a seat at the table

i got you day.

2012-03-31T23:19:00.006-04:00

Since K was away for week last week and returned only last night, we decided to celebrate Gotcha Day with Daddy today. This morning began with a trip to a park for kites and rockets.

We started a little competition to see who could jump the highest before landing on the launcher. Here are the best action shots...

Sweet P could hardly get herself off the ground... most times she wouldn't even land on the red circle but she made up for the lack of height with enthusiasm!

Not to be left out of the fun, I gave it my best try.

We finished off the celebration with lunch at a local Thai place. Sweet P was like a little Thai celebrity. The servers kept a watchful eye on us the entire meal and the hostess came over to hug her repeatedly and ask lots of questions. It was only fitting that we finished the meal with mango and sweet sticky rice. ...and thankfully it tasted exactly like in Thailand one year ago.

Sweet P kept saying "I got you day!"
Well said.
Blessings, angela

one (blessed, amazing, joyous) year.

2012-03-30T23:07:00.000-04:00

ONE leap year.

366 days.

The number of days we have this preciousness home with us.

I have kissed her millions of times more than 366. I have held and hugged her hundreds of hours. I have prayed for her repeatedly and been amazed at how beautifully she is adjusting to life in our family.

I have loved watching her personality unfold. It has been remarkable to hear her put American words to her thoughts. I have treasured mommy moments of washing clothes and realizing there's another little person creating laundry for me. It's been no big stretch to make one more plate of food for each meal.

The bottom line: This little girl needed a family.

And you know what?

I think we needed her even more.

A place to call home.

A mom and a dad to love her.

A FAMILY.

And the most amazing part of all... our family.

I thank the Lord all the time for allowing us the grace to welcome her home.

Some days I cannot stop smiling when a little

black-headed,

dark brown-eyed,

cocoa-skinned girl

calls me Mommy.

Unbelievable.

I'm abundantly blessed.

I celebrate this day by praising the Lord for His goodness to our family
and remembering the original Gotcha Day.

Blessings, angela

new year. late posting.

2012-02-27T00:37:00.004-05:00

Yep, folks. Back again after falling off into the abyss. I have emerged with no promises of further postings... I have three kids now and I underestimated the amount of time I would spend in doctors' offices or at home with snotty noses and coughs this winter. Guess that should mean more time here, but nope. I truly have no excuse.

So on one of those aforementioned doctor's visits, Sweet P is browsing a magazine in the lobby. She gets to this page and hollers to me, "Mama, Thailand!" For a non-reader, I was surprised, but that was followed by unwarranted pride that I'm keeping her culture in the forefront of her little mind. Glad she can recognize the golden buildings from our coffee table Thailand photo book. I haven't looked at it with her for many months.

...and on a side note, she has taken to answering as follows, when asked "How are you?"... "I'm Sweet P + last name. Thailand! 'Merica!"

I have no idea.

Nice transition into this picture, from Peanut:

It was taped on her door one day when I went upstairs. The sad part is the realization that it only prohibits Buddy from her room, who she is endeared to deeply.

See below? Isn't he charming? This day it was cool and I told him I needed to grab a jacket before we left the house. His reply? "Mom, you don't need a jacket. I'll keep you warm."

Melt my heart, little man.

Sweet P talks about kangaroos and their pouches for the joey pretty much every day. She has started carrying her baby dolls in this manner to follow suit:

I am friends with an incredible family in Illinois who is adopting another little girl whose face we saw on the initial waiting child DVD. It warms my heart to know she will have a family soon! Her family took part in a fundraiser and sent us t-shirts. "THAILAND 1.4 million minus 1"... the number of orphans, but it's minus one because their sweet S will soon be home with her forever family!

Guess who turned four?

At Buddy's birthday, Sweet P got to hold her first ever live baby. She loved it, to say the least. When asked afterward about holding baby T, she kept saying, "Hold the baby. Heh-bee." Meaning, heavy.

As tradition goes, Buddy had a private breakfast date with Daddy on his actual big day. I promise you, he ate every bite except a few pieces of fruit and jello from those plates. I am not sure I can financially feed him in ten years!

Until I get back here to finish. Blessings, angela

a letter of thanks.

2012-02-01T18:22:00.001-05:00

A surprise showed up in our mailbox a couple days ago...

...a Christmas card from Sweet P's orphanage! We never dreamed we would hear from them personally at any point, so this was a wonderful surprise. It was sent to our previous address and then forwarded here. That likely explains the late arrival.

I have wanted to be sure the nannies who cared for Shiloh know of our great thanksgiving for their care, but I also wanted to give them a medical update. Below is a somewhat edited version of what I wrote in a return letter, along with pictures in the envelope.

Dear Miss C and the Nannies at Pakkred Babies’ Home,
Greetings to you! We are the family of P..... She now goes by the name of Sweet P, which means “gift,” because she is our gift from God. She is such a blessing to our family and we are grateful for each day we have with her home. Sweet P has made a very smooth transition into our family and is doing wonderfully!
After we left Thailand and arrived home, she was seen by a pediatric neurologist and neurosurgeon and had a brain scan done. Her brain no longer shows seizure activity, so we were able to wean her off both medicines. Also, the neurosurgeon told us her shunt is no longer working and her body does not need its assistance. We are thrilled to report she is medically considered a healthy child! If her mom or dad someday inquires about her, please tell them so! We often think her birth mom must wonder, since she knows of the shunt surgery and seizures.
We are so grateful to each of you for the excellent care you gave to Sweet P during the two years she lived at Pakkred Babies’ Home. She is thriving in our family much in part to the love and attention you gave to her. Thank you. She is such a gift to us and we cannot imagine life without her.
Thank you for the Christmas card! Enclosed are pictures of Sweet P and our family last year.
Blessings to you,
K and Angela

Christmas cheer.

