Catching up ... pictures

We have been super busy!!!  Thought I would FINALLY blog about all that has been going on in the last couple of months.  Here is a quick summary ... Baseball, T-Ball, Tae Kwon Do, trip to Hawaii (without the kids), selling house, house pending, buying a house, Mother/Daughter Banquet, end of school year, move details, etc. etc. etc.

In April, Michael and I took a trip to Hawaii without the kids.  Needless to say, we had a fabulous time!!  He surprised me when we got there because he had rented us a convertible mustang to drive in around the Big Island.  What a fun way to explore!  We went snorkeling, went to a Luau, went hiking to see amazing waterfalls, hung out at the beach, ate lots of delicious food, went to see the volcano, I swam with dolphins and the highlight of the trip for me was going ziplining through the rainforest on the northern end of the island. (Not the coolest look ever, but so awesome!)  We had amazing guides who made it so much fun.  If you know me at all, you are probably surprised I even tried it because I am a tad bit afraid of heights, but I took the plunge and LOVED IT!!  Here are some pics from our trip.

In April, we also decided to try and sell the house.  We already have buyers and should move into our new house the end of June/mid-July.  We are moving about 40 minutes away to Liberty Township, Ohio, which will be closer to both of our jobs.  We are excited, scared, nervous and everything in between.  Aidan, obviously, has been the hardest to convince.  He has not been able to go into our new house yet because he has always been in school while we were there, but we have driven him by the house and through the neighborhood.  We have also driven him by his new school and I think that has helped a lot.  Keenan is super excited because he is getting a skateboard room although he told me the other day he wanted a skateboard and a batman room.  Not quite sure how that will look.  Ha!

We have also been very busy with baseball and T-ball.  It is Aidan's and Keenan's first year playing.  At Aidan's age, it is already pretty intense, but he is doing great.  He is my little perfectionist and really pays attention to the coach and what he is supposed to be doing.  Keenan is enjoying T-ball also.  So funny to watch because half the kids are barely taller than the grass and they would rather catch the leaves flying through the air than know where the ball is (Keenan included).

Aidan ready to catch the ball.

                                           

Aidan as catcher

Keenan on 3rd Base

Look at those cheeks ... just want to squeeze them all of the time!

We are wrapping up the school year.  I cannot believe Aidan will be in the 2nd grade next year.  And I cannot believe how much he has learned this year and GROWN!  He has more missing teeth now and it is so funny to watch him try to eat corn on the cob.  He says he and Bella now look alike (as you can see from this pic). 

I had the privilege of speaking at my mom's church for their mother/daughter banquet this year.  I shared our adoption journey and spoke about how amazing our God is and has been through our journey.  Bella loved all of the attention and she looked BE-A-UT-I-FUL for the evening!

I will end it here and hope that not so much time passes between posts.  Hope you enjoy the pics!

Love Without Boundaries

I know it has been forever since I have posted, and I promise to post soon to let you know what has been going on ... and trust me, there has been a lot!  BUT, I have to write about this now because I am just so amazed.

Love Without Boundaries (LWB) is a wonderful organization that helps orphans in China.  They sponsored Bella's heart surgery while she was still living in the orphanage.  We know that she was flown to another province for the surgery, but that is about all we know. 

While looking at the web site for LWB the other night, I noticed a link where you could fill out a form and request information if LWB had helped your child in any way.  I really didn't think there would be a chance that I would get anything back because she is literally 1 of so many kids they have helped.  That was 2 days ago.  Today, I opened my email to find 7 pictures of our little girl before and after her surgery!  Pictures we have never seen before. 

There is so much we will never know about her first 2 years, but this is just amazing.  I feel like we have another piece of the puzzle.  I love getting pictures of her before we knew her.  And I am so thankful for all that LWB did for Bella and does for other kids.  LWB is truly doing God's work!

Here are a couple of the pictures they sent to me ...

And here she is today ...

Blessed Easter

Spring is here and some days it even feels like summer!  We have been loving the warmer weather, green grass and flowers blooming.  Every day a new discovery is made.  This morning more flowers were blooming and Aidan was so excited to see them and tell me about them before getting on the bus.

We had an awesome weekend.  Aidan and Keenan tested for their next belts in Tao Kwon Do.  Keenan was nervous about having to break a board for the first time, but he did great and broke it on the first try.  Unfortunately, I don't have a good picture of his break.  He passed and received his yellow belt.  Aidan tested and passed his test receiving his brown belt.  Here is a picture of his break ...

