Sunday Snapshot First Haircut!

My precious boy love was so in need of a trim.... With his SN though I am just not sure what to do for a hair cut. This was his first haircut last September. I actually have only taken him in 2 times. I tend to like the longer look.
It shows off his beautiful eyes and cute nose.


Love those precious little lips... just makes me want to smother him in kisses and hear that adorable little giggle he has!!



There were no tears and no fears on his part. He just climbed right in to the jet and became the greatest Blue Angels pilot!!



He had a blast flying that jet! On occasion he had to be reminded to sit still and keep his seat belt fastened..... LOL!!



It was an okay cut (I am not into the bowl cut). I had to fix it a bit as his hair grows differently on his right side. It needed to be feathered and shaped a little. So, we decided it was about the experience rather than the perfect cut the first time. Go ahead and join in at Ni Hao Y'all
.

A Loss.....

My last post was the start of our 2 weeks of vacation.On a sad note I had to cut my part of the trip short. My sweet Molly Muggins caught pneumonia while being kenneled. I came back early to be with her and say my good byes. It is always not easy to say good bye to a beloved pet that is your daughter before you have your own children..... At least now she is at peace and is enjoying running and chasing in heaven with our funny boy Dakota and our wonderful cat Tigger. Since we have moved to Seattle area we have now lost all 3 Amigos!






Awe Miss Molly you were such a precious girl always so faithful and loyal. You were a Mama's girl and would stay up for me, wait by the door, bark from the backyard when my car would pull in to the drive way. You loved to run and jump, play with your squeaky toys and tennis ball, and tug a rope. You will truly be missed with all of your sweet and gentle ways. Those soulful eye's will be for etched in my mind. Miss you already.....

Mom

Princess is now 12!

I know I have been gone for awhile. I would imagine that you all have forgotten about us and wondered what has happen to us. We are still here and trying to have summer here in the PNW. The later has been difficult as we have had a very rainy,gray summer most of the time..... Oh how I long for the sun! Enough of that.... we are still enjoying our selves as a family of 4!

We took an early summer vacation to Newport Beach to celebrate princesses 12th birthday, father's day and just enjoy being with family. Of course the weather in So. CA during the month of June is known as June gloom! Yes, that is what we experienced! It could not burst our sunny bubbles though as we had so much to celebrate and do!

We had a great trip and got to see most of our family! I will share more pictures tomorrow.

Jon Jon's 3rd Birthday, Mother's Day and Papa's Birthday

Slideshow design personalized with Smilebox

I just don't have any time to post.... therefore we did a smilebox creation! This was the beginning of May. We had Jon Jon's 3rd birthday, Mother's Day and Papa's Birthday which we celebrated on the Hood Channel at the Alderbrook Lodge.

I do miss you all... Things have greatly improved with Princess!

Lately I Have Been Crying Alot....

What soap is to the body,
laughter is to the soul!
Yiddish Proverb

I have a beautiful daughter who is lost to herself. I miss her giggles and silly laughter. She has Autism and is now 11 and a half. She has made great strides in the last several years of her life. She had always been a sweet girl with a smile on her face. In the last several years she has been growing up and changing into a little lady. With this has come an attitude to boot! I am at a loss as to how to help her. She is now an angry,defiant and mad child. I say white and she says black. I pop my head in her room to say Hi and she starts raging at me. We are adjusting some of her medications and seeing a Behavioral Therapist also. Now I am going to take her back to the OBGYN and see if her hormones are out of whack. I have to coax her into getting up in the morning and get ready for school.While I am trying to coax her she is yelling screaming, hitting, and kicking at me. We always end up in a battle. She is refusing to come down to eat for meals. She has always been sensitive to an empty stomach and would get cranky. With the ADHD med she is not as hungry though. She is on 4 different meds and I 'm not sure which one is doing what anymore. She is lost to me.....


My girl always use to smile for pictures.....


Now it is like almost impossible to get a decent shot of her. We had portraits done for Christmas cards this year.There was one shot out of 20 individual ones of her with a half decent smile. I can't find the CD right now or I would show you our Christmas cards.