2012-02-01T14:08:00.000-05:00

I remember all too well the intense longing I had at Christmas last year for Sweet P to be a part of the celebration. It was with overwhelming joy that we shared in Jesus' birthday ... celebrating His birth to save creation from sin and adopting us into His eternal family. How amazing to share in His birthday with our own adopted child! The celebration was beyond wonderful!

K's work has a fun little Christmas party for the children each year. Once Santa arrived, Buddy grabbed his hand and escorted him into the building. He wasn't letting go.

Sweet P had an agenda of her own with the big man. She only wanted to show off her pink nails!

Peanut felt the need to tell him several times she wanted roller skates but otherwise wasn't her smiley self. She had a collision in the bouncy house with someone's head and her tooth took all the impact. It has since turned darkish and hopefully will be loose and fall out shortly. Such is life.

We always open gifts on Christmas Eve, and Sweet P caught on very quickly. ...so quickly, in fact, that while others were opening theirs, she was sneaking another from under the tree and opening it. Even if it wasn't hers. Funny.

I said in the last post I failed to take a picture of the Jesse Tree, but I did! I snapped one Christmas Eve as K read the Christmas story from Luke 2 to the kids.

Then we spent Christmas Eve with our church family... The children had practiced "What Child is This?" and memorized Bible verses to recite at the service. It was precious.

We still play the "game" of Santa at our house. The kids thought it appropriate to leave him cookies and milk with carrots and an apple for Rudolph.

Christmas could not have been more blessed with our Sweet P home! Seeing everything through her eyes was a treasure... "Mit-muss lights!" "Mit-muss tree!" "Baby Jee-dus!" "Woo-doff!" "Frah-tee da No-man!" (Missing that front tooth makes many consonants difficult!) Thanks for sharing this special time by way of blog. Blessings, angela

holly and jolly.

2012-01-18T00:23:00.003-05:00

Leading up to the celebration of Jesus' birthday, this year our family did the Jesse Tree for the first time. Sadly, I didn't take a picture of our little tree but you can read more about it here. That link will take you to something very similar to what we did. It honestly made Christmas a joyous anticipation... a beautiful awaiting of our Salvation in bodily form... the supernatural birth of Jesus Christ. I am already excited to read through it again next year and hang leaves on our tree each day of December.

Another first in our household was Peanut losing two teeth. Whoa. Talk about growing up overnight. The big tooth was already pushing its way through, and then the second one came out a day or two later. I'm not ready for her to look any older than she already does!

The next two bath pictures are almost identical, yet taken a couple days apart, the first by me and the second by K. He didn't know I had taken the first until he texted me his and I return texted mine back. Funny.

Our little Thai baby is picking up new things each day. I didn't know she could count past five until she counted to ten one day! Then on video here she counts past ten. It is amazing how quickly she is becoming fluent in English, all the while inserting her silly humor.

Since we already made my mom's sugar cookies, it was time to make K's family tradition: Danish vanilla cookies. These are super duper fun (insert sarcasm) because you get to sprinkle them twice. Once with cinnamon and sugar. A second round of colored sugar sprinkles. This makes for gritty floors not only on baking day but every single day thereafter, and even a couple more past the point the cookie jar is empty. Good times. ...but full of tradition, right?

The only reason I add the next picture is because Buddy is rightly named so. He asked - in true Buddy the Elf form - for syrup to dip his turkey and cheese. Mind you, he's never seen the movie Elf so I am not sure where he got that idea.

Kids Christmas party at K's work.

One day the kids asked for a clubhouse like Fancy Nancy and it got me thinking. What better to do with a lot of unused space in the bottom of the girls' closet? Great idea, kiddos. Buddy helped me clear the area, and I got to sewing.

Here's what we came up with:

These are similar views you'd have out our windows in Vegas... sand and more sand with a patch of grass. Sometimes astroturf but in our case the old fashioned kind. A palm tree or two and maybe a cloud. It's generally clear skies, which makes for a beautiful view of airplanes from the Air Force base. The sound of freedom!

Look a little to the left and you'll see Mt Charleston, usually with a little or lot of snow, even in the summer. Tack these "windows" to the wall and you've got a Vegas-style clubhouse. Perfect for my three.

A couple days before Christmas, we drove down to the Bellagio. It was beautiful!

The Grinch in the cake shop was made entirely of fondant! It was probably four feet tall.

Time to stop here for tonight. Merry (late) Christmas to all and to all a good night! Blessings, angela

november in review.

2012-01-17T22:49:00.001-05:00

We spent Veteran's Day weekend camping at Zion National Park in Utah. The word majestic doesn't even begin to describe how gorgeous enormous rocks can be. I could have spent hours examining the view! I hope we get to go back at least one more time.

One more note to add merely for memory's sake. It was freezing. I mean FAH-REEZING. The kids didn't seem to mind much, as evidenced by the smiles (and silly faces) here.

They have much to learn about camping etiquette. Peanut was allowed to pack her own backpack of fun things to bring. She packed her pink cat Cupcake, a few books, and other expected items. What I didn't notice in her pack before she pulled it out at 6:30am the next morning, was her tin whistle (see pictures way down below). She is learning simple songs on it for school. It is cute to parents to hear your five-year-old toot out "Mary had a Little Lamb" but it is not exactly the way an entire campground of sleepy people want to be awoken at that early hour. We cut her off by "Little" with a loud shushing.

It's funny now.