And one of the boys with their new belts ...

Bella had a field trip with her school last week.  She came home painted like a kitty.  Part of the paint had been rubbed off, but I had to take a picture.  The teacher said she had a fantastic time.  Here is a picture of her after the field trip and one of her in a pretty spring dress ...

We had a wonderful first Easter with Bella.  She absolutely LOVED finding eggs.  She enjoyed opening and closing the eggs even if there wasn't anything in them.  We are so blessed that we can freely worship our Lord and Saviour.  The ultimate sacrifice was given for us, one that I don't think any of us can ever fully grasp.  But I know that I am so grateful. 

Easter morning the kids woke to find their baskets filled and a clue left by the Easter bunny.  That clue led to another one, which led to another one and so on and so on.  They found goodies along the way and had so much fun!  They were squealing with delight.  Their laughter and joy was such a blessing and a wonderful way to start our celebration of Christ's resurrection. 

Every year we have both sides of our family at our house for Easter dinner after church.  I'm not sure how many people were here, but there were a lot!  The kids just soaked up all of the attention!  We had an Easter egg hunt outside and the kids (including my nephew, Hunter), had a blast.  Here are some pics from our day ...

Bella "helping" me make the food for Easter.

Hunter, Aidan, Keenan and Isabella - after their egg hunt

Family picture

Missing Tooth and God's Phone Number

The fun stuff always happens while Michael is working and the last couple of Wednesdays have been interesting. 

Last week while Aidan was taking a shower he somehow slipped and fell in the shower and hit his face, knocking out the very loose top tooth and busting his lip. All I heard was crying and screaming. I ran in there to find him bleeding all over the place, holding his face and noticing his tooth was gone. He got out of the shower and we tried to stop the bleeding over the sink. Just about the time I think I am getting him calmed down he starts freaking out on me. I asked him (more calmly now) what the matter is. He said he lost his tooth and was so upset it was gone. Evidentaly he had been holding it in his mouth, but when I told him to spit the blood out, the tooth came out also and went down the drain. He was more horrified with the fact of losing his tooth down the drain than all of the blood pouring out of his mouth!! Once he got all cleaned up, he wrote the tooth fairy a note explaining that he fell in the shower, busted his lip and lost his tooth. It was so cute. He was so worried she would not come, but so excited when he woke up in the morning to find money under his pillow.

The same night Keenan asked me what God's phone number is.  I explained that God did not need a phone number, that we only had to talk to him in prayer. He said, "Yeah, but what is his number?" I again explained that we can pray to God at anytime of the day, and that he doesn't need a phone. Don't know if that appeased his curriosity or not, but it seemed to satisfy his daily faith question/challenge for the day. (He has been asking a lot of faith questions lately ... wish there was a manual on how to respond!)

Also the other night when we were eating dinner (I made Chinese).  We asked Keenan if he wanted to try some Chinese.  He said, "No, I don't like Chinese.  They have dirty water."  I guess of all of the things we told him about our trip to China and of all of the great pictures and stories we have, the thing he most remembers is that the water in China is dirty.  We may have to work on that a bit.

Bella has been talking so much more.  A lot of what she says we know what she is saying, although others would not because it does not sound like it should.  But she is trying and words are coming more readily all of the time.  While reading a book last night where you slide the page to reveal a sea creature that is being described, she started saying, "It's me!"  because the page always starts out with "It's me!  I'm a starfish." or "It's me!  I'm a dolphin."  It cracked us up.  She was so excited and so clear in her speech.  She is also saying "Help me" "Watch Me" "nana" (for banana) "moon" "hi mama" and our favorites are still "no" and "mine".  We are excited that she has started to put multiple words together in sentences and also point things out when she sees them.  We were driving home the other night and she pointed out the window and exclaimed "moon!"  She was so proud of herself and we are too.

Celebrating Life

This past weekend turned out to be a weekend to celebrate life, both young and old.  Our beloved neighbor Pete, went to meet his heavenly father last week.  Pete was 82 years old and such a wonderful person.  The boys adored Pete and he adored them.  He did not get to spend too much time with Bella because he went to live in a nursing home in November, but he was always so happy to see her. 

Here is a picture of the kids with Pete this past Halloween ...

I also went to my sister in law's baby shower this weekend.  Bella will not be the only little girl in the family for too much longer.  Jessie is due to have a girl in June! 

