July 3, 2012
11:41 AM | 
Posted by
Jennifer O'Cain
Almost two months since my last post and so much has been keeping us busy.The end of the school year for one and then we left the day after school let out for a week long vacation, then my big boys headed off to Boy Scout Camp. We celebrated Wyatt's Birthday and Ellery has been home now SEVEN months!!! I cannot believe that. And....the two children my friend and I were advocating for and raising money found a family, very quick. Like only days after our posts. How awesome is that??
First an update on our little Scooter Bug (just one of my nick names for her). Ellery is overall doing just great. She is such a mommy's girl and I love it. She and Lily are usually within 2 feet of me at all times if possible unless something fun is happening somewhere else.
This look is one she makes often, it is so her.
First an update on our little Scooter Bug (just one of my nick names for her). Ellery is overall doing just great. She is such a mommy's girl and I love it. She and Lily are usually within 2 feet of me at all times if possible unless something fun is happening somewhere else.
- Her language has exploded but I foresee speech therapy in our future. She has a lot of problems pronouncing several sounds but especially the F and P sounds. Time will tell though I will probably have her evaluated soon for early intervention since it's a free service around here.
- Her favorite saying is, "what happened?". She says it 100 times a day. She has to be in the know and when she doesn't understand what is going on she will say it.
- She is still sleeping in a crib and I rock her to bed every night. I don't foresee this routine ending anytime soon.
- This girl loves to swim. She has taken to water and I am so excited at how well she is doing. Today we are going to get water wings because she has grown out of the tube thingy she was swimming with. She needs something she can swim with not just float becuase she is moving her arms and putting her face down in the water.
- On June 25 she told me she loved me after I came home from work while hugging me for the first time. That is such a special time that first time they tell you and you know it is not just something they are saying but something they are feeling.
- She has grown a lot as well as her hair and she had her first haircut the end of June. As John put it her hair was looking kind of scraggly and since she pulls out bows and ponytails a lot we needed to clean it up. It looks cute, now we are going to grow, grow grow it out!!
These are two undedited pics I took while we escaped to Kiawah Island with daddy while he had a conference. Love those free working vacations.
OTHER HAPPENINGS.....
Ellery at the zoo feeding the birds.
Ellery turned three on April 27th. I never posted any pictures but we had a small family party and
we choose Minnie Mouse whom she loves!
The Joy on her face while we sang Happy Birthday to her brought tears to my eyes.
She was so excited.
Mom and Ellery at the mall. Ellery was in a fashion show put on by my hospital for our annual
Baby Fair. She did perfect and wasn't scared at all. I have a video of it I may post later.
On Mother's Day we had our girls dedicated at church. A very special Mothers Day for me.
Mason graduated from Preschool. He is so ready to go to big boy school next year.
He will go to the same school as Lily and Wyatt.
Wyatt ended the school year sick. We had a yucky virus the last week of school.
Bobo worked hard all year for the 100 book club and read over 200 books but her missed the recognition assembly and party because he was home sick. We were so proud of him!
Sellers celebrated his last day in elementary school with a 5th Grade recognition ceremony and pool party.
He is ready for Middle School, but am I?
Noah and Sellers on family night at Boy Scout Camp.
Noah's Band After Dawn playing at a local restaraunt.
Ellery and Mason at the pool.
Ellery getting her first haircut since home.
Noah has dreamed of making Quads in the LHS Band for a year.
He auditioned for several weeks and found out just before school got out that he made it.
Now we can't wait for football season. So proud of him.
THE OCAIN CREW GOES TO ARIZONA
On June 5th we traveled to Arizona to visit my baby brother, his fiance and to see some great sites.
The Grand Canyon was spectacular but being scared of heights and falling it left me a nervous wreck. As you can see there is nothing to stop you from falling into the canyon so keeping an eye on 6 kids was nerve wracking on John and I. Here are all the kids sitting with Brian and Brenda looking over the Canyon. I couldn't stand it so after I took this picture I stepped back, way back.
This is a picture of the Wigwam Motel on Historic Route 66. It was set up with cars like in the Cars movie. Very nostalgic. I think it is sad that more of Route 66 hasn't survived.
THE BOYS in Sedona, Arizona.
We had a blast visiting Winslow, Arizona!
My brother lives in Flagstaff which was very convenient to so many sights.
We went sightseeing during the day while they worked and then hung out with them at night.
This is only a small part of all we did. We also went to Meteor Crater, The Petrified Forest, to the top of the San Fransisco Peaks, and went to Slide Rock.
A very memorable vacation indeed!!