This was the one decent shot from the snow around Christmas.

I am not asking for a pity party! I am just sharing with you what the reality of my life is right now. The one bright spot is our precious Jon Jon! When I am crying he will come up to me and say "Why crying Mommy?" "Need a hug?" I will pick him up and he will kiss my face, wipe my tears away and just stay cuddly with me. There is nothing quite like this little man who is so sensitive and loving.



My special little guy. He was very proud of the necklace he made for his EI teacher.


When it rains on your parade,
look up rather than down.
Without the rain, there
would be no rainbow.
G.K. Chesterton

So, I am going to be posting about the things I am thankful for to remind me of what is good and happy in my life for the next several months.

1. Is for the sunshine today! It has been rather dark , gray and rainy here in the PNW.

I Am Back Sort Of......

I decided to join in on Sunday Snapshots that Stephanie from Ni Hao Y'all hosts every Sunday. I have been wanting to do this forever and ever and have just not done it. Life has been busy and a little crazy around here at our house. I don't really want to get in to it right now but would just appreciate all of your prayers for us and Princess. We are really having a rough time.


Jon Jon on the other hand is just the most precious child! It is hard to believe we have been together just about 11 mos. He is a Mamma's boy and I love it that he is so attached to me! He is in the birth to 3 yr. EI program here for his Microtia. We are starting testing for transitioning to the Preschool level. They have in formed me that is is highly possible that he might not qualify. We are in line for an FM system to try out. He's comprehension and communication skills are like in the 98% for his age. He does have some articulation issues though and sometimes he is alittle behind in using full sentence structures for his age. Hey, I think that is pretty good when English is his 2nd language and he has only been her for about 10.5 months. It will be interesting to see what happens. Otherwise he is above target in most area's.

He is a bright, sensitive and empathetic little one. He can still be Hunan spicy though and definitely likes his way. No is his favorite word right now it usually has an explanation tagged on to it though of why it is NO. He is finally letting me go out without him. Although at times he will still cry for me when I am gone. We are hoping to have a CT scan after he turns 3 for his inner ear. It appears that he has an ear canal on his Microtia side. If this is the case we are looking into what is best for him. I am leaning towards a newer procedure which is called the Medpor. They tend to open up the ear earlier so the child can pick up on more language skills during the critical learning period of 0-5yrs of age. If the canal is not there they follow with that procedure. The only Dr's that do this are in Northern CA. Which will mean traveling and staying down there for a while. For my baby though anything is possible!





So today I am all about celebrating life with my precious boy! I was so not planning on a boy from China.... It is amazing how God works though. I saw his picture and I knew he was my son. Love at first sight. What a blessing he is and he loves learning about Jesus and praying too! He always prays for the the pumpkin patch (when we went in the fall) and climbing the mountain ( our sledding hill).
















I hope to post more often as life is passing us by and I so want to stay connected to my bloggy friends. You are always in my thoughts and prayers.

6 Months Ago..... Gotcha Day!

It is so amazing to me that 6 months ago was when we first were able to see you in person Jon Jon and hold you in our arms. We became a Forever Family and I will never forget that day. We were waiting with about 5 other families in Changsha, Hunan Civil Affairs Adoption Building. We were a little rushed as we had only gone to the Dalton Hotel and dropped off our bags.Then went right to the building. I was able to watch other families be joined together forever by that magical Red Thread. You Jon Jon were still about 15 minutes away from arriving. We got to see precious Sienna be united with Di from First A Pearl And Then Two Rubies. It was so heart wrenching as Sienna knew what was going on. It was such a comfort though to see a familiar face that I had connected with through blogging in the adoption community.

Finally you arrived. You appeared in one of the Awie's arms. You were so tiny Jon Jon and in the most adorable yellow snow suit. You were just looking around and taking everything in. They placed you down on the ground and I gave you a car to play with. You took it from me cautiously and started rolling it back and forth on the ground. You rolled it to me and I was so happy. The Awie's told us some things about you and gave us a bag of some of your items that we had sent you in your care package. A valuable picture book of you taken during your time with the foster family and at the orphanage was presented to us. What a treasure it is to have that!

