Our Journey to Addison Hope

Prentending this is July 13, 2011!

2011-08-28T16:57:00.000-07:00

Well, I am almost 2 months late blogging this! However I felt it was important to capture the memories our family had on this most important day. On July 13, 2010 Addison Hope Guo Ying Mervyn, truly became a Mervyn! That is the day that she became legally part of our family forever. Howard and I look back at that day and feel wonder and amazement. That God would truly choose us to raise this most this brilliant, silly, cheeky,beautiful & caring little girl. She has been such a huge blessing to our family. People often say how lucky/blessed she is to have us. And I can never seem to convey how it is US that are the blessed ones!

Riley and Addison's relationship has grown and developed into a beautiful friendship. They are truly sisters! Which includes some throw down rip roaring fights. And beautiful loving quiet play times where they could never imagine disagreeing with one another.(:

The above picture, is about an hour after we met our sweet girl, for the first time.....she was terrified. And being completely honest for the first 6 months we would see a variation of that same face. At first it was several times a day, then once a day, then once every few days. Well you get the picture. I can honestly say I haven't seen this look of terror on her face in many months! She is truly coming into her own, with our family. She willingly shows us love and respect. Also she is more than willing to challenge us (in a healthy way.)

Our life feels normal.....not the same normal as before, but a better normal! A new normal that includes the most amazing little girl. We could not imagine our lives without our sweet little Addy girl.

Oh and if you noticed that our sweet Addy now is sporting some new bangs.....well she and her darling older sister (note the sarcasm!) decided to play hair dresser. She has bangs starting halfway back on her head! lol! We are trying to grow them out, but it could be take a very long time, with how slow her hair grows:)

June/July Update part 1

2011-07-18T15:38:00.000-07:00

Junk food, painting & America's Funniest Home Videos Party the night before surgery:)

Nathan in traction, playing video games. these were taken with my iphone:(

Peace out! Those glasses were from a crayola set that Paige (a fellow blogger) dropped off, along with a whole lot of candy!lol! Thanks again for visiting us Paige!

Well we have had a busy little life recently! Lots to celebrate and a few roadblocks, however all is well in the Mervyn household:)

On June 15th (the only reason I can remember the date, is that it was my 32nd Birthday!) Nathan fell on his way into the garage, coming home from youth. He unfortunately broke his left femur. It was very a very serious fracture, Howard took him immediately to emerg. I followed as soon as my bestfriend arrived to watch the other kidlets. Once I arrived the first thing that we noticed was Nate's broken leg was at least 4X's the size of the other! We knew immediately that he would be air ambulanced to Edmonton, sure enough by 4AM the next morning Nathan and I arrived at the Stollery Children's Hospital. Nathan was suppose to have immediate (within 24hours) surgery to insert a rod into the femur, however once we got to the operating room, the orthopedic surgeon's realized they didn't have the right rods, so we would have to wait for 4 days for the right rod to arrive.

Nathan hung around in traction for four days and I hung out with him, while Howard came home to managed the rest of the troops! Nate had surgery 6 days after he broke his femur and we were happy to come home and recuperate!

Its funny the second I saw Nathan in emerg, the first thing that crossed my mind was to question God! And in a split second a verse shot across my mind.... We know that in all things that God works for the good of those who love Him, those whom he has called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28

That verse became our theme verse for our 10 day stay in the hospital! The people we met were amazing! I felt like we were exactly where God needed us. We got to minister to other families in need. Nathan and I prayed for strangers! We became so thankful for all of our too numerous to list blessings! When Nathan went in for surgery, Howard and I had such a great peace, it's cliche to say....but it was beyond our understanding!!! Our precious wonderful church family gathered around us in prayer and service. We arrived home to a sparkling clean home! With the fridge full of groceries and the freezer full of meals! Nathan's youth group made him cards. It was just all so humbling and amazing!

Nathan is now recovering slowly....he is having a difficult time with physio, and his doctor has threatened hospitalization again if he can't show progress. It is taking alot of my time helping him with this, and just his general personal care. He is now 70lbs and difficult to lift on and off the toilet! We have had to stay mostly at home, as he is so heavy for me to carry in and out of the house etc. I have been trying to have friends over to play with to break up the kids monotony. I have been a little bit happy that our summer weather has mostly consisted of rain and colder than average weather!lol!

It has become a bit tiresome for the other kids, to be stuck at home as well. They are not use to having me so busy with Nathan. I have to say though they are all so wonderful and caring! Its so great for us to see how much empathy they have for their brother. What a huge blessing all of our kids are! Its such a privilege to be their Mom!

We head back to Edmonton, for some more doctor consultations on Sunday, and will be extending the trip by a couple days to have some "city fun":) On a side note, this accident encouraged ( I don't know if thats the right word!?!) Howard to have a meeting with his bosses and negotiate some terms of his contract. He is giving them 6 months to find a maintenance run, near town! That will allow him to be home at a "regular" time and be here on the weekends!!! Right now he is filling in doing just that! So he is home at 5 o'clock and we have him on the weekends! All I can say is God is good! Even in the valley's....especially in the valley's!

I am hoping to update the blog a couple times in the next few days! We have had our 1 year Forever Family anniversary, Josh's birthday and the end of school, lots to write about:) Sorry I have been gone so long!

A Trip to the Doctors

2011-05-28T11:52:00.000-07:00

Addison, my bestfriend Jodica and I made the trip to Edmonton, so we could see Addy's liver specialist last week. First I have to say we had a wonderful time playing and shopping.:) The weather was great and topping that all off we got to meet one of my favorite bloggy friends, Paige for the first time! It was so wonderful to meet in person as Paige has been such a support through Addison's adoption and once she came home. It was so neat to see the girls play alongside each other. Paige has two lovely girls in Lilah and Zoe. Above is a picture of 3 of our sweet girlies.

On to the big news......Addison's appointment went really really well!!!!! Yay! Her doctor is amazing! He did a scan of Addison's liver to look at the health. He believes that her body is possibly fighting off this virus and just wants to watch her for the next little bit. We will head for an ultrasound at home and some more bloodwork, and then we will see Dr. Yap every 6 months for now, unless things change. He didn't believe she was a good candidate for some experimental treatments that are going on, because these treatments are aggressive and haven't really shown a marked improvement in the patients at this point. Dr Yap was wonderful with Addy and took the time to answer my questions. We never once felt rushed or like he wasn't listening to my concerns for our sweet girl. He is hands down one of the best doctors we have ever had the pleasure of dealing with.

I have to say that I am now sighing a huge sigh of relief!!! Praise the Lord! I thank all of you who have surrounded us with love, prayers and support. We appreciate each any every one of you, those that we know well and those that we know through our blog. We will keep everyone updated on each of Addison's visits. However our greatest prayer would be that her little body would fight this virus and clear it from her system without out any medical intervention....a very slim chance, however our family worships a God who still performs miracles daily. So I will trust in Him and His will for our sweet little Addy!

We're Back!

2011-05-23T11:31:00.000-07:00

This post is a long, long, long time coming! I really haven't been feeling like blogging lately....however I know I'll be disappointed if I stop! So I'm going to fake it, until I enjoy blogging again!lol!

Much has been going on in our household. I guess the biggest event was our holidays. We returned a week ago from two weeks in sunny warm Florida. It was a great vacation and so very nice to have Howard with us for three weeks straight! We also had Howard's Mom come with us, which was really nice. The pictures I have added are from our family picture session at the Grand Floridian in Walt Disney World.

Our Miss Riley-roo turned 6 while we were in Florida. She had a blast getting hair, nails and makeup done with Addison at the Bibidibobidi Boutique and then dinning with her favourite princess at the Akershus Restaurant in Epcot. It amazes me that she is already 6!

I think our favourite day hands down, was getting away from the crowds at the park and heading to Clearwater Beach, near Tampa. The sand was like powder and the water was turquoise and warm, and it was a warm and sunny day. I think our next family vacation will be more beaches less theme parks! lol!

On the home front. We finally have an appointment for Addison with the pediatric liver specialist in Edmonton. I will be taking her on Friday to go see this doctor, with my sweet little girl and many questions in hand. It will be interesting to see what he has to say........ Its been a long wait and I just would like to move forward with whatever he decides to do, or not do. If that makes sense!?!

The kids are all doing really well. Addison had a fabulous time on her first family holiday. As much as she was happy to come home to her room and her stuff, she was asking the next day when our next holiday was!lol! We are working hard on her manners. Something I guess we would be doing with any 3 year old adopted or not. She had a few weeks of not sleeping well before our holiday's, but now she is back to being a lean mean sleeping machine.

I am hoping now that I have posted this post that I will back to posting weekly......we will see!

Happy 3rd Birthday Addison

2011-04-12T05:38:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend our Miss Addy turned 3. We had a quiet celebration as she and Riley were recovering from a nasty cold. We all had fun celebrating Addison's day, and she was tickled pink to receive a Kai Lan backpack on wheels (her suitcase, lol.) Its amazing to see how far we have all come in the few short months she has been home. We are so beyond blessed!

For me, her birthday was a day of reflection, prayer and thanksgiving. I reflected on who my sweet little girls biological mother is, prayed for her, and gave thanks to our heavenly father that this amazing woman chose to carry our sweet baby girl and place her somewhere safe so she could be found, and eventually placed in our arms. My heart broke for this woman who we will never meet. I can't imagine the strength it took for her to make such a heart wrenching decision.

Our amazing little Addy is growing in leaps and bounds. Its hard to keep up with all her progress. The girl can talk your ear off! She is such a trooper. Spreading joy and laughter wherever she goes.:)

Best Field Trip Ever!

2011-03-21T10:23:00.000-07:00

Really the title says it all. When the rest of the school was at the ski hill, for a fun day, Nathan and his buddy got to go on their very own special field trip! Usually they would stay home for these days, as its no fun watching everyone else have fun up the hill. However this year both of the boys aides, planned a fun filled day! They even got out to walk a bit as it was so warm out! Here they are on the way to the Pioneer Museum.

One of our local businessman offered his "bat cave" for the boys to hang out at for the morning! Its like a "man cave" on steroids with many vintage cars a kitchen, XBOX 360 and theatre screen!

Nate was trying to tell me that he needed this car, and it was for sale for only $25,000! LOL!

Yep! Best field trip ever! Car racing!

we are so blessed to have amazing staff at our school who love our kids. We have attended school's where the staff is just there for the pay cheque. Not this school, they make an attempt to include all the students in fun days, even if that means planning a whole different trip for the kids who can't go up the ski hill. So thank you! You certainly made these boys day.:)

How time flies!

2011-03-15T15:40:00.000-07:00

I remember this day like it was yesterday! Nathan's first day of Grade 1 and Josh's first day of Kindergarten and our sweet little Riley! Sometimes it feels like you blink and they are Pre teens and almost 6! Oh how I love these little munchkins! And how quickly I forget that they were once little like Addison, it reminds me to drink up every second with them! Before I know it they will all be grown and gone!

Nate's "Friends" Birthday Party

2011-03-14T12:51:00.000-07:00

Nathan really wanted a pool party this year, with his friends. And I have to admit we don't always have friends parties, for various reasons, one being we are usually in Montreal, Nathan has a fracture, kids are sick, etc. etc. However this year we did! It was important to our Nate boy that Howard was home, so we quickly planned his party for the day after we returned from Montreal. It was pretty basic! Swimming, pizza and an ice cream cake. All the boys were really well behaved and I think they all had a great time. :)

Our great big 12 year old! Well he will be 12 on March 25th.

I seem to rarely be in any of the birthday pictures....so here the "original" 3 are.:) Ugh totally bad picture of me! But Whatever!

Here are the group of boys in the hot tub... 12 is such a funny age! They want to be treated like an adult yet they love to play like little boys! :) This group of young men are so great! Most of them attend our church, and both Nate and Josh have a wonderful time when they all get together.

The birthday boy, makin a splash!

Montreal

2011-03-11T19:26:00.000-08:00

One of the two snow storms we experienced while in Montreal. Don't you just love the old buildings in historic cities, like Montreal? I do they do my heart good.

Nate having one of the series of X rays he gets every 6 months.....doesn't he look happy to be having his picture taken? Lol!

This little boy was in awe of Nathan! :) He was ecstatic to find out he was sharing a hospital room with Nate. And in return Nathan was so super sweet, he helped his new little buddy in any way he could! It made me so proud to see him being so compassionate and nurturing. The boys were at the school that the hospital provides for kids while they are receiving treatment away from home. That way the kids can keep up on their school work while they are hospitalized. Can I just say how much we love the Shriner's Hospital!

Nathan and I arrived home last night from a wonderful trip to Montreal, to see his specialists and receive an IV treatment that strengthens his bones. (In case you are new to our little blog, Nate is our oldest child and he was diagnosed at birth with Osteogensis Imperfecta/ Brittle bone disease.) We had a great time despite the lousy weather that included alot of snow, rain and freezing rain. We ate at his favourite restaurant we toured around and shopped til we dropped. Oh yeah and we saw all his doctors. :)

We had a mixed bag of news this trip, Nathan's bone density increased by 5% Yay! And he grew quite a bit. However his femur bones have become too deformed, so in September sometime Nathan will be going for surgery to replace the rod in his right femur and insert one in his left femur. We are waiting to hear from his orthopedic surgeons receptionist to book the dates. The good things are that once our Nate boy recovers, he will be able to walk with less of a limp, we have alot of time to prepare for our trip and the surgery, he won't miss his summer "fun" being in a double leg cast. There are lots of things to be thankful for. And we are going to focus on that heading into Nathans surgeries.

Its funny, because I think at the beginning of this year, as I was "mapping out" what our year would look like, with trips, work, etc. I was very conscious about instead of me making plans, taking the time to pray and listen to what God had planned for us this coming year. Well it kinda looking like 2011 maybe the Mervyn family's year of doctors appointment and hospital stays! lol! Not what I hoped for, but I can't help but see how big we have been blessed! I was reflecting on some of the points we learnt in small group last week about Life being a test, a trust, life is short, and that we are not home yet! And thinking how true all those points were!

I have to say 5 days away from home was therapeutic for this Mama. I missed my family that stayed home. But boy was it great to have some time to just spend with Nathan! It also gave me some perspective on all of our family has been through these last couple weeks. I feel ready to be back and consider it such a privilege to be a Mom of 4 beautiful amazing children. Also I think it was a little eye opening for Howard to be alone with 3 of our munchkins for 5 days. :) They had a wonderful time, but my honey was glad our flight made it home last night! lol!

We still have heard nothing from the doctors about Addison. We were told 4-6 weeks and next week will be 4 weeks, hopefully we get an appointment soon! She is doing well, and survived 5 days without me much to my dismay! :) I am just kidding! I am very proud she did so well without me.

Nathan had his friends birthday party tonight, and that will be the next thing I blog about, but I want to enjoy my last night with my husband for 24 nights!

I want to thank you all again for your love, prayers and support. Your comments on this blog, facebook and emails have brightened our days and lifted us up when it felt we couldn't make one more step!

Yummy Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins

2011-03-03T08:54:00.000-08:00

Ok I said in the last post that I would share this recipe. All of my kids love these, and really so do Howard and I. The best part are that they are only 150 calories and 6g fat per regular sized muffin! That is in comparison to 600 calories and 30g fat in a coffee shop muffin! My kids can make these tender little morsels disappear in record time! So I would suggest doubling the recipe. They are moist and delish with coffee. ;)

3/4 cups of bananas, mashed

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla

1 cup all purpose flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 cup low fat plain yogurt

1/4 cup semi sweet chocolate chips.

Preheat oven 375F Spray 12 muffin cups with vegetable oil.

Using electric mixer, beat together bananas, sugar, oil, egg, and vanilla in a large bowl until well mixed.

In another bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and baking soda. Stir the banana and flour mixture together. Stir in the yogurt. Fold in the chocolate chips.

Divide the batter among the prepared muffin cups and bake 15 minutes or until done.

In like a lion out like a lamb?

2011-03-01T09:33:00.000-08:00

SMILE!?!

We are again in the throes of winter! Like -45 with windchill!!!! I made the executive decision to keep all the kids home today......really shouldn't the world stop when its that cold out!?! We are hunkered down playing board games and the girls and I are going to make some banana chocolate chip muffins this afternoon. I might share the recipe later this week on the blog, my kids love them and they are low fat and low in sugar!

I am so very ready for real spring.....not a teaser. Only 6 more weeks and the snow should be gone!

Nate and I fly out on Sunday for a week of doctor appointments and his IV treatment in Montreal. :) I am really looking forward to going, it looks like the weather is ALOT warmer out that way. Nathan is excited to do some shopping and just have some one on one with me! (His words) I was a little surprised to hear him say that! And really lets be honest since Howard was gone for 34 days, leaving me with 4 children to parent. A week of one child will feel like a vacation! :) Nathan's leg seems to be getting better everyday, he started weight barring last week and now he is walking short distances! Yay!

