Surgery Day

We were up bright and early this morning and heading to the surgery center. We got there at 6:30 am but of course she didn't go into surgery until almost 8:00~ oh well. We made good use of our time in the waiting room playing Old Maid and taking pictures : )

Here she is holding her lovey cat and the silk blanket her daddy had as a baby that she has cuddled with for the last 4 years (believe me, it shows too)



I am glad I brought the camera as it entertained her ~ here is a picture she took of me with her cat and blanket



Of course she needed to take one of just the cat



We were finally called back and once the movie started she relaxed while I talked to the nurse



The ENT doctor came in and he told her they were having a balloon blowing contest and he was going to win! She said "no way~ girls rule!" I just had to note that for my sensory girl this gown was horrible (so scratchy) and the bracelet kept scratching her too. She complained about it the whole time *well, until the drugs kicked in*



She did NOT enjoy the taste of the val*ium cocktail they gave her



It did do its job though and she was very relaxed! I wish I had it all on video as she was so funny.


She was still with it enough to be very upset when they wheeled her down the hall away from me. She kept crying "come with me Mommy" ~broke my heart! She was in surgery about an hour then they let me go back. When I got back there she was already hysterically screaming. They had me sit in a recliner and they put her in my lap. She was pulling at her IV and her head bandage, hitting and biting me as I tried to stop her and screaming "OFF NOW!!!" over and over. It was awful!

She calmed down a little when we got in the car and I put a movie on. I went to the pharmacy to get her medicine and this is what I saw in the back seat...that little tear on her cheek : (



By the time I got her to her bed, put on a movie, got her some food and drink and kissed her a few times she was acting and looking much better : )



Yep, my sweet girl is back!



She had a preauricular pit and now that has been taken care of and we go get the stitches out next week. He also cleaned out her ear wax while she was under and suggested putting warm vinegar in her ears. Just thought I'd share in case your child has that Asian wax that is impossible to get out!

Oh, her number one concern right now (other than her ear itching so she wants the bandage off) is that she can't put her earring on right now b/c the bandage covers her entire ear. Thank you all so much for your prayers as they were definitely felt!

So Thankful!

Thanksgiving is an extra special holiday in our family because four years ago we got home from China late on the Wednesday before the big day so it was our first holiday home with Annslee. We were tired but oh so thankful to have our daughter home.

Here is a pic of her on that first day home getting her first taste of mashed potatoes : )




In stark contrast last Thanksgiving we are waiting for our notice to travel. We were blessed to go to Tracy's house for dinner but were sad that our son wasn't with us. When we got home we had an email from our agency person in Vietnam with pictures actually taken that day. When I opened the email I remember being almost physically ill and so scared for our son. What I saw was him being fed and looking so sick and sad. I felt so guilty that we had just left a huge meal and so angry that he wasn't home. Later, when we got our approval I noticed it was actually signed a week before Thanksgiving and that made me so upset. I am still trying to work through all the emotions I have about Coby's first 11 months and I find it so hard to even look at pictures from Vietnam sometimes but I know it is all a part of who he is and we LOVE who he is : )

Here is the picture we saw and I assure you this is NOT what he will look like this Thanksgiving as he is loved on and nurtured with much more than food.



I do think this is the nanny who was bathing him when we met him and she had the sweetest smile. I take comfort in the way she is holding his little chin.


We are so blessed and thankful to have our two beautiful children. I hope you all have a lot to be thankful for this year as well!

Lunch with Annslee

Today we went to Annslee's school for Thanksgiving lunch : )

She looked so cute in her little pilgrim hat!



Coby only smiles if I am behind the camera so this is what we get LOL





She was so excited to have us all there. She kept saying "you NEVER eat at my school!"



For fun here we are at her school last year at Thanksgiving ...look how little she looks!!

Tit@ns Game with Mia

On Sunday we went to the Tit@ns game with Jenny, Adrian and Mia and Annslee was THRILLED to have a friend at the game. She was literally squealing with excitement as we got off the interstate saying "yay, Mia !" : )



Daddy was such a good sport taking Coby on the big slide



Annslee also loved doing the football toss and would give a thumbs up each time before she started.



The girls of course got their faces painted!



STYX did the National Anthem~ what a treat : )



Coby was really into all the action around him



As usual Annslee took the time to do hair~ she loves doing this and it cracks me up



We were walking to get fries and a lady asked if she could take Annslee's pic (honestly I think that is pretty weird but she was a grandma and kept going on and on about how cute A was) anyway, I thought I would take the opportunity to take my own pic of my beautiful cheerleader : )



Coby was busy being his wild self and trying to escape from our seats (good thing he is so cute!)