Soon we knew that we could hold you and you were okay with it. You were still looking at us and the awies were saying Mamma and Babba and pointing to us. It was such a smooth transition it was remarkable. You didn't really smile that much as your were scared.

We held you and talked with you and gave you some snacks. It took maybe about 15 minutes before Richard said it was time to go. So off we went down to the van. You were fine until about half way to the hotel then you started to tug at the door of the van while you were in my lap. Eventually you started crying and pushing against me to get out of my lap. My heart was breaking for you..... I get tears every time I think about it.

We got back to the room and you were still so upset. Crying while I held you. We could only distract you for maybe a minute and then you would cry again. I decided to give you a bottle really soon after arriving and rock you in my arms. Within 10 minutes you were sound asleep. It was around 5:30pm then. We watched you sleep and tried to nap alittle also as we were really tired from our long trip. When you woke up from your nap you were ready to play and showed us your picture book we had sent you. You named us all without us telling you who we were. What a gift they had given us by helping you to be prepared for your new family.

I am in such awe at how God works in our lives and how he fulfills wishes and dreams. You were this adorable little boy with the cutest face and such a gentle personality. You were everything we could have possibly imaged.

It was such an amazing experience to receive such a gift. I am so grateful to your birth parents who had you with them for the first 4 months of your life. They made an incredibly heart wrenching decision to not raise you. Although I am sure they tried but did not have the resources to help you with your SN's. Then you were placed in front of the gates of Zhuzhou SWI, in Hunan with a note and some bottles. To give you up what an act of love. I can imagine they waited to see who would find you as you squirmed and cried for them. The director found you and you were taken to the police station so they could report you being abandoned. They took you back to the SWI and you stayed there for 2 days and then were placed in a foster home. With a lovely couple and an older foster sister. In that home you learned to love and trust again. They taught you so many things and you grew and flourished under their nurturing care. Your foster Mother's name was Xu Juging. Unfortunately we were unable to meet her as your foster father became ill. You ended up going back to the orphanage for 1 week before we came to get you.







Since arriving home in March, you have continued to amaze us. You have fit right in and adjusted so easily except for the waking up at night. That has been the difficult part as Mommy was definitely sleep deprived. We assume you are having bad dreams or thinking about your Foster family as you are tearful and just want to be held and comforted. What a joy it was to see you and Princess hugging each other and holding hands. You were scared of Molly the dog for the 1st week and loved Sasha the cat immediately.

Your language has just exploded! You carry on conversations with me. You like to ask me questions and echo every new word I say until you know the meaning of the word. You can understand when I ask you to go find something upstairs and you bring it back to me. You love to ask who what, where questions. You love to call your Nanny and Papa to talk on the phone to them an tell them what we are doing. You are learning your ABC's, numbers and have a fascination with learning. You love money and the cash registrar.
You love to sing and dance, try to do the splits, and a somersault. Outdoors is your favorite place to be on the swing, sliding or on the trampoline with your sister. You are a happy go lucky boy until you might not get your way. Then you become rather persistent and have a melt down.

You are experimental with different types of foods and love fruits,veggies,and of course noodles! You even like salsa and hummus, but ketchup is an all time favorite!

You are a cuddle bug and love to snuggle or as you put it "Lap Time" You say prayers and talk about Jesus and Sabbath school is your favorite. You now tell us "I wuv you" on your own and give us kisses freely. You can tell us when you are happy, sad,mad and give away giggles and smiles all the time.


With your sissy this summer!

You and your sister kinda have a bond that is strong, but also very fragile. With her autism it is not always easy to know how she is going to respond to you. Life has improved and we are seeing a light at the end of the tunnel. It is so nice when you guys are playing together, hugging each other and just being sweet. Our family life has calmed down and we are much more at peace. It was really rough going especially this summer with less structure for Princess. HOORAY for school starting again!









You love hats! Especially your monkey hat!





Daddy and you on your first bike ride in Tamarack,ID.


Sissy riding her scooter in Tamarack.ID.


You love your bath time and playing with all of your bath toys!

The firsts have been so incredible and I am looking forward to what God has in store for us as a family of 4. Boys are so much fun and special.