Howard came home last week for four days. It was unbelievable how much we all missed him! Addison struggled a bit at first, which I totally expected. It was like she needed to test him. I guess her Baba passed the test because within 24 hours she was back to her regular self. Howard will arrive home Saturday night to stay with our 3 youngest munchkins when Nate and I are away. (This is the first time I will be away from Addison.) And then he will head back on the following Saturday. We are planning an early surprise party for Nathan at a local hotel pool for him and his buddies on Friday! Howard will be gone for most of the Spring. Legally he can't work more than 24 days and then has to have 4 days off......so that is what our lives will be until the end of April.......we think!?! Hopefully we all survive! lol! I know lots of families that live like this........but I really like my husband! And parenting 4 kids by myself is very very hard! I must not be made out of the same tough cloth. We are planning a vacation at the end of April for 2 weeks (that's the only way I can guarantee to have Howard home!) I am hoping we can have Addy's treatment decision made by the time we leave (April 26th) We also hope that this summer Howard will be home alot because he was so busy this winter/spring. I just have to keep remembering this is just a season and it will soon change. :)

Addison is doing really well! She seems really healthy and is as sassy as ever! lol! We have seen some regression in some areas, but with the stress of her diagnosis and Howard being away so much, of course we would see that. I am trying to just give her alot of attention and one on one. Which definitely creates a problem with Riley as she then feels left out! I am trying to find activities I can do with both my girls so they feel their love tanks are full. :)

I have made a promise to myself to have a baby sitter come in once a week, so I can have some Me time. Whether I feel like it or not! Tonight is that night! My bestfriend and I are heading out in the freezing cold to see a movie. I am blessed to have friends who love me enough to force me to get out! :)

So things are going well in our neck of the woods! Praying for warmer weather! And trying to find new activities we can do at home to keep the troops busy. :)

Singing In Her Bathing Suit!

2011-02-17T11:49:00.000-08:00

So I was encouraging Miss Addy Bobwah, thats what we've been calling her lately! Not sure who started it our why it stuck. We all love the Disney movie Aladdin so, whatever! Anyways I was encouraging her to tidy up her toys, and she started singing this song from church while cleaning! So cute so I asked her if I could video tape her.....she usually stops all cuteness when I pull it out and stares at the camera, so much to my amazement she performed!

Nah Nah Nah Nah Nah hidey hidey hey God loves you in a very special way!

Messy hair, bathing suit while its -30, lunch on her face straight from Northern Alberta Canada the cutest Addison we know :)

-30 is swimsuit season?

2011-02-17T11:16:00.000-08:00

Apparently at our house -30 is swimsuit season! For the last two hours my girls have been wearing their swimsuits and "riding" water slides!!! Also floating down a lazy river, and as I speak they are eating lunch in the "cabana" in their swimsuits :) I would take a picture however I would be horrified if anyone saw my mountains of unfolded laundry and dust bunnies that are taking up residence in my sitting/dinning room! Somehow the house work has become more than this Mama can keep up to! Yet here I am blogging about it and not just getting down to work! I guess I am hoping a cleaning fairy will magically appear! On brighter note the love of my life and probably my most favourite person in the whole wide world is coming home is 3 more sleeps :) In case you were wondering.....I am talking about my husband!

I just have to say we are all doing really well. Through this silly little blog I have met some amazing people! Two of which have experience in what Addison is going through. I am so thankful for their wisdom and encouragement. I have learned so much in the last couple of days and feel like we have some control over the decisions that will be made by Addison's specialist....maybe not control but information that will help with making the decisions that lay ahead of us. I have been encouraged by the fact the treatments side effects may not be as awful as our doctor and pharmacist has suggested. Yay! We will encourage the specialist to do a liver biopsy before starting treatment, and hopefully take our time in making this educated decision. I feel as if a huge weight has been lifted from our shoulders and look forward to meeting with this physician and learning more about what is to happen. So thank you to both of these ladies! One of which I spent 2 hours on the phone with today! Its amazing what a little blog and some kind people who read it can do! Its funny because I thought we had 12 or 13 people read it and my family, and I was really just keeping this up for my family so they could see pictures and funny stories about what was going on up here. Yet through it I was able to glean some amazing support and information for Addison and her treatment!

All I can say is I am thankful oh so thankful for "normal." Our normal anyways :) I think next week all I will be thinking is gee I am so glad I am doing..... instead of being in the hospital with Addison :)

Happy Valentine's Day & a Change of Plans.

2011-02-14T15:33:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentine's Day!

Riley, Josh & Nate were excited to go to school and take part in the festivities.....espically Riley since this is the first year at school. Today was Nathan's first day back since breaking his leg, so hopefully he will continue feeling less pain and able to attend the rest of the week! 2.5 weeks home was a long time!

Addison had another appointment with her Pediatrician today. I had been doing alot of reading about the treatment she was starting, and it contradicted what her doctor was telling us.....so needless to say I was a little concerned about his course of action! What we have decided on is that we will see a pediatric GI doctor in Edmonton before we start treatment (if we start treatment.). Addy's pediatrician said he would be more comfortable with that since this was all new to him, and well this Mama feels alot better about that. I hate putting off this treatment, espically if it should be started right away, however I don't see why they would rush something like this espically with the side effects that are involved, when the doctor isn't really sure if its the best course of action. I feel like we have been on a roller coaster ride this last week, with all that has gone on! There is a possibilty of the specialist just holding off on this medication and watching Addison. I like the sound of that! We will be bringing her for monthly blood test to watch her Liver enzymes etc. so they can see how things are changing. Something little miss was quite miffed at me about! She howled the moment we pulled up in front of the lab today!!! Poor little squirt.

So now I guess we wait and pray, we wait to hear from the specialist about an appointment, we pray that maybe he will decide to hold off on the treatment, that there really isn't that much damage done to her liver right now or in the next 4-6 weeks while we wait for an appointment. Lets be real, what I am really praying for is that her Pediatrician at home here is WRONG!!!! And my sweet baby girl won't need this at all! That is what I am really hoping for! I can't help but feel frustrated with this doctor.....he kinda sent us into a tailspin! Why didn't he say that we needed to see a specialist and that there was a possibilty that we should start this treatment? Why did he book her in right away? Didn't he know how scary this would all be? Well I guess not! And I really shouldn't complain! He was doing what he believed was the right thing, at that time.

Thank you, thank you, thank you for your care, concern and prayer for Addison. It is amazing to see how many people love and want good things for my girl! I have to say this last week I have been thankful for the mundane.....like cooking, cleaning and doing laundry for my family! All of which you can not do from a hospital :) I am now thankful that our family only has one week in a hospital we love in Montreal not two weeks of hospital stays on our calendar right now. I am thankful for the wait! Weird I never thought I would ever say that! I will of course keep updating you all on what is going on with this once we know.

The Button

2011-02-10T10:02:00.001-08:00

I have to say I am beyond overwhelmed and amazed by the encouragement and prayers our family has received from our dear friends we know, blog friends and strangers! The words of encouragement have brought me to tears as a read them. Good tears! Tears of encouragement, so thank you from the bottom of our hearts. We may not always hear Gods voice audibly or even through his word, but I have certainly heard him through your messages.

It has been difficult having Howard away at this time, not having him here to lead us and make decisions. But I have to say when I get to talk to him in the evening he is certainly a rock and a man of great faith, even if he says it only a few words. He reminded me that we have been through harder things than this and God has always seen us through! And its true God created it all the heavens and the earth, all of us on earth! He can more than carry us through! He is our provider, comforter, healer and deliverer! When I remember that, it comforts me to know the kids and I are not alone right now :) On a lighter note Howard will be coming home the night before Addy is to be admitted! Thank you God! Also we have found an insurance provider to carry Nathan and Addison's medical needs! A huge relief for our family! The only reason we are in between carriers is because we have started a company in January.

The only part of me being so open and honest about this situation we are in, is that I don't want this to discourage those people that may be considering adoption and more importantly the waiting child program. I had someone ask that if I knew then (upon referral) what I know today about Addison would we have not accepted her referral......ABSOLUTELY NOT!!!! I have no doubt in my mind that she was meant to be in our family, she is our daughter and I love beyond what I could ever imagine! God started us down the adoption trail because we were moved by the thought of a child with brittle bone disease not getting the love and care they need.....and that was what we needed to keep taking each step towards the unknown. What God brought into our lives was the most precious, funny, joyful, loving and compassionate little girl with a minor need that turned into something greater. And I am so beyond grateful that God knows better than us!

Ok now that I have rambled! More about the button! My sweet friend Paige created a pray for Addison button for us! I have never met Paige in "real life" but through blogging I have gotten to know her and love her! your can check her blog here http://www.theriegelfamily.blogspot.com/ and see what she posted about the button. Thank you Paige! Hopefully we get to meet for real :) Anyways you can add the button to your blog if you like by grabbing the codes and adding a tool.

Also a family we travelled with, who is a Pastor of a church in Calgary is encouraging his congregation and others to pray for Addison this Sunday, as a national prayer for Addison day! So beyond humbled and amazed by such love from others! Thank you to everyone else that I can't even begin to mention, for you love and prayers.

Finally Miss Addison is doing well, we see no signs of sickness, and we will be seeing her Pediatrician again next week armed with many questions! Ideally Howard and I would like to speak to a specialist before going ahead with this treatment. We will see what happens! She is beginning to hate going to the doctors, and I can't blame her! Everytime we hop in the van she tells me "no needles! No doctors!" So I have to reassure her that no we are just going to the grocery store etc. She is so sweet :) We love her so much! Nathan, Josh and Riley are of course worried and wanting to pray for Addison's liver every night, I keep trying to reassure them that it will all be ok.

The lord is my Shepard, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me, your rod and staff; They comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil. My cup overflows. Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

~Psalm 23~

Flying to China? And other stuff :)

2011-02-09T06:59:00.000-08:00

I had to share this quickly, I know the pictures aren't great and both the girls are in their PJ's with bedhead! But whatever!

They were coming home from China with their new babies! Addison started this pretend play, and Riley followed along :) Riley even made a makeshift baby sling with two of her scarfs! It so fun to listen in on their games :)

On another note, Howard was able to have Addison added to our extended medical with no questions asked! Thank you God!!!! And he will be coming home for the week Addy is in the hospital! Which is a huge relief because I didn't want to rely on friends to look after the kids for that week, as we also have to go to Montreal from March 6 - 10th for Nathan's treatment and specialist appointments. And may need their help then! Things are falling into place. (insert sigh of relief) Our family certainly doesn't want to be partaking in this new journey, however this is the path God has chosen for us to travel, so we will do so with trust in him and him alone :) And try to remember that when we are in the really tough parts :)

Questions upon Questions

2011-02-08T13:10:00.000-08:00

We have had a few questions as to why the medication will not be covered, well mostly politics! Addison was in the process of being added to our extended medical, however because we have started our own company, we only have 3 months of coverage left. I have been looking into other extended medical plans, but all of them have health questionnaires and will deny coverage for any existing conditions our prescriptions. Our best hope is if she can be admitted as an outpatient and the hospital covers the cost. I have talked to our GP and he said will have to push for that as she needs these injections. I must add though, we have had problems with that exact idea in the past with Nathan and his infusion, hence the reason we go to Montreal for treatment, not Edmonton or Calgary. The medication will be covered for sure, for the first week she will be admitted.

I guess what I know is, that God will provide our every need (not our every greed!) and as much as I trust he will provide, it still scares the heck out of me :) I guess that is me trying to take these problems and fix them on my own! Heh! I should probably stop doing that! Lol!

We have been told by both of our doctors that this is a condition that they have never dealt with, however they are consulting specialist's for instruction. So I guess we are the blind being led by the blind right now :) Right now I have more questions then they have answers for! I hope to have more conclusive information before we start Addison on this treatment.

I have to thank you all for the messages of encouragement on the blog, facebook, email and telephone! It means alot to us. It always humbles and amazes me, how everyday people can show Gods love through their hands!

Unexpected News From the Doctor.

2011-02-07T19:27:00.000-08:00

As I sit here and contemplate how I am going to write this post, I am looking for pictures to add and chuckling at all the comical faces my sweet girls can make.

Addison and I have returned home from our last doctors appointment, a little stunned and overwhelmed. We have just had word that her body is attacking her poor little liver.....which means in two weeks from now Addison will be admitted to the hospital to start 4 - 6 months worth of anti viral injections. She will need to stay in the hospital for the first week of injections to make sure she has no major adverse reactions to the medication. And then we will be able to do the injections as out patients (hopefully) and come home.

Our pharmacist has warned us this medication can cause hair loss, nausea, lack of appetite, lowered immune system, aggressive behaviour, and extreme exhaustion, during the beginning of the treatment, however (hopefully) her symptoms will improve as the treatment progresses. We have been warned that the treatment is extremely expensive, so we are praying she can receive treatment as an out patient so that the injections are covered. I know the Lord will provide a way for us to cover these treatments, yet to say its not a concern, would be an understatement!

Addison's pediatrician has told us that if we can't get control of this she could be looking at a liver transplant in the next couple years! That gave me a bit of a jolt, and I am not sure if I heard what he said after that, for a few minutes!

To say that I am shocked is an understatement! It was on our radar as an off chance that this could be an issue ( like 5% chance) from the tests the orphanage was testing her for. As I sit and type this I have moments of peace and trust that the Lord will carry Addison and our family through this, and then moments of such sorrow and anxiety.

Howard is still away working right now.....we have seen him for one day in the last 2o days. Our whole family misses him immensely! We are hoping that he will take leave and come home for that week Miss Addy is in hospital, so one of us can be with our other kids, however if the injection is not covered, he will remain away so we can swing it. Also Nathan broke his femur 10 days ago and hasn't been able to go to school since it has happened. So to say that I feel like we are going through a time of testing, would be a huge understatement!

In amongst this gloomy post, I must say....Our God is good, ALL THE TIME! He will hold us together and carry our family through this trial. I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that these trials and momentary struggles we must endure here on earth are preparing for us an eternal glory that far outweighs anything we can face on this earth! Am I weary? YES! Am I troubled? YES! but I know that God says that He uses ALL things for the good of those who loves him! And I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me!

You word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. ~ Psalms 119:105

The Lord is a good refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in him. ~Nahum1:7~

When you pass through the waters, I Will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fires you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the Lord, your God. ~Isaiah 43:1-3

Well my family, friends and bloggy friends if you believe in the power of prayer, our family would be humbled if you would lift our sweet Addison up in prayer. We are praying that this medication will heal her, that she will be 100% after this. That she will not succumb to the side effects of this medication and that she will be able to trust Howard and I as we guide, love and nurse her through this illness. Please pray for the rest of our family as well ( I think we may need it! lol!) Our other three kids will be quite concerned and I know this will be a trying time for them as well. I am hoping to have our laptop running at the hospital and will update you all, as we know things. We would like to make her stay as fun as possible. As we are only there in case she has a bad reaction, so if any of you have any ideas for entertaining a 2 year old who doesn't like t.v. Please, please, please message me in the next two weeks so we can prepare a hospital entertainment kit :)

"Cwazy Hair"

2011-01-29T09:44:00.000-08:00

Thats how she says it....."Cwazy Hair." I was bathing Miss Addison last night and we made a crazy hairstyle. Addison loves cwazy hair! She insisted on being taken out of the tub so she could look in the mirror. As she looked in the mirror she started to laugh and said "Cwazy hair, like Mama's!"

Sheesh! tell me how you really feel Addison!lol! Yes I have curly hair, but apparently in her little world It is indeed Cwazy! So I guess that makes me her Cwazy haired Mama! :)

We're Still Here

2011-01-28T10:01:00.000-08:00

Riley now has Addison's bug and is quite sick. So we are just trying to keep everyone comfortable and hang at home, which results in a truckload more housework for me :) We really haven't done anything that is interesting around here. Howard came home for 2 days and now he is gone again for 8 days. Nathan has been home with a "sore" femur. We have had some beautiful, exceptionally warm weather these past 5 days, so much so that I can see our grass in places. Although it is snowing as I type this. The big fluffy kind of snowflakes!

I am in the process of planning a trip to Orlando for our family, so that is helping this winter not seem so bad. We will be bringing Howard's mom with us, which will be really fun & certainly nice to have an extra adult. This will be our second trip to Orlando and this time we will be staying for 2 weeks. I have found a townhouse quite close to Disney and the boys are beyond excited to check out the Harry Potter theme park at Universal. We will be there over Riley's birthday and she is hoping to have lunch with Cinderella at the castle :)

So that is basically whats going on in our little world. Lots of just laying low. I'm still hoping the boys and I don't catch the bug the girls have. Hopefully my next post will be a little more exciting!

Moments when "it" hits you.

2011-01-23T10:28:00.000-08:00

Miss Addy is very sick. She has a ridiculously high fever and is listless. I have been enjoying cuddling and rocking her in our rocking chair, she just snuggles right in and dozes off and on, I think these last couple days I will remember always. She keeps on saying "wo ai ni, Mama" with so much trust and love that it nearly breaks my heart.

I was talking to someone on the phone, and they asked "Is she always like this when she's sick?"

Well I couldn't answer that, could I? I honestly don't know! This is the first time she has been truly sick, since she has come home! We don't know how often she gets sick, or how sick she truly gets because we have only known her for 6 months! And as I think of that it breaks my heart. When she got sick in China, was she cuddled, loved on, had her temperature checked regularly and given her favorite juice to drink? Did she get sick often? Did she feel loved and nurtured when she was sick? Or did she feel scared and abandoned? As we have been home longer and longer I struggle with these "trivial" questions. Isn't a mom supposed to know these things about her child? I usually laugh it off and say something silly to hide my horror at not knowing what my sweet little girl likes when she is sick, scared, in a new situation etc. But its not funny, its tragic. I only hope that I can be who she needs me to be. And that Howard and I can teach her to turn to the Lord for her every need, when we fail.

So I guess in this odd weird way, I am treasuring the fact that she is sick, and I can be her mom and nurture her through this sickness. We can learn what helps her when she is sick and what doesn't. And we can teach her through our actions, not just our words that our family truly does love her! I am amazed and in awe of how all the other kids want to help her, play toys while she lays on my lap, bring her sippee with water, read her stories, give her hugs and nurture her as much as I do. I can see the love and compassion they have for their little sister and it makes my heart sing. Especially with Riley, she has hardly left Addison's side. I have to say their relationship has been extremely rocky lately, so to see this encourages me that a special bond will be forged with these two girls who God meant to be sisters.

Snowed In!!!!