Thanks to B+B for putting up with us for a week!
That should catch you up, I will try not to wait so long until my next post. And I have put going private on hold for now.
May 14, 2012
9:33 PM |
Posted by
Jennifer O'Cain
Leiney Grace
Leiney Grace and Mei Mei
Chances are if you are reading this, your life somehow has been touched by adoption or you are curious about adoption.
This story is about chances. Leiney Grace is my friend Jan's daughter. Jan's family was already very full with seven children before they brought home Leiney Grace in February.
She has been a blessing to this family beyond their imagination, grateful that
when God called them back to China they listened.
when God called them back to China they listened.
When one adopts an older child the child brings with them memories of deep and true
friendships.The children have often lived together for years and are extremely close.
These children are each others family while in the orphanages.They share beds, they eat together, they play together, they go to school together. It must be so hard for the child left behind,
not adopted and knowing they may never have a family.
not adopted and knowing they may never have a family.
Leiney Grace came home attached to her Mei Mei and Di Di.
While she was overjoyed to have her very own family she missed her Mei Mei and Di Di very much.
Leiney Grace's mom started to feel called to do something to help them.
Leiney Grace's mom started to feel called to do something to help them.
Leiney Grace's mom began to do research. Their orphanage didn't participate in international adoption so she was going to work to get their files moved to an orphanage that did, like Leiney Grace's.
What were the chances that not only would she be able to locate their files but they were already on the waiting child list?
The bad news? Mei Mei has been on the list for a very, very long time.
The chances of her being matched with a family now is slim.
Jan would love to bring Mei Mei home to join her family but at this time cannot.
But Jan did not want to sit idle and do nothing, she vowed to do something.
That is where I came into the picture. I too was captured by Mei Mei's story, her
adorable smile and heart broken thinking of her walking on deformed and broken feet.
So together we formed Moms on a Mission and decided
to do something.
Together we plan to have fundraisers to be able to offer Mei Mei's prospective
family a grant. Hoping and Praying that even though the chance is slim,
someone will step out in faith and give Mei Mei the chance she deserves.
The chance to walk pain free, the chance to run, the chance to be loved unconditionally, the chance to
have a family, the chance to live.
We want to help give her that chance.
To make a tax deductible contribution to the adoption grant fund for Mei Mei, go to
www.live-againministries.org. In the paypal comments section, designate your donation for "Mei Mei Adoption Fund" Every little bit will help!
Jan would love to bring Mei Mei home to join her family but at this time cannot.
But Jan did not want to sit idle and do nothing, she vowed to do something.
That is where I came into the picture. I too was captured by Mei Mei's story, her
adorable smile and heart broken thinking of her walking on deformed and broken feet.
So together we formed Moms on a Mission and decided
to do something.
Together we plan to have fundraisers to be able to offer Mei Mei's prospective
family a grant. Hoping and Praying that even though the chance is slim,
someone will step out in faith and give Mei Mei the chance she deserves.
The chance to walk pain free, the chance to run, the chance to be loved unconditionally, the chance to
have a family, the chance to live.
We want to help give her that chance.
To make a tax deductible contribution to the adoption grant fund for Mei Mei, go to
www.live-againministries.org. In the paypal comments section, designate your donation for "Mei Mei Adoption Fund" Every little bit will help!
May 10, 2012
11:04 PM |
Posted by
Jennifer O'Cain
Two moms, two hearts breaking, for one little girl.
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Meet Mei Mei
I met my friend Jan several years ago. Jan has a big HUGE
heart for orphans, something we are both passionate about.
Jan and her husband brought home, Leiney Grace, their 8th child this past February, their 4th adoption from China.
Jan learned of their new daughters best friend who desperately needs a family and medical attention but she is still waiting.
Waiting on a special needs list WAY.TOO.LONG!! Waiting for over a year.
While Jan and I would bring precious Mei Mei home in a heartbeat our DH's are RH's.
So one day while talking, Jan and I decided to start raising money NOW for Mei Mei's adoption so that whenever a family steps up and says YES, we will have a grant to offer.
Mei Mei has a pretty significant need, skip on over to Jan's blog to learn more about her need and to hear more of her story.
We believe that the main obstacle often keeping families from adopting is finances. We will having many fundraisers for Mei Mei, please support us if you can. She is worth it.
If you would like to make a tax deductible donation towards Mei's Mei's adoption please go to
in the paypal comments section designate your donation for Mei's Mei's adoption.
And please share her story with everyone.