I LOVE YOU TO THE MOON AND BACK LITTLE ONE!




Photo Tinks by WiddlyTinks.com

Lord,I Pray that You would fill Jon Jon up with a love for You that
surpasses his love for anything or anyone else. Help him to respect
and revere Your laws and understand that they are there for his benefit.
Hide Your word in his heart so that he will be drawn toward whatever is
pure and holy. Let Christ be formed in him and cause him to seek the
power of Your Holy Spirit to enable him to do what is right.
You have said, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God"
(Matthew 5:8). May a desire for holiness that comes from a pure heart
be reflected in all that he does.

A Beauty!

I took this picture on the 4th of July and had to share it.


This is the original that shows all of the beautiful veins.


This one I altered with Picnik. I do not remember the sets.

Now I am on my way to the garden to cut a rose for my birthday.... another year older with a very full heart of love and family.

Life At Our House!

I am trying to play catch up with photo's and life in general..... Sorry it has been a little over 2 months since I have been on my blog.

Our house has been on a big roller coaster ride. Some days are really fantastic and others are really stressful. It has everything to do with the Emperor and Princess. You see the Emperor is adorable and charming as can be. He does know how to push sister's buttons though.

Princess tends to over react to everything he does. Ugh..... It has made life miserable for hubby and I. With her Autism she reacts out of Fight or Flight. She has gotten more aggressive towards us and emperor which has me constantly on high anxiety/ alert systems. Therefore I crash and have no energy to blog etc when the house is quiet and kids are in bed. It has been very tough to deal with. Many days I cry and wonder what are we going to do..... Last week we went to the Autism Clinic at Children's and saw a new Dr. He feels that Princess is depressed and is starting her on a new medication. It will also help her out with her anxiety. She started it on Friday and so far so good. I am noticing more happiness and joy in her face. There is less out burst when Emperor is loud or crying. Ti will take some time to see if it will work for her or not. We are also on the wait list for a Behavioral Therapist. I think they said it would be 13 weeks until we would be able to get.

Little one is such a cutie pie!! We are so in love with him. He is very smart and a quick learner. Although I have to say he likes to try to get away with things. How do you get a 2 yr. old to stop the first time when you say No No about something? He is saying about 100 words already in English, uses the potty when he wants to, can put his shoes and socks on (& take them off of course), loves to dance,sing and play the piano, he is a cuddle and snuggle bug, he runs to Daddy when he comes home from work, he loves all kinds of food especially fruit and veggies,he knows some shapes and numbers already and loves puzzles. He has no fear and loves to try new things.

I have left him a few times with Daddy when I go shopping or something and he has a fit. Although he is getting better and not sobbing for 45 minutes anymore. Now it is about 5 minutes. We have a social facilitator that works with Princess on occasion for a few hours at home. She has been the only person that Emperor would stay with here with out crying. That was last week . Hubby and I ran out to Target and Starbucks. IT WAS WONDERFUL..... Soon it will be easier.

Summer is finally here in the PNW!! We have had a couple of days in the high 80's and low 90's but mostly it is in the high 70's and low 80's. Nice and comfortable! Of course it is still on occasion gray and rainy and in the 60's. What else is new with this area.

We are going to be taking vacation soon and going to visit hubby's family in Paradise,CA for a week and then we are going to Tamarack,ID for a week. Tamarack is a ski resort that went belly up. There is not a restaurant or a store open. The lodge is open, golf course and zip lines are open. We are renting a chalet with 3bdrm/bath for a 50% off. We are very excited. We have a nice deck with a private hot tub and a fireplace with a gas grill. We will be going to the lake and renting a boat, hiking,biking and just relaxing( as much as you can with a toddler ;) ...). The pool is open at the lodge so we will be spending time there. My parent's will be in Boise for the same week and will come up and spend a few days with us.

Our little chalet we are renting.



Great room with fireplace.


Outdoor deck with fireplace and BBQ grill.


I will be spending alot of time here after hiking and biking in our private hot tub!

Summer Time!

IMG_2513, originally uploaded by My fun place.

Fun in the sun when it is here!