2011-01-20T16:29:00.001-08:00

I hope to post some pictures later, but the title says it all! We have been snowed it on and off since Sunday! I got stuck in our cul de sac trying to take the kids to school this morning, and was lucky enough to have neighbor push me back into my driveway!!! Needless to say we stayed home for the day :)

The best part of all of this snow (insert sarcasm) is that Howard is away, and will be away for almost another week. I think the snow piles on either side of our driveway are as tall as me! And I will have some wicked muscles from all the shovelling I have done in the last 5 days :)

My kids however think this is the best thing ever! Our temp even rose to +2!!! That never happens this time of the year! So they were out making snow forts and snowmen this morning before the wind really picked up. I need to remember to find the joy in all this white stuff. Its always so fun to watch as the kids scamper around and use their imaginations to build the biggest and best fort ever!

What do you all do?

2011-01-16T15:44:00.000-08:00

I am putting a question out there to the other families who have adopted from China or are waiting to adopt. What do you all do to celebrate Chinese New Years? I am quite looking forward to it, and want to be as authentic as possible, I am just wondering what are your traditions? I hope you all can give me a few ideas :)

In Christ Alone (Cover) - Owl City [Download Link]

2011-01-15T21:23:00.000-08:00

I am loving this cover of In Christ Alone! I could listen to it on repeat for hours :) Enjoy!

6 months today.

2011-01-12T15:05:00.000-08:00

As you can see colouring is a very serious pass time in our home!

One of the many silly faces our girl makes :)

6 months ago today we saw this little face up close and personal for the first time, this was the first time I got to hold my baby girl and cuddle with her, the first time I got to wipe away her tears, and see her smile. My how far we all have come in just 6 months! When we met it was instant, I knew.....she was meant to be our little girl, however now its deeper than that, its like I can't even begin to imagine what our lives would be like without her now. Our sweet girl brings so much laughter, joy and curiosity into our house. She can cut a mean rug! She has the most hilarious facial expressions and is such a compliant child. Oh and loud, the girl is LOUD!!!

Addison has had to learn and overcome so much in these 2.5yrs of life, yet she is still full of joy and songs. One of my favourite moments of the day is when I catch her singing along with Chris Tomlin to the song "Our God." She and Riley are still learning what it means to be a sister and have a sister. Its an everyday battle for who will "rule the roost" for these two girls! However I see glimpses of the love and compassion they have for each other, and trust it will take time for them to come to terms with their new roles in the family.

This 6 months have flown by and I can hardly believe she has been in our arms for that long! We feel beyond blessed to have her in our lives, and can't wait to see what the next 6 months bring for her and our family.

Snow.....Yep we've got it!

2011-01-08T09:29:00.000-08:00

We woke up to quite a dump of snow this morning. Riley she was in her glory! She loves the outdoors and is a huge help, she was the one that got our butts moving to go shovel our driveway after breakfast. The snow is still coming down so I expect she'll be really happy to go out again around 3PM and shovel for the second time today. I can't remember the last time we had a dump of snow like this, all at once. Its not so bad when its the weekend and you can just hunker down play games stay warm and keep the driveway clear. Addison likes being outside, however she gets mighty frustrated with the deep snow! Its cute to watch her.....trudge two steps, fall down, take 5 minutes to stand up, trudge two steps, fall down.....well you get the picture :) All I'm saying is Florida sounds mighty fine right now :)

What a week!

2011-01-07T20:03:00.000-08:00

This has been a week of getting back into the routine of regular life. We are back to clean eating and schedules, early to bed and early to rise.

Our big news for this week is that Howard is in the process of starting a business. I am so excited for him and what it will eventually mean for our family! He will still be doing the same thing (industrial electrician) however now he will sub contracting to the company he works for. The nature of the industry is that when its busy its crazy busy and that will remain the same, however we hope that within the next couple years that once summer hits Howard will be able to stay home for the whole time the kids are off school. That would allow us to travel to see our families and camp etc. So needless to say this was a week on the phone with our accountant, bank, insurance company, car dealership etc. It also mean I will be doing the book keeping and paperwork for our company. I look forward to the challenge and learning a new skill. Howard hopes to have his new truck up and running by the first of February.

The boys are falling back into the school routine fairly easily. Riley is struggling immensely! Almost everyday I leave her at Kindergarten she cries and we have to pry her hands off of my jacket, hand, neck etc. I thought we would be past this by now, however it has gotten worse since the holidays. For me as a mom it is heartbreaking to watch. Funny enough she loves school! She is fine seconds after I leave. I am not sure what to do with her... we have tried everything I can think of! This week we started a prayer box that she decorated herself, anytime she has a worry, she comes to us and we help her write a prayer on a piece of paper, she puts it in the box and the idea is she now has to let it go and give it to God. I am hoping maybe this will help. I have never met a child with such anxiety at such a young age. She tries to control everything....its so sad to watch. So if any of you have any ideas on how to help her I am open to suggestions!

Addison is doing well she seems to be happy as a clam, although she has certainly missed her brothers and sister this week. Addy also had another first this week......the first time swimming in a swimming pool! I know how lame that we are finally going swimming! She was quite apprehensive for the hour we were there, but you could tell she really wanted to let loose and have fun, and just wasn't sure if it was safe to do so. By the end of our session she didn't want to leave so we will certainly have to head back to the pool soon.

Happy New Year!

2011-01-01T11:29:00.000-08:00

2010 was a year that will go down in the history books of our family. It was a year our family grew from being a family of 5 to a family of 6. This was the year we met our precious daughter Addison face to face, and brought her home forever. It was a year of great adventure, for Howard and I. We travelled across the world, we learned to lean and trust in the Lord more than we ever had to in our lives. We learned the power of a whisper and the rewards in obeying His call far outweigh the "what ifs" and also that God has a incredible plan for ourlives, a role for each of us to play, and that He isn't finished with us yet! It was Riley's first year of Kindergarten, and we watched the boys grow and mature in leaps and bounds. My sister had her first baby a sweet little girl named Sydney. On the whole we had a year that was blessed beyond compare.

As we head into 2011, I look forward to it with excitement and hope. I was trying to plan out what the year would look like, and then I started thinking are these plans mine or Gods? I wonder what it is that God would have our family do this year? So this year I really have no clue what it will look like! We have some career paths that may change soon for Howard, and hopefully some family holiday's, but what else? I guess we can only wait and see!

I put together a little video of pictures of some of our favourite moments of 2010.....its LONG! So I don't feel bad if your not into watching it :) When I look at these pictures most of them leave a huge grin on my face, and it leaves me feeling thankful for all our family has been blessed with.

And because I love you friends, family, blogger friends and "lurkers" I pray the Lord will use you this year, may He write fantastic words in your story words that may terrify you if spoken to you today, words that He and only He would be powerful enough to speak into existence and faithful enough to see to fruition. I pray that you will be brave enough to obey His whispers and walk in the path He has made for you. I pray He blesses you and your family beyond your wildest dreams. This is also what I am praying for our family.

Christmas Day 2010

2010-12-29T12:19:00.000-08:00

Christmas morning started late at our house. And can't ever remember a Christmas morning we woke at 9:45 ever! But it sure was nice to sleep in! The biggest and best gift of the day was having all 4 of our children home with us, they are all happy and healthy. It was a wonderful morning and I had to keep pinching myself, we actually have 4 wonderful, beautiful, smart and loving children. Wow! So much love and excitement in one little house!

This is one of my favorite pics of Addison, as she started unwrapping her present from behind and had no clue what it was! Then she came around front to get a good look! Addison wasn't really into opening presents at first, she was happy to play with her Kai Lan toy she got the night before. However with some encouragement she got into the spirit!

This radio controlled car/truck was all Nathan could talk about for months....glad we were able to get our hands on it! the darn car/truck goes 50 km/h!!!! He has been having a blast with it out on the sidewalks :)

Josh loved R2D2...and I believe the droid is "guarding" his room as we speak! When I go in to put laundry away his alarm will go off! lovely!

Addison and her "nicey cream" there is no ice cream in our house! Just "nicey cream" Our girl is all about the pretend play. Anything to do with babies, shopping, cooking or cleaning our Addy girl loves it :)

Yet another Barbie for Miss Riley roo! Oh and the closest thing we could find to a french beret! Thanks alot Fancy Nancy! lol!

Nathan is all about the show Myth Busters! So my parents scored and ordered him some "Myths he could bust" We are really loving the marshmallow gun! lol!

We had a wonderful day. My parents arrived in the afternoon, and we had a great visit and turkey dinner, then we went for a walk to test out the new car Nate got, and a snowboard Josh received. It was a perfect low key kind of Christmas.

Christmas Eve 2010

2010-12-29T11:24:00.001-08:00

We had a lovely Christmas Eve this year. The day was a laid back lazy kind of day eating party food leftovers and getting ready for the Christmas Eve service....Unfortunately my Dad was really sick, so both him and my Mom were unable to come down on Christmas Eve, they did however join in the afternoon on Christmas day, and I will blog about Christmas day later!

Our family enjoyed the 4PM service at our church, and to be honest I had moments where I had a chin quiver and tears welled up in my eyes. To have all 4 of our children home with us and Addison nestled into my lap during most of the service is a precious memory I won't likely forget. The kids all were well behaved and enjoyed the candle light service. We headed straight home to make dinner and open a present before it got too late.

Here is Howard and the kids before church.

And the kids and I :)

Our 4 little munchkins!

Once we arrived home we were surprised to see that Santa had dropped in and left an early Christmas present for all the kids. This was the first present we have ever seen Addy open. She was very particular how she opened it!

And it took much concentration.

Sweet! New Jammie's for everyone! Although Nate is getting wise, as he asked don't we get PJ's every Christmas Eve? Hmmm you think? It only took you 11 years to realize it! lol!

We also let the kids open their gift from their siblings as we didn't have alot going on that night. I love this look on Addison's face...she was so excited to see "Ni Hao Super" that's what she calls all things Kai Lan.

Funny thing about this gift.....I grabbed it in September as it was on super discount.... well it is in French!!! Ha! So now our sweet girl is learning English and French! lol!

The boys picked out these Barbie's especially for Miss Roo! I thought it was sweet, I had no say in it and Howard let them each pick one for their little sis.

This year has been the year of, lets shake, feel, look, smell and figure out what the presents are. Especially for the boys. So they decided to "trick" each other and wrap their gifts in a "fooler" box, Josh got Crackers!

Whoops! Nope a video game :)

Nate got Lucky Charms!

Nope! Also the same video game!

After opening presents we played with our new toys and snuggled all of the kids into bed. Howard and I stayed up to ensure the boys were asleep, and watched the Nativity movie that came out a year or two ago. Neither of us had a chance to see it, and we both thought it was really well done. Once our movie was over we got to work! And stuffed stockings and brought out the presents. However our boys were still awake!!! That was about 12:30 AM! They were ushered back to bed and finally fell asleep, and wonder of all wonders slept in until 9:45 on Christmas morning! Hallelujah! More on that later!

Here are a couple pics of the girls before our party on the 23rd. They are sitting at the front door waiting for our guests! So cute!

My two little helpers making punch.

Riley wanted me to curl her hair, so while Addy was napping we set up a salon in my ensuite complete with hot chocolate for my client. She sat really still for the whole process and we chatted and had a grand old time. Here is a picture of her hair once we were finished.

I will blog later about Christmas day. Hopefully :)

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-24T08:27:00.000-08:00

Well we survived the party, as did my house! And had a wonderful time visiting with good friends. I have more leftover food than I know what to do with! And the kids had a blast. Addy kept saying after each guest would leave " No night-night!" She just wanted to stay up and party all night long!

Our family hopes you have a very Merry Christmas! And that you all have a chance to spend some quality time with your families. Thats what we plan on doing.

3 more sleeps!

2010-12-22T19:03:00.000-08:00

Well we are pretty much done! All we need is the turkey and then I am finished! Yay! Tomorrow night we are having a party, and I am quite looking forward to it. Although there will be something like 20 kids so that should get good and wild! lol!

My Mom and Dad will be heading over to our place on the 24th for a couple days of fesitivies. My sister's family however will be sadly missed. I must say, that now that I am a aunt it is harder to be away from our extended family, Sydney is already 4 months old and I haven't even met her yet!!!

Finally I had to share what Josh said to me today as it was hysterical!!! So on my wish list was a pair of Frye equestrian boots. I really didn't think Howard would even consider them as they are quite pricey. But boy how a girl can dream :) Anyways Josh says to me today "Mom you know those boots you really wanted?" I reply "yes." Josh continues " You know, the stir fry boots? They were all sold out. Sorry" My response as I am laughing so hard I am trying not to pee my pants is. " Its ok sweetie, I really didn't need stir fry boots!" As my kids get older I hear less and less of these faux pas, and they are so darn sweet!

Heres to hoping your "stir fry" boots aren't sold out :)

How Many Kings?

2010-12-21T08:40:00.000-08:00

The song that is playing in the background is one of my favourite Christmas songs. It makes me want to cry and shout for joy all at the same time! lol!

How many kings stepped down from their throne?
How many lords have abandoned their home?
How many greats have become the least for me?
How many Gods have poured out their hearts to romance a world that was torn all apart?
How many Fathers have gave up their son for me?
Only one did that for me.

~Downhere~

That is truly what this blessed holiday is about! Thank you God for coming into this broken world for me! I pray I can teach my kids the true meaning of Christmas, despite all the consumerism that is around us!

Missing Our Rooey Girl!

2010-12-12T00:13:00.000-08:00

Our Riley-roo went off to my mom's place today, to stay for a couple days....and I am already missing her! Pathetic I know! She was so excited to go and stay with Grandma and she told me about all the many things they are going to do in the next few days! I know she is going to have a blast and the time will fly for her! She was so sweet! As I was waving good bye and blowing kisses to her in the driveway, I could see her little chin quiver and she was trying with all her mite not to cry!!! She loves my Mom alot, probably even more than me!!! However Miss Roo really has a hard time with good byes. I almost got choked up when she was all misty eyed! Even though I knew she was in good hands and would probably forget all about me within minutes :) Funny how our kids can get us like that!

While she is gone I will be finishing my Christmas shopping with Miss Addy in tow, and this next week is the busiest one leading up to the big day! I think we have some sort of event everyday this week except for Monday and Friday! My big goal is to focus and enjoy on one day at a time :)

Hurray only 5 days of school left until Christmas holidays!!!! I know many families countdown the days until their kids go back, not me! I love having everyone under the roof. I love spending the morning hanging out and making pancakes for the kids. I love not having to be anywhere at a specific time, and I find the holiday's are the best time of the year for those lazy mornings :) Hope you all have a splendiferous (we have been reading too much Fancy Nancy!) week :)

23, 22, 21,19 Days until Christmas Advent

2010-12-06T19:41:00.000-08:00

O.k we were so busy having fun with these activities I hardly had time to post ;)

23 - Josh's famous Candy Cane Hot Chocolate ~ 1 after 8 chocolate in bottom of cup with hot cocoa mix, hot water, a little milk, stir with a candy cane and top with whip cream! Yum-o!

22- Family fun dinner at Trina & Vince's ~ we had a blast! Good food & fun times.

21- Set up kids Christmas tree! ~ they had a blast and I watched from the sidelines ;)

20- Tobogganing! Riley was in her glory! First time tobogganing this year!

19- Today we made Chocolate Peppermint cookies for the school carnival on Thursday.

I wish I had pictures of each of these events, but I don't! I am going to try harder to snap a couple quick pics of each activity from here on out.

Blood work

2010-12-06T11:44:00.000-08:00

So I have been putting off having Addison's blood work done. I know bad mom! Our doctors weren't too concerned, so they said wait until she had settled in a bit. Today was the day....and it didn't go so well. I expected tears and crying, what I didn't expect was that it would take 6 "pokes" to get a vein so they could get the blood! And then they could only get 4 of the 6 viles filled! Blood work isn't something I even think twice about as we do it lots with Nate, but poor Addison was very very upset for hours after, we snuggled and talked and bought a Kai Lan toy, she had her favorite thing for lunch and still she was a mess all she wanted to do was be carried around. I was glad I chose today and not a day when Riley was home because my sweet little Miss needed ALOT of extra attention this morning :) which I was only more than happy to give. I will wait a while to get the other 2 blood tests done, and hopefully it will go much better next time!

Oh and how cute it that picture!?! It was the face I saw just about all morning today. Its a face we know well around here :) We see it usually when we say "No Addison you can't eat candy all day." I had to keep that picture around because it is just so gosh darn cute ;)

Advocating!!!

2010-12-04T08:53:00.001-08:00

O.k. this sweetest little girl is looking for a forever family! She is described as having the sweetest personality. Her agency "given" English name is Sadie. Sadie has osteogenesis imperfecta (brittle bone disease) and has had a few fractures when she was a baby, however she hasn't had any in a very long time. Her nannies love her, but they treat her like glass so she isn't allowed to play with the other kids or learn how to walk. She is on the shared list and is 3 yrs old. I am praying we find her a family. I wish it was mine however I think not, Addison just needs more time adjusting, as do we :) If you are interested in Sadie email me! khmervyn@telus.net Oh how my heart breaks for her! Sadie deserves to see the world and not sit in a crib all day out of fear, she needs love and medication to strengthen her bones, she needs a Mom and a Dad! I know brittle bone disease sounds scary......and sometimes it can be, however the joy and love Nathan has brought to our lives sure outweighs the hard hospital times. I would love to mentor anyone who is interested in adopting a child with O.I. I don't know everything about the disease, but I have had 11 years experience in the trenches. If you are a fellow blogger I would ask you to consider posting her picture or linking this post you can even add my email. I am passionate about finding Sadie a home. O.k. I am now stepping off my soap box :)

Love This Boy!

2010-12-03T07:06:00.000-08:00

Gosh this picture captures Nathan's spirit, in everyway, when I look at it, it makes my heart sing! Oh how I love this boy!