I think the moment after I post this, I'm off to hunt for ethnic colored crayons. Peanut always draws herself and Buddy with orange skin and then Sweet P with dark brown. Does she really see them that way? I have no idea what color she would use if we adopted a little boy from Ghana! :) We need a lot more cultural diversity in our flesh-colored drawing instruments. Makes me laugh.

My parents were in town for a bit after a work trip to California. I have no idea where all my pictures are from that time! K and I took advantage of the babysitters and saw The Lion King at Mandalay Bay before the show closed on December 31. It was spectacular! If you have seen it, you know what I mean that the voices and costumes were captivating!

We all go to a once-a-week school day for homeschoolers called Classical Conversations. The little two go to their own class too.

One quarter of the school year, the kids learn basic music skills by playing a tin whistle. Peanut loves this part of class! Maybe someday we will have someone to play the abandoned saxophone that's in our attic. It is begging to be played again.

As we prepared for Thanksgiving the following week, we made my mom's famous sugar cookies.

My parents flew out the Saturday before Thanksgiving at 3:00pm and then K's parents drove into Vegas a couple hours later about dinnertime. Once again, we took full advantage of babysitters and saw another show. It's been a long while since we had a date night, so we kind of overdid it... Cirque de Soleil's Mystere at Treasure Island. Fantastic show.

Then on Tuesday K's sister drove in with her family of seven. It was a wonderfully noisy full house! After almost ten years of living far from family, we treasure the times we have together.

The girlies had too much fun with makeup.

Sweet P begged for more and more.

Thanksgiving dinner at the kids' table.

Pops and Buddy. After we share dinner, it is our family's tradition to read Psalm 100 together (thank you to KTJ for sharing this tradition with us!) and then go around the table sharing one thing we are thankful for over the past year. I especially love hearing what the little people have to say.

The following morning as we were about to head out for a hike at Red Rock Canyon, we had a man down. Buddy took a spill on the stairs while holding his plastic six shooter. Unfortunately, it cut right into his face, so we were off to the ER for stitches. He was a tough guy!

Upon returning home he wanted to know where the guns were to get back to playing.

I love kids.

Instead, that day we went to the park to play and shoot rockets. Then we resumed the hiking plan on Saturday morning. Red Rock Canyon never disappoints.

One last night we took advantage of babysitters. The oldest K and K girls are so responsible, so the parents went on a double date to Buca di Beppo and a short stroll on the Strip to see Christmas decorations.

After all our guests left the next morning, our family decorated the house. It is Sweet P's first Christmas at home, so it was extra fun to decorate the tree! She loved all the ornaments and hung a bunch in a big cluster.

I'll share more of our Christmas as a family of five shortly. Blessings, angela

roos n more.

2012-01-17T22:21:00.000-05:00

Our first school field trip was at the end of October to Roos n More. It's about an hour's drive northeast and well worth the trip. I never would have dreamed I could see so many exotic animals in the middle of the desert of Nevada! Vegas is full of surprises.

Here's a photo recap of the day because, seriously, it's January 2012 and I'm posting about October 30, 2011. I need to get a move on. By the way, Sweet P was there too but is terrified of close proximity to any animal. Reference this zoo post if you want proof.

Petting a baby porcupine.

"Passing snakes" took on a whole new meaning. You could not pay me to do this!

Did you know an armadillo looks like a small cantaloupe when it's rolled up? God created these guys so amazingly... they fit together like puzzle pieces into a perfect sphere.

Hello, toucan!

Meeting a sloth.

Camels and zebras too.

A very close encounter with a monkey. Buddy had glasses on, so the monkey loved watching himself in the reflection.

The amazing bear cat.

Playing with otters.

Petting our first kangaroo and seeing a baby joey inside its pouch! Did you know baby joeys are only the size of a jelly bean when they are born?? When we saw it, it was still only 2 or 3 inches long!

There were a couple albino kangaroos.

My favorite lemur. Funny guy.

The end.

looking back.

2012-01-04T23:52:00.000-05:00

Moments before we met Sweet P in the orphanage, we were presented a photo album from her time there. Considering she lived there all but about three months of life, it is still not comprehensive. Less than ten are of her before age one, by my guess. Regardless, it's a treasure to have them. We were given a few peeks into her first years on the planet but no where near this much into her life at the orphanage.

I spent a few minutes today scanning them from the album and wanted to share a few favorites. I love knowing her personality and mannerisms now and seeing bits of them in these pictures from a year or two ago.

My assumption is that this first picture is shortly after she arrived at her new home, since she arrived around three months. The next stage of life jumps to around a year, possibly when she was placed onto the list to be adopted?

If you know Sweet P, you know the eyes below... she makes this face when she's not happy about something. No words necessary, it's all in those eyes!

The next two pictures make me feel so happy about her care while she waited to come home to us. The nannies at the orphanage care so much about the children. I can't remember if I have shared here about the nannies. You see, we never were able to meet Sweet P's assigned nanny because she wasn't at work the day we were there. Oh, how I wished I could have thanked her in person!

Nannies at her orphanage do not come to work the day their assigned children go home with their forever families, so they don't have to watch with sadness to say goodbye and so the children aren't even more sad to see the nanny as they go away with "strangers." It is a tremendously difficult - and yet incredibly selfless - thing to do to make the transition easier for everyone. I hope and pray she had a special goodbye time with Sweet P on March 29 before she went home for the day.

I assume her nanny and maybe a collaboration of nannies sent Sweet P with gifts as we left. The orphanage is an extension of the Thai government and runs by its funds, so it is my guess these were purchased by individuals because of the way they were presented.

(Sorry, crazy picture, but it's the only I could find in the dress!)

Many Thai people wear a buddha on a chain around their neck, much like Christians wear a cross.

A jade amulet necklace. I like the trio of jade colors.