"Don't forget to do good and to share what you have with those in need, for such
sacrifices are very pleasing to God." Hebrews
13:16
May 7, 2012
1:21 PM |
Posted by
Jennifer O'Cain
I took this picture on the morning of Ellery's birthday.
I was so excited and wanted to capture the day in pictures.
Ellery had other ideas.
On any given day her spunk, joy and personality are hard to
capture in a picture but on a day she doesn't want
her picture taken it is almost impossible.
Luckily once and a while I luck up and get a great picture of her.
This was not to be the day.
I took dozens and dozens of shots and did not come up with one
good picture.
I did come up with a picture that was fun to edit and captures one side of my daughters personality.
She probably wasn't fussed over too much in China but here she is being fussed over
constantly. Everyone that meets her is captivated by her sweetness and cute personality.
She takes it all in stride but honestly there are times that she just doesn't understand, or want the attention or know how to handle it.
This morning was one of those days.
I shoot with a Canon, used a 50mm 1:1.8 lens. Edited in lightroom but not really sure what I did.
I am a total beginner!
April 27, 2012
8:27 AM |
Posted by
Jennifer O'Cain
One year ago today our Dossier was logged in to China.
As happy as we were to be logged in we had no idea that the little girl we would be matched with exactly one month later was also celebrating her 2nd Birthday on that day.
Today we celebrate the beautiful blessing we met in China 5 months ago.
Happy Birthday Ellery!
You are so loved.
April 22, 2012
3:26 PM |
Posted by
Jennifer O'Cain
The O'Cain Crew is going private so if you want to keep following along just send your email address to theocaincrew@aol.com and I will add you when I go private. I know there are still a few people out there that read our blog and many people rely on it to keep up with our family in between visits. Don't be shy just put in the subject header blog privacy and I will know what to do. I have regretted over the years not requesting to follow blogs going private and honestly sometimes I hate when they do but like them we all have our reasons and for now this is what we are doing. I will probably do it pretty soon so don't procrastinate.
In the meantime we are preparing for a very special event in our house this week, stay tuned.....
In the meantime we are preparing for a very special event in our house this week, stay tuned.....
March 28, 2012
2:05 PM |
Posted by
Jennifer O'Cain
Ellery has settled in very nicely into her family. She is changing by leaps and bounds everyday and we are loving her stinkin' cute personality!!
She has learned so much English that we are amazed. Unfortunately we still cannot understand a lot
of what she says because she mixes English, Chinese and things we just cannot understand.
Her singing voice is so precious and she has learned several songs.
Recently I started singing Jesus Loves Me to her at bedtime.
Previously we had been singing Twinkle Little Star, her favorite.
Within a few nights I heard her singing parts of it around the house. She has started tapping my chin when we are rocking to communicate to me to stop or start singing or even to change songs.
This is her singing her rendition of Happy Birthday. You can recognize the tune but not the words so much. We haven't really sung this so I am guessing she became familiar with it in China.
Maybe that is where she picked up the cheek motions?
Anyway it is good practice since we will be celebrating her 3RD Birthday on her 5 Month Gotcha Anniversary! I cannot wait to celebrate her special day with her!
She has also become the Blessing police around here.
She never lets us forget to bless our food. Even today we were eating something in the car and she clasped her little hands together and asked me to say the blessing. Be.still.my.heart! How precious is she? And she would may never have known about how Jesus Loves Her, God or prayer had she stayed in China.
So grateful we again answered the call to adopt.
Ellery is very strong willed and independent. No doubt this may be as a result of spending time in an orphanage. Not only learning to do things on her own because she had no choice but also being taught to do things on her own out of necessity by those caring for her. This translates into many wonderful things for her and us but it also translates into stubbornness, disobedience, fighting (among siblings), tantrums and confusion. Confusion possibly from learning it was OK in China but not OK here. Overall, we just handle things the best we can and try to kindly teach her a different way to do things and that it is OK for people to do things for you.
I must be in charge of the hose.
I must be in charge of Wyatt's water gun.
And if I'm not....
Of course I have been a mom long enough to know. Much of this is just normal 2 yr old stuff.
And there are many more times of this...
and this...Eating Jelly right out of the jar. Silly girl.
(it was the bottom of the jar and I allowed her this little pleasure)
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and this...Painting at the Children's Museum.
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and this...Relaxing outside.
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and this...My first catch!
March 25, 2012
10:17 PM |
Posted by
Jennifer O'Cain
I guess it's pretty apparent time for blogging is not something I have much of these days! I stay quite busy and haven't felt much like posting. It doesn't help when your DH is gone a week, it does make life interesting. Many nights I hit the sack completely worn out. I am sleeping a little better than I have in a while so I guess there is a bonus.
