From the Olympics to Halloween!

Well, it's kind of anti-climactic now, but I promised pictures of our Opening Cermonies/Free Tibet/Save Darfur party and I will not disappoint!

So, there you have it. And more importantly 8/8 was also Grace's Gotcha Day. We celebrated with a whole house full of friends (Uh...it was actually 2005 not 2004. Yes, I am her mother. You think that's bad...sometimes I accidentally call the kids by the dogs' names.)

Then there were the final days of summer...that seemed to go on and on and on. It's stinkin' hot here in the desert. Emily and Grace cooled off with their feet in a bucket of cold water.

If you remember, Doug didn't go to China to adopt Cooper so he had to adopt him here. We decided to re-adopt all three kids in a US court so this was "re-adoption day" with our judge. We had to swear we understood that they were our children now...even if they end up "back in my courtroom as juvenile delinquents". Whatever.

Emily's Gotcha Day was October 26th. She got gifts from China, watched her travel video, and looked at the little outfit her foster mother dressed her in that day. She loves to get out the clothes.

About a month ago we sent a package to Emily's foster mother and included our email, phone number and address. I hoped-upon-hope that she received the package, but didn't know if I'd ever find out. A couple of days ago I received an email in Chinese characters! It was from her foster aunt (the only family member with a computer) saying they received the package and providing us with their phone number and email address. Emily was so excited. Now we can keep in touch regularly.

Then came Halloween!

And Cooper got his second EKG and ECHO. I took him to another doctor in the AZ Pediatric Cardiology group. It's really the only show in town, but they have lots of docs. This one said he is certain Cooper's tricuspid valve is only prolapsed, not flailing like the last guy said. If it's true it is a much less serious dx. He'll still most likely need surgery to repair it, but it could be 10 years away. We went from "severe regurgitation" and "can't live like this more than a few years" to "moderate regurg" and "most likely will need surgery sometime in the next 10 years".

I asked him, since he's in the same practice, if he considers himself a "second opinion". He said, "I gave you a different opinion, didn't I?" Funny guy. If I keep doctor hopping, maybe by the next visit he'll be healed!

And tonight...sigh. We put away the last baby crib. Cooper has been climbing...actually leaning over the side and free-falling out of his crib. He lands on his head every time, so we had to take it down. He's not even 2 and we have to get the little stinker a new bed. For now he's sleeping in a pack-n-play. He can't escape from there yet!

Sorry for taking so long to update you. Thank you for checking in! Good night.

A few more random pictures...

E caught a lizard in our backyard.

This weekend after their first week of school they were dying to go shopping to spend birthday money and allowance. :-)

Poor Cooper couldn't get anyone to see saw with him.

More wall art. "Mommy, come look! I drew myself and made a headband!" (Grace)

Olympics 2020?

Stay tuned for exciting pictures of our Olympics Opening Ceremonies/Save Darfur/Free Tibet party on Friday night! (We couldn't decide whether to celebrate or boycott the Olympics this year...)

Fun With Food!

A few weeks ago Grace was diagnosed with a severe allergy to both gluten (wheat, barley, rye) and eggs. Great. We started our kids' counseling fund years ago, but added a few hundred dollars that week when we thought of all the times we've said, "Grace, you're not getting down from this table until you finish your eggs". "Grace, you're not playing on the computer today until you finish your pancakes". And on and on and on.

Poor little thing had lost all interest in food and all she wanted to do was drink Pediasure all day long. Her owies took forever to heal and I just had a feeling something wasn't right. So I took her to a Natureopath and this was the outcome. No more eggs, no more anything with wheat in it. And that's just about everything. This is TORTURE!

So...we're getting an education and learning to have fun with food. The other day we made "the world" out of our lunch. Green peas and blueberries on a white round plate piled in shapes to look like the water and the land. With little cheese penguins standing at the north pole and turkey seahorses in the ocean. (Thank you Play dough for all the little cutout shapes). And no, I didn't get a picture. I was so bummed.

Today's lunch was "fun with shapes and colors". The good news is that Grace is finally starting to eat again. And meal times aren't so stressed. As you can see in the pictures below... (I'm a little stressed because our food bill has gone through the roof! Have you ever shopped in the Gluten free aisle at Whole Foods? Yikes!!!)

First Day of School

I cried...they didn't.

July At A Glance

Yesterday we were eating lunch at a Chinese restaurant and I started talking to the owner who is from southern China. She had one biological child then moved to the US and became a volunteer for the Child Crisis Nursery in Phoenix. She opened the restaurant as a business for her next 3 children and their families to run. I thought, how great is this as she introduced me to her 3 Caucasian children (adopted from foster care) and I introduced her to my 3 Chinese children. Isn't that funny?

Here are a few pictures from July happenings around our place.




















Happy 4th of July. It was so hot we didn't even watch fireworks. Isn't that awful!? Thanks for the shirts Popo and Papa.




















Happy 4th Birthday Gracie! Her hair was kind of wild by the end of the night! :-)




















The mad dash for the pinata stash!

















Artists in Residence! Our new chalkboard/magnet wall!

What more can I say?

Glasses and more glasses!

Ah, one more thing to keep track of. :-) But, aren't they just stinking adorable?