Kickball is a favorite with kids around here. One child of mine takes it very seriously. He even got in a fight at school over kickball and a classmate threw him to the ground. Lately we've been having some good fun playing kickball at home. The only problem...that same child forgets he's playing with preschoolers and has a not so athletic little sister. But we are still having fun. Here are some pictures from a recent game.





Mason running to base, something he forgets and has to be reminded to do or he'll just stand there.



Does this child look like he is serious about playing some kickball?

Tonight the kids and I were sitting around the sun room and Mason asks me, "mom, how do you spell Jesus?". Lily speaks up and says, "I know, I know, G-O-D". I couldn't help but chuckle and I didn't bother to correct her. I thought it was a cool answer.

Well you could probably tell I just haven't had time or felt too much like blogging lately. I have been busy and a lot has happened so I'll play catch up and then try to blog a little more often ? (notice the question mark)


First and most importantly John has a new job! I am thrilled but he is sort of sad to see his freedom taken away. He did try to convince me he didn't need a job and could just retire but I say, not yet honey maybe in 5 or 10 years! It is a great job and he will be doing the same thing he did before in the same territory so that makes things easier!

I have been working so hard to get Lily's scrapbook done for her One Year Gotcha Anniversary. I cannot believe I put if off so much that I have had to spend time almost everyday for the last week or so to get it done. In the past I have always done paper scrapbooks but this will be a digital one. It is pretty easy but I just keep messing with it trying to get it just right. I think I will be ready to order it tomorrow. We are going to have a little celebration on May 8th for the one year anniversary. Just a little family, Chinese food, cake and a scrapbook. Making the scrapbook has been so fun. I have loved reliving the trip to China, I would love to do it again.It has been a wonderful journey.

The pool opens May 1st and if my kids ask me one more time if they can go swimming on May 1st I am gonna SCREAM! I am going to let them and I don't care if the water is 55 degrees, which is probably what it is with such cool temps we've been having. I'm not complaining though because in the South we usually skip Spring and just hop right on to Summer so I am actually enjoying the fact that I can still wear jeans and a light jacket and not sweat.

That's all for now...

these words are very powerful.

I have gained 47 pounds in the last 11 months.



It comes in the form of a little 4 ft Chinese girl named Lily.



She needs to be with me always. Helping, asking questions, trying to understand this new world she is a part of.

Nearly always she is within arms reach and often she gets an elbow or a toe stepped 0n by accident, she stays so close.

She is extremely affectionate with me; hugs and kisses and love notes everyday.

It sometimes drives her daddy crazy that she needs me so much (and a little jealous). But I explain, we have a lot of making up to do. We missed the first 7 years together. This is what I tell myself when I am growing tired of all the attention she gives me.

I am trying to lose weight .........

but not this 47 pounds, these pounds I'm keeping!

Unless you are new to my blog or have your head stuck under a rock then you know I care a lot about orphans. The process of adopting Lily made me more aware of their plight and made me want to do something to make a difference (since John said to me once, Jennifer, you can't adopt them all you have to find something to do to help). Well a few months ago Stefanie at Ni Hao Ya'll sent out a plea for volunteers to help with An Orphans Wish. I jumped at the chance to do something, even if it is small. I am going to be volunteering by helping to write reports on the children who have sponsors...

and while I'm talking about Sponsors, won't you sponsor a child? You can help provide life changing care to some of China's most vulnerable children. You see the children of An Orphans Wish are not just orphans they have special needs that require some type of special care, maybe surgery or just special equipment or therapy.

Recently I had a unused membership run out. I thought I didn't have the money to sponsor a child but then remembered this was running out and jumped at the chance to sponsor Lilly over at An Orphans Wish. She is just precious and has clubfeet. An Orphans Wish will make sure she gets the care she needs. And for just $1 a day I can help make the difference in the life of a child.

Hop on over there to see how you can help, you can even make just a one time donation.

No need to take the time to post about our trip to our friends pond for the day...

just check out their blog here to see.

Highlights of the day.

*Noah caught 4 fish in the first 45 min. and then no more. Nobody else caught any.
*Sharon can grill some mean hot dogs, they were delicious!
*We saw a camper that had three bunk beds, really cool. We had never seen that before.
*Lily is dangerous with a fish hook. She made me nervous all day with it. I finally took it away when she got it stuck in Mason's shoe.
*Thanks to Marty for getting the fishing lines out of the trees a thousand times!

After 6 Doctors (Pediatrician, Orthopedist, 2 Radiologists, Endocrinologist and a Geneticist)...





full body x-rays, body scan, bone density study and $2000.00 worth of lab work...

I've thought about posting but I've just been busy enjoying some time off of work. I have eight days off, 6 out of 7 on (YUCK!) and then 13 off (yeah!). I still struggle constantly with whether or not my job is a right fit for me. I have looked recently just to see what is out there and there's not much. Ideally I would like a day job that required me to work < 5 days a wk and only while the kids were in school and make as much money as I do know. Does that job exist? I hope so.