24 Days: Make a Christmas Puzzle!

2010-12-01T15:56:00.000-08:00

So I have decided to do family focused activities for our Christmas advent calendar. I am really excited to do these activities and hope the kids will really enjoy them. Today was make a Christmas puzzle. We had fun.....it was a 100 piece puzzle from the dollar store, soooo it wasn't well made! lol! And alot of pieces could fit in several places!!! For real! It had the boys very frustrated, and Riley stormed off more than once when the piece she thought fit perfectly really didn't! Oh well, this is the stuff memories are made of :) It was really nice to do something with all of the kids and not have them all off in their separate spaces. Addison even found a couple pieces place, so I would say this activity was a success! Good thing too, because I have another Christmas puzzle to do later in our advent calendar :)

On a side note, I have never had any of my children go through the "why?" stage.........that was until Addison! "but mommy, whyeeee?" It really is so darn cute! And is something I will have to try and get a video of :) Oh, I am certainly trying to get a video of Addison "singing" Santa baby!

fingers crossed there, she definitely only performs when SHE feels like it :)

Santa Baby

2010-11-30T08:56:00.001-08:00

What is Addison's favourite Christmas carol right now?.....well its not O Holy Night, Little Drummer Boy or something meaningful like Silent Night......neither is it Jingle Bells, Frosty the Snowman or Rudolph the Red nose Reindeer. My silly willy girls favourite Christmas carol is, yep you guessed it Santa Baby by Marilyn Monroe!!! Does that make me a bad mom!?! lol! Is that even appropriate!?! Either way it gets stuck in both Addison's and my head.....well the chorus does anyways. And it is the cutest thing I have heard, listening as she walks around the house singing "Santa baby hurry Addison's chimney tonight"

The weekend before last we were at the mall and Santa was in his chair. I pointed him out to Addy as we walked past, and was quite curious to see her reaction. Well Miss Addy got the biggest smile on her face, started waving like her life depended on it and in the loudest sweetest sing song voice she said "HI SANTA!" over and over and over again :) Whats so funny about this is that Riley is terrified of Santa. She was mortified and was doing her best to hide behind Howard! You could see the wheels turning in her head......"Why is Addison doing that! Oh gosh don't let him notice me! If he notices me I might puke! Oh Dad please save me! Get me outta here!" All years prior to this we could not even walk past centre court without Riley getting really upset! So this was a huge step for her! Needless to say we didn't do pictures with the Jolly fellow. And if you ask Addison if she wants to sit on his knee for a picture she shakes her head adamantly and says "No! Santa sit on Addison's knee!" Now that would be a picture to see :)

A Sweet Sunday

2010-11-28T14:41:00.000-08:00

Today was one of those days that so rarely happen when you have 4 kids. Our morning went so smoothly, we made it to church on time and then both the girls went to their classes and stayed the whole service! This is the second sermon I have been able to listen to since June! So I was very grateful that Addison was happy to stay for her second time by herself! She had fun, and hardly wanted to leave when the service was over :)

Right now both the boys are at friends houses. Riley and I have just finished making a batch of buns and the pot roast is in the oven for supper. Addison awoke from her nap with smiles and giggles and the girls are playing "kitchen."

We have had another mini dump of snow so its a perfect day to stay inside and cuddle up with some tea and a good book while we wait for dinner to be ready. This is what I envisioned when I first started having kids......enjoying, teaching and relishing in them and their little ways. To consider it a honor and not a job to help and provide for them. Sometimes that all gets lost in the running around and getting things done. When days come along like this it reminds me of how blessed I am to be these kids Mom!

Smile!?!

2010-11-25T19:49:00.000-08:00

O.k. so I said "SMILE" and this is what I got!!! Ha! This little munchkin sure makes me laugh! She is so cheeky and such a ham! If she gets one little giggle out of any of us, she is really hamming it up, so she can turn that giggle into full on laughter!

Also I know I said I would take some pictures of the tree, however the stinkin bloody cat keeps climbing into the darn tree and knocking out Christmas ornaments!!!! Hence the "holes" in my tree! That cat may just turn into a hat!!! I am totally kidding! Well not about him climbing the tree....just the hat part! We love you Bluey! Even if you wreck my special tree :)

Things are busy around here, Howard is back to his crazy work schedule I think by Sunday this week he will have worked 90 hrs in 7 days.....does that mean he gets next week off? Nope! He gets to do it all over again until Christmas Eve! Well thats what he has warned me. How am I feeling about it? We won't go there tonight!!! This too shall pass. Im Thankful he has a job he loves, and dreaming of a Carribean vacation this Spring (hopefully)

We are ramping up for our Holiday traditions, and I am still working on the whole advent calendar activity idea.....I have plenty of ideas, however I need to remain realistic with what we can do on weekdays and how much energy I will have with Howard gone so much. I know I may have to let some things go....however there are traditions and activities I really don't want to give up. I really hope my kids to remember the holidays and some of our traditions when they are adults, although I don't want them to recall their Mom being some frazzled stressed out freak because she wasn't realistic! And bit off more than she could chew! lol! I guess I will have to have it all figured out by December 1st!

Happy Thanksgiving to all my American Friends!

Addy's first play in the snow

2010-11-23T08:11:00.001-08:00

So this picture is just as we stepped outside, Addison thought it was quite fun, and I was outside to shovel the walkways and driveway, so she felt safe. Addy was quite happy to run around for the first few minutes......

Hmmmm this was Addy about 15 minutes after we came outside! It was only about -10C (14F) however that was too much for our little miss :)

Then today we woke up and started getting the boys ready for school, and I noticed our furnace was running alot. So I decided to quickly check the current temperature.....well at 8AM it was -30C feels like -39C with the windchill!!! For my American friends with the windchill it was -38.2 Fahrenheit!!!! That is when I started asking myself why the heck do we live here!?! Really I mean I had running around to do this morning.....that is obviously postponed for another day! And hauling Nates wheelchair out at the school......well we won't even go there! On these days I certainly miss living on Vancouver Island, I even miss the constant rain, wind and grey when its this cold! Luckily I was able to drop Nate off at the jr high doors, Josh off by his portable and the girls and I headed home. So I didn't have to haul Addison out in this ridiculous weather! We are looking forward to the high of zero they are calling for later in the week :) I know Howard certainly is, because he is working outside in this! Here's hoping that you, my friends are all warm and cozy!

12 Years

2010-11-21T13:39:00.000-08:00

12 years ago today, Howard and I chose each other and were married. It seems like just yesterday that we were newly weds. Sigh, how the years seem to fly by!

I am so ridiculously blessed! I may not blog about Howard all that often, but I certainly won the prize when he chose me to be his wife. Howard is the most patient and selfless person I have ever met, I can't think of a time when he has ever put himself before those he cares about. He treats me like a queen, and I have to say I hardly deserve it! We are bestfriends and he is my most favourite person in the whole wide world.

Marriage isn't always easy, it is certainly about choices. Choosing to love and put someones needs above your own, choosing to stay when things are tough, choosing to compromise when you really don't want to and choosing to make lemonade with lemons instead of dwell in the negative.

Howard I chose you 12 years ago......and yet still today, I choose you! I am honored to be called your wife, and grateful that you are my bestfriend. Thanks for being you, the man the I love and cherish. The father of our children, our provider and my confidant. I can't even imagine what life would be like without you. Here's to another 60 years of choosing each other :)

Show Hope Short Term Trips

2010-11-20T20:28:00.000-08:00

I was so excited to get an email about Show Hopes short term mission trips! I hope that within the next 2 years Howard or I and the boys can go over to China and make a difference. Check out the video....who knows maybe God is whispering for you to show a special child some hope!?!

But Baby its Cold Outside!

2010-11-15T11:16:00.000-08:00

So the weather man keeps saying its going to get cold tomorrow, and snow....and then we wake up and its still mild! So Addison and I decided instead of exercising in the basement, we would get out and take advantage of this mild weather. Well I consider it mild, Addy she just thinks Im nutso for bringing her out in the frigid morning :) I have said it before, and will probably say it again.....I don't know how she is going to survive our Canadian winters! She hates even the tiniest hint of cool! I am sure we will be layering and bundling our little Hubei Honey!

This is the "lake" in our subdivision. I always get a kick out of what they call a lake in Alberta! To me this is a pond. I guess being raised on Vancouver Island has spoiled me a bit! It is starting to freeze over.

Oh! There is that tongue again! Jill I don't think its chapped lips.....I think its just sauciness:)

Oh how my sweet little girl makes me smile and laugh!

Lets just say when we got home Addison was VERY happy to cuddle up in my lap and sip on a hot chocolate! She was such a trooper though. And enjoyed the fresh air even though it was a little cold for her liking.

Oh Christmas tree

2010-11-14T19:59:00.000-08:00

Ok seriously what is with the tongue!?! That is the new thing at our house! I can't remember the last time Addison didn't have her tongue sticking out :)

Addison had fun helping decorate the upstairs tree. And if I am being honest and keeping it real; This year was not what past years have been......with Riley being so sick. And lets be honest crabby (not that I blame her), Josh was really really hyper and Nathan just wanted to go to his cave (his bedroom in the basement) I was feeling a little disappointed in our decorating day. And really only got a couple pictures of Addison during the process. Oh well once December hits we'll get a fresh tree for the family room and the kids can go wild with it, and maybe just maybe everyone else will be up for the fun :)

I think the highlight of the evening was when Riley brought out an animated dancing Santa and she and Josh had Addy dancing around the house. It was quite the show! My Mom, Howard and I had a good laugh at their "fancy" moves!

My Mom has now gone back home, and its just us here at home. We are falling back into our routine sans Grandma and we all miss her a bit. I will post some pictures of the tree in a couple days once I am finished with it :) I am looking forward to a week of house cleaning and Christmas shopping. I am also looking for a way our whole family can serve this holiday season....if any of you who follow have some great ideas for a family with kids between the ages of 2-11yrs old, they would be greatly appreciated. Another idea I have been toying around with is doing a holiday activity advent calendar. Where each day would have an activity, not a chocolate. Some of the ideas I have come up with were build a gingerbread house, go ice skating, experience Bethlehem live, build a holiday puzzle, make snowman pizzas etc. I think it would be a fun way of really connecting as a family and creating some more holiday memories. The more I think about this project the more I like it :) And I think it would be fun to blog each day! Whoa! That might be signing up for alot! lol! Stay tuned to see what I come up with!

I know its early but......

2010-11-11T16:00:00.000-08:00

This weekend is the weekend we set up the Christmas decorations!!! Yay! I love this time of year. And many of you may think I am CRAZY! However if I don't do it this weekend we just get too darn busy with the seasons festivities and merriment. We (I) like to enjoy the process and take my time enjoying the kids reactions and memories of Christmas past. We always have "finger foods" and Josh makes his extra special secret peppermint hot chocolate. My Mom is here and so she gets to partake as well.....and yes she thinks we (me) are a little nutty :) This year will be the first year we have 2 trees, one in the sitting room and one for the kids downstairs. I am really looking forward to the "Mom" tree as I have been collecting trinkets for the sitting room tree for a couple weeks now :) I will post pictures in a couple days, and really hope it turns out how I am picturing it in my head. I am so looking forward to Addy's first Christmas at home! She is learning all about Frosty the Snowman, Santa Claus and of course the birth of our Saviour Jesus Christ!

I know I have been absent from this little blog, yet again. However my lil Miss Riley-roo had a rip roaring ear infection and it came to a head last night when her eardrum burst....poor little angel! We are blessed to have a wonderful doctor who does after hours calls and he fixed her up with some antibiotics and she is now on the mend. So hopefully I'll be back to regular posting!

My Cup Overflows

2010-11-02T22:39:00.000-07:00

One of the first pictures we saw of Addison in April.

Addison in October.

I have been pondering many things in this last week....like why my family has been so blessed? God chose this sweet little Addison for us and He knew she was the perfect fit for our family! As I checked on her tonight as she slept, I felt as though my heart would burst with all the love I have for my sweet little girl. I thought of all the changes Addison has experienced in these last (almost) 4 months. And tried to place myself in her shoes.... two years old passed off to complete strangers that look different, speak a completely different language and I have no way of knowing if I can trust them not to harm me! My heart aches to think of the turmoil she has gone through and will continue to go through as she truly learns to trust Howard and I. Also I am thankful that Howard and I are not doing this alone and can rely on a loving, powerful and all knowing God to lead us as we parent not only Addison but all our children. Trusting He loves them even more than I could! As I look back at some of the referral photos of Addison I see that she now looks healthier and seems to have a light in her eyes, that just wasn't there before. We see her opening up and trusting us more as she comes to acknowledge and accept our daily routine, she seems to really love our weekday schedule she knows what comes next and now quite often keeps me on track :) I love her more than words can explain she is so very precious to me. I am so grateful that God whispered to us, and we chose to listen, obey, and not make excuses out fear of the unknown. Addison fills a hole in our family we didn't know even existed! I think I will forever be amazed by how God still speaks to us even in this day and age!

You prepare a feast for me in the presence of my enemies. You honor me by annointing my head with oil. My cup overflows with blessings. Psalms 23:5

Addison's First Halloween at Home!

2010-11-01T14:47:00.000-07:00

This Halloween was a little crazy around here! Somehow I agreed to organizing a 2.5 - 5yr old costume party at our church on Sunday with penny carnival games, crafts, photos of the kids in their costumes, cookie decorating and supper! We all had fun serving and the last of our attendees left by 5:15Pm. We rushed home to put some warm clothes under the kids costumes and get a quick picture and then the kids were off and running/wheeling to our neighbors homes. As you can see from the pictures below the girls were a little distracted by the other kids in our cul de sac.

Addison figured trick or treating was the best thing ever invented! And would quietly say "trick or treat for candy!" at each door. It was way too cute:) We also trick or treated with Trina and her 4 kids......I missed it but apparently a young Mom of one toddler looked a little astonished by our 8 kids and she kept on counting trying to figure out whose kids were whose! Trina and I had a good little chuckle about that! We are so very grateful that it was +10C and there was no rain! Yay! It maybe the first Halloween ever in GP without snow or freezing rain! lol! Nathan was frustrated that he couldn't keep up with older kids but was happy stick with Addison:)

Enjoy the pictures below Nathan was an Ipod, Josh a Ninja, Riley a princess and Addison was a fairy princess.

My Girls and I

2010-10-30T07:11:00.000-07:00

Before Addison came home Riley and I use to have a date once a month, and we would go to Starbucks for "Coffee" and breakfast, after we dropped the boys of for school on a Friday morning. It is something we always looked forward to, just the two of us. We would go to Riley's favorite location (one looking out on Bear Creek walking trails) sometimes the trees would be full of leaves, or full of snow, or full of beautiful orange leaves. And we would find two cozy comfy chairs in the window and enjoy the view and have a lovely conversation over breakfast.

Well Riley brought up how much she missed that.....and really so have I, so I suggested that we go with Addison as well. Riley loved the idea and off we went yesterday morning. This location is usually really quiet in the morning at 9AM, you mostly see people in the drive thru or running in for coffee on their way to work, so we basically had the whole place to ourselves. We all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves Riley was thrilled that we got her favorite seats, and Addison loved watching the cars go by through the window, I, well I enjoyed watching my girls. Sometimes I forget to see things through their eyes. Riley was trying to "be and adult" with her legs crossed and a napkin in her lap. Addison was in awe that her hot chocolate came in a "coffee cup" just like Mom's. They were perfect little ladies. We enjoyed the beauty of all the leaves that are now mostly on the ground and talked about what we had to do that day. It was a magical little moment where both the girls got along and didn't interrupt each other for my attention. It was as close to perfect as one can hope for. I now look forward to this monthly date with my girls:)

Here are some more pictures of the girls from our sneak peek of the photo session we had a few weeks ago, I can't wait to see them all a pick a few shots for canvasses!

X ray Results

2010-10-28T11:54:00.000-07:00

I have never been so happy to hear that Nathan has another fracture! Yep, Nate some how fractured his femur quite high up near his hip, however it didn't break all the way through the bone just part way, to where his rod is. The rod doesn't appear to be shifting (Yay!) Our Nate boy will have to take it easy for at least a week, and then we will have him Xrayed again. The rod is doing its job, so we don't really need to immobilize it......not sure how trick or treating will go? As long as it doesn't rain he could ride in his wheelchair. So we will hope for NO SNOW :) I am so very, very thankful that this wasn't something more serious! I didn't even want to imagine how we would cope with him having surgery, as Nate's surgeon is across the country in Montreal! There is no way we could bring all the kids, and finding childcare for 3 kids for 3 weeks is a little daunting to say the least! Thank the Lord this is nothing I need to think about right now :) Also I am so ridiculously grateful for my dear friend Trina, she took my girls twice in the last 3 days so I could focus on Nathan and his appointments. This was the first time I have left Addison with someone, and it all worked out well! Yay! Thanks Trina for being such a wonderful, special, amazing friend!

Doctor Called

2010-10-27T15:04:00.000-07:00

So the doctors office called on my way out to get the kids from school. They couldn't get Nathan in this afternoon to see the doctor, so we are to head in first thing tomorrow morning as the doctor wants too see him. All I am going to say is the only other time the doctor wanted to "see" us first thing the next morning, was when they finally figured out Nathan's diagnosis. I am a little worried.....however this is a new doctor, so maybe it is nothing? Really worrying won't change anything. I just keep thinking don't let it be surgery, because that is really not conducive to attaching and bonding with our lil Miss Addy! We will find out tomorrow, I pray its nothing....or a microfracture, please,please don't let it be the rod! God knows all and sees all, so I trust in Him to lead us through whatever might happen tomorrow. It will be nice to take a look at the X ray and see whats going on with that leg.

