The Twins

I am so happy to post that Jonathan and Susan have their little girls. As you can see, they are adorable. Check out Susan's blog for more photos. Congratulations J and S....we can't wait until you all get home.

Ava Showing Off Her New Birthday Presents

Ava got two birthday presents in the mail yesterday. She got the cutest little dress from Aunt Magi. Magi got the adorable hand made dress from Robin, a waiting mother who is sewing to make money so that she can go to China to get her daughter. When I showed it to Ava, she wanted to put it on immediately so we put it on over what she had on. I didn't get any pictures of that lovely combination, but we did put it on today and she posed for pictures outside. She loves to put on pretty clothes.







Granddaddy and Grandma Nora got her a new tricycle. We have a tricycle but she can't really do it herself so this one with the push bar is great (it saves mom and dad's backs). I didn't let her see the tricycle until today because I didn't want her to know it existed until we had it put together and we were ready to ride. We put it together while she napped this afternoon so we could surprise her with it when she woke up. She was very excited when she saw it and instead of riding it, she has been pushing it around. Right now she prefers to push it. She had a lot of fun with it today.





As you can see, I have no pix of the boys. They left yesterday to go to the beach with Derek's family. We are going to meet them there next Wednesday night, after the twins come home.

It Has Been Awhile

I have been meaning to post forever. A lot has gone on since I last posted - the boy's field day at school, mother's day, Ava's 4th birthday, Ava's christening, etc... I keep meaning to post and then when I get behind, I feel to overwhelmed to even start it!

I did take Ava for her 6 month follow up at the adoption clinic. I did not have a very positive experience. The evaluation with the social worker went well. Ava is attaching very well and I think that we will continue to see progress in that area. She has come a long way. The OT visit didn't go as well. They think that she should be farther along developmentally then she is. I don't think they see much improvement over her initial visit. She thinks that her development doesn't match her history. Her history being that she was in her biological family for the first year (which we can only assume b/c she was not abandoned until she was a year old) and being in foster care for the majority of her life before us (she was in the orphanage for about 6 months, during that time she had heart surgery). I look at that short little life as having quite a few traumatic events...who knows how that affected her. I saw a different doctor this time and I wasn't crazy about her. I think she must be a new graduate (I looked this up...finished residency 2007). She almost acted like Ava wasn't even in the room except for the physical exam...even then, she didn't really interact with her. I didn't care that much because I knew this was a one time visit. What bothered me, was that she wanted to get an MRI and do genetic testing. They made me feel that Ava was mentally deficient and that I shouldn't expect much from her. I don't know if they meant to come across that way, but they did. I calmly left their office and when I got in my car I immediately called the director (she is also an OT) at the treatment center I take Ava to in Atlanta. She is also the person that did her initial evaluation and has treated her until recently. I tried to stay composed, but of course, that didn't happen. She was really surprised by what the adoption clinic had to say and said she really didn't agree with this. Neither she nor Ava's PT (who was next to her when I called) felt there was any urgency to get an MRI at this time. She also brought up the fact that Ava has had a nut shell in her nose for who knows how long and just had adenoid/tonsil surgery two weeks ago and how this could've been affecting her. I felt so much better after talking to her. I know that she is not going to tell me things to make me feel better. In fact, that is why I called her first...not Derek. I am not paying her to be my friend. I know that if she thought that Ava would not get "better" she would tell me...it is her job. It was a very long and emotional two hour drive home from the clinic. No matter what happens with Ava's development, which has come a long way, I love that little girl and I am so glad she is my daughter.

The day after our trip to the clinic, Ava had her regularly scheduled OT and speech. I asked them if they had heard about my phone call, but they hadn't. I told them about my experience and they were really surprised. I have been working with the same speech therapist for awhile and she really thinks Ava is doing well. In fact, last week I was feeling a little down and I said that I was worried that Ava would never talk and she reassured me that she would. She has told me every visit since her surgery how much better she is doing in therapy. She really thinks that her hearing has improved. Her new OT also thinks Ava is doing well. She said that they see a lot of kids and they usually know when kids are going to be ones that take off. They really feel positive about Ava. And again, I am not paying these people to be my friends!

Well, that was a lot longer than I expected and I should probably re-read it, but I don't feel like it. Just keep my sweet little Ava in your prayers.

On a completely different topic....many of you have probably already heard , seen on Oprah or Diane Sawyer of Randy Pausch and his Last Lecture. If you haven't, watch it on You tube or listen to it on your I-pod. He is very inspiring and entertaining. He also has a great time management lecture, which I know the title doesn't sound very enticing, but it is really good.

I also just read a great book, The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog, by child psychiatrist, Bruce Perry. He is an MD/PhD that specializes on brain development and children in crisis. It is a book explaining how trauma or stress affect a child's brain and how he has helped treat several children.

GULF SHORES

These pictures are from Spring Break - this is Ava with her cousin Sera and Uncle Jim (Sera was not crazy about Ava being on her daddy's lap.

Peter and Sera at the beach

My three kiddos

Ben is such a sweet big brother

Ben "helping" at the Gulf Shores Zoo

This beach thing is exhausting

Mom and her first born...both NOT morning people

FIELD DAY AT ST JOHNS

Peter at field day...Abigail, his good friend, is next to him

Ben and one of his best (and sweetest) friends, Leo

PARTY AT THE HORSE FARM

Daddy and Ava at a birthday party
Ava and Peter having fun in a hammock



ST JOHN'S AWARDS DAY

Peter got two second semester awards: The PE award and an award for having his artwork displayed at the annual catholic school art show
He got The Responsiblity Award for the first semester...I'm not sure if I posted that so I thought I would go ahead and put it here. He loves school and is such a good student.

MOTHER'S DAY

Ava having fun with some of the gifts

Happy mom with her family

Grandmama with most of her grandkids (Terry was celebrating his anniversary in the Bahamas)

The grandkids with there favorite aunt...Donna!

AVA'S CHRISTENING

Ben was happy to have a "job"

Ava with her grandmama

AVA'S BIRTHDAY

Beautiful girl turns 4


AVA BEFORE HER TONSILECTOMY/ADENOIDECTOMY

Before Valium

After Valium (you need to check out one of the videos below)

CENTENNIAL PARK

I just think she has the cutest bottom in this picture

fun with dad

HAPEVILLE

They put up butterflies all around Hapeville....they are beautiful.

VIDEOS

Video one is the soccer game that we played at the end of the season with the kids. It was parents against kids. I finally found my playing level...U8 (kids 6-8)

The next one is of Ava blowing out her birthday candle. Ben being shirtless can be explained here.

The last video is Ava on Valium before her surgery. The doctor said that she was giving everyone high fives in the operating room.

usin

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