The elephant is a royal symbol in Thailand. This incense set is a pretty reminder of her homeland.

I look forward to giving them to my little girl when she is older. I hope she sees them as a dear connection to the people who loved her while she waited.

Blessings, angela

finalized.

2011-12-31T00:34:00.001-05:00

Yesterday was incredible. We had to get up much earlier than usual to be at the Family Courthouse for our time before the judge. Our social worker and lawyer met us there before our appointment at 8:30. I think all was said and done by a little after 9:00!

We received Sweet P's adoption decree and officially changed her name. If you know hers, you know the meaning of her first name describes beautifully what she is to us. Her middle name is taken from K's grandma, a beautiful woman who loves Jesus, something we hope and pray for Sweet P. Her second middle name will be her given Thai name. We want to keep that part of her heritage and honor the ones who gave her birth by keeping it. Then, music to my mommy ears, her last name now matches ours!

To celebrate American style, we stopped to get donuts - her first! - on our way home. Then we went for a family bike ride before naps. I'd call that a good, good day.

Thanking the Lord for the fifth member of our family. Blessings, angela

court date!

2011-12-21T22:09:00.001-05:00

Yay! Yay! and Yay again! Do we have some big news to share!

It has been a whirlwind of adoption stuff the last couple weeks. We suddenly found out it would be possible to finalize Sweet P's adoption in American courts and rushed to gather all the papers and find a lawyer to make it happen before 2012.

Why? Well, 2011 tax laws grant an adoption credit of up to somewhere around $13,000. This is entirely different from the expected change to an adoption tax deduction beginning in 2012. The entire credit will be given back to us, so long as we spent that amount or more on specific adoption-related items... home study, background checks, lawyers, etc. Next year we would (likely) only be allowed to deduct from the amount we pay in taxes, so long as what we owe is lower than the stated deduction amount. How things are for our family, we don't pay anywhere near that much in taxes in a given year, so it wouldn't be as much of a benefit to us.

The excitement isn't about just having money in our pocket, but about the possibility of how we will use it! We weren't expecting this added blessing and now we can use the credit toward adopting again. It thrills my soul just to think about it! ...and that it will likely happen sooner thanks to this credit.

The reason we are waiting until the absolute last minute of 2011 to get this done is because of custody laws in Nevada. We have to reside in state for exactly six months before we are considered under Nevada's authority to deal in matters of custody. You probably don't remember but we drove into the 110 degree heat on June 28. We had no choice but to take this down to the wire!

We asked friends to pray with us last week that a judge would kindly squeeze us into the schedule on December 29 or 30. Many judges are on vacation for the holidays, so this was definitely praying for a Christmas miracle. A phone call from our lawyer's office came yesterday saying we got an appointment for Friday! All praise to the Lord!

December 30 is a big day for Sweet P! She will get her adoption decree and have her name officially changed to our family surname.

ugh.

2011-12-08T18:19:00.001-05:00

I'm becoming one of those annoying bloggers who take lengthy vacations from posting and then it's too overwhelming to get back on task. Guilty. ... forgiven? Pretty please?

Life has been full but blessed. Since arriving in Vegas we've had to search out a church and decide on school for Alannah and just plain ole get involved and start growing roots. It wasn't as easy this time around than it has been in the past, but we feel so settled and at home here. Honestly, I love it much, much more than I ever could have imagined!

Here is my update in pictures... and then I hope to write a few more adoption posts soon that keep swirling around in my head. Hope to see you back at the table soon! Blessings, angela

You can see the difference in height between my "twins"... 8 months but about three or four inches difference.

Oh, I could just eat up the cuteness in these little cheeks!

Occasionally we get rainy days in Vegas too, so all the little ducklings went for a walk.

Our homeowner here gave us a weekend getaway to her vacation rental in Lake Arrowhead, California.

We drove back to Vegas in time to meet two very longtime family friends on the Strip for dinner.

A stop by the Bellagio Conservatory to see the flower display is a must!

...and the famous chocolate fountain.

This picture made the cut because I love the look in Peanut's eyes. All I remember is K was having a chat with her and telling her he was proud about something. She has such a loving respect in her eyes for her Daddy.

K got Buddy a tee ball stand and gave it after returning from a work trip one evening. The first thing on his mind after waking the next morning was to get outside and play... even if it was 6:34am! Early bird gets the worm, right?

Halloween costumes for school

On Halloween night Buddy changed his mind and went as Handy Manny. We had a fun evening with families from our homeschool group.

make back a buck.

2011-11-08T12:52:00.001-05:00

So, Christmas is just around the corner and I know many of you will be doing lots of online shopping... or at least if you want to skip the crowds and still get a good deal!

I just got a rebate check in the mail from ShopatHome.com and thought most of you would be interested. Every time I shop online, I check there first. Many, many stores you probably shop at regularly give a small (sometimes large!) percentage back to you just for shopping through ShopatHome.

I have become more of an online shopper of late, because, really, how fun is it to tote three little ones to a store just to have them request a potty trip or snack or water or whatever else they can think of at the moment! It's really exciting to go to my mailbox every few months and find a rebate check just for shopping through ShopatHome's website!!

If you go through this link, you will automatically start out with $5.00 in your rebate account! Just keep on shopping as usual, going through ShopatHome first, and once your account reaches $20.00+, they will mail you a rebate check. Obviously I was racking up the rebates when we first moved in and were getting settled! :)

3.

2011-09-17T01:36:00.003-04:00

A couple nights ago I looked back over some posts on here about this time last year. It brought back feelings that I hoped to long forget... celebrating Sweet P's 2nd birthday without her in attendance. It felt almost wrong to have a family party with the guest of honor not present, yet we had to mark the special day.