On a lighter note I sure am loving these pictures! The first one is when the boys asked our photographer "can you take a picture of our light saber battle?" When Nathan saw this photo this morning he said "Saweet, you definitely have to blow that one up Mom!" I had a good little chuckle, boys will be boys! The second picture I think is just too sweet, Nate and Josh are bestfriends I hope they will stay that way their whole lives. The boys have such a tight bond, sometimes we hate to have friends over because it actually causes more fights, as then one of them is left out!

Sneak Peek of Kids Pictures

2010-10-27T06:18:00.001-07:00

I'll do a post latter and add some more of the pics! Thanks Dara I am loving them :)

Nathan's Gift & X-Ray

2010-10-26T11:50:00.001-07:00

Last Friday was Jersey day at school. Nathan had planned on wearing one of Josh's Hockey Jerseys. When we arrived at school Nate's teacher pulled me aside and whispered "A teacher on staff wanted to give this jersey to Nathan as a gift, and they would like to do so anonymously." Nathan was so very excited! We don't really follow hockey until the Stanley Cup finals, however if you were to ask Nathan what his favorite team was. He would say Calgary. This gift truly made his day! And had me a little weepy. How do you thank someone who would wish to remain anonymous? Our family is so blessed with a wonderful school full of amazing staff. I wish I could thank this person for making my boys day, and surprising him!

On another note. Nate has been suffering from some hip/femur pain for the last few weeks. Howard made sure they Xrayed him in Montreal, and we were suppose to hear back from Nathan's orthopedic surgeon with the results. We have not. I didn't really expect to unless it was serious. However for the last two days he could hardly walk and we have been medicating him around the clock. This morning we made the decision to have another set of Xrays done and see if something is wrong with his rod in that femur. I hope to hear back from the doctor today. I also put a call in to the ortho and physio in Montreal. We are seeing him unable to do things he was once able to do, and he is spending an awful lot of time in his wheelchair. It tears my heart up to see him suffering in pain, and not being able to keep up to even his 2 yr old sister when she runs. I just want to fix him, and make it all better. I think the hardest part is not knowing what is causing this setback. I find that the not knowing what is wrong creates alot of anxiety. If it were broken we could address that, but constant pain with no diagnosis is frustrating. I strongly believe no Mom should ever have to watch their child suffer, however we live in a broken world and many of us do. I cling to the hope that one day Nathan will get to heaven and he will be able to run fast and be pain free, he won't have a limp and nobody will make fun of him. And I will be their to celebrate and rejoice with him. I also rely on prayer, that God hears me as I cry out to him and ask for healing of just even the pain Nathan is suffering from these last few days. There are days when I feel I can handle all that osteogenesis imperfecta can throw at us, and then there are days when I feel as broken and overwhelmed as the day Nathan was diagnosed. Today is one of those broken and overwhelmed days, however I know that God is with us right now and knows my every fear for Nathan. So that is what I will choose to focus on.

Faith is being sure of what we hope for, and certain of what we do not see. Hebrews 1:11

We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28

How do they know?

2010-10-25T11:38:00.000-07:00

Its been snowing on and off since Friday night. We are in that in between stage where it won't really stick because its too warm, yet it is cold enough to snow. I am not sure if Addison has ever experienced snow before...another thing that makes a Mom feel odd (wondering if snow is a new experience for her 2.5yr old!) Anyways on Saturday morning when we woke up, there was still snow on the ground and enough to just cover the grass, all the kids wanted to go out and play in the yard, so after 30 minutes of suiting everyone up, out they went. Addison took one look at the snow and panicked! Poor thing! She watched the kids make mini snowballs from the window inside, and was very happy to be warm :0)

This morning I had some running around and it was snowing again. Those big kind of fluffy flakes. Well I don't know if its innate in all children, but Addy knew to stick out her little tongue and catch them! Her giggle and amazement was so heart warming! I had to just stop in the middle of the parking lot and enjoy watching her delight in the tasty snowflakes.

This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it ~Psalms~ 118:24~

Kyla's 3rd Birthday!

2010-10-22T20:04:00.000-07:00

Our sweetest most favorite Kyla had her 3rd Birthday this week, and Kristin had Addison, Riley and one other friend over to celebrate today. She had a dress up tea party, where the girls enjoyed crackers & cheese, juice, necklace making and cupcakes. We love,love,love Kyla! I feel like she is my niece, I want wonderful amazing things for her life. It was so amazing for us to travel with our friends Jon & Kristin to China, and meet our daughters on the exact same day in different Provinces. I believe it is a connection our families will have forever. Kyla is doing so well at home. She and Addison are such huge blessings to both of our families.

Mmmm! Cupcakes! I think this was a first for Addison (the whole birthday party thing) She seemed quite amazed by it all.

Our fashionista Riley, I think I forgot to mention yesterday how many outfits a day this girl seems to be going through right now! I am praying its a phase :)

Addy checking out her "neck aaa lis" (necklace) She was quite proud of this little craft.

Our two little China girls making crafts, Addy was checking out how it was done, Kyla is pro at this! Kristin and I had a good laugh at the matching halloween dresses the girls ended up in. Really it wasn't planned :)

The girls had a wonderful time, however Addison was a little sad to give up her present to Kyla :) She wanted to keep it for herself! I will have to make note of that and pick the same set up for her, for Christmas.

Grandma's Visit

2010-10-21T13:24:00.001-07:00

My Mom was here to visit for a few days, now that they are living in FSJ for the year they are only 2 hours away! So we will be enjoying monthly visits from my Mom and hopefully my Dad. Although he is very busy with the shut down at Canfor.
Anyways I was really happy to see my Mom, because I struggle with my weight....I have since I had Nathan, and for some reason I have totally fallen off the wagon! Its not that I don't know how to eat clean and exercise. I truly do, and had excellent examples of a healthy lifestyle growing up. There is just some disconnect for me.....maybe I feel like its too much trouble to look after myself, although typing that makes me shake my head! So my Mom helped me to really get back on track! I have been back to the eating clean for the last 5 days, and I am starting to feel a little better. Also while my Mom was here we made sure we got out for some cardio exercise everyday. The pictures below are from one of our walks. As you can see it has gotten cold here. It was -4 yesterday morning and we had to bundle Addy up in her snowsuit. She was still cold! Poor little girl....this weather is nothing compared to January weather!

Grandma and her girls! Both Riley and Addison love my Mom! They love the extra time she has for them. I think that is the special thing about Grandparents, they get what is really important, and have the time to really pour into their grandchildren. I know my Grandma's were the same way with me as my Mom is with my girls. Grandma's and Grand daughter's there is just some very special bond.

Haha! You can see that we live in a new neighborhood! Our neighbors haven't sodded their yard yet!

Also this week I started on the 2nd chapter of a book that a group of ladies and I are getting together to chat about every Thursday morning. Today there were 4 of us, and it was really good for me! The book is one I have read before and blogged about it is called Waking the Dead by John Eldridge. I think all of us this morning had some "aha" moments! And I came to realize how passionate I am about other believers taking the time to feed their souls through God's word. So that they can live more fully for the Lord, and in turn feed and lead others to Christ. I am so blessed to have some wonderful women who are also passionate about the Lord in my life to support and encourage me. Right now I am unable to fully be "there" for our church services, because I have the cutest 2 year old to ease into her new life. We still attend every Sunday, however I am not getting much from the message. With this in mind I have come to realize how important it is for me to take responsibility for my own spiritual growth, with quiet time, reading my bible, prayer, book studies and service. I am just so grateful to have other women to encourage and hold me accountable!

The kids are all doing well. Addison's English and understanding of the English language astounds me almost daily. I can truly say I almost forget what life without her was like. She brings such laughter, joy and a lightness to our family, how did we survive without this? I haven't seen her be overly aggressive in quite some time, which is huge! Espically for Riley! She is counting to 10 in English and knows many of her body parts. Addy's appetite is what I would consider normal. She eats almost everything put in front of her and knows to stop when she is full. Things feel so "normal" sometimes I forget she was only adopted into our family 3 months ago! Riley is getting use to having a little sister, I think she was always meant to be an older sibling, as she is certainly a nurturer. She loves going to Kindergarten and learning, although she is very tired the rest of the week! Joshua is enjoying school. He is still struggling with his language arts skills, and that is hard for a Mom to deal with. I feel like we have tried everything! He excels in Math and Science, but Reading is just tough for him! This year we are really focusing on Joshua's organizational skills. What was that? Did I hear you more experienced Mom's laughing at me? I know it maybe a battle that I won't win, but I want to at least help him with those skills :) Nathan is liking school. He seems to be doing well in most of his subjects. Nathan won the position of Vice President of his student council for the whole elementary school. He has been busy with preparing a PowerPoint presentation on the schools world vision sponsor child and planning various fundraisers and schools activities. I am really proud of him! This is something he can really do, and not be held back because of his disability! He is a gifted encourager and leader, and does a great job of public speaking.

Well my short little post became a novel! I have missed blogging! And following the other blogs that I so love. We have a busy next couple weeks coming up. Howard maybe looking at some changes at work, I am overseeing a 3-6yr old Harvest Party at our church, a trip to my sisters (hopefully) and many kids activities. I will really work at keeping my lil blog updated :0)

This & That

2010-10-17T19:05:00.000-07:00

So we have been a bit busy. Busy doing what you ask? Well.....I'm not quite sure! However it translates into very little time for blogging!
We booked Fall pictures of the kids last week, and I am really excited to see how they turn out. We loved our photographer, and the kids had a blast! Below is a picture of Josh as we waited for our photographer to meet us at the turn off to my best friends farm....needless to say he wasn't very excited for pictures, or waiting:0)

I have been cooking up a storm! It has cooled off here significantly. So we have been enjoying soups and stews. Yum-o! Here is a the best darn stew I have ever made with whole wheat buns. This is the link for the recipe. I changed it a bit I used a Shiraz instead of Burgundy and I added some flour to thicken at the end.
www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/the-ultimate/beef/stew-recipe2/index-html

Riley and Addison were my helper girls for our Thanksgiving dinner. We had a Roast instead of the traditional turkey on Sunday night, with just the 6 of us, then on Monday we had an amazing turkey dinner with Jon and Kristin (our friends who travelled to China with us for their adoption)

Here is our Sassy Addy not a very good quality picture, however it captures her personality perfectly :0)

Things are going well here. And I will be sure to share our Fall pictures on the blog once I get them.

Airplanes

2010-10-08T08:21:00.000-07:00

I don't think I mentioned this to anyone when we arrived home. However last night when I was laying down with Addy at bedtime, an airplane flew over our house and she said "bump, bump, bump.... Mama's got you."
I was a little shocked! See when we were a couple hours from Vancouver on our long flight from Beijing we hit some unexpected turbulence. We had also just been served breakfast, I had a cup of hot coffee and she had orange juice we had just open, and all hot food on our trays. Plus Addison was in one of those toddler seat belts that attach to the parents seatbelt, however she freaked everytime she realized I had her belted up, so it was done up really loosely around her. And then these turbulence hit and I was taken a little off guard as I tried to tighten her seatbelt and protect her from the spilling hot coffee. I could see she was panicking and I told her " Its ok, Mama's got you." as she scrambled into my lap. I remember thinking I would never forget how she looked at me with such trust and relaxed the moment she was in my arms, however I never thought she would remember that experience. It obviously had terrified her as I remember the terrified look she had. It so amazing to me she would remember that! And recall exactly what I said to her!

Gosh I love her, she is so smart and lovely and trusting and precious! How could we have lived 2 years without her?

One Less

2010-10-06T13:20:00.001-07:00

http://player.vimeo.com/video/15064039

I was all tears and goosebumps after watching this video! Another lady who blogs posted this video on her blog, and has now anounced they are starting their 3rd adoption! Yay! They have 5 children at home now and will be bringing their daughter home hopefully within the next year!

Wow!

One Less! The song is so true, it is so much easier to ignore the orphans when we don't know their names. Howard and I both knew that on our trip to China that we felt that we were not done yet.....what does that mean? We are not sure! It could be doing some short or long term missions with our family, it could be another adoption, it could be financially supporting some special needs orphanages....it could mean....

All I know is I only have one life and I am not willing to waste the time I have here on this earth!

Autumn Moon Festival Dinner

2010-09-26T08:16:00.000-07:00

We had a wonderful evening. All the 12 kids behaved really well. We had more than enough food! And we had great fellowship with lots of laughs
Our Menu

Homade Pork Dumplings
Fried Rice
Sweet and Sour Chicken
Ginger Garlic Green Beans
Kung Pao Chicken
Asian Noodle Salad
Green Onion Cakes
Asian Pulled Pork
Garlic Sauted Veggies
Thumbprint Cookies
Moon Shape Sugar Cookies
Sour Grinch Martinis :0)

We were stuffed! Our dear friends Vince and Trina came with their 4 kids. They had my kids overnight for the 2 nights before we came home from China. Trina is one of my bestfriends, and I could never have pulled off last night without her. They also adopted their beautiful daughter Mei almost 2 years ago from China. They were our encouragement and support while we were waiting for Addison. Also our travel buddies Jon and Kristin and their 4 kids came, Jon and Kristin were in our travel group and Kyla and Addison have a special bond. They also attend our church and have wonderful helpful kids.

It was a busy night, but a fun night. As I have said before hopefully this will become a tradition for our families. We are so blessed to have such a wonderful group of families to support and lift up one another.

"Nice Cream"

2010-09-22T06:42:00.000-07:00

Forget about ice cream.....Addison calls it Nice Cream! I love how she says it :0) also we don't drink iced tea we drink "nice tea!"

On another note, Howard and Nathan have been in Montreal at Shriner's hospital since Monday. It was a little difficult for me to see them off, as I am the one that always goes to see Nathan's specialists. It sounds like things went fairly well....treatment went smoothly, Howard was surprised how easy going Nathan was about getting the IV hooked up :0) The last time he came with us Nate was a mess about needles, not so anymore! Unfortunately his orthopedic surgeon was away for this trip and Nathan is having some hip/femur problems, he had a Xray and Nate's ortho will look at it when he returns. The last time we were in Montreal (March) he could lay on his side and do side leg lifts (about 10 of them).....now he can't do even one. I am hoping we can put off surgery for at least 6 months.....but we will wait and see what his ortho says when he gets back. Other than that it sounds like the boys had a blast in Montreal shopping and eating at Nathan's favourite restaurant Burgers and Benedict's :0) I can't wait to pick them up at the airport today! I missed my two boys and poor Joshy was outnumbered by girls :0) Addison did really well with them leaving we kept telling her 2 night nights and then Ba Ba and Nathan comes home and she totally understood! Yesterday she said in the morning "One nigh nigh BaBa?" Such a smart little cookie :0)

The Potty Dance!

2010-09-19T14:33:00.000-07:00

Okay some of you may think I am awful for posting this picture.....however nothing is showing,
except for the cutest little monkey with a precious Matilda Jane dress on, doing her "business" :0) I had to get this picture! She now does all of her "business" on a little potty seat, however when we first were trying she needed to squat for #2.....I know I know too much information!
We.....well I, do the all important potty dance everytime she goes. It is more important than any treat I could give her (in her eyes) and she laughs hysterically at me. I was thinking of showing you a video of my made up song and dance.....but I would like to hold on to some of my dignity, so only my bestfriend and sister have ever seen it :0) And I hope to keep it that way! My sister was a special needs teachers assistant and I know for a fact she has used the coveted "Kim's special potty dance song" and it works :0)
All of this to say that Addison seems to be potty trained!!!! Yay, yay, yay! She still wears diapers at night time and naptime as she never wakes up drive, but during the day Miss Addy is wearing panties full time and has had no accidents in 3 days!!! Hooray! We are so proud of you Addison!

2 months!!!!

2010-09-13T11:31:00.000-07:00

Addison a couple weeks ago. I love how her nose scrunches up when she laughs! She had just woken up from her nap, and was laughing at the kids :0)

2 months ago, the evening we met Guo Ying (Addison) She was so scared...seeing this picture breaks my heart. She lost alot of things that day.....to gain us as her family. I also notice how skinny she is in comparison!

Well on Sunday we have had Addison in our arms for two months! The time has flown by in some ways, and in others it feels like just yesterday! Those first few weeks were just plain old difficult! So worth it, but hard! I thought things were going well when we first met, and they really were, however as I look back....we were just trying to survive! When one is passed a 2 yr old that you really know nothing about, all you can do is survive, until you get to know one another and build a little trust. I loved Addy the moment I met her, and I think she is just starting to "adopt" Howard, the kids and I. She came running up to me yesterday and wrapped her arms around me, gave a sloppy open mouth kiss on the cheek, and said "I love you." That makes all those hard first days worth it! Its also so cute to see her yesterday at church. I was talking to a lady and Addison kept patting me and telling her "My Mama", "Addison's Mama." Like she was really proud I was her Mom! So cute!

We have really started potty training, and its going really well! Today she hasn't had one accident (yet) I put her in diapers for nap and bedtime, but the rest of the day she is in panties. We had to make a quick stop at Wal Mart, and she even told me there! Yay! Hopefully in a few weeks she will be fully potty trained during the day!?!

Socially Addy is doing fairly well. Its kinda like two steps forward one step back. Addison and Riley either really love each other.....or really hate one another. And when Addy gets mad, someone (mostly Riley) gets hit or pinched. She is thinking twice about it now, but if we aren't right there to shake our head no, then Riley gets whacked! We have also seen her do that with kids that are bossy or outgoing (like her) However she is very nurturing with babies and shy children. On Wednesday she went to the nursery at church, because it was just her and Riley. Riley stayed to keep her company. I had a pager and she had a blast playing with our nursery leader. I think its a good way to introduce her to going in and playing without me, because right now once she gets restless at church I leave the service to play with her in the nursery. On Sunday she really wanted to go before the service started, I gave our nursery staff the same instructions I gave the leader, that I was to be called it she showed any signs of fear, aggression, cried, or even asked for me. I checked in every 15 minutes and about half way through the service I noticed she was starting to get overwhelmed, so I pulled her out for a walk and we found a quiet place to play with Kyla (her friend from our China trip) I don't know if I will try again for a while.....it just didn't feel right. I think there were just too many kids on Sunday's for her right now. I love that she wants to socialize, however I want it to be successful.

