

I had a hard time going back to work this past week. I just wasn't ready but couldn't take any more time, I just haven't been there long enough. Overall she did fine with me going just putting up a little bit of a fight with pulling and hugging on me and saying, "no". It has been good for her and daddy because now she is with him 3 afternoons and nights without me around. I can already see a difference in their relationship just this week.

I could say more but this post is long enough. I have got to go. It has taken me all day to get this written and I am ready for bed! On the 11th it is our 1 month Gotcha Anniversary, time just flies! We are so in love with our little girl!

Cooking with Mason:

Loves to have her picture taken and will ask me to take it everytime she has on something new.

Our little American girl. If you look closely you can see she got carried away with some old make up I had given her to play with. She puts it on every morning and I haven't been able to make her understand it is just for play. Today I had to wipe it off, she didn't get mad at me thank goodness!

We have been taking a step back and realize now we did too much too soon with Lily. Too many new people, too many experiences. She is doing great still and such a great joy but we want what is best for her and what is best for her attachment to John and I. Many people "know" Lily through our blog but please remember she does not know you and it can be quite strange to her for a complete stranger to walk up to her and call her name and touch her. We appreciate how much everyone loves her and supports us but please respect that she is going through a lot in her little head.

I am going to try and do a update tomorrow on how it is going which is great!

Down by the river with Poppy and Nama.Chilling by the river with Wyatt.

It's official, Lily is an American Citizen.
She received her first credit card application in the mail yesterday.
I think I will keep this one for her memory box.
Just because I think it is so funny.
It is even addressed to her in her Chinese name.

Big Update coming this weekend!

Two things to add to the earlier post...

As you wait for your adopted child you try to imagine what they are like in person. John and I would talk about how we wondered what her voice sounded like, what she actually looked like, etc. Never in a million years would I have imagined my cute, dainty little daughter would have the loudest, and I mean loudest voice in a house full of boys. It keeps me cracking up to hear such loudness coming out of such a small young girl. (especially when it is usually in Chinese)


Also, the other day I made a sheet of math problems just to see what she knew. I was surprised and happy that she could easily do addition and subtraction problems. Now she brings me paper and pen several times a day so I can make her some practice problems. She only occasionally makes a mistake so I am glad about that!

Oh and one more thing... These are her current phrases she is using in English

Gimme Five
Good Morning
Goodnight
Sorry
Okay
I don't know
Oh my gah ( yeah I'm working on that one)

She is also starting to repeat a lot of what I say, It's so fun to see how much she is learning and so fast!