Happy New Year ~

Welcome to Our Journey~Lily makes 3 2008! There's much in store for this coming year....Mark graduates from high school...Angela begins high school...Lily starts school...Heather (me) graduates from school (yea!)...ahem... And, we've been feeling the tug to start the process to adopt again.

2007 has been a year that has changed our lives more than we ever could have imagined. Before 2007 we always thought we were the ones in control...and we all are but just only to an extent.

We've seen how when one's life is at peace one is able to listen,....see and understand the path that is destined to be taken.

Angela celebrated her 14th birthday on the day after Christmas. Angela was born 16 minutes into the day after Christmas...I went into labor Christmas Day 1993 and if the anesthesiologist on call at the time (Ang was a scheduled c-section) would have lived closer she would have been a Christmas baby.

Happy New Year everyone!! Although there are a few things we know are supposed to happen this coming year...we can't wait to see what 2008 has to bring!!

Christmas Morning

With each present opened Lily wanted to stop and take the time to play. We enjoyed watching her smiling face!

Princess Lily and her kitchen.

Merry Christmas!! (Thanks for the idea, Liz!!)

Don't send a lame Holiday eCard. Try JibJab Sendables!

Non-Crappy Holiday eCards on JibJab

3 semesters left!.....other "stuff", & PICS

...9 credit hours for spring '08, 10 for summer, then FINALLY 9 for fall. Then comes the NCLEX. This last semester was an adjustment for me...trying to coordinate time (and energy) with a toddler and studying is NOT easy. I'll graduate nearly 2 years later than first anticipated when I started this process, but honestly--we moved in the middle of it all and I had to transfer to another university and nursing program, and went through the international adoption process. We moved back to Atlanta in December 2005...we had teens to adjust to the move and Eric had a new job to settle in to......a new life for all indeed. NOW~I see the light at the end of the tunnel ((flashing)) "GRADUATION"!!

I'm savoring this winter break. I've been reading a book that isn't related to nursing (Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China by: Jung Chang). I got the idea from Jen, a friend of mine that has recently had her own down time from work and thought it might be a good read.






We're almost done with our Christmas shopping!! YAHOO! I did a good bit of shopping online this year~it's just so much easier than fighting the metro ATL crowds and traffic. And, if you know what you're looking for there's not much to think about when so many companies are offering free shipping.






We've had several play dates recently~with Sheridan, Shelby, Michelle, and Morgan. It's great to spend time with some amazing moms, sharing our stories, feelings, and experiences.

Other news...let's see...Lily loves Mulan and Pocahontas. It's so cute~she'll brush her hair in the mirror and I'll ask her, "does Lily want to grow her hair long like Mulan and Pocahontas?". She'll nod as she says, "yes". So we're going to let her hair grow out.

Last week we received a package from China! We've been corresponding with 2 students from Jilin Normal University that visit Siping SWI to see the children. Lily holds a special place in their hearts. They embroidered pillows with 2 of the Beijing Olympic mascots for Lily's room and sent her some candy as well. I have pictures of Lily opening the box on my photo site. We sent them a package with a few special gifts for Christmas too.

A week ago we had wonderful, mild weather reaching highs of 75F. But old man winter has arrived...today's high being 42F. I don't mind...it feels like a "home-made pot of beef veggie soup" kinda day...curl up with a book, take a nap, watch a movie, wrap a few gifts with a glass a wine after Lily goes to bed....it's all good :)

Merry Christmas! And the New Year ahead is looking BRIGHT.

WHEW...it's been a non-bloggy while...

Don't know how to put it other than...there just isn't enough time in the day. There has been SO much going on.....I don't even want to write about it. I will say though that I only have a few weeks or so left of classes before winter break. Scholarly papers: written & turned in, Clinical projects: finished & presented, 2 critical analysis exams: done & 2 more to go. Seems like I'm over the hump somewhat. I'm registered for Spring '08 classes--looking at a more rigid schedule than this Fall '07......UGH!


I did spend the day in the CVOR Thursday. I love the OR. This time the anesthesiologist went into much more depth explaining things from his end. I stood on a stool at the head of the patient with the anesthesiologist. 6 hours of not moving (rolling my ankles & pumping my calves now 'n then to keep the blood flow going--thankful that I ate breakfast)...as to not touch sterile field, multiple lines, etc...meanwhile only a foot or so away from the surgeon with all in plain view during a CABG. Open heart is so AWESOME. The team worked like a well oiled machine...it was as if they new what each other were thinking and needed. I can't wait to be a part of it. The hospital where I have clinicals is now offering externships for new grads---I'll be signing up......BUT, then I also love the EP lab (that's where I was last week). Cold fusion cardiac ablation... learned alot about pace mapping of the Triangle of Koch.