John is still looking for a job. He has been working for a friend and thankfully making enough money that it still feels like he is working his old job. We are facing some decisions soon about insurance, and living expenses to cut. We will do what we have too and probably learn that we can live without those things anyway.

Weeks ago I mentioned I was doing the Great Weight Loss Challenge at work. It is going pretty well. I have found a combo that is working for me, Weight Watchers online and Couch to 5K. I have lost 10 pounds so far and want to lose at least 30 more. I don't think I will win the contest at work but it has motivated me to lose and that is most important, to be healthy.

Last night Lily woke me up at 1:30 am. The is the first time she has EVER woken us up at night so I knew something was up. She had a tummy ache. I tried numerous things and it was still hurting. After being up for an hour I felt helpless then she looked at me and asked if she could get on the floor. At this point I would have let her sleep about anywhere so I said yes. I fixed her a little spot on the floor and she laid on it. A few minutes later she said her tummy was a little bit better, bed too soft, floor is better. Within minutes she was a sleep again. I would never have thought the floor would be the trick. It made me think about how she didn't like her bed when we brought her home. It was too soft (and it really isn't that soft by our standards) and she would sleep on the floor. She did this for a while then would spend just part of the night in her bed and then move to the floor. Gradually she stayed in the bed all night and she seemed to be used to it. I was surprised last night but so relieved it gave her some comfort she needed.

Yesterday I was cleaning and throwing some of the kids school work out. I was about to throw Lily's assignment away, proud that she made a 100 on it. When I happened to turn it around I saw she had written on the back of her test ; my mom is great and sweet me daddy is funny and great. She is always thinking about us, she is so sweet and great!

Noah started soccer this past weekend so we will be out at the soccer field on Saturdays for the next few months. I just love soccer and watching him play. He took a few years off to do other things so we are glad to be back at soccer, especially in this great spring weather. I'll post pictures soon.

Soon unbelievably we will celebrate our 1 year Gotcha Anniversary with Lily. As this time approaches I want to share some from our journey for those that have joined us after Lily was home and add some more of the stuff I didn't have time to talk about or didn't want to on our memory blog at My Adoption Website. At this time last year we were desperately waiting on our TA still, we waited a long time and then were delayed for the big fair in Guangzhou and I was so scared the swine flu would delay us. It had just started and had not been found in China yet as we were to travel so I was worried China would stop families from coming to adopt for a while. Thankfully they didn't!

I missed last months update but a new one is up over at Lily's site. Just click on her picture to the left and it will take you there...

Lily and Wyatt have found a way to melt my heart and put there new found love of writing to good use...notes to mom.



Wyatt's usually go something like this..



mom you r supr and great and wow and awesome and cool ( he'll have no trouble learning txting will he?)



Some days I may get 5 or more in a day from him.



Lily doesn't want to be shown up so she has upped the ante a bit but because she doesn't know enough words she copies things she thinks would be appropriate for a note to me. Some things make sense and some are down right funny. Either way these notes are so special and I have saved everyone (almost). One recently I rec'd went like this...

I love you mommy
Vermont and Texas and Indiana and Nevada
and Idaho and Pennsylvania and Nebraska and Florida
and Ohio and Delaware Georgia California Kansas Utah
Sweet

Yep, she copied names of states in my love note. It gave me such a great laugh (not in front of her of course)

More often though she will use things she copies that make sense like a shirt she has that says; My Mom Rocks, she knows what that means.

This is my favorite part of kids learning to read and write. Precious and Priceless.

I have to write this now before I forget....

Lily came home today from school with a letter. At her school they have a in-school post office. You can write letters to kids from other classes and they receive them in the 'mail'. Lily's letter was from a little boy who lives in our neighborhood. It said, You are my best frind, I love you. I couldn't resist teasing her and saying, "Lily has a boyfriend" to which she abruptly replied, "NOOOOO"! This apparently has sparked a little curiosity. A conversation we had later proves that...

L- Mommy have a boyfriend?
M- No, Mommy has a husband.
L-No.
M- Yes, I do. Your daddy is my husband.
L- No.
M-Do you know what a husband is?
L-No.
M-( I then explain how mommy met daddy and we feel in love and got married and now we are husband and wife)
L-Fall in Love? (to which she acts out falling to the floor)
M- Laughing I say not really falling. We just loved each other.
L-You and daddy kissing?
M-yeah, momma and daddy kiss
She ponders that thought for a minute and then we regress...
L-Mommy have a boyfriend?

Maybe she means have I ever had a boyfriend other than daddy, who knows? She is not the least bit interested in boys, yet. I am thankful for that.

I have thought about posting many times since the 15th but I have just not really felt like it. It usually starts off with working and that gets me behind. Right now I am towards the end of 7 days off and it has been so nice. I figured if I just had about 21 more I would be caught up completely!

John has had several more job interviews and we are hoping at least one will end in a job soon. It is not just the not having a job thing that is growing tiresome. It is the constant search and John having to put together these overly complex interview packets. I am so glad I do not have to do all that just to get a job. For one job he even had to write an essay, oh boy, that was stressful for him. We are just so ready for this part to be over.