We have all waited the last few weeks with much anticipation for September 16 because Sweet P is HERE to join in the celebration! She was able to open cards and gifts from extended family last night since K and Buddy are on a guys camping trip with church friends. We'll enjoy cupcakes on Sunday.

I tried to find a video that would show best how well she is speaking English, but I didn't capture one. I will keep trying because it is a huge answer to prayer! However, I did get a video that proves she already knows the value of the American dollar. Hope you laugh too.

Each day is a gift to have Sweet P home, but today was especially treasured. Time passes too quickly and she is already growing up way to fast for my liking.

I love you, baby girl! Happy birthday!

questions answered.

2011-09-08T22:12:00.000-04:00

We've gotten quite a few questions, and I am sure there are even more unspoken. I love sharing about this journey because I think adoption is one of the most amazing things I may ever experience in my life... I am praying more of you will experience this miracle!

If you have more questions, please, please feel free to ask them. Post a comment or send me an email. No questions are wrong to ask, unless you are the man at Costco who asked me last week if I was babysitting... and it was only annoying because Sweet P was wearing a matching outfit with Peanut. Have you ever seen a babysitter dress her children identical to the one she is watching?

Now without further ado, your questions:

I was wondering how the "Sweet P Doll" worked out? I didn't see any mention of it during your gotcha day blog and I've been curious how it would all pan out for you. I loved the idea and hope it helped ease some of the unfamiliarity.

Um, well, I wish I could tell you! We received back every single gift we sent her - many unused - all except the doll. When we went to pick her up, we had the matching doll with us. You can see it poking out of my bag above. We had just finished the video of her pictures and were caught off guard when she suddenly was walked into the room. You will also see us giving a (very incorrectly done) wai as greeting. When we did show Sweet P the doll, she didn't seem to have any connection to it.

Exactly how old is she?

She was two years and 6.5 months when we met in Thailand. That makes her 8 months and 2 days younger than Buddy. Her third birthday is coming up very soon on September 16!

Is there a transition period?

Yes, but we have no idea how long it will last or at what point you announce "She's fully adjusted!" It also looks different for every child just like every newborn you bring home from the hospital adjusts to life outside the womb differently. Some scream and cry with colic or reflux. Some are mellow little dudes who are content doing whatever. Some sleep all day and some hardly ever sleep. You just never know what you are going to get until they are born! So it is with adoption.

Did she know English? How is her language coming along?

Nope. Kept things interesting in the beginning. :) She spoke Thai to us most of the time for a few weeks. She is still picking up words daily and it is fun to hear! Some of our English sounds are difficult for her since they don't use them in Thai, but I bet within a couple months she will be full up.

Do you call her S...........? (her English name)

Yes. For a short while in Thailand we called her by her Thai name or nickname, but then at her doctor visit the doctor said we should go ahead and strictly call her the English name we were giving her... and she responded to it almost immediately!

What does she eat?

In the beginning, it was a little tricky. All the new smells and tastes were a little too much for her some days. She gradually warmed up to our flavors and is enjoying almost all foods. She still has her Thai love for spicy foods and eats them up quickly!

How's she doing with her medications, etc. - where you able to wean her off more? Does she still have the shunt - forever?

Yes, we were able to wean her off the anti-seizure medications completely after her brain scan showed no seizure activity. It was an awful process... as if her brain was finally waking up after slight sedation for two years, and for a few days she slept only six hours each night. Before the weaning process, she was sleeping 10 hours at night and taking a 3-4 hour nap. I was worried she might never sleep again! ...but I'm happy to report back to her previous sleeping schedule. We're all a lot better off each day with a good night's rest.

faces with names.

2011-09-08T18:42:00.001-04:00

‎...orphans are easier to ignore before you know their names.

They are easier to ignore before you see their faces.

It is easier to pretend they're not real before you hold them in your arms.

But once you do, everything changes.

Radical, by David Platt

Meet some of the faces from Sweet P's orphanage.

At the end of the video you'll hear me say "She has a nickname?" Everyone in Thailand has a name, most of them rather long and difficult to spell in English, but they believe once you are named, the evil spirits know who you are and try to attack. In order to confuse the spirits, they give you an unrelated, short nickname. Sweet P's nickname was Ice! Some kids are called Pepsi or Apple or Moo (little mouse) or even after favorite American celebrities like Reese (Witherspoon).

All of these children have names. ...and 30% of them are adoptable and need forever families... like yours. They are starving for love and it's obvious because they were begging for hugs and to be held and to be wanted. It still chokes me up seeing them. Before we set foot in Thailand, I worried these faces would haunt me after we left. The Lord has not let me forget.

So I will be their advocate.

I will not keep their faces all to myself.

Every child deserves a loving forever family. Please take a look at these sweet children:

They sleep in beds like these:

They wear these little shoes:

They eat here:

They play on these toys:

They need someone like this to love them:

~~If you have an interest in China, our agency has need for families to adopt. If you are interested (couples or single woman) in finding out more with no pressure, email ky@adoptionadvocates.org.~~

Sadly, the agency we used to adopt Sweet P and now another child has closed. Please research others! There are so many that are ethical and worth checking out. Be assured, if you contact an agency to inquire for more information, they will not continue to contact you. They realize it's a very personal reason why families choose to adopt, and they will not pressure you in any way. On that note, I would call around before making a decision.

welcome to the heat.

2011-09-05T00:53:00.000-04:00

(Apologies for the crazy formatting on this post... I'm too tired to fight with it.)

This is the number that greeted us when we rolled into Vegas. Definitely a warm welcome.

These two are in town. Everyone had better clean up their act. It is Vegas, afterall, and it's sure to be a lot safer now.