The kids are doing great and we all have a little spring fever!
Our temps have steadily been in the 80's which is awesome, flowers are all blooming and most importantly the dead grass they have been tracking through the house for months is being replaced with beautiful green grass. We haven't had Spring Break yet and that is what is keeping us going at this point. We are heading out for our first camping trip as a family of 8 and to make it even more fun we are camping with another family from church. They have all girls and their youngest is just one day older (or younger?) than Ellery. I know we are going to have a great time I just hope I can talk some of the boys into sleeping in a tent so we can spread out in the camper. Maybe investing in some good cots will help (crazy because the two oldest are Boy Scouts!)
Here are a few pics...we are due for a 4 month update in just 2 days...seriously??? Where does the time go? I'll save some of my favorites for that and hopefully I can get around to it on time.
The kids are doing great and we all have a little spring fever!
Our temps have steadily been in the 80's which is awesome, flowers are all blooming and most importantly the dead grass they have been tracking through the house for months is being replaced with beautiful green grass. We haven't had Spring Break yet and that is what is keeping us going at this point. We are heading out for our first camping trip as a family of 8 and to make it even more fun we are camping with another family from church. They have all girls and their youngest is just one day older (or younger?) than Ellery. I know we are going to have a great time I just hope I can talk some of the boys into sleeping in a tent so we can spread out in the camper. Maybe investing in some good cots will help (crazy because the two oldest are Boy Scouts!)
Here are a few pics...we are due for a 4 month update in just 2 days...seriously??? Where does the time go? I'll save some of my favorites for that and hopefully I can get around to it on time.
This girl is most willing subject, she loves to have her picture taken
Cookie Time. Ellery will often put on clothes or PJ's on top of her clothes probably due to her being used to the practice in China, it makes for some interesting outfits.
SISTERS!!
Not a day doesn't go by that I don't say to myself, "I cannot believe this precious
child is mine". So incredibly grateful for her.
And for every picture I take of her she made me take one of this dog. Silly girl.
After I took the picture she would say, "I won see, I won see" and looks at the screen.
I just ordered a awesome chore board from Etsy and went ahead and added Ellery's name.
This week she is setting the table and clearing it. Isn't she doing a grand job?
Hitching a ride around the yard with Mason.
And lastly our Hobo fort in the woods next to our house. Just another reason I am happy for spring.
Foliage will finally cover this eyesore again. This is just a small part of the compound.
March 1, 2012
9:57 PM |
Posted by
Jennifer O'Cain
Time is just flying by and our three months with Ellery slipped up on me. She is doing so great and we are loving her so much!
This is what three months of bonding, extra nutrients, no haircut's and unconditional love looks like.
Wow, what a difference three months has made.
Ellery is still a mommy's girl but daddy is ok too. When I am at work sometimes she gets to spend special time with daddy and when I am not around she gives him hugs and sugar and is his little pal.
When I am around not so much. It is so special though when once and a while she surprises him and searches him out for something or surprises him with a hug or kiss.
Ellery is all about babies. She loves her babies and I am actually having so much fun playing with them too. Lily never really went through a doll stage too much so this is my first. She is just so cute with them. She loves to push them in their strollers, they go pee pee on the potty, and she kisses each one nite nite and puts them to bed before she goes to bed. She sleep with one special baby that was Lily's and is her very favorite one.
Her language has blossomed so much I have lost track of everything she can say. She is putting several words together and her comprehension is great. Her sweet little voice is one of my favorite things about her. It just melts my heart. Of course unless she is whining which she can do a lot of, especially if I am trying to run errands.
and lastly 10 random things about our girl
1. She prefers to wear a diaper even though she is potty trained. She will get mad at me sometimes if I try to put underwear on her. She just likes diapers.
2.She can count to 3!
3.She has discovered the shower and now prefers it to the bath. I cannot even remember the last time she took a bath.
4. She loves to eat mushrooms.
5. She loves cereal with milk.
6. She likes to help with chores like emptying the dishwasher or sweeping.
7. She loves to sing.
8. She loves to play on the see saw in our backyard and will laugh and laugh when the big kids get on it with her.
9. Anytime any part of her gets hurt mommy must kiss it to make it better. Sometimes one spot will have to get many kisses before it is better.
10. She doesn't like any Chinese Food that we have tried except spring rolls.
Playing in her kitchen.
She wanted to climb the pole at the airport.
Meeting her new friend John at the airport, home from China February 9th.
Helping big sister with her homework.
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