Lately I have been thinking a lot about this time last year when we were anxiously awaiting our Travel Approval to go to China. I thought it would never come, we had just one set back after another. Now here we are celebrating 10 months home. Lily recently had her first illness since coming home. She had strep throat recently but quickly recovered. She is so strong. I have a few posts in my mind about her that I will hopefully share soon.

Winter is still holding strong here in the South, we even saw a few snowflakes this morning. I am excited though because I saw that it should be sunny and 70 on Sunday, yeah! We may have to celebrate with a picnic. I can't wait for warm Spring days, can't you?

What can else can I say my daughter is sitting here with her head on my shoulder staring up at me and says, "you pretty mama". Life is Good.

I don't know why I haven't thought of this before now but I took Lily to an Asian Market today. Last night at the New Year Party they had some shredded dried squid (sounds yummy doesn't it?) and Lily loved it. I found out it came from a little market not too far from our house so I told Lily I would take her soon. She bugged me all day today so I took her when I had to pick up Noah from church. She was so excited. She laughed and ran around the store picking stuff up saying " in China I had that" and "it's yummy". I let her get most of what she wanted and ended up with some pretty interesting stuff. On the way home she had a few jelly sticks, some cookies you dip in icing, some corn snacks and a sesame candy. As soon as we got in the door she started in on the dried sardines, shredded squid, spicy crunchy radish and topped it off with a green bean Popsicle (I am not kidding). Next she started fixing her school lunch. Filling it with all her goodies including some chrysanthemum tea, strawberry panda cookies and some more squid and radish. I have not seen her this excited in a long time. I don't know why I waited so long to take her there but I sure am glad I did.

Sunday was not only Valentines Day but it was also The Chinese New Year. This year is the year of the Tiger. We were invited to spend the New Year with some wonderful folks we have met through the adoption community. We drove a little further south and all had a great time. We did crafts, ate Chinese food, the kids played, the grown ups talked and the kids finished the night off with sparklers.


Mason and Lily making lanterns out of jars. I ended up making most of them because the snow was a little more exciting and there was still plenty to play in.

A bunch of wet clothes and boots are why I am glad we don't get snow very often.

Lily is so excited to see her first snow. Can't wait to see the total accumulation. It has only been snowing 1 1/2 hours with this much! More tomorrow.

The kids could hardly wait to get home and dump there bags...

All I wanted was one little picture...So everyone could see

we had a very important appt. for Lily yesterday. we had to meet with a geneticist. apparently that is the speciality that holds the answer as to whether or not she has a bone disorder. i picked lily up from school and barely made it there on time. Greenwood Genetics is downtown and it has been a long time since I had been there so I underestimated how long it would take. the office was very nice, friendly and on time (yeah!). first a genetic counselor came in and asked a bunch of questions. sadly many of them i don't know. the first 3 years of her life are a mystery. soon after that the geneticist came in. she was wonderful. she developed a good rapport with lily right off. matter of fact lily was quite charming at the office and she was asking me about adoption before we left! we went over all the facts, she took a close look at lily physically and then said the best words i could have hoped to hear, " I don't think she has either". I was shocked because i was convinced she had OI (brittle bone disease). we still are not a 100% . her xrays are in route to the WORLD'S most renowned radiologist in Germany (i think-maybe Switzerland). Based on what he says we will either be done and know that she is healthy or we will have to get DNA and do genetic testing to check for the mutation. I am very encouraged. Either way we will be fine but it would be great if she was perfectly healthy.

One of my favorite series to read the kids are the Llama Llama books. They are fun to read and have cute stories. I don't always think about the fact that the littles may not understand all the words so last night as I read the word fret I asked them if they knew what it meant. Wyatt paused and said "yeah I know, it means to freak out". I have no idea where he heard that....

Today is dreary and I feel weary. Our weather overall this winter has been colder, cloudier and wetter than usual and it is wearing on me. I long for the days of sun and warmth! To top off my dreary day John got the news that he is not getting the job we had hoped for. He was actually going to be offered the job today but someone within the company decided they wanted their job back. That means no opening, no job for John. My first reaction is weariness. This whole unemployed thing is new to us. I am ready for it to be over. The uncertainty of it is hard. I try so hard to rely on my faith that God will provide for us and deep done I know it will be ok. But right now I just want to get in the bed and pull the covers over my head until the sun comes out.

Why Punxsutawney Phil six more weeks? Maybe you need glasses!

You gotta love kids....

Lily, Wyatt and Mason just ran in the room laughing and handed me two notes. One from mason (with help) that said, I lov you mommy and one from Wyatt that said, I love you YoYo (I think it is supposed to be XOXO) I Love you SBR mommy! (SBR=Super) Man, a pick me up just when I needed it. Thank you Jesus for these sweet children!

Notice Lily isn't using chopsticks anymore. She pretty much always uses a fork. Also, she constantly tries to stand while eating. It drives John nuts, you can hear him ask her if she stood to eat in China. I guess we will need to work on manners soon a little harder. I think she's just so darn cute!