We then celebrated our niece, Addyson's, 1st Birthday.  She was so much fun to watch eat her birthday cake.  Such a precious little gift from God!

Addyson loving her cake!

Look at that precious face!

We ended our celebration weekend by having a surprise 50th birthday party for my stepdad, Tom.  We had the party at a Mexican restaurant and I think he was genuinely surprised.  Here are some pics from the day ...

Happy Birthday Tom!

Papaw and Bella

Keenan enjoying some tunes while at the party

Mr Blue Eyes Aidan, also having some fun.

Bella and me ... enjoying the party!

Skiing With My Boys

Michael takes the boys skiing usually once a week.  Even though we do not live near the mountains, we do  live near some very nice man-made slopes.  I have not been able to go this year because I stay home with Bella, but this past Saturday, I got to get out and go with them. 

Aidan has been skiing since he was 4 and Keenan just started this year.  And let me tell you ... the little guy is amazing!  I had a hard time keeping up with him at times and he is fearless!!  And Aidan keeps surprising me as well.  He has been better at skiing than me for a couple of years now, but seriously ... I won't even attempt some of the hills he does.  We took him to Colorado a couple of years ago and I remember he got me on this one mountain that was nothing but moguls.  I am surprised I am still not up on that mountain!  I was terrified, but not him!

The season is probably over now.  I think Spring has finally arrived (at least I hope it is here to stay).  We have been able to get outside quite a bit this week and all of the kids and their momma are so much happier because of it!

Here are some pics from my day skiing with the boys.  The weather was gorgeous and in the 50's ...

Michael and Keenan - check out those cheeks!

All 4 of us ...

The boys ran into one of their friends and he went skiing with us.

Small Victories

Most things tend to not go the way I picture them or plan them to go.  And usually I can sit back days, weeks or months later and say, "Oh, so that is why!"  God's perfect plan is that, just perfect!  In November and leading up to that time I thought that once Bella had her palate surgery, she would just take off talking ... that that was the only thing hindering her speech.  Well, it did not happen.  We have learned more about Bella medically and some things that we did not expect have been revealed.  But it is ok.  We are working through everything and we are learning right along with Bella.  There are days I think we are taking two steps back, but most days we are leaping forward.  Sometimes it is hard for me to see because I am with Bella every day.  But I have had some clarity and there have been small victories more and more every day.

Last night we were at a Chinese New Year celebration.  (More to come on that in a moment.)  Bella was playing with a toy and wanted it opened.  She looked at me and said "omen" and I could have shouted in celebration.  Bella normally will attempt to say words but only when asked to say them, but recently she has been speaking on her own and in the right circumstances.  Also the other day when it was snowing, she came running in the living room pointing outside saying, "no, mama, no" (translation:  snow, mama, snow)  She has also learned to say "no" and does so very often.  She is very opinionated, so we hear "no" a lot!  She is also saying "all done", "hi" "my-my" (for bye bye), "nana" (for dada), mama, "Ainan" (for Aidan), various animal noises, "uh-oh", "i love you", "amen" to name a few.  I want to try to track what she is saying when so I can really see how she is doing.

I also was reading through her occupational therapy goals the other day.  They were written the beginning of December.  I could not believe it, but she has accomplished all of the goals in less than three months!  We have learned that she knows a lot and is a quick learner.  Once she is shown how to do something, she tends to pick it right up.  She is dressing herself (other than her shirt).  She is putting her shoes on.  She can do puzzles and shape sorters.  She is pretend playing.  She can draw lines and circles.  These are all huge accomplishments for her!  So all of these things are small vicotories!

Like I said before, we went to a Chinese New Year celebration that was sponsored by GE, where I work.  It was fantastic!  There were booths for the kids to do activities, yummy Chinese food, and also performaces.  The kids especially liked the dragon parade, the lion dance and the acrobatic show.  Bella acted like she just loved being there.  I sometimes wonder what she remembers, what she misses, what she knows.  Once the drums started playing, she got so excited and just started jumping up and down clapping.

Here are the kids in front of the dragon before the show.

Me and Bella

My three blessings!

Dragon Parade

Dish balancing

 Lion Dance

Something else we did this weekend was to take the boys to an indoor skateboard park.  Friends of ours introduced us to this place and let me tell you, the boys had a blast!  Keenan was so excited to go.  It was like Christmas morning for him.  Now I know there is an indoor park and I won't have to worry about shoveling a path at the outdoor park anymore (see previous post for that story)! 

Keenan and Aidan at their new favorite place