Sleeping is going well. She loves our bedtime routine. I lay with her for about 30 minutes and then if she isn't asleep, I tell her good night that I love her and leave. She is usually asleep 5 minutes later! Addison sleeps through the night she goes down at 8PM and wakes around 7:30AM. The girl loves her naps! Right after lunch she has a 2 1/2 to 3 hour nap! That time allows me to clean up, and catch up on my emails etc.

Eating....well she certainly likes to eat! She always stops when she is full, and I don't think over eats very often now. She loves a variety of foods. I can't get her to drink milk, however we just introduced chocolate milk, and she likes that! Of course! And the rest of kids are ecstatic that we have Choc milk in the house! Addison has gained 4 pounds since coming home from China! And now is holding steady at 23 pounds. Its nice because now her 18 months size pants don't fall down!!! I wish I had that problem!

We are so blessed to have this precious, sassy, funloving, cuddly, busy, bossy, talkative, smart little girl in our lives! I have moments where I am so overwhelmed by our blessings...I have a God who loves me more than I can ever imagine, my husband is my bestfriend, 4 beautiful funloving children, a wonderful extended family, and fabulous friends. Its more than I deserve. However I will be continually thankful for these gifts.

Quiet Time

2010-09-11T15:50:00.000-07:00

Howard and all of the kids have stepped out for about an hour.....and I get some quiet time! I love,love,love being a mom, I like being busy with the day to day, ins and outs of a family of six. However a little bit of Mom quiet time is so sweet!

I have totally neglected my little blog and I am bummed, because we have had alot of first going on around here and I wanted to document them. I am hoping I will become a little more regular with the blog posts!

Our family is hosting the Autumn Moon Festival dinner at our house this year. I think we will have about 21 people coming for dinner and fellowship. 13 of those people being children! I have decided to do this as a potluck, each of the families will bring two "Chinese" dishes. I am in the process of learning how to make the perfect dumpling.....they never look as good as the ones we tried in China, although I think I have found a filling we really like! Also last year we made thumbprint cookies instead of mooncakes....because mooncakes aren't the tastiest confection! The cookies were a hit, and very easy to make and easy is important when you are entertaining 21 people! I think this should be a blast, and hopefully it will become a tradition for all of our families.

Things are going along well, Addison is falling into a nice school routine. Although she was quite miffed that there wasn't a cubby and shoes for her at Kindergarten!!! She kept frowning, with her arms crossed and stomping her foot! It took all my self discipline not to laugh at her :) She is doing really well and the last two times she has woken from a nap she hasn't cried!!! She just called out for me, with a big smile on her face. Its so nice to see her becoming more relaxed as each day passes!

Well the troops are home, time to go!

First Day of Kindergarten!

2010-09-06T19:31:00.000-07:00

How does time fly so fast!?! I remember when Miss Riley-roo was born....it feels like yesterday! Now she is in Kindergarten!!!! Riley had her first day on Friday, it all started well....then I ran into a Mom of a little girl who is new to our church and wanted to say hello. Bad choice! Had I left right away she would have been fine, however the stress of everything new was too much for Miss Roo and she started to cry, and beg me to take her home. It was one of those hard things we have to do as a Mom I had to paste on a smile and console my sobbing 5 year old as I tried not to cry myself :) Riley teacher was amazing and took my sweet little girl under her wing as I quickly as possible headed for the door! Riley of course had a wonderful day and seconds later as we were passing the windows of her class, I could see she had already stopped crying. I know she is going to have a fabulous year and can't wait to see as she blossoms into a more independent girl! As much as I want to keep her at home and protect her, I know this is the job as a Mom to encourage them to use their wings so they can soar!!! But does it have to be so hard on our hearts!?! I love her to bits! Sigh, my sweet little Kindergartner!

Back to School!

2010-08-31T13:08:00.001-07:00

Usually I am sad to see the kids go back to school....however this year I am grateful to be back to some sort of a structured routine! We had a wonderful end of summer most of it just laying low and letting Addison get really comfortable with us and her new surroundings. That I think was the one thing that most been there done that adoptive Mom's told me was the thing they wished they had done more of or was glad they had done. I totally agree! Addison loves to come home when we have been out and you can see her visibly relax once we pull into the driveway! I'm sure the other kids wished we would have had a more exciting summer, and really I can't blame them! I guess we will just have to make that a priority for next summer :0)

So as I said Addy is doing so well! Her language skills are expanding everyday, she is loving the little routine we have and I think flourishing in our family! Last night she even did a #2 on the potty!!! Yay! I still think we are a few months away from being fully potty trained, its really not even a priority right now, but if she asks for the potty I will certainly take her ;) I just can't get over how blessed we are! We have 4 amazing, wonderful, loving and beautiful children. I have no doubt in my mind that God intended Addison to be our little girl! And that fact just boggles my mind! She wakes up with such a joyful little smile singing morning, morning, morning! I can`t help but feel happy as well! She is such a little doll! The little smurf has been packing away the food and has gained 4 pounds! Maybe we have hope for those 12 month size leggings to stay up, after all!!! She is sleeping like a champ, and really enjoying her siblings for the most part. She is such an amazing gift!

The rest of the kids have mixed feelings on going back to school. Nathan would rather stay home, Josh is looking forward to recess and Gym, and Riley can barely contain herself until the first day of Kindergarten on Friday!

We are making plans with some of our friends, for an Autumn Moon Festival party. I thinks we will host it here at our house and have some great food and fellowship! There are now 3 little girls under the age of 3 in our community who have been adopted from China, and we love both of the other families, so hopefully it will be easy to keep the girls connected as they grow up!

I added a few pictures of the kids from this morning, although now it is nearly impossible to get everyone looking at the camera! I am hoping to be able to blog more regularly now that we are back to the old routine of school and afternoon naps :0)

Gosh, I love these little munchkins! I really need to paint my steps & front door!!!

Sweet Little Face

2010-08-09T14:26:00.001-07:00

One month ago today, we saw this sweet little face, in real life. It was one of the most wonderful moments of my life. Addison has changed our lives! We didn't know it, but something was missing from our family. God knew. It was this sweet little girl, all the way over in China! She is the most joyful funloving person I have ever met! She brings sunshine and laughter into all of our lives with her antics. Howard and I are so blessed to have 4 of the most wonderful children to raise and love. Thank you God for these precious gifts. And for giving us what we needed not what we wanted!

When you lead, dear Lord, I venture out into the great beyond with courage and expectation. A protected cove is safe, but your have called me to live with passion. I may encounter risks, but I know your provision and care are enough. Give me hope in your saving me from storms, climbing mountains before me and finding me when lost. I trust in you and I thank you for the adventures in life that make me who I am called to be. Make my way purposeful and glorifying to you. Provide me with all I need for the journey-your perfect peace, joy unspeakeable and unwavering faith.

Almost One Month With Us!

2010-08-05T12:46:00.000-07:00

Wow on Monday Addison will have been with us for one month! Where has the time gone? The last 2 months have been like a whirlwind! We are feeling so blessed to have all of our children safe and at home with us. Addison is doing well....although looking at the pictures I have added to this post, I noticed she still has a sadness/fear in her eyes. We have seen such a blossoming of her personality in the last week! I believe she is really enjoying our routine. The last 4 days she hasn't cried when it was bedtime or nap time, she is happy to snuggle with me and falls asleep within 5minutes at nap time and 40 minutes at bedtime. I have to say I look forward to that alone time with her, when things are quiet and she can just slowdown and cuddle :) That being said Addison is a busy busy girl! She is into everything.... I am beginning to wonder if I forgot what having a 2 yr old was like, or if Addison is just extra busy :) We are still working on the hitting and biting, I think things are beginning to improve on that front! She has started to think before she hauls off and whacks someone! So I believe that is progress :) Riley and Addison are still getting along quite well. And the boys are just so busy that we hardly see them! Howard had to go into work for meetings yesterday and today....unfortunately the company that his company was contracted to work for has been sold to another company, which means the new guys want things to been done on a different schedule, and what the means for us is that Howard will probably be heading back to work next week. Neither of us are happy about this turn of events, but what can we do? I feel so blessed that we had Howard home for over a month, and we aren't even sick of each other yet ;) Addison was a little out of sorts yesterday with Howard gone for the first time....I wish I would have video taped the squeals of delight from all the kids when he stepped in the door at dinner time! It was priceless! On the whole I think things are going well, Addison is settling in and beginning to trust us more and more each day. I think things have really sunk in for her though, as we haven't seen the joyful fun loving girl as much throughout the day as we have in the past. I know its just a matter of time, love and patience and we will see Addison really shine. Her sleep issues seem to be resolving as she is sleeping through the night, which is a huge treat! All I know is that I love her to bits and pieces and she is so precious to our family, we could not imagine life without her!

Sisterly love! I am so glad the girls have each other. I couldn't imagine my life without my sister!

Sleeping beauty... there is nothing like looking at a sleeping child.

All ready for the day!

Addy watching Riley riding her two wheeler. Very serious business...watching the kids! And oh goodness that hair! I am sure we will be going through some crazy hair stages as we grow it out!

Addison loves this hair pretty....I have to hide it or she would wear it everday, in the bath, to bed...well you get the picture!

Riley's Big News!!!

2010-08-05T12:36:00.000-07:00

Riley is excited to announce.....that she can ride a two wheeler!!! All by herself!!! Can you tell by the first picture how excited she is? It only took her two sessions of practice, and she was off to the races!

Now she is having a blast doing circles in our cul de sac. Although she still needs a little help getting started :)

Look how proud she is! (and can you tell its summer? crazy hair and food on her face!lol!)

We are so proud of you Miss Roo! You just set your little mind to riding your bike, and off you went! That is some determination! Only took a tiny bit of practice!

Home for 5 days and Strawberry Picking

2010-07-28T12:30:00.000-07:00

Already we have been home for 5 days, it feels like much less and much longer:) We already can't imagine our lives without Lil Miss Addison! Yet our routine has changed a bit! I forgot what its like to have to schedule in naps, 12 noon lunch (on the dot!!!), diaper changes, and laying down to have a little one fall asleep at nap time and bedtime! I am trying to cherish everyone of these moments, as I have missed so many of her other moments. Everday she seems to be relaxing more and more and letting us into her little heart, it certainly will take time, like years probably, but I see improvements everyday. The first couple days (especially day one) it was hard to see her regress and put up her walls, but it almost seems sweeter to see them slowly come back down again! She is sleeping through the night and I have just incorporated her regular daytime nap again. Addison is a go, go, go kinda girl! And I have really had to try to pace her and keep things quiet around here so she does get a chance to adapt to her new home, and family.
Riley is loving being a big sister, its really neat to see her take on this new role! She is really loving the "responsibility." If she had it her way, she would be the Mom and I would be the assistant!!! I am just so glad to see her be so giving and flexible. Howard and I have made special times to spend with just Riley so she doesn't feel left out or jealous.....I am sure those feelings will come later down the road, once the "honeymoon" stage has worn off:)
Josh apparently hung the moon, in Addison's eyes! Its really the cutest thing ever! He dotes on her, and she loves every minute of it! Its funny, because when we got Addison's referral; Josh said " I am going to really get along with her." And I just thought, ok sure, whatever you say honey. But he really is quite smitten with her, he comes up to play with her several times a day!
Nathan has interacted with Addison a bit, and likes her, but Im not sure what he's feeling? He will come to her and play when its convenient for him, but if she seeks him out its a no go. Nathan and I are quite close....so I wonder if he is feeling some envy of my time spent with Addison? Howard and I have talked and I think I am going to take him out on a date, so he can have some special one on one.
Howard and Addison's relationship has changed alot in the last couple days, he was the first person she asked for this morning! And when I brought her to him on the couch, she broke out in the biggest smile ever:) Its so nice to see! Although I'll miss being number one;) Howard will go into work for some meeting on the 3rd and 4th of August and will not return to work until the 24th of August! So that is a nice bit of time off for him, and we are all ecstatic!
I am doing well, still fighting this nasty cold, but we have definitely overcome the jet lag alot more quickly than expected! I am trying to keep up to the housework and laundry, plus do something fun for everyone, everday. It is challenging, but extra nice to have Howard home to help with it all:) Yesterday we went strawberry picking and had a great time! We packed a picnic, played at the campground and had ice cream! A perfect day! We even got our first pictures of all 4 of the kids together! Yay!

Its always so hard to get them all looking at the camera!

Addison and her favourite boy!

Oh yeah! Day 2 and we already have Addie doing chores!!!! Just Kidding! Although she loves to help clean up after dinner! Excuse the messy kitchen, we were in the process of cleaning it up!

Happy little muffin, waiting for her boiled egg white's and watermelon for breakfast. Oh how I love that little smile!

Were Home!

2010-07-24T20:34:00.001-07:00

Ah, home sweet home! It is was so good to finally fall into bed, after 25 hours of travel;) Addison slept through the night last night, however we didn't arrive home until midnight, and she slept very little on our flights. Other than not much sleep she did very well! We arrived in Vancouver at lunch time, and had a 7 hr lay over; So we decided to hope a skytrain have lunch and walk along False Creek. It was a beautiful day and felt so great to stretch our legs!

We arrived home to the best welcoming committee ever! Our kids and our dear friends Trina, Vince and their kids. They had all made welcome home signs for Addison and brought her helium balloons and flowers! I have to say when we finally landed in GP I welled up a bit, it was so good to be home, and I really missed our kids! Addison of course was a little overwhelmed by everyone; But I had anticipated that, so I had put her in the Scoot a Baby carrier ( I highly recommend it! It felt like I was carrying a 5lb baby, not a 20lb toddler!) We got home and had a snack and a little tour of the main floor of our house, and then everyone happily went to bed!

Addison and I slept in until 11:30 this morning! And her first day was a pretty good one, I think.
She was definitely not the wild woman we have come to know and love in China, as she was being a little cautious with all the change. She love, love, loves Josh! And really likes Riley. Nathan has shown very little interest, but he has been helpful. Food is a bit of an issue, and we kinda thought it would be when we were in China.....let just say she likes most fruit (peeled), noodles, noodles, noodles, boiled egg whites and garlic toast! She cried when I tried to feed her the most delicious lasagna Trina made for us tonight! I can't find any milk she will take, including soy. And meat is a no go! I did see her eat green beans and peas though! So we will stock up on those! I am sure it will come eventually, I guess just as long as we are getting all her vitamins she needs, we won't worry. We took her to our local playground, she was happy just to watch, and sit on a swing with me. There were a few other kids there, so I think she was just a little unsure. She did love to watch Riley play on the slide though!

I am hoping to do a recap of our trip as I didn't get to post everyday like I had planned on. There were so many thoughts and memories I don't want to forget! Everyone else is in bed, and I am exhausted! So that's it for tonight:-)

You Know You Have Been In China Too Long When....

2010-07-22T02:03:00.001-07:00

This may have been the case of one too many Tsingtao Beers....or just two tweebs being themselves. I vote for the latter! Good times, Good times:0)

Look 'em in the eye: FREE Messenger video chat Chat Now!

So Long China!

2010-07-22T01:58:00.001-07:00

A really quick post! I have a 2 year old eating on my lap:) The cream has almost completely cleared up Addison's infection! AMAZING! Addison is doing so well! We have seen such a change in her little personality! She's kinda like a bull in a china shop:0) We love her to bits and pieces! Can't wait to get home now and see the rest of our kids, we miss them so very much! Addie has finally started to take to Howard as you can see in one of the pictures posted! Yay! She even says " Buba loves his girl" Its so darn cute, I will have to catch her saying it on our video camera and post it! I want to do a post on how thankful we are, and how much we loved being here....but that will have to wait until we get home and settled. Tomorrow we hope a big jet plane and fly 11hrs to Vancouver, please keep us in your prayers! Our first flight we had a very scared little girl. We are hoping she will sleep, as it will be over her night time:) I guess our next post will be from Canada!!! With one of Canada's newest Citizens!

Turn down-time into play-time with Messenger games Play Now!

Great Wall and Impetigo?

2010-07-18T07:00:00.001-07:00

A quick post as I am now paying for internet! We did the Great Wall, Jade Factory & Cloisonne Factory today! It was a marathon!!! Howard and I didn't get very many pictures as we had a very upset little miss...We have figured out Addie doesn't have chicken pox, we think she has impetigo! I have some Bacetriban Cream from anther family and we are praying it will keep it under control until we get home. Now the trick is keeping ourselves and the others from our group from being infected! Please pray for Miss Addison the sore on her body look awful and they are so very itchy and painful (I think!) Please pray for the rest of our group that they don't contract it as well! I have googled the treatment and Bacetriban should do, but hers are quite severe so she may need oral antibiotics when we get home. I really want to enjoy the rest of our trip but we are quite concerned about our girl:( We will be out to get something to cover her sores that are visible (other than her face ) tomorrow. I am hoping if we don't share or have physical contact with the others that they should all be ok!
Oh yeah! We made it safe to Beijing and are so glad to be here! We are enjoying our stay in this amazing city! And loving the food! Have had fabulous lunches and dinners since we arrived:) Hopefully we can catch the Summer Palace tomorrow...we'll see!
Finally HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOSH!!!! We miss you so much and wish we could be there to celebrate your 9th Birthday! Have fun with Grandma & Grandpa!

Enter for a chance to get your town photo on Bing.ca! Submit a Photo Now!

