Who Likes Popcorn???

If you like popcorn and you want some for free, visit my sister's blog at the link below

LINK

Ben's Blog

Ben has a new post on his blog that he wants everyone to check out. Hopefully, this isn't what his future holds....dancing on tables without his shirt!

Does Anyone Know What This Is???

That is a dime in the picture...someone thought it was a quarter (that might have required surgery)!!!

Well, I don't either! But I know where it came from...AVA'S NOSE!!!! Her nose has been horrible ever since China. It has been really smelly and she keeps getting antibiotics, but the smell and cruddy junk keep coming back. We took her to the ENT two weeks ago and he asked if she had put anything up her nose because that is what usually causes a bad odor. I said not that I knew of but her nose has been like this for six months, the entire time she has been home. He looked to see if he saw anything, but didn't. He gave her two weeks worth of antibiotics and told us to give her nasal washes (I highly recommend that to the chronically congested...that really cleans your sinuses!!!). He was thinking that her adenoids were enlarged and causing chronic infections. As soon as we started the nasal washes we thought we saw something black trying to come out of her nose. We weren't sure what it was...it almost looked like dried blood or something. I took her back to the ENT for him to check and make sure that there wasn't a foreign body. He (well, really the PA...the Dr was in surgery) cleaned out her nose and saw what I was talking about, but said that it was a concretion (I think that is what he called it)...basically, dried hard snot (gross, I know). They said to keep doing the washes and that should soften it up and make it come out. Well, the last few days it really looked like it was going to come out, but it would slip back up her nose. This morning, while I was driving the kids to school, Ava sneezed. I turned around and she had snot coming out of her nose, so I pulled over to wipe it and when I did THAT came out of it!!! That has been in her nose for 6+ months. It looks like the shell to some type of nut. I can't imagine having something like that in my nose for that long. Maybe her adenoids are fine!!!

Pigtails!!

I know the pigtails aren't the best, but look how much Ava's hair has grown since November! She looks fresh from the barber!

This is at Lucy's in Guangzhou

Enjoying a french fry cigarette

Trying to put bows on a few strands of hair

Congratulations Jonathan and Susan

Our neighbors and great friends got their referral today. They waited almost 28 months, but now they are the proud parents of twin girls!!! I am so excited for them. I know Susan will post pictures on her blog soon! Congratulations Jonathan and Susan...we love y'all!

The World According to Ava...

The Miracle of Rainbows

The first time we ever saw Ava's picture was a year ago from yesterday. I had just updated our special needs (SN) profile with our agency, adding heart disease as a special need and increasing the age of child we were willing to adopt. That afternoon our agency said they had a child that fit our profile so I told them to go ahead and email me her information. I was surprised that they had a child. The SN list had just been updated on our agency's website and I didn't see a child that matched. We were headed to the beach that day, so I printed everything they sent so that Derek and I could read it on the way. Of course, we both saw her picture and thought she was absolutely adorable! We read her report and talked a lot about it on the way to the beach that day. We decided to not talk about it with anyone until we knew our decision. It was SO hard not to tell anyone...especially Jonathan and Susan. We were at the beach that weekend together!! We knew that we needed to give it a lot of thought and research some of her medical issues before we made a decision. As we were driving, we saw a huge rainbow from one side of the sky all the way to the other; it was the most beautiful rainbow I have ever seen. I really had a good feeling that we had found our daughter. I kept seeing little signs that we were making the right decision to adopt Ava throughout the whole process. Derek would make fun of me, but I think it really helped me. We have been home now for about 5 months and I KNOW that we made the right decision and that Ava was suppose to be our daughter. I couldn't ask for a greater gift in life. She is truly a gift from God.

Ava has been the sweetest, most loving child. She has some physical delays and speech delays, but I know that she will overcome all of these. I got a little overwhelmed after Ava's first visit with the occupational therapist when I realized how much therapy she truly needed. I was thinking about all of this in the car one day when I saw another huge rainbow in front of me. I'm really not usually someone that gives much thought to things like this, but it really gave me a feeling of peace. I truly think that it was God's way of telling me that everything is going to be fine and I know that it is. Thank you God for my wonderful daughter!

The first picture we saw of Ava

A year later...

Playing the Drums at Animal Kingdom



Riding the Teacups at Disney World