Well...here's a few pics of what you're really here to see....isn't this a beautiful pic of Lily & Michelle?

Lily's Baptism

Pumpkin Patch!

A Sunday morning in October!

ready for church

This last Friday was the October First Fridays meeting. We had a great time seeing the children and talking with other families that have adopted, are in the process of adopting, or are even just thinking about adopting from China. There were also families there that are adopting from Taiwan and Ethiopia! It just goes to show that we're all a part of this small world, and it doesn't matter where you're from or where you go to find your children to bring them home. We are so happy to be a part of this community and network of friends. They've been a tremendous support to us in so many ways, and we hope to support others as well as they endure the wait to finally see and hold their children. Lily had the best time running around with all of the children! It was amazing to listen to Tony Nolan speak! We were blown away by his story.

Many of you new to our site may not realize that we adopted Lily through the special needs program at Hope for Children. We love to advocate for the children in China in the special needs program to others considering going special needs. Please feel free to contact us anytime with questions at the email link in the right column.

Lily was born with a cleft lip and an oronasal fistula that has been repaired. We hope to enter the special needs adoption line again one day in the near future, but we are comforted to know that we have this wonderful sub-culture to embrace us as we take off on the adoption journey again. We encourage all in the adoption world to join us on the First Friday of each month!

Playground!

cooling off

Where does the time go?

It's been a while....but, it hasn't felt like it. Lily has been recovering really well from her surgery. Her nose looks great and the swelling in her lip gets better with each day. The oronasal fistula in Lily's mouth is closed...the surgery was a success! We don't have to see the plastic surgeon for another six months.

My semester has been in full swing...I have lots of paperwork for clinicals, a 10 page paper to write, projects to present, and exam dates just around the corner. Knowing it will be hard to study (and still actually get enough sleep) with three children (and six shedding pets) and actually living it are two different things. I've learned to ask for help a little more now 'n days :)

I'm so happy to see and feel fall coming! I love summer, but we had a long string of 95+ weather this summer...gave the AC quite the workout. I was really ready for opening the windows and getting fresh air....it's so nice to sleep with the windows open listening to the crickets and frogs as I drift off.....

...speaking of which.........zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Congratulations Xia!!

YEA Xia! Xia passed the NCLEX exam this week! We can't wait to give you a big hug next week! Xia has worked so hard to get to this day...I know because I'm still in the process of earning my BSN and looking forward to taking the exam.

Congratulations Xia! We love you!

Post-Op

We are home and this afternoon Lily was just chillin on the couch. She was such a brave little girl through it all. Usually Lily has quite a bit of anxiety when we are in a medical office environment--even when we take a pet to the Vet. A couple of nights ago I let Lily play with my stethescope...I would listen to her heart, lungs, and abdomen then let her listen to mine. I also have an otoscope that she's become accustomed to so now Lily no longer cries when approached by a stranger with these instruments.





Everything went smoothly--the staff at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta are GREAT, and Dr. Williams is awesome. Lily has such a pleasant personality--all children cry a bit at first when they are coming out from the anesthesia and she was no exception. Lily was easily consoled and comforted by Mommy & Daddy. She never cried or whimpered a sound the whole way home even though we stopped to get her 'scrips filled. Lily is naturally a calm and pleasant child and even in the face of adversity she showed much more patience than I've ever seen in a toddler.



Yesterday we went for a hike along the Chattahoochee River. Here's a slide show with a few favorite pics from the day. After we got home it felt perfect to take a dip in the pool. There are also pics on my flickr site ~ just click the "My Photos" link on the right hand side of the blog.

Ready for Church

I put a new picture of Lily on the desktop of the laptop the other day. This morning Lily pointed to the picture and said, "Xue". I nodded "yes" and said "Han Xue". There are times Lily points to herself and says "Lily" (sounds more like "yee yee"), and times when she'll look in the mirror and say "Han Xue". I have always loved her Chinese name and felt that it was a big part of who she is ~ equally as much as being our daughter and a part of our family that she was to become. I'm so very glad that we decided to keep her Chinese name as a middle name.

Three in Our Journey

It's not easy getting all three together at the same time...