Yellow Crane Tower

2010-07-15T06:28:00.001-07:00

We had a very nice morning touring the Yellow Crane Tower. There is such rich history here sometimes it overwhelms a person, almost like its hard to wrap your mind around how old some of the things you are looking at are! Maybe its because we live in such a young country? The grounds were lovely, and it didn't rain at all today!!! We made it to the 6th floor of the tower (there are 9) but with the wicked humidity, a 18mos old, a 2yr old, a 5 yr old & a bunch of Canadian adults who were dripping sweat even before we started to climb the tower; we felt that level 6 was a very respectable showing:) It was an amazing view, we could see the Yangtze and the orphanage Addison spent her first 3 months of life at. Howard bought Addie and Riley each their very own Wuhan pearl bracelets, they are very cute; and Addison was very proud of her new jewlery and kept telling our guide how pretty it was:) We were back at the hotel by lunch time and ordered room service and had naps. The rest of the afternoon we spent waiting for Addison to wake from her nap and then we went for a walk. Kind of a boring day but we got to spend it with Addie so that made it spectacular! We love her so much! It makes me sad to think that tomorrow we will be taking her away from the city she called home for all her life. Her language skills are so advanced and we will slowly watch her lose that, I hope we will be able to help her keep her Mandarin/Wuhan dialect. I have picked up a few words like...blanket, lets go, pee, hungry, water, watermelon. But the more I use her language I think the more I confuse her, and she expects me to understand everything she is saying! I'm not sure what is right, only speak in English, or infuse our English with Mandarin? She has warmed up to Howard a bit...she fell asleep while I was holding her, and then I really needed to use the biffy, so I passed her off. When she woke in Howard's arms on the bus she was fine for a good 30 minutes!!! However, the rest of the day other than play and letting him buy her snacks He was a no go! Baby steps I guess. She is very, very busy! And today when we in the market at the Yellow Crane Tower Addison got quite concerned for the little boy who was just adopted by our travel mates...she kept telling him to go to his Mama, his Mama is just over there;and she would point to his Mom! Then she told/yelled at him to call is Mama!!!! How does she know that Carline is Nathan's Mama? It amazed all of us, even our guide. Of course we had a good chuckle as well as she was bossing him around:) We are finishing up in Wuhan tomorrow and will be flying back to Beijing at 6PM tomorrow night. Please pray for us! This will be a good indication on how things will go on our big flight home. I hope Addison is a good traveller! She does well on the bus, so hopefully that translates into a good flyer! I added a bunch of pictures to the shutterfly site this afternoon. I think our next post will be from Beijing if we have adequate internet there!

Wuhan

2010-07-13T23:34:00.000-07:00

I have to start out by saying that I am trying really hard to love this city that Addie is from....maybe its the endless rain, maybe its the lack of a guide, maybe its the busy beyond imagination streets, but I am finding it really hard! There really isn't much to see in Wuhan city itself, people travel here to take the Yangtze River cruise, Yellow Crane Tower and the Hubei Museum. We asked our guide yesterday if she would take us to both the Yellow Crane Tower and Museum and she said no only one! Really? She has showed us one place to eat....its about 20 minute walk (in pouring rain) and it was more expensive than our hotel, which is expensive by Chinese standards. Once we arrived at this restuarant there was no English or pictures in the menu, and the waitress spoke very little English. I think someone should make a comedic movie of North American adoptive families in China trying to order food or take a taxi etc. Really its quite funny! We ended up with a lovely meal and enough to feed an army! We just had to laugh with the family who is traveling to Hubei with us:)
We decided since we survived that adventure last night, we would take a taxi to the museum on our own and tour it today, as today was another free day. The hotel staff is so abesolutely wonderful! They have bent over backwards to help us, I wish one of these staff members was our guide! It was a very quick taxi ride to the museum, we toured around only the first floor before the kids got restless & tired. We made a quick stop on the way out at the gift store and we bought a special set of bells for our house, its really quite beautiful and will sit on the ledge in our dinning room at home. These bells have significance in Hubei as they were found in the Emporeror Yi's tomb and are the largest musical bell's ever recovered, they also date back to something like 476 B.C. Howard and wanted to find something special to bring back from Addison's province, so we are both very happy with our find! And our first purchase(besides food) in China! We will also have to go and make a quick trip to Carrefour a HUGE supermarket down the road as we are running low on diapers! I am bummed we haven't been able to take many pictures of the area in Wuhan. It is so humid that as soon as you take out the camera the lense fogs up! I will attach one of the only pictures taken outside so you can see how foggy it is! Quite hillarious,really. We are seeing signs of flooding, the Yangtze has is running very high we saw treetops on the edge when we came in, these trees would usually line the banks not be submerged in water! Also many of the sidewalks on the way to the Civil Affairs Office were flooded. We saw one poor lady get soaked head to toe when a bus went by through a huge puddle. I wish I could write more about Wuhan, espically for those of you who are following and will be coming soon, but we really haven't seen much. Maybe I will have a better perspective tomorrow after our one and only tour! Do I sound sarcastic when I right that!?! Maybe we were just spoiled with the worlds best guides in Beijing and were expecting the same here. Ok enough complaining!
On to our sweet little Addison. She had a rough night last night. Was up 4 times in the night and just wanted to be snuggled. This morning she was out of sorts as well, I think she keeps hoping we will bring her back! I must say I am starting to notice the difference between her grieving and her I am throwing a tantrum cries;) She seems to have two very different personalities one is very outgoing, busy, bossy, cheeky and fun. The other is very timid and clingy....which is probably because she is scared out of her tree! Both Howard and I are interested to see how her true personality blossoms as the days and months go by. She is still my cling on, it seems to be getting worse. I am the comforter and she wants me to do everything for her. We make sure Howard is the one to give her food even though she would really rather I did it, also he is the fun play guy ( whats new right?) And she really does love to play with him! She laughs her little head off:) but will not let him carry her or snuggle or even hold her hand now. She is so proud of the clothes I put on her each morning and loves her PJ's (juts like mom!) She is eating alot but not as much as I was expecting. She loves fruit and noodles! And really likes meat. I love that she has her special soothing blanket, its a huge help. We do not leave the room without it! She seems to feel really safe in the carrier, and really with how crazy the traffic is here I wouldn't want her walking! Once we are in Beijing we will let her out to walk a bit more. One thing we find hard/feel guilty about is, she is speaking very well! And of course we understand very little. She keeps chattering at us and expects us to answer! She is said "thank you" and "pretty" today in English so we will keep talking in English to her about everything and anything. Howard hopes to find someone at home that can help her with her Mandarin as we would really hate for her to lose her language!We are both head over heels in love with her and are looking forward to our return to Beijing and adventually home! Oh and thanks for all the lovely comments and emails! I am receiving them to my email and will be able to publish them when I get home:) Also I just posted a quick video of Addison and Howard playing on our shutterfly site hopefully it worked! www.khmervyn.shutterfly.com

Turn down-time into play-time with Messenger games Play Now!

Forever Family Day!

2010-07-13T00:08:00.000-07:00

What a crazy amazing day! We woke up at about 3:30AM in Beijing and were on the bus at about 5AM. I had butterflies going in my stomach already at that point! Yet felt such a great peace that this is exactly where we were suppose to be.
We arrived in Wuhan around 9:30AM. O.k. they don't call it China's furnace for nothing! It was a cool 22 degrees, however with the humidity and rain it was unlike anything I have ever felt!!! I would not want to be here when the mercury rises above 30 degrees! Our ride from the airport to the hotel took about an hour (we are staying at the White Rose Hotel) I was prepared for Wuhan, as I had read from several other bloggers that it is quite a dirty place....they were right! There is alot of construction going on, you can really tell they are in the middle of a boom! Hotel is magnificent! It is so fancy I almost don't know how to behave! Just kidding! Lets just say I have never stayed somewhere, that they employ someone to press the elevator button for their guests! As much as we love the hotel its really in the centre of the city, we loved walking around Beijing, however here its so busy and crazy (people driving on the wrong side of street against traffic) it will be a challenge to get out and all there is are buildings and malls to see. Not that I'm complaining! Just very different than Beijing.
We arrived at the Civil Affairs office shortly after 3PM and Addison was already there! She was just playing away, happy as a clam! The first thing we noticed was her one arm and near her nose had some major scabs, the orphanage director rushed over to us before we even had a chance to meet her, and he explained she had gotten chicken pox about 13 days ago. And those scabs were where she had been scratching herself. Poor little thing, so much change and chicken pox on top of it! She is no longer contagious as all the scabs are just that, scabs she has picked at. Addison recognized us immediately from the book we sent her....well she recognized Howard, I don't know if you noticed, but my hair has been really curly since we arrived in China! I usually straighten it, and my picture we sent was me with straight hair. So she kinda thought I looked like the picture! I brought out the cheerios, and she thought they were just o.k. I brought out the stacking cups, with no success, finally I brought out the bubbles....Success! She thought they were great! and even started laughing:) It was long after that the orphanage director and the nannies just up and left! They said good bye to Addison, and she lost it! I went over and picked her up, and she tried to pinch, hit and bite me. Good thing I am made from such tough stock:) I just grabbed her very special favourite blanket from her fosterhome and rocked her and loved her and she cried her little heart out. It was heartbreaking for me, and I had a moment where I almost cried right along with her! However I held it together. We left right away. On the bus she settled down and fell right to sleep. We had to make a pit stop at the grocery store for the other family travelling with us, and we needed to buy milk for Addie. So stupid!!! So overwhelming!!! I recomend if you have a choice try to get those things before you meet your child! We survived though. Made our way back to the hotel and filled out the necessary paperwork in the lobby, and then we brought our sweet little peanut up to our room. As soon as we walked in she started crying again. I think she sobbed her little heart our for about an hour. Then I tried a bath.....that was just what she needed! Our little Addison came right out of her shell! We played bowling and I tell you that was a hit! The orphanage director sent us home with some of her favourite snacks so we brought those out, and by the time 15 minutes had passed she was already saying "more" when she wanted one! Then probably 3 hours after we met Addie we were looking in the mirror and she pointed at me and said "Mama" and smiled!!!! I almost lost it:) I am sure I had tears welling up in my eyes as I nodded, smiled and gave her a kiss. Shortly after when Howard stepped out, she kept looking around the room and in a questioning voice saying "Baba?" I am totally amazed! Obviously her foster family has been working on her with the picture book we sent. And for that I will forever be thankful. We had a light dinner and then went to bed early. Addison slept between Howard and I in the bed, and she slept straight through the night!
I have to say what a crazy, amazing, beautiful day it was! Nobody can truly capture what its like in words. We already love her to pieces, and just want whats best for her! She is difinitely my little cling on right now, however she is happy to play with Howard, and will take food from him. So we will work slowly on his and her relationship as the days progress. Right now I am watching both of them asleep in bed and my heart just melts! I am so thankful we chose to adopt from this amazing country! I feel so honored and amazed the God would choose this beautiful little girl for us! She is more special than I could have ever hoped for!

Turn down-time into play-time with Messenger games Play Now!

We Have Addison :)

2010-07-12T17:33:00.001-07:00

I will post how it all went down soon! So busy! I know all you want is the picts:)

Enter for a chance to get your town photo on Bing.ca! Submit a Photo Now!

Beijing Day 3

2010-07-11T06:29:00.001-07:00

So today was our last day in China without Addison! Howard and I had so much fun today! I don't think I have laughed so hard and so much in a very long time! We have been having a blast getting to know the other families in our group, and our friends Jon and Kristin are such a blessing to have here in China with us!
Today we went to the Drum Tower, a lake (I'm not sure of the name) and saw some of the hutongs, where people live. So far this has been my favourite experience in China, it was so beautiful walking around the lake with lotus plant's growing around the edges and some great shopping as well:) I was quite excited to find a starbucks, and of course had to stop for some coffee, however it was too warm for something hot so we enjoyed the best caramel frappucino ever!!
After our walk, we had the privledge of exchanging our USD for Chinese Yuan...well the frist bank didn't have enough cash to help all of us families! So we had to find another bank to do the exchange. The process takes quite a bit of time, we had to produce our passports and then they quadruple count our USD and check each bill to make sure it is not conterfit! I think it took each couple a minimum of 30minutes to exchange their money! And the pile...lets just say we still aren't sure how we will safely carry it through security at the airport! It is about 6 inches thick! Yikes! I then ended the afternoon with a full body massage, it was amazing! And cheap!
We went out for another fabulous dinner, and now I am packing for Wuhan! in 12 hours we will be hopping a plane for Addison's hometown and will meet her tomorrow afternoon! EEK! Its going to be a day of high emotion, and huge uncertainty. I am so excited to finally meet our little girl, yet so very scared:) Pleas pray for us as go from being a family of 5 to a family of 6! Next post will be with Addison in our arms!!!

Enter for a chance to get your town photo on Bing.ca! Submit a Photo Now!

Llama Temple Pictue

2010-07-10T06:30:00.001-07:00

Turn down-time into play-time with Messenger games Play Now!

Dirt Market & Llama Temple

2010-07-10T06:11:00.000-07:00

We had a wonderful day today! The morning was spent at the Dirt Market, watching fellow travellers barter for antiques and artwork. It is

a really neat market that opens at 4 AM on Saturday's! I didn't find anything worth bartering for, though. When it was time to leave and get a taxi, we saw the most hillarious traffic jam

ever....we saw drivers backing up in the middle of the intersection, while buses blocked the same intersection diagonally, pedistrians weaving in and out of the enraged drivers & the cyclists hopping curbs to get by! We had to stop and take some video of the situation, as

it was unlike anything we have ever seen! While we were watching this unfold our sweet guide Faye was trying to flag us a taxi...well lets

just say 45minutes later we were in a taxi and heading for the hotel! When we arrived back to the hotel at 1PM both Howard and I knew

there was no way we could hang in our room, or we would sleep the rest of the afternoon away. So a group of us walked over to the Llama Temples, they were really quite beautiful. The grounds and the architecture of the temples were amazing. We finished the day

with another fabulous dinner, and now I am trying to upload pictures to our shutterfly account and make a quick post before I fall into

bed:) Thanks for all the lovely comments and emails! Unfortunately I can only see them via email and won't be able to publish them to our

blog until we return home.

Technical Difficulties & 2 More Sleeps!

2010-07-09T14:26:00.001-07:00

O.k. I am having a few internet issues. I can post to our blog via email, however it won't allow me to attach pictures. So that is where

our shutterfly account comes in handy! I have a link for it at the top left hand coner of our blog....I think it says pictures of china. or here

is the address www.khmervyn.shutterfly.com so from this point on I will post our pictures from shutterfly. Also when ever I check my

emails and want to send one from my contact list.....well apparently I no longer have a contact list!!! All of my contacts have been wiped

out! From here any ways. I will see if my Mom can access my webmail account from home and see if I have a list when accessed in

Canada. So if I said I would email you, I may not be able to....unless I can remember your email address! The final thing is, we will have to pay for internet in our hotel for the last 9 days we are here so I will be posting less (depending

on how much it costs.)

Okay enough business! 2 mores sleeps until Addison!!! I am now finally allowing myself to get excited! Before it was about each little step, like this paperwork, that flight, our big flight to Beijing....now we're here! and its only 2 more sleeps!!! Please pray for Addison as the

time gets closer for her to leave her foster home and join her forever family. She has been with her foster family for 2 years so the

transition may be quite difficult and extremely scary for sweet Addie. Please also pray for Howard and I for the next few days as this

time will be an emotional rollercoaster I am sure:)

Its still early here, like 7 AM. The streets are really quiet right now, and its already warm! I think they turn off the A/C overnight, as it got

pretty muggy in here, however I can feel the A/C starting now.I can't believe we are actually here! I think we will walk to the Llama Temple

today as its close by, as is some bell tower, and maybe try to find a market as Howard and my friend K. have not brought sunglasses.

I hope to take lots of pictures, and will post them tonight, if I don't zonk out first:) I feel so blessed to have people we know, and that

attend the same church travelling with us....that just doesn't ever happen! So thank you God! Also that we could travel at a time that was

convenient for my Mom & Aunt Donna to look after Nathan, Josh & Riley for almost the whole time. His time is always perfect, and it

does feel that way:)

We Made It!

2010-07-09T05:50:00.001-07:00

We arrived in Beijing at 3:30PM local time. In a down pour! Our flights were perfect! Air China was just as comparable as any other airline we have flown

with. And I thought the flight attendants were quite friendly. It took an hour to get from the airport to our hotel (Oriental Culture in Beijing)

Then we had about 20 minutes to get cleaned up and money exchanged before we went out for dinner and groceries. The only ones up

for dinner and groceries were our dear friends J&K and ourselves, however one of our guides took us for a delicious dinner and it only

cost the 4 of us $17 Canadian total!!! How awesome is that!?! And the food was amazing! We also had some "enterntainment" The was

a table full of children next to us and they kept peeking through the divider wall and giggling:) They then proceeded to sing and demonstrate a game! It was really cute! The grocery store was and experience! Live turtles, snails and other delicacies:)

My first impression of China so far is....I love it! We feel a little overwhelmed by the hustle & bustle, but its beautiful here, I was amazed

at all the trees and garden areas!

Well Howard is sleeping, and I need to shower and fall into bed. Excuse any of my spelling/grammar mistakes. I am typing on very

little sleep:)

Leaving on a Jet Plane

2010-07-07T21:45:00.001-07:00

Our next post will be from China! We are so excited! Can't wait to get there:) Everything is packed, and Howard and I were joking that it will be so odd to be just the two of us, for the next couple days! Kid's are tucked in hugged & kissed.

Nathan, Josh & Riley we sure will miss you! Love you lots and we will see you on Skype. Have fun and be good:)

One More Day Until China!!!

