Our Version of Wordless Wednesday

A Couple of Birthdays

 Landon and Maggie helping me make Emily's cookie cake.

 Emily and BecBec in their matching pajamas...their birthdays are close together, too. :-)

 Landon and CJ were AMAZED at the kids jumping and swimming at Mimi and Paw-paw's pool...Abby thought that was pretty funny.

 CJ and his Thomas birthday cake

 CJ loved opening his presents.  I wasn't even able to capture some of the precious faces that he made.

 This is a look of sheer joy.  

Here he is playing in the bathtub with more of his birthday gifts. :-)

So, this won't be a long post because while we had a GREAT time of birthdays...we now have a little one with some CRAZY fever virus.  My hands are full right now.  Hope you guys enjoyed the pictures!

A Boring Post with lots of "ologists"...

Wow.  I have not been a very good blogger lately.  At all.  We have been trying to get used to a new normal, and I am trying to adjust to making my "to do" list much smaller.
We had our appointment at the Spina Bifida Clinic, and it was so helpful...and overwhelming.  The neurologist was awesome!  We will have an appointment with him sometime this summer for a brain and spinal cord MRI (or CT scan or whatever it is) for them to determine...um, something to do with the nerves - ha...obviously, I am on information over-load.  The pediatric orthopedist was also awesome, and Landon will see him in September for a pre-op visit and then in October, he will have surgery to turn his foot and to repair some little details of his foot...they will break the tibia and turn the foot a little more outward, which should help so much in his walking.  We will go in late summer to see the pediatric urologist for a urodynamics test to determine how well their bladders are functioning, and we will have visits along the way just to make sure that we are training and growing as we should. :-)
You know, when we began this adoption process, I had NO idea how complicated Spina Bifida can be.  But, you know what?  The Lord knew, and He also knew that I needed to be slightly ignorant to fully obey Him.  I am afraid if I knew all the details, I would have thought, "There is NO way that I/we can do that."  And, I would have been right.  I/We can't do this.  HE has to do it.  I have learned through trial by fire that I cannot make it through ONE day without a quiet time, and without relying completely on Him for everything that day.  I can't imagine missing out on these blessings because of my fears of being incapable and insufficient - especially when He constantly reminds us in His Word that HE is sufficient - always.  These boys are awesome - difficult sometimes, but awesome! :-)
I promise that I will have pictures after this weekend because little CJ has his 2nd birthday on Monday, and we will celebrate on Sunday! :-)  Hope you guys all have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend!

We went to the park the other day to meet some friends of ours who have 3 little ones from New Day...it was kind of a "mini" New Day Reunion.  We are hoping to make the big New Day reunion in Texas...Laine seems to think we can do it, just us mama's (Daddy has no vacation time left after our China trip)...Laine is a brave, brave woman. :-)

 Wow.  These kids look happy :-)  They actually really were happy, they just didn't want to stop for a photo.

 Maggie couldn't be happier...

 Here is our birthday girl TODAY - she is EIGHT!!!  Where does time go?  She is such a joy and a delight to us all.  She is Mommy's helper and can't wait to be a Mommy herself.  We love you so much, Emily!!  You are a blessing to us all!!

 Landon and CJ got to experience Ice Cream Sandwiches.  Landon LOVED them, until....

 he realized that he got messy.

 CJ didn't mind getting messy at all.

 Here is our boy who cries during EVERY bath time, but seems to love the hose (maybe we should bathe him with the hose??  Hm...)

And here is our little guy who USED to cry with every bath.  He loves the hose, too, but he also loves bath time now! :-)

From the E.R....to doin' yard work - what a trooper!

Yesterday morning started out rough...Abby decided that she has had enough of not being the center of attention.  Landon and I had a small (large) battle of the wills....we just had a hard time gettin' it together.  But, I was not going to be daunted.  I said, "Kids, we are not going to let this stop us.  We are going to Publix for 4 things.  We can do this."  Then, I went to change CJ's diaper.  Nope.  We can't do this.  I have to call the doctor.

CJ and Landon both have Spina Bifida, but CJ has a Foley catheter.  So, there shouldn't be a wet diaper.  His diaper was soaked, and there were other indicators which made me realize, we needed care quickly.  

I called the pediatrician, and they said to bring him in.  We went in, and after much talkin' and no action...they said, "We cannot touch this here.  You need to be at the ER at the Children's Hospital downtown."  Okee Dokee.

So, CJ and I headed down to Children's.  I walked in and briefly explained our situation, and they didn't even have me sit down to fill out the paperwork...right on back we went.  Now, I was thinking, "Well, this is good that we don't have to wait, but a little disconcerting that they want us seen so quickly."  Yep.  And within about 10 or 15 minutes we had seen 2 doctors, 4 nurses, and they had called urology.  I absolutely LOVE our Children's Hospital here - they are amazing, but bless their hearts - it is hard to decide a path to take for treatment when they have very little medical history on the child.  We got good information from New Day, but I was jet-lagged and getting info on 2 kiddos with Spina Bifida.  Also, New Day is in Ch*na...and Ch*na treats things a bit differently than we do here in the States.  The doctors here said that our Spina Bifida Clinic (which is seeing both boys on May 23rd) will be able to help the boys lots, but for now, we are treating a doozy of a UTI for CJ, and they replaced his Foley (he and I both cried on that one.)

Today he is doing great...

 Okay, this is cool.

 Hm....I think I am understanding.

Yep.  I got it.

CJ is doing so well with his bonding...that has to be the Lord.

 A very wise friend told me that getting outside and getting lots of sunshine helps with jet lag.  Well, let me tell ya, we need help getting over this jet lag - it is brutal.  So, we decided to introduce the boys to the Barbie Car.  CJ didn't like it so much...he wanted to stick with the broken Barbie Jeep.  Landon was a little timid at first, but then...

 he loved it!  Until....

Maggie had a little accident running over the dump truck and ending up on 2 wheels. :-)  He got over it pretty fast though, and now he just pitches a fit when it is time to get out of the Barbie Car.

All-in-all, every one is adjusting remarkably well.  Now, if we could just get some sleep....

Travel Dates!

Details are still being worked on, but as it stands, we depart Birmingham on Thursday, April 12th (yep, next week - YIKES), and return home on Saturday, April 28th. The link to our travel site is http://hisgiftsfromchina.shutterfly.com/ We are so excited, a little nervous, and beyond thrilled that we will be holding our little guys in less than 2 weeks!