Recent Happenings

Easter Pictures:
I know that they are really late- sorry! Next post will be of my sister's wedding. We got some great pictures of all 6 of our little cuties dressed up for the big day! Happy Mother's Day!

Happy 8th Birthday Fulton!

Fulton turned 8 back in April. He requested his favorite- Zaxby's for supper followed by cookie cake. It's hard to believe he is 8. Wow, time sure has flown by. Fulton is a wonderful boy with a loving heart. He is such a good big brother to his little sisters. Fulton is enjoying baseball season and is having a great year. He has already hit a few homeruns, and we are so proud of him. He has really improved from the fall season when he was so ill from those pesky kidney stones.

Fulton trying out his new Pogo Stick. So far - no accidents! Great way to let out some energy.

Fulton wanted to go camping for his 8th birthday so he, Ethan, and David went on an overnight camping trip with old friends who have moved away from our area, Gabe and his son Luke. They had a blast although there was little sleep to be had especially for the over thirty group- ha ha! And check out the catch by the birthday boy!

Pickle Juice

Well, it has been a while since I've found the time to update! Life has been so full lately. My sister, Julie just had her first baby last week who is our first nephew on my side of the family. Congratulations Julie and Tripp and welcome baby Caleb!!! My other sister, Michelle, is getting married next Saturday to a wonderful guy, Nick who we can't wait to welcome into the family! Think 5 children in the wedding and mom too. Think of all the outfits and shoes for bridal luncheon, rehearsal dinner, and of course the wedding. Add to all of that, homeschooling, spring break with a few day trips, horse shopping and paddock preparation, summer clothes shopping for all 6 kiddos who have outgrown lots of clothes, and well that equals some very busy weeks! I have lots of pictures to post from Easter and Fulton's birthday but that will have to be another day.

Now onto this post. . . Since childhood, I have always loved to drink the pickle juice from a dill pickle jar. Strange, I know, but very true. Well, who knew that little Lilly also had this same crazy taste. Recently, after we had finished eating all of the dill pickles, she asked me if she could drink the juice. I didn't think she would like it, but she did! Like mother, like daughter!!!

Ellie: Home 6 months & 2 1/2 years old

Wow! It is hard to believe that last Monday, March 16, we celebrated our 6 month anniversary since Ellie's Gotcha Day. Then on Friday the 20th, Ellie turned 2 and a half years old! Time sure has flown by in our house these last 6 months. Ellie is doing very well for which we are so thankful. Lilly and Ellie are also doing beautifully on most days now which is a huge blessing. Just today (when I did not have a camera close at hand), the two little girls were sitting on the sofa just having the best time. They were giggling, hugging, and just enjoying each other. It was such a wonderful moment to take in as their mother. Enjoy the pictures!

Couldn't resist capturing these cute toes. Yes, they belong to Ellie since our family did "grow by (her) two feet" this year!

This picture definitely requires a caption! Shelby and Katie will, from time to time, have "Spa Night" or offer massages for a quarter or so- very reasonable, don't you think? Well, on this night, the older girls were giving massages and look who had to copy their older sisters! It was hysterical!

Dress up time with the boys. Fulton is obviously a knight, but I'm not really sure who Ethan and Ellie are suppossed to be. Quite an assortment of accessories the two of them are sporting!

Look what Ellie can do!

A bubble! Proof that Ellie is learning how to use her new palate! For all of you moms of cleft children, I know you can understand our enthusiam over Ellie's recent accomplishments. For those who do not know, a child with cleft palate does not "know" how to suck or blow bubbles as non-cleft affected babies do. Once the palate is closed, the children have new sensations and new abilities, but of course, it takes time for them to build up muscle tone. It also takes practice to learn how to apply enough pressure to suck from a straw or blow bubbles. WE are so proud of Ellie!

Speech therapy is also going well. Ellie receives services through Baby Net, our state's Early Intervention program. She has therapy twice a week in our home. Our therapist used to work with Ethan, then Lilly, and now Ellie. Mrs. Jan is awesome, and Ellie is willing to work hard so she is making great progress!

