Adoption Update: She Knows :)

Last week, we sent a list of questions (via our agency) to the social worker who is affiliated with the orphanage of our sweet girl.

Didn't know when (or if!) we would get any response.

Not only did we get the answers to all our questions (within 24 hours no less!) but we got to read these precious words from little Miss Long Pingli herself (who was at the computer when her foster mom was writing us back):

Her foster mom wrote: Here are some words Long Pingli want to say to her new parents:

Hello Daddy and Mommy, thanks for giving me a family,I am so happy to have parents.I want to see you,I want to go home as early as possible.

We found out so many things about her! Here are a few highlights:

1. Her favorite colors are pink, yellow, green, and red.

2. She enjoys riding bikes (a pink one!), drawing, playing with Barbies, building blocks and stickers.

3. She LOVES McDonald's , Kentucky Fried Chicken (won't be long before she's a Chick-Fil-A fan I'm guessing), candy, and fruit.

4. She also knew she was going to be adopted and was very happy about that.

And according to her foster mom, she is a warm, affectionate, hard-working (and obviously much-loved) little girl.

We also learned that the name she goes by is Lili (love that!) and is similar to Lily. We want to keep that for her and are in "discussions" on how to make it all work :)

We are still amazed that we were able to communicate with her like we did and hope that we can do it again in the future.

What a blessing we received in this long, long, long process!

The Parent of the Year Award...

...will pass me by once again.

This afternoon, as I was working on (what else?) paperwork, a little girl gave up on her mommy taking any notice of how tired she was, grabbed her blankie, and went to sleep.

Right on the floor.

Poor thing.

My Hero

Iron Man mask.

Jedi light saber.

Spider Man glove.

Billy Blazes boots.

If only he could save me from the mountain of laundry that threatens the peacefulness of my Saturday.

"Happy Day!"

That is what Lia says whenever she sees pretty packages, balloons, and decorations...."Happy Day!"

So without further adieu, we want to wish a "Happy Day" to our fun-loving, thrill-seeking, joke-telling, flip-flopping, firecracker of a FIVE YEAR OLD!

We love you Alex!

Wild at Heart...

...the phrase that so accurately describes this man-child who is spending his last day as a 4 year old.

This week we've spent our mornings at the pool and he has shown me just a glimpse of what the future holds for me as the mother of this thrill-seeker.

He is fearless. In his mind, there is no height too high or stunt too dangerous.

And what amazes me is the things that he can do with his body. His daddy says he's just one big muscle. And that's pretty much true. Anyone who has wrestled with him will testify to that.

And then there are the flips he is now doing off the side of the pool. We've talked about how concrete and skulls don't mix. We've talked about Humpty Dumpty (who he argues was put back together with duct tape), but still he is undaunted and unafraid.

There's just something about his spirit that will always be adventurous.

And though there is that wild side, there's the tender side too.
The side that adores his little sister (that is of course when he is not in direct competition with his little sister. That is a different story).

I love looking at life through his eyes and watching how he lives out each moment: with zeal, determination and pure joy.

Our Week in Review...

Seems like my posts are coming fewer and farther in between (sorry Grandma).

Here is a quick recap of our week, which may explain the lack of posts:

With school around the corner, it's been time to order curriculum (and school supplies for my 8th grader, heading off to school for the first time, sniff, sniff) and try to get organized for the fall. Throw in a small thing known as a dossier (for our upcoming adoption) and my plate is officially full. I'm thankful for this girl here who is a HUGE help with the little ones. She may be only eight, but she will work, work, work around the house; play, play, play with the little ones, and change a diaper too (without even being asked!). In our book, SHE ROCKS!
And though fall is coming, it is after all, still summer. So we are spending quite a bit of time at the pool, trying to burn off energy and have some fun. Remember this little guy from last spring's failed attempt at swimming lessons? Well...

I'm happy to report that he officially swam the length of the pool yesterday graduating him to the "real" swim team for next year. While this is exciting for all of us, nothing quite compares to the (ahem) FLIPS that he is now doing off the side of the pool into the deep end. We are still in negotiations as to if and when he will be allowed to do them (to avoid concussions on his part and heart failure on mine) but he has earned HUGE amounts of respect from his older sibs who are now completely in awe of their little brother's physical prowess.

Speaking of physical prowess, we decided that spending a rainy Saturday resting around the house would be, well, a little boring. So why not try and move our sectional couch (including sleeper sofa portion) upstairs to the bonus room allowing for another guest room? I mean, what pair of aging 40- somethings and 80 lb 13 year old couldn't handle that? Well, 1 of the 40 somethings and the 13 year old (pictured here with his favorite sweetie) made out just fine. But my back may never be the same.

And while I was recovering from our moving experience, sweet Lauren was recovering from none other than walking pneumonia. We still don't know how she got it, but we were duly impressed when we realized she competed all of her events at her Champs swim meet with it! She is finally on the mend after a week of fever and we are glad of that!

And last, but by no means least, is little Miss Lia, also known as "my biggest potty training challenge to date." We did have success (as promised). I believed that occurred on Tuesday, a week ago. For now, she is enjoying her Princess Pull-Ups but has no concept of why we have them or how much they cost. She is content to just go change herself every time they get wet. And with the way things have been around here lately, I've been content to let her do just that.

So that's the long and the short of it from this past week. With a certain someone turning 5 on Friday, it shouldn't be too long till the next post.

At least I hope so!

Greater love...

...hath no big brother than this....




than to share his prized pancake with his lip-licking little sister.

Pure maple syrup sweetness.

Update

After a month's hiatus from blogging, I recently saw my last post and realized that many of you may think that potty training had done me in.

Not at all.

It's simply that on Day 1 without diapers, we went 0 for 3 and decided to wait until things settled down a bit and we were actually able to be home bound for a few days before starting again.

One month later, I've come to the realization that "settled down" is a myth (at least around here). Whatever happened to summer vacation anyway????

So tomorrow,with a little break in the calendar, it's "game on" and we are hitting the ground running (although I hope not in a literal sense) one more time.

Stay tuned...success stories to come.