Annslee took a little time to rest



then T~Rac showed up on the field in a crazy outfit and she was so excited!!!



Coby was definitely feeling the need to nap~ I rarely capture those two fingers in his mouth so I am glad I got this one



Sometimes it is best to get a very up close view of the cheerleaders (she is actually taking a picture of them)



Our family pic



Like I said in my earlier post he was asleep soon after that picture (hence his grumpy face in the family pic LOL)



Apparently the funniest thing in the world is stripping T~Rac



Yep, a racoon sans clothing is really hillarious~~LOL



A nap works wonders~ my new fav pic of my handsome boys!

Family Day with NaNa (aka Annslee)

I wrote this on our first family day anniversary but it still sums up how I feel~

We walked into a room with ten other families and our lives were changed forever. I remember waiting for Jia Na to be called out and then we stepped forward and the orphanage director handed us a precious gift..our daughter. I held her and at that moment I thanked God for every moment in my life that had led to this. I had dreamed of being a mommy and it was finally a reality. There really are no words to adequately describe holding your child for the first time while ten other families are doing the same thing. It was a crazy, loud, chaotic and wonderful delivery room experience. Our lives are forever tied to the other families we shared this with.

You could ask me years from now about the room and I think I could describe every inch of it. I could recall the rain outside and the nervous excitement in the air. I would be able to see the words "Thank you for all of your love pouring on the children" written in English and Mandarin on the wall behind us. I would remember she was holding tightly to a green veggie stick and wearing Spider Man shoes. I would still see the sweet smile she flashed at Mr. Chen (the orphanage director) right before he handed her to me and then the look of confusion as she turned to us. I would still be able to feel the weight of her in my arms for the first time and the ultimate unconditional love we felt for her at that moment.

Here we are on that first day together in 2005. Annslee will look at this picture and ask "why am I crying??" It doesn't seem possible that this was four years ago!



2006



2007



2008



2009~ with one important addition (he was asleep about 2 min later )

Missing my Lens~

As you all know I have two broken lenses on my camera so I am relegated to a point and click right now. It is a nice one but I forgot how much I dislike that "digital delay" and having that with a 22 month old is IMPOSSIBLE. So here are some more blurry bad pics of my really cute kids! I just couldn't resist after I walked in on him wearing Annslee's Tin*kerbell hat and sporting a huge smile about it!







This one is particularly blurry b/c I tried to rush the camera when it wasn't really ready to take another pic..but look at that grin : )



Annslee took the hat off him and gave him Daddy's hat..then she took the camera from me and snapped this one of her brother

Update on our patient

Well, here we are on day 3 of the piggy flu and Annslee is hanging in there. Kids amaze me at how resilient they are. She can run wild with a fever of 102 but of course we are making her rest anyway. Seriously, who looks this beautiful when they are this sick?? : )




Honestly the hardest part has been keeping our lovey girl from hugging and kissing on all of us...especially Coby. They love each other sooooo much and after keeping them apart most of the day when they do spot each other it is so sweet as Coby yells "NaNa!!" and Annslee says sweetly "hey Coby" They have hugged some but we are watching for the big kisses they usually share : ) I did allow them to do some cleaning together though LOL



Here is today's outfit of choice~ well, for now anyway



Watching a movie in a "burrito" is the only way to go : )



As you can see the outfit of choice has already changed since I started this post earlier today



After this shot she said "I want more pink alligator please" For those who need a translation..that would be pink gatorade : )



Daddy and Coby are at church while we hang out here. It was so sweet this morning when she asked about going to church and I told her she couldn't but that Daddy would make sure our SS class prayed for her and she said "Pray for me really? that is sooo nice" : )

Keep praying that she continues to improve and we all don't get it! Thanks for checking in on us and we appreciate all the prayers that have been lifted up on our behalf.

Oink Oink~

Well, sweet girl has H1*N1 and so please keep all of us in your prayers that it passes quickly and no one else gets sick especially Coby. The worst part of the appointment was irrigating her ears (which she actually thought was fun) and still having to dig for wax. She has the typical Asian earwax and it is so painful for her. I had to hold her and she screamed! She did like wearing the mask out of the office and pretending to be a real doctor : )

Here she is after we got home from the doctor's office



The nurse let her keep the syringe she used for irrigation and Annslee loves it!



Trying to keep them away from each other will continue to be a HUGE challenge! Hopefully he won't get it but they literally are always in each other's faces.




*She did get vaccinated but got the first part only a week ago so apparently that isn't enough to do anything really. Starting them both on Tami*flu..hope it works without major side effects!