Happy Birthday Jie Jie!!

Happy Third Birthday Jie Jie!! (2010)

Homemade gluten free cake.

Happy second birthday first with us. (2009)

Happy First Birthday. (in China 2008)

~ Sunday Snapshot ~ Hope's Jokes

Hope is going through a phase right now, a phase where she wants everyone to laugh.


She has been telling jokes, I won't say they are super funny, but the way she delivers and then laughs in her evil scientist way, well it's just priceless. Here is what she has been telling us this week.... Hope ~ Knock knockMe ~ Who's there?Hope~ BananaMe~ Banana who?Hope ~ Knock KnockMe~ Who's there?
Hope ~ BananaMe ~ Banana who?Hope ~ Knock KnockMe ~ Who's there?Hope ~ OrangeMe ~ orange who?Hope ~ Orange you glad I didn't say banana? Hope not five minutes later after laughing forever... Knock KnockMe ~ who's there?Hope ~ BananaMe ~ Banana who?Hope ~ knock knockMe ~ who's there?Hope ~ bananaMe ~ banana who?Hope ~ Knock KnockMe ~ who's there?Hope ~ orangeMe ~ orange who?Hope ~ orange you glad you taught me this joke? And she came up with that one on her own!!

What We've Been up To...

Other than redoing my blog about a million times..

I have been busy sewing the last of my orders. None have come in since Christmas. I have been blessed to have raised a little over $700 for our adoption. The hard reality though is, that Kerry and I may have to make a decision for one of us to travel solo. At this point I am just not sure if we could afford both of us going. The important thing if that we get Rachel home.

I have been sewing some more items to list on Etsy. The blog orders are just not coming in anymore and I am thinking about closing the site and just sticking with Etsy. With the economy as it is, I am thankful to have received the orders I have.

Now onto what I've been making.....

A very hot pink reusable grocery bag, must make more but when I go to the grocery store I will be packing my groceries in style!! (and not have to stash or throw away anymore plastic bags)

Hannah's patchwork scarf, perfect for the cold weather we are having lately. The other side is super soft suede!!

This is Mr. Snowman, Jake made him for me in class. Isn't he cute? Ya know I love snowmen!! I guess the crafty bug has gotten all the kiddos.

Surgery went well

She came through ok, they even let me walk her back and hold her until she was out. They usually don't do this but I learned from a few friends to be assertive and it worked.

It took a little longer than usual for her to have the tubes put back in. Jie Jie's ears are quite scarred and the left tube was in the wrong place. She had a ton of fluid build up in the right ear.

I am hopeful this will help restore some of her hearing. She did take forever to wake up. I told the guy, "she won't wake up right away, it takes her quite awhile". He didn't believe me and said the first time was a fluke. Well, I proved him right, she was very tired and not wanting to stay alert. Her O2 level was ok and her heart rate came back up but I would say it took about an hour for her to come fully awake and then she kept telling me she was tired and to leave her alone.

So anyway, for those of you not on facebook she is ok and back to her normal ornery self.

Surgery....again...

For the youngest little. This wasn't expected but is definitely needed. We have been going through our states early intervention program to get her into speech therapy and found out she has no hearing in her right ear. We had tubes placed when she had her palate repaired but they didn't last very long. Tomorrow at 7:45 she will have new tubes put in, her ears cleaned and her throat checked. Please say a prayer for our girl, she has a rough time with anesthesia and I am a little worried. However the alternative would be not to redo the tubes and have her hearing further decline and for our girl who is a lover of all things music that would be a shame.

Sunday Snapshot ~ waiting ~

wait⋅ing  

–noun 1. a period of waiting; pause, interval, or delay.

–adjective 2. serving or being in attendance: waiting man; waiting maid; waiting woman.


Waiting, it seems we are always waiting. Even if we don't realize it we are actually waiting. Waiting for our next meal, waiting for pay day, waiting for our birthday, waiting in line for a cup of coffee. Yep folks, we are always waiting.

Bear with me, I do have a point. When we are waiting for something so big and so important it seems to take the longest. In a sense you are in a period of delay or a pause.

Now reading the second meaning, I get a light bulb moment or an idea. Why not turn our wait time into a serving time or a time to help others, maybe that will make our time of waiting shorter and I will gain a perspective I otherwise would not have had.

Now if you read through all my jumble and got it, go, go and serve or help others, not only will it make you feel better, maybe your time of waiting will be shorter also.

Happy New Year!!

Hopefully this new year will be a great one for all of us.

Personally I am hoping for our LOA (letter of acceptance) sometime in January. We did get an updated picture from traveling parents. Rachel is getting so big. I really wish we could go get her. But, I have all the patience in the world and will wait however long it takes.

In the mean time, I am making these adorable birthday dresses/tops for our fundraiser. They are super cute paired with a pink top and jeans. (or alone with some funky pink/red tights!!) So please consider ordering one!!