Lily, Angela, & Mark

Angela

Sisters

Mark ~ happy to be a senior

New haircut

Oh Baby..It's HOT outside

Got Spare Time?...and Lily's Appointment

We spent a good portion of the day recently at our appointment with the craniofacial team at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta. Dr. Williams (the craniofacial plastic surgeon) was great! Lily is scheduled for surgery on September 4th and we have a pre-op appointment on August 23rd. Dr. Williams will close the soft tissue of the fistula in Lily's gum, fix her nose so that it's symmetrical, and refine the scar on her top lip where it's a little fat. He felt it was important not to wait to close the fistula since food and liquids go into Lily's nasal passages when she eats or drinks. Dr. Williams felt that the doctors in Changchun that did Lily's lip surgery did a great job and that the scar isn't that bad. When she's about 4 or 5 he will go back and do a bone graft to close the bone. He explained to us that if they did the bone graft now it could interfere with the growth of the bone and adult teeth buds. Lily will begin orthodontia early when her adult teeth start to come in. The speech pathologist felt that a worse case scenario would be that there could be a slight chance that Lily would have a lisp due to her top baby teeth being skewed upwards where the fistula is. Lily also saw the pediatric dentist that day. He thought her teeth were in great shape ~ he said that the children in Lily's orphanage must have been brushing their teeth because she didn' t have any decay. She did have to have her teeth cleaned by the hygienist that day ~ she wasn't happy at all, but was all smiles when it was over and they let her pick out a bunch of stickers and a new toothbrush. I squirmed in my seat as she cried during the cleaning that really only took minutes ~ probably harder on me than her :) But it had to be done before the surgery takes place to help prevent infection.

So, please keep us in your prayers on the 23rd and the 4th.

The BIG appointment

This Friday afternoon we have our first appointment with the cranio-facial team at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta. I'm really not sure how Lily's going to react even though this appointment will mostly just establish her treatment plan. Lily becomes very uncomfortable when we are in an office type environment. Just last week I had to drop off paperwork for Piedmont Hosp. to the Nursing office at KSU for this upcoming semester, and I tried to put Lily down for just a second so I could sign a form....she screamed like you wouldn't believe. I picked her up immediately and told her, "we're here for Mommy, not Lily....for Mommy". Lily sobbed as she gave me a pat and said, "for Mommy". As long as I didn' t put her down she was fine. We're confident that Lily will be in great hands such as Amy's!

Last month we missed our First Friday's gathering because my mom was in town. Hopefully Lily won't be so distraught from the appointment and we'll still be able to come see some of our friends in the adoption community that evening. There are a few families that we've met that are getting ready to travel soon ~ we want to wish them well in person! You can always feel the love and support of friends in this gathering ~ even if you hardly know some of the people attending that month...I've thanked Susan & Dan before many times, but I can't thank them enough.

Ahhh...spending time with friends

smiles and hugs

precious friends

two Lilys

two Morgans

more hugs for me and you

Cuteness

sleepies

Lily & Daddy

What I loved about today

One of the things I loved about today was reading Lori's post about, "What I loved about today" ~ It is very uplifting and positive. I liked it so much I thought that in Lori's honor I would do a little variation:

I loved that my St. Bernard knows that my husband is out of town and wants to be by my side and sleep on my bed even though it's warm and muggy.

I loved that my son came to talk to me after he got home from work to stick up for his sister and try to get her off being grounded.

I loved that Lily-out of the blue-said to me, "I uv ooo". I kissed her so many, many times and told her I loved her back as I hugged her so tight....she might regret it now ^_^

I loved that although we had some overcast skies the weather was cool for walking with Lily in the stroller and Benjamin on the leash.

I loved that my husband made me a cup of coffee this morning like he always does on the mornings that we wake up together.

I loved that our neighbors stopped and wanted to chat like always when they see us on a walk.

I loved that I could hear the frogs in the creek in back of our house tonight.

I loved that it was cool enough to sleep with the windows open.

I loved that my children like to read ~ both finished the new Harry Potter book in less than 24 hours...and Mark worked a 4 hour shift at one point. Oh...and of course they ate....read, read, ate, read, ate, a bit of work for Mark....ate, and read. :)

Happy Birthday Lily!

Yesterday was Lily's 2nd Birthday! We started celebrating over the weekend by going to the Cabbage Patch Museum in Cleveland, Georgia. It's really cute how they took an old house and made it like a hospital for cabbage patch babies.

Then yesterday we went to the Georgia Aquarium ~ the world's largest aquarium. Lily loved the whale sharks and belugas. We stopped by Williamson's Brothers BBQ for a late lunch/early dinner on the way home and then had cake, ice cream, and presents. But you all have to stop by The Swallow at the Hollow in Roswell, Georgia. It's the absolute BEST BBQ and they have live entertainment from the Blue Bird Cafe in Nashville...

...after we got home we had such a nice surprise when Mark and Angela's friends stopped by ~ they went all out buying presents for Lily. They love her and think she's the cutest!

We looked everywhere for Little Einsteins (not Baby Einsteins and that's all we could find) party hats, table cover, plates, cake, etc...Lily LOVES Little Einsteins. But, Lily also loves Sesame Street so we found some really cute Elmo stuff...Lily calls him "Melmo" ^_^