Working so hard to suck through a straw! She finally did it! Yeah, Ellie!

A proud little girl who worked really hard to master blowing bubbles and finally sucking!

Happy Valentine's Day

Sisters sharing some love. They are doing so well together these days. What a blessing!


I do have to share one quick story about Ellie which is perfect for a Valentine's Day post. I have been teaching Ellie to say "I love you", and she has been repeating that phrase back to me for weeks or even months now. However, on Wednesday, as I was carrying her to brush her teeth, Ellie laid her head on my shoulder then lifted her head and said "I love you". She said it all on her own without any prompting at all. Oh, she melted my heart! What a wonderful early Valentine's gift!

Our 2nd annual Valentine's at Chuck E. Cheese. Rather than buying something for each child, we go to Chucky E. Cheese's where there is something fun for all of our children. This year was another wonderful night of family fun. At first, Ellie was a little scared. She never would ride on any of the toys, but she did have great fun with the toy phone and did manage to sit by Barney long enough for a picture. Lilly and Ethan went right up to Chucky as Ellie hid behind David's legs. I tried to get a picture of that, but as I got close to her, she ran over to hide by me. It was so cute! Eventually she said "hello" when she was secure in my arms.

Ellie's first Valentine's Party. This was with our homeschool group. All the children made crafts and then ate lots of goodies. Ellie had a great time as did all of her siblings.

Celebrating Chinese New Year

Our first Chinese New Year with Ellie! I just love this picture of her. She looks so happy! Well, eating is still one of her favorite things to do, and she just had plenty! She has really gained the weight these last 4 months. I didn't realize just how thin she was when we first got her in China. Compared to Lilly at Gotcha Day, Ellie looked like average size as Lilly was malnourished for those who don't know. For Ellie though, I think she was underweight and is now where she should be. She's got such cute baby fat where as Lilly has never really had any! So cute!

Lilly and Ellie in their new outfits that we brought home from our recent adoption trip. I'm so thankful that God called us to adopt these sweet little girls and that He also gave us the courage to accept the call. Oh, the blessings we would have missed had we said "No!"

Our crew after eating way too much Chinese food! As you may notice, Shelby is not dressed in her Chinese dress. Being that she is 12 now, I guess she felt she was a little too old for that. Aren't the boys cute? This is their first time wearing their outfits together. Ethan actually wore his to school one day despite our trying to talk him out of it- too funny.

How cute is this with the big girls smiling down on the little ones! Family is such a beautiful gift from God yet so often we take our families for granted.

Brinley and Bailey look a little lost without their big sister who couldn't join the celebration! I love how these older girls look so very happy with their little sisters. (Ellie and I were in the bathroom which is why she is not in Katie's arms!) Sophie and her little sister Cate are in the middle. Cate just came home right after Ellie.

Aren't these Asian beauties just adorable? I was overwhelmed with God's goodness as I looked at this picture. Five precious children, made in the image of God, born half a world away, orphans by the world's definition yet now they all have loving families who cherish them. How beautiful, how amazing, how perfect adoption is!

Happy 12th Birthday, Shelby!

Shelby's birthday is on Christmas Eve. 12 years ago, she gave her mom and dad such a shock when she came 5 days early and the day before Christmas at that. Since her birthday falls when it does, we usually celebrate it early with her friends. This year she and 2 friends went ice skating, and we all had a great time. I took the book You and Your Girl by Vicki Courtney and in between skating, I was able to get lots of reading done. One of the 2 friends moved away over a year ago, so the 3 of them had a great reunion. Her actual birthday was lots of fun, too, since, of course, there was no school to do. Her breakfast of choice was Monkey Bread- her favorite. Shelby had really outgrown her bike so she picked out a very nice new bike. By the way, our camera stopped working the day of her birthday and I had to use Shelby's camera. Thus the pictures aren't too good. Thankfully, my BIL fixed it the night of her bday! (Thanks Tripp!) That afternoon, before church, Shelby's grandparents and other family came by to have cake wth us. Note: the huge crack in the cake is a mystery. I assure you it was not there after it cooled. It was not there after I iced it. It was such a pretty cake, and I was really proud of it because I am not very good at making pretty level cakes. Well, God must have thought my pride was sinful because when I took the cover off the cake, I was shocked. There was a HUGE crack. Oh well, I learned my lesson. "Pride goes before destruction. . ." Proverbs 16:18 Seriously, I spent too much time trying to create the "perfect" cake and God showed me that despite all of my efforts, His plan was different because my cake was far from perfect! However, that red velvet cake with the gigantic crack still tasted delicious, and the birthday girl was happy. Shelby is a special child with the temperament of her father- not her mother. She is so patient and loving especially with her younger siblings. Many days, I just listen to her and am convicted of my impatient attitude. She loves the Lord, and I can't wait to see how God uses her to further His kingdom.