We stayed at a nearby hotel for a couple days while the rest of our household goods arrived. Sweet P was all mixed up with more transitions, therefore, naps did not go well. At all. And that is a horrible understatement. So it was no surpise she fell asleep during Bible time and bedtime stories.

Our arrival in Vegas was a few days before America's birthday. We scouted out a good parade and found the jackpot. I dare say it was the best parade I have seen, aside from missing a jet flyover! The people of Summerlin sure know how to put on a parade. However, too many parade attenders confused me. Why attend a patriotic parade and yet fail to put your hand on your heart or stand for the flag presentation? For real, people, you should just stay home. What was angering were the people who didn't bother to stand and applaud the blue and gold star families as they passed. The faces they carried are the reason you can attend a parade in the first place. Let's show a little patriotism and thanks for our military members.

(Deep breath.) Off my soap box to resume regularly scheduled blogging.

Here were my little patriots:

Early, early morning entertainment out on the "dock." A word to the wise: if you are going to move with children, move east. The time change going west is awful on parents who stay up late unpacking.

Sweet P found this puzzle in one box and proceeded to assemble it time after time after time ... day after day after day. She is still asking for Elmo. When we visited the orphanage, there weren't toys that contained pieces, so I think she's reveling in this new found freedom! Other new (and annoyingly messy) toys are Lite Brite and all the play dishes and foods.

She also enjoys playing with the letter magnets, mostly lining them up in rows. One day I looked over as she was at work and saw this:

I think she's not letting on truly how much she knows. :)

Peanut saved up $10.00 to buy a bigger bike with Daddy, and I wasn't too surprised when they brought home a princess bike! She was so excited to choose one and then show off for us riding around the neighborhood.

She also started dance for the first time ever and is loving it. I am not sure quite how much she is learning, but most of the fun is the anticipation and dressing up.

She is about as flexible as her mom on this move!

This little one is obsessed with pockets as of late. One day K met me after a doctor appt and had gotten the kids ready. Sweet P had on a cute dress but later I discovered she had pulled on shorts too, just so she would have pockets! She has yet to fill them up but always wants to have some on her body. Funny girl. Here she is proudly displaying her pockets.

A rare morning we made it out to eat breakfast while it was still semi-cool. Oh, how I look forward to winter here!

I walked in on this scene and asked what was going on... Peanut informed me she was the princess and (note the crossed arms and firm looks) the other two were her advisors. It's clear who is running the show.

... and the big finish! I'll bet you get a laugh. Drive-in movie night laundry-basket-style.

(If I know you and you're not some random blog stalker...) You are welcome to visit us! We have plenty of room for you and, if you can handle the constant chatter of three littles, we'd love visitors! Blessings, angela

I lied.

2011-08-04T13:00:00.000-04:00

Almost immediately after posting last night, I unearthed the few pictures I had on my camera from our last couple days in Virginia.

A final farewell at the park with families from K's work. Plenty of children to go around!

This is what our garage looked like with all the boxes ready for our truck.

K pulled up in this monster of a truck and my first thoughts were, "Take it back! It's too big!" I may or may not have let those words slip from my lips, because he replied that it was too late and it was time to load it up.

Basically, this is what the 26 foot truck looked like inside after aforementioned boxes and junk from the entire garage were loaded. Uh oh.

One of our church friends M stopped by to help for the afternoon, which was more of a blessing than we could have ever imagined. The guys were able to pack up tons of heavy furniture and lots of other items we didn't intend to move ourselves, which translated to more weight, which translated to more money toward our next adoption. We won big time.

Two nights before we drove off, a wife of K's coworker took us for horse rides on her beautiful horses Flash and Wish. The stables were only minutes from our hotel so we met her there one evening after family night at Chick-fil-A. Reference the scary face paint. Buddy was overly happy to have his face painted like Spiderman. The unfortunate part was 90 degree heat that made his face itchy and sweaty so his face ended up looking like something from Freddy. (...and I just dated myself because Freddy movies were out when I was like 10 years old and many of you just googled to figure out who on earth I am referring to)

Peanut chose butterfly paint.

...and then we were off on our way to Oklahoma. I am so glad I found a few pictures of our time with K's family!

K's sister K with the girls:

Buddy, K, Sweet P, K, K, C, K, Peanut and K

K with his sisters K and K (notice a trend?)

K's mom got in on the water gun fight. She was in it to win!

We had the best time with family... and they are all invited out for the holidays so we can make more memories! (yes, that's a hint) Blessings, angela

my family.

2011-08-04T01:07:00.000-04:00

While home my family scheduled pictures with one of my sweet friends from growing up: Amy of Amy Nickerson Design. I think you will agree she did a beautiful job of capturing our family on film...

All the grandkids with Juju and Papa:

(Oh, and this may be our Christmas picture so pretend to be surprised in December...)

My older sister and her family:

My older brother and his wife:

One more will be joining our family next year when my little brother gets married! Yay!

i'm back.

2011-08-04T01:05:00.000-04:00

Hopefully I'm here to stay. I have missed sitting down to discuss happenings and also share more of our adoption journey. Life has just been a little busier than I like. You know, packing up our entire belongings and moving from one coast almost to the other. Not exactly my idea of fun when it's right about 100 degrees. We survived, nonetheless, and had lots of fun along the way.

Buddy was a huge help. Kevin let him take over driving the truck occasionally so he could take a nap. Who knew a little guy who dreams of driving an excavator would take to truck driving so quickly?

We all made the 40-something hour drive from Virginia, including a two-week stop in Oklahoma to visit family. Many of them hadn't met Sweet P yet! She got to meet all but two of her older cousins on Kevin's side. My sister's girls are below:

Buddy with his favorite Uncle M:

I failed miserably to document our time with family in pictures. Hopefully some of you can fill in the gaps, especially K's sisters. My deepest apologies. We had such a wonderful time home and I'm sad to have minimal pictures!