2010-07-06T21:49:00.000-07:00

Well tomorrow is our last day home and then we are off to China! It still feels so surreal! I have moments where it sinks in during the day, and then they pass. Sleeping has become a bit of an issue, now. I hope we will get some good sleep on our flight over:) I think we are all packed except for our toiletries. My Aunt arrived today and my Mom arrives tomorrow. I feel so blessed to have such a supportive wonderful family, 15 days with 3 kids is no walk in the park:) However I know everyone is going to have a blast and will be healthy and safe. I sure am going to miss the kids though!
In 5 days we will meet Addison for our first time! I am a jumble of emotions heading into this meeting. I love her already and have yet to meet her! How is that even possible!?! We have been praying that the Lord would prepare her little heart for us, ever since we saw her file. We have also been praying that He would give us the wisdom to meet her where she is at in her shock and grief. For those of you who believe in the power of prayer, please pray of our little girl and for us! Please pray for safe flights, for good health, no lost luggage, and just an all round wonderful trip:)

I had to add this picture of Riley.....she is beyond excited to meet her little sister, a little nervous for Mom and Dad to go, however has decided its worth getting a new sister:)

Joshua's Early 9th Birthday

2010-07-04T15:50:00.000-07:00

Ok the first thing I have to say is... You might be a redneck if....Your 9 year old son insists on a birthday cake with a deer on it! Not just because they are cute....enough said! My husband's hobbies are now being adopted by our children! How will I survive:0)
So we will be in China on Joshua's birthday, unfortunately for him. So we had an early celebration here at our house. He was actually quite excited to get his presents early, and is hoping Grandma will have a celebration for him while we are away.

As I said in an earlier post this boy can not be in front of a camera without being silly:) That being said, I sure love the young man my Joshy J. Washer's is turning into. He has a heart of gold, he is respectful, fun loving, always willing to serve, full of energy and that boy can tell you animal facts that you could never possibly know about:)

Howard and I feel so blessed to be Joshua's parents! And we look forward to see what God will do in his life! Happy Early 9th Birthday Joshy!

So 4 more sleeps until China! Maybe I should rephrase that.... 4 more sleepless nights:0) I think I will be hauling out the Melatonin tonight. I am not nervous per say, just really excited! We have so many lovely friends and family members calling and emailing us, letting us know that they will be thinking and praying for our family! And I just want to say a great big huge THANK YOU! We feel so blessed to have so many wonderful people in our lives that truly care for us! Tomorrow will be the house cleaning marathon, then Tuesday my Aunt fly's in to help look after our kids, Wednesday my Mom gets here, and then bright and early (5AM) Thursday we are gone!!!

Sometimes it blows my mind that God knew Howard and I would be travelling to China during this exact time; to adopt Addison into our family! I know that adoption doesn't start with a beautiful story....it starts with a loss, Addison lost her birth mother, a decision I am sure was not an easy one for Addie's Mom. A heartbreaking decision indeed. I can not even imagine what her birth mother would have been thinking as she was leaving her newborn daughter at the gates of the city, sorrow I am sure. I believe as a Christ follower we have been called to look after the orphans of this world. I believe we are all given choices. I don't think God intended for Addison to be orphaned, however a choice was made....and instead of allowing that decision to harm her, HE would use that decision for good. Howard and I also made a decision, a decision to take a step in faith and adopt a little girl from China. That choice lead us to Addison, and our heavenly Father knew we would be here at this exact time, welcoming a beautiful little girl, we will call daughter into our lives! I don't believe everyone is called to adopt. However I do believe we have been called to look after that less fortunate, and that can look different for everyone. I hope as you follow our family to China that you will be encouraged and inspired to do whatever it is you are being called to do!

Psalm 139:13-16 (The Message)

Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out;

you formed me in my mother's womb.

I thank you, High God - you are breathtaking!

Body and soul, I am marvelously made!

I worship in adoration- what a creation!

You know me inside and out,

you know every bone in my body;

You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit,

how I was sculpted from nothing into something.

Like an open book, You watched me grow from conception to birth;

all the stages of my life were spread out before you, the days of my life all prepared,

before I even lived one day.

Cooking School: Joshy J. Washers

2010-07-02T13:47:00.001-07:00

Our final cooking school until I get back from China. It was Josh's turn last night, and he chose to make a BLT Pizza.....it was interesting. He made homemade dough and everything! We both really had a good time cooking together, however Howard got home in the middle of the process and Josh got a little side tracked:0)

O.k this boy really can't be in front of a camera and not be silly! And I love that about him, he is constantly making me laugh:0)

Here is Joshy J. Washer's (how did we ever come up with that nickname?) with his finished product.

Here is the BLT Pizza!

Well now it is 6 days until China! Ooh I just got butterflies! I am just tying the final loose ends together. Like I forgot to buy Addie travel medical insurance! Whoops! All done now though. I notice on the 10 day forecast we may be in for alot of rain, I am wondering if I should buy some of those compact rain coats for both Howard and I?

Tonight our sweet friends Trina and Vince are taking us out for dinner! Yum-o at my favourite Chinese place! Can you tell I am just a little excited? I might even talk Howard into a movie afterwards! We'll see. This will most likely be one of our last dates for quite some time, so I am very much looking forward to tonight!

In One Week.

2010-07-01T09:15:00.000-07:00

At this time in one week Howard and I will be in Vancouver at the airport waiting for our flight to Beijing! Wow! I have mountains of laundry and packing to do before then. We are in the home stretch and it means 10 days until we meet Addison:0)

Howard comes home today, and then is in the office tomorrow and then he is done work for at least 5 weeks!!! That in itself is something to be excited about!

Our itinerary looks like this...

Jul 8 - Depart from G.P. @ 7AM through Vancouver

Jul9 - Arrive in Beijing @ 4:50PM local time.

Jul10&11- Touring and shopping in Beijing with our friends J&K

Jul 12 - Fly to Wuhan *FOREVER FAMILY DAY*

Jul 13 - China part of adoption finalized

Jul14&15- Touring Addison's home province and getting to know her:0)

Jul 16 - Receive Addison's passport & fly back to Beijing

Jul 17to22 - Touring Beijing, bonding, applying for entry VISA's etc.

Jul 23 - Fly home we arrive in G.P. @ 10:35 PM

We will be staying at the Oriental Culture Hotel in Beijing for our first couple days there, then in Wuhan we will be staying at the White Rose Hotel, and finally when we are back in Beijing we will stay at State Guest Presidential Plaza Hotel.

Do not be afraid, for I am with you;

I will bring you children from the east

and gather you from the west. ~ Isaiah 43:5~

Let your gentleness be evident to all.The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. ~ Phil 4:5-7~

Cooking School: Miss Riley- Roo

2010-06-30T18:56:00.000-07:00

So today was Riley's cooking day....for the most part I let her pick whatever she wanted to cook for dinner and dessert, however I steered Riley to a website known for "easier" recipes that are not from scratch. That way she could really be involved as much as possible. Miss Roo picked out a salsa chicken breast with Mexican salsa salad. The salad was from a bag, something we rarely do, but that way Riley could do it all! The chicken was shake n bake :0) Other than me touching the raw chicken she was able to do everything as well. And finally the show stopper.....dessert! Chef Riley made a peanut butter stripe square. Very yummy and also easy to make:0)

Above is Riley with her masterpiece dinner :0)

Below Riley whisking away her dessert.

Phew it was alot of whisking:0)

I think Riley said her favourite part was getting the licking bowl all to herself, after we made the pudding filling!

I am starting to see a trend here.....everyone ate dinner without a complaint again!?! As I said in my previous post very rare in this house:0) Well I had fun cooking with my girl. We had an at home day, which is one of my favourite kinda days. Nate is still in his PJ's, Riley hair wasn't done all day, I didn't wear makeup and Josh well he is always up and ready for the day before everyone, but I think we all enjoyed not having to run around anywhere.

* 8 days until China* Getting very excited, but still feel very calm at this point, weird!

Cooking School: Nate

2010-06-29T18:31:00.000-07:00

What have we been doing these last few days before China? Well I wanted to spend some quality time with each of the kids....and I love to cook! So I let each of the kids plan a menu and then I helped them cook it. Tonight was Nathan's night. It was so much fun! Nathan chose to make "westernize" Chinese food:0) His favourites are Sweet and Sour Chicken Balls and Fried Rice. So that's what we made.

Nathan measuring out rice.....yes we cheated, by using minute rice. However I was trying to make it as easy and successful as possible:0)

This is Nate, very proud of his finished product! It was delish, too! And miracle of all miracles all of my kids loved it!!!! That is something that rarely happens in this household:0) Oh, and yes Mom there were veggies:0) I made a tray of veggies and dip, just in case you were wondering:0)

Tomorrow night is Miss Riley's night, I will try and post her night as well as Joshy's. Nathan also chose a dessert, however we were so stuffed we couldn't even think about dessert:0)

Well 9 more days until China! We are now down to single digits!!! I am getting very excited! There is a family that blogs in Wuhan right now, so its really great to see there pictures and witness some of the things we may experience while in Addie's province. Tonight we were wondering out loud what Addison was having for breakfast! Wow! Soon we will be getting to know our sweet girl. I can hardly wait:0) Thanks to the BTDT Mom's with your advice.

You know when.....

2010-06-25T13:28:00.000-07:00

You know when you are planning for a trip, and your really excited, and you feel like you have lots to do? Yet it's still a little too far away? Well I'm there! I have purchased everything I think we will need/want. I have done all our banking, packed Addison's suitcase ( which was over weight and need to be re-packed) Started packing the other 2 suitcases, however we still need to wear clothes for the next 13 days.....so I stopped. I have been cleaning, but with the kids out of school I will need to do another massive cleanup a couple days before we go:0) So now what? I am trying to enjoy these last few days with my 3 wonderful kids! Howard is gone.....AGAIN!!! He was suppose to be home tonight, however plans have changed and he will gone until Thursday, Ugh! I am so ready to go, however I have told myself from the beginning that I would enjoy each step of this journey, so I will enjoy these last few days before travel. I have a question for you BTDT adoptive Mom's what's one thing you wished you would have done/known about this whole process/travelling to China?

Shopping for our Girl

2010-06-25T06:53:00.000-07:00

I started the post 2 days ago and saved it....well it posted underneath my last two post.....I didn't think it would do that!?! So if you are interested its further down the page:0) all I can say is.....

13 DAYS!!!!

Travel Approval Too!

2010-06-24T16:38:00.000-07:00

Yup! We have everything we need to travel! Addison here we come! Only 14 days until we arrive in Beijing and 17 days until we hold Little Miss in our arms for the first time! I think I am in shock. It all seems to be happening so quickly now:0) Oh happy, happy day!

Oh Happy Day!

2010-06-24T08:58:00.000-07:00

I just got a call from our MP's office. They have Addison's Citizenship Part 1 !!!! Oh I am giddy! So relieved! I think I will be grinning all day:0)

Many, O Lord my God, are the wonderful works which You have done,
and your thoughts toward us; no one can compare with You! If I should
declare and speak of them, they are too many to be numbered.
~Psalms 40.5~

Shopping For Addie

2010-06-23T20:59:00.000-07:00

So I have been doing some shopping.....just a bit:0) And have enjoyed every second of it! Here are a few of the things I picked up for Addie.

We debated (when I say we I really mean I!) over what baby carrier to buy and finally settled on the Scootababy, it holds up to 40lbs and is designed for hip carrying more than front so its supose to be more ergonomic. It also has a really wide shoulder strap, which is great so it won't cut into a persons neck/shoulder.

The next 3 items I ordered off of Etsy. The shop is called Pretty Me. I had really hard time not buying everything! She has alot of cute stuff. Here is her site if you are interested www.etsy.com/shop/PrettyMe

Yes I know my pictures suck!

I had to throw in a few ladybugs!

Oh, how I do love Matilda Jane Clothing!

I was also loving this Gymboree line. Yes I also know everything needs to be ironed....but I will be packing it in a suitcase, and it will just get wrinkled again!

I abesolutely love Kate Mack swimsuits for little girls, they are just so darn cute!

So that is a few of the things I have picked up for Addison....there is alot more I just don't really have time to take pictures of it:0) I am still looking for a carseat, I can't seem to decide, and Howard really could care less which one we pick:0)

Wednesday Splash Party!

2010-06-23T20:19:00.001-07:00

Every year on the last Wednesday Kids Club night at our church, our most wonderful children's Pastor hosts a Splash Party. The kids always have a blast and can not wait until the following year when they get to slip and slide and have the biggest water gun fight ever:0)
Here is the picture of the slip and slide.....some of the little kids ended up flying down this thing!

This picture make me laugh! Forget about spraying other people....I'll just drink the water:0) This is one of our dear friends little girl, and she always has a way of making me smile!

Josh was in an 8 year old boy's heaven:0)

Riley started to get in on the fun at the end.

Josh's trip down the slide:0)

Riley.....well she didn't enjoy it so much!

Nathan was also there and had a riot....I always find it hard letting him go to these things, especially since we are travelling so soon. It would really suck for him to have a fracture before we go! I had to just give it to God and trust Nate to make safe decisions:) Sigh, the life of a Mom with a kid with brittle bones, somedays I wish we could put him in a bubble:0) Just Kidding of course!
We had such a fun night that I almost forgot about Addison's citizenship.....almost! Nope we have still heard nothing!

Fathers Day Weekend, 16 Days & Counting!

2010-06-22T19:58:00.000-07:00

In 16 days little Miss Addie will meet myself and the most wonderful, handsome, loving, fun, encouraging Dada in the whole world:) I am so blessed to be married to Howard, as he is the most selfless parent I have ever met. He is constantly putting me and the kids before himself...so we spent this weekend loving on him and trying to put him first!

Sunday we spent having yummy brunch, coffee on the deck and fishing at the trout pond:0) I don't get it....its more work for Howard than fishing,with 3 lines in the water! Yet still he loves to take the kids fishing! Josh was the only one to catch a fish, and was quite proud of himself.

The weather around here has been nothing but fabulous and we spent as much time outdoors as possible. The boys had their fun day at the local park and outdoor swimming pool. You think I could get Riley to smile? Of course not:0)

Riley had her final day of preschool. we decided to take her on a picnic to the local water park to celebrate....she had a blast, once we talked her into it!

We also got to celebrate this Father's Day weekend with my Mom and Dad. We spent Saturday afternoon at the jet boat races on the river, and Howard and my Dad even got to go check out what was coming up for sale at the next equipment auction. Both my Mom and I were glad not to have to tag along:0) It has been so wonderful to have my parents around and we are enjoying each time they come to visit...I think I have mentioned before that we usually only see them twice a year, as they live quite a way from us. However my Dad has two contracts in our area for the next year, so we get to enjoy them!

As I said at the beginning of the post, only 16 more days until we fly out to Beijing. I have moments were it feels so surreal and others where I have a stomach full of butterflies! We are still trying to be patient as we wait for Addison's citizenship part 1....its really frustrating, as there is nothing we can physically do about it. Our MPs office said that Immigration Canada has guaranteed that we will have the approval before we travel. I thought that knowledge would ease my mind, yet it doesn't. I think I will be somewhat concerned about this little piece of paper until we have it in our possession. Our dear friends J&K also are having the same issue with this.....so at least we are not alone! And we are all praying this will be done before we travel! I was at the bank yesterday ordering our US$ and sending bank drafts to our adoption agency....does that mean its really happening? Sure feels like it! I have way over shopped for Addison, not that anyone who knows me would be surprised;) She's going to be sporting some pretty sweet outfits (if they fit) I am almost finished packing her suitcase! Yay! And will start on ours soon.

As the day creeps closer and closer, I have started to imagine what it will be like to meet our sweet little girl......its so scary to think in less than 3 weeks we will have another little person in our family! I am sure the day will be scary and wonderful, sad, joyful and overwhelming all at the same time! I have been watching some Forever Family or Gotcha Day videos on YouTube and have been blubbering like an idiot:0) I just pray that the Lord will give Howard and I the wisdom to meet Addison where she's at, and not overwhelm or scare her too much! We so want to do right by her! I love her already and have yet to meet her....how is that possible? I am curious to see if we will have a chance to meet her foster family. I have so many questions for them. My heart breaks thinking they will have to give up this little girl they have loved for 2 years. So we have been praying for them as well, and hope we will be able to give them words of comfort, if we have the chance to meet them. I hope they will get the chance to know that we will love and cherish this little girl.

I think I may post some pictures of some of the stuff we have bought and gotten as gifts for Addison in my next post. Also I think one of my favourite bloggy friends has some BIG news (hint, hint) I can't wait to hear:0) Only 3 days of school left! Yay!

Frustration!

2010-06-18T13:50:00.000-07:00

O.k. I am getting a little frustrated.....this whole citizenship part 1 process is beginning to drive me nuts! I phoned CIC yesterday to check the status of our file, and was told that they have not received either of our MP's office faxes!?! So the gentleman I spoke to was going to fax an urgent tag to be added to our file. I emailed our MP's office thanking them for all their help and forwarding the info I had. Well they weren't very happy I was checking up on things on my own! In there words it would be pulling our file in 2 different directions, hence slowing down the process!?! And if we didn't want their help to please let them know! I have been patient with them and thankful.....and really really polite! I get that our file is probably 1 of many they are working on, however I don't feel they realize/care what the implications are if we do not get this part done, and I need to be proactive!

I KNOW that God sees all this and is way BIGGER than a tiny piece of paper:0) I trust His timing is perfect. However our family would be honoured if you would pray that Addison`s citizenship part 1 will be processed in time for us to travel with this July 8th group. I have been at peace with this until today....it was almost like switch was flipped:0) We just need this done! And please pray that our MP`s office would be truly advocating and working with us. I hope next week will be a big week. Hopefully we will see this paperwork done and receive Travel Approval:0)

Thanks for allowing me to have a moment:0) 3 weeks left! It will fly by I am sure. Hope you all have a wonderful Father`s Day Weekend!