Happy 10th Birthday, Katie!

Katie celebrated her birthday 2 weeks after Shelby. She and 3 friends went to Build-a-Bear and had great fun creating new furry friends. On her actual birthday, she started the celebration with her breakfast of choice: chocolate chip muffins. I'll share a new secret I learned. The store was out of choc. chip muffin mix, but I noticed a new Martha White pound cake muffin mix. I debated in my mind whether or not I should just make a muffin batter from scratch and add the choc. chips. My mind quickly remembered that her birthday was on a school day and that I better go w/ a box muffin mix. So I made the pound cake muffin mix and added choc. chips. Let me tell you- those were the BEST choc. chip muffins ever. Try it! Anyway, back to Katie's birthday, after breakfast, she opened presents and loved her new purple bike. Then she had to do school although she tried her best to talk me out of it to no avail. Later that night, her grandparents and other family dropped by for pizza and birthday cake. It was a great day for Katie. She is a precious child with such a servant heart. She thinks God is calling her to be a missionary in China. I'm not sure how God plans to use Katie, but I know He definitely has big plans for her.

Our First Christmas with Ellie

The only picture of all 6 kiddos. Here they are showing off their Christmas ornaments. We give each child an ornament every Christmas related to that child's interests for that year. This year we had 2 horse ornaments, a baseball, a dump truck, a Princess, and a "gift from God -2008" for Ellie.

Our children at Mimi's house with the "older" cousins and for now the only cousins in the family. As you can see, the day was just too full of excitement for little Lilly. She became so irritable that it was actually funny then her Aunt Lala held her and in just a few minutes, she was out. Even during the switch-off to cousin Amber's arms and through the annual cousin pictures, Lilly slept! It was Ellie's turn for a nap on the way to my grandmother's house and for the first half of our celebration there.

One of Ellie's favorite gifts from her Aunt Renee- a baby who moves, talks, and makes sucking noises as if she is really drinking the bottle. Thankfully, we did find a switch to turn this doll off! However, Ellie also found the switch to turn her back on. And Lilly got this doll's twin so now it's like we have 8 kids!

Big girl Lilly with her new Princess scooter. Her brothers helped put it together and were so happy for her to have a scooter like they do.

Ellie and Ethan enjoying sitting in an empty box that was their "boat". Ethan is always using his imagination.

Katie and Ellie checking out the goodies in their stocking. I found Christmas candy with scripture verses on the package so each older child read their verse on Christmas morning. We try to downplay the gifts and focus on Jesus' birth each Christmas season. We do well at our house, but it becomes more difficult when we get to the 3 Grandmoms' houses when there are so many gifts!

Lilly with her "BB" as she calls her. She can say Shelby fine now, but Shelby prefers Lilly to still call her "BB" rather than Shelby. They are a sweet pair as are Katie and Ellie!

Fulton getting some sweet hugs from Lilly and Ellie. He is such a sweet big brother- most of the time until one decides to mess with his "stuff".

Holding hands- can you see? A moment where they are "best friends" as Lilly says. However, it can be only a mere moment later when Lilly is not nearly so sweet!

Ellie got to open the first present on Christmas morning. She was so excited!

She loves music so the musical set with lots of instruments and a very big drum was a huge hit!