Along the drive, I had a lucky bag of new toys and books to give the kiddos. Most were given by wonderful friends in Virginia, many who know how painful a drive that long can be with kids along for the ride. It was a great blessing and I hope to pass on the favor when friends move.

I still cannot figure out why all of a sudden one day in the car, Sweet P decides instead of asking for a snack, she'll eat the corners of a handful of books. Delightful. ...and it's all that more impressive since she's missing one front tooth and generally gnaws things with her chompers.

Now we are all settling into life here in Nevada nicely. Love it. Despite the intense heat every single day since arrival, I don't know what it is about the desert landscape that has me. Maybe it's the mountains. I mean, the last time I was in Las Vegas I was plunked down on the Strip for a month while K was here for work. I had no kids and had the luxury of tagging along for an entire month with no schedule and no obligations. It was a blast! My parents were in Vegas for a week convention - and might I add they were upgraded to a penthouse suite at the Mandalay Bay... but I digress.

I had no idea there were mountains in Las Vegas! It was a huge delight to drive into the city and see mountains surrounding the entire valley! When you are down on the Strip, you are unaware of the incredible beauty that surrounds you. Unfortunately, any great view is blocked by skyscrapers and billboards I'd rather my children not see.

One of the best parts about our home here is the view out back. We can sit out on our patio and have a gorgeous view of the sun setting over the mountains. I can't wait for it to cool off so I can sit out there in the evenings and enjoy the Lord's handiwork. It is meant to be relished.

So, I will do my best now that the boxes are all unpacked to grab another cup of coffee and get back up to speed on things you'd overhear at our table. Blessings, angela

thoughts on moving.

2011-06-02T10:58:00.000-04:00

It's a lot more difficult to move when you have three children. Our last move was only with Peanut in tow and Buddy in belly. No going back now.
Hands-down, we have the kindest friends on the planet. The offers to help with childcare and dinners have been much appreciated.
Peanut is learning the art of guilting me. We sold the swing set on Saturday and then on Sunday she looks at Buddy during lunch and asks all nonchalantly "Want to go out and swing after we eat?"
Operation Clear out the Pantry = drinking instant coffee. Bleh.
Popping bubble wrap used to be so fun as a child. I think I now know how my mom felt about it. (Sorry for feeling the need to pop every single bubble, mom.)
I get the joy (and distraction) of happening upon treasures as I pack. The latest is precisely the reason I will not allow my girls to have bangs. The impossibility of getting them straight. Case in point, Sweet P's visa medical photo:

I'm obviously stressed and irritable. Ask my husband.
Pandora Charlie Hall radio seems to help ease the last bullet.
My children do not need very many toys. The last couple days we've heard tales about Ginger Bear being in the operation room for surgery, and Peanut spends her time bringing "get well soup" and "get well notes" to her. It's been a long recovery.

If you stop by in the coming days, you may leave with more than you bargained for. A friend dropped by something yesterday and left loaded up with shredded cheese, butter tubs and pumpkin puree. At least she appeared happy with the exchange.
Peanut's sweet friend got teary tonight when she heard we are moving. This is going to be more difficult than I ever imagined.
The Lord provides encouragement at the right moments. Thriving Family magazine just arrived with a huge section on moving.

It also included a bunch of travel game ideas which should help me keep my sanity on the 40+ hour drive in the most intense heat of the summer. Good times await, friends.

I wish I could be profound in my words about how much I will miss this place and all the blessings we have experienced during our 3.5 years here. Life has changed immensely and I have lived it with some amazing people. I leave here dragging my feet but with an expectant heart for all He has planned in Nevada.
You may not know where to find me for the next couple weeks... I may hardly know myself... but I hope to continue to pen my thoughts right here at the table.

Blessings, angela

royal festivities.

2011-05-26T15:20:00.000-04:00

In case you are wondering, no, I do not have time to be blogging so much the past couple days, but I need a break from the packing madness.

Last weekend a British couple from K's work hosted this:

It was so fun getting all dressed up for the occasion! We arrived to their home and were met by this:

We rang the bell and were greeted by these two:

It was the first - and probably only - excuse I will ever have to wear a fascinator.

I wish I had taken more pictures because everyone looked wonderful. We had a lovely evening out on the patio eating fish and chips, Yorkshire pudding and scones. The home backs up to a golf course, so most of the guys battled it out in an ultra competitive game of croquet.

My final picture of the evening is regretful... bad lighting + not-so-fancy camera = this:

The Queen and Prince surprised us all and came out on the balcony for a farewell wave!

Welcoming.

2011-05-26T15:00:00.000-04:00

Two sweet wives from K's work had a welcome brunch for Sweet P and another baby girl (who is the first girl after four brothers!).

During the brunch, Sweet P helped me finish my delicious cupcake. ...and I could hardly believe it when C (pictured below) said she had driven thirty minutes to Norfolk just for these cupcakes until I tried them. They were delicious!

Next, Sweet P buddied up to E and realized if she sat on her lap, she could help with her cupcake too!

Then this clever girl moved on for her third cupcake on J's lap. She was good and sugared up by the time we went home. It was a wonderful time with sweet friends!

T and C loving on the sweet baby girl.

The Angelas.

I'm kicking myself for neglecting to take a picture of the other hostess, E. She has become such a dear friend and encouragement throughout our adoption, and I'm thankful for her! All these ladies are just one more reason it's difficult to think of leaving in less than two weeks.

I always know I'm extra blessed when I am this sad to leave a place... it means I've dared to open up my heart to other girls. It's always worth it but sure makes it hard to say goodbye. Praying for more dear friends like these in Nevada.

Blessings, angela

this is a test. this is only a test. (plus good news!!)

2011-05-25T22:12:00.000-04:00

Last week we met with a pediatric neurologist Dr. L to begin Sweet P's neuro care in America. We were given little info about her medical history regarding her hydrocephalus, so after researching the anti-seizure medicines she takes, K and I agreed we wanted to find out about weaning her off them completely, if possible.

Dr. L recommended Sweet P have a few initial tests done to set a baseline for her neuro activity, since we arrived home with no images of her brain or charts of her brain activity. Monday K took her to have an EEG done. What that tells us is whether her brain waves show a tendency to have seizures. We were eager to hear.

If you have ever been around a two-year-old and asked them to hold completely still, you know why Sweet P was in a body wrap. She did really well in it, so I'd call it a success.

The humor came when the female tech (who is obviously not a parent yet) told K, "See if you can get her to close her eyes for about five minutes." Come again? They had previously discussed the fact that she is newly adopted and knows limited English. Telling her to close her eyes for five seconds was going to be a huge stretch, but for five minutes? Really?

The tech had him try for a minute and then announced she'd have to do it the "old fashioned way." Any guesses? Tape. They taped my baby girl's eyes shut and she only whimpered. I'd have been completely freaking out by that point. The below picture is after they took off a half-dozen probes from her face and ears and removed the mummy-style head wrap.

We found out today that her EEG test came back negative. We are praising the Lord her brain doesn't appear prone to further seizures!

Today we met with a neurosurgeon and discussed other action that may be done. Dr. C doesn't want to do any CT scans since Shiloh is so little. He doesn't want to unnecessarily expose her to more radiation since she seems to be doing great.

As he inspected her shunt from the surface (it's not visible since it's inserted under the skin behind her ear), he asked if it has always been dimpled in. Shunts should bubble out. Umm, yes. It's been exactly that way as long as we have had her. Didn't know it should be otherwise, unfortunately. The great news about that is it likely means her shunt is not functioning due to a blockage and hasn't been for some time. This means her body has functioned fine without the shunt's help! She has had the shunt for 2+ years and has had no seizures since... and who knows but the Lord how long her shunt hasn't been working?! The first year after the shunt is inserted is the critical time for a recurrence of seizures, and she's well past that mark.

This may be more technical than you cared to read, but we are truly thrilled that Sweet P seems to be healthy! She is doing great and adjusting so much better than we could have imagined.

Praising the Lord for His healing hand, angela

May at our house.

2011-05-25T15:41:00.000-04:00

One more barrage of pictures to get the blog up to speed. These are from the beginning of May and, with packing and all, I don't have time to divide them all up into cute posts. So here you go...

My favorite picture currently because I love how her eyes disappear when she's really smiling!

Some friends went to the Norfolk Botanical Gardens and I assumed my kids wouldn't want to get wet in 70 degree weather. I assumed wrong. They were soaked and had no qualms about it.

A friend rescued us by loaning Sweet P dry clothes. We had to drive over to the Dept of Homeland Security to submit paperwork for her Certificate of Citizenship. Well, the amazing news is, we didn't even need to bother because it was submitted when we cleared through customs at the airport! Yay for saving $600!

This is absolute sweetness...

My best Mother's Day on the books thus far. Sweet P was home with us and we dedicated her to the Lord at church that Sunday. It feels so good to have her in my arms!

Peanut must have had a good lesson in Sunday school. During the worship service, she drew this. Here's her explanation: "In Heaven there is no sadness, no scariness and no meanness. (the circles with slashes) There is love. There are no broken hearts."

Then the back had this meaning: "There will be no robots."

Finally, a picture of her with her sister. Sweet P is appropriately drawn with brown skin and herself with pink and yellow. As we walked out of church it was very bright and Peanut exclaims, "Her skin is getting lighter!" We have already had a few conversations about Sweet P's skin color, one time after Peanut asked if it will get to be white. She also wished one day that Sweet P were "dark as night" (wording from a book we have). I love the curiosity but sometimes these are difficult discussions! We were able to have a good talk about how beautifully the Lord created everyone and how different each in our family are... Daddy with brown eyes and Buddy with blue, Mommy with freckles and Sweet P with none. It's good to notice our similarities but it's more fun to see how the Creator made each of us different and special.

My parents were able to visit for a few days and meet Sweet P. We had such a fun time with them!

Me and my man.

The big joke is that my daddy finally got a black-headed (grand)child that he has long wanted. All my siblings look like my mom. Thankfully we got Sweet P home while my dad still has a few black hairs on his head! :)

While my mom was here, we let Peanut have a special time doing make-up. Oh goodness. She loved it. My mom helped with the blush and eye shadow application but we let her go with the lipstick. She was so proud!

Lovely.

A few days ago a friend was over to chat, so I let the kids out back and let them turn on the water hose for the water table. Big mistake. Buddy flooded the long planter box that's lying on the ground and then they had fun scooping the soppy potting soil into the table. What's more, Sweet P found it fun and hilarious to stick her head into the water and fling it everywhere. We weren't aware until it was beyond repair, so we let them go at it.

When I asked Buddy what was going on, he assumed he was in big trouble. He said he put the dirt in the water and looked remorseful. I asked in a serious voice if he was having fun, to which he sheepishly responded, "Yes!"

Don't let her expression fool you, she was having a blast! You can click on it to see the damage larger.

Readying herself for a trip to Oklahoma in a few weeks.

... and on that note I have a bit more packing and organizing to do before nap time ends. Got to stop here. Blessings, angela