Fun on the Farm

While the big boys went paintballing, the rest went to the farm where Shelby works.  What a great place! However,  I think we will be finding corn for days.

Back to school for the Bigs

I don't want anyone to think I have forgotten about my big kids Shelby and Robbie since I don't post as many pictures of them.  Let's just say they aren't as willing participants to have their pictures taken and they sure are home a lot less than the little guys.

Shelby is back at Akron this fall and in the marching band.  She took a full course load over the summer and she should be a junior by the end of this semester.  She also held down 2 summer jobs, one at the farm market and one as a job coach.  She is beginning her education classes and continues to work at the farm market through Falł Fest.  She has been a huge help with Matt and Grace.  It must be pretty awesome to have an older sister who his 15 years older than you.  Shelby has bought ballon animal and face painting kits to play with them.  She always welcomes them to hang out in her room, too. 

Robbie has been keeping me busy buying new clothes, he has grown over 6 inches in a short period of time.  He is now as tall as Jeff.  People have asked him if he is driving, so it's funny to tell them he is just an 8th grader.  He is back playing football again this fall.  He is playing both offense and defense. He has had some great plays already.   Robbie attended football conditioning throughout the summer, so it wasn't such a killer to start back for football camp in August.  He and Jeff have entered their favorite time of year - the start of college football and sports center coverage of college football.  We are also really proud of how much he is willing to help out around the house.  Robbie and Jeff have taken down several dead trees in the 90 degree heat and he has started to learn how to drive the tractor.  He and I have also worked together to get the camper hooked up to the car by ourselves.  I only back up the car to the camper (with the help of a backup camera) and Robbie does all the rest.  

 

Knees Please

When warmer weather started, I soon figured out we would have to keep Grace's knees covered.  She was falling all the time and had a skinned knee that wouldn't heal.  I later found out that people with spina bifida take longer to heal since they have reduced circulation/feeling.  We also found out we would always have to check her for cuts and scraps on her legs and feet because she might not know she had them and they could get out of hand.  So I soon invested in some knees pads for when she was playing on asphalt and a dozen pairs of capri leggings to wear that would cover her knees.  

Unfortunately there were several pairs of shorts she never got to wear because it just wasn't practical.  A lot of times she just wore dresses because it was easier to pair the leggings with.  Not a lot of people in China wear shorts so it took Grace a little while to realize that her knees could be uncovered.  I started catching her pulling up her leggings to show her knees and she would tell me she looked like RoRo (who wears shorts 349 days a year).  So earlier this week, she found this skort in her bottom drawer and asked to wear it.  I took the chance and since she is falling a little less - surprise, her knees remained intact all day. I can't say I am brave enough to continue to let her keep her knees uncovered, but she was excited to keep showing us her knees that day.

 A lot of her leggings have now seen better days, most have become so torn up I just threw them away.  I am really looking forward to it being jeans season. Earlier this summer I saw a posting for little girls clothing on Mom's resale Facebook page that said like "enough items to clothe a 3T army...".  I jumped at it.   Thankfully, this lot of clothing I bought had 30 pairs of pants and jeans.  There aren't many people who need 30 pairs of girls 3T pants, but I know one little girl who will put them to very good use/abuse.   

Grace 5 months home

The past five months have zoomed by.  

First hair cut that wasn't a buzz cut.  Miss Jackie is the sweetest and Grace loved getting her hair cut.  

Grace's new snow suit.  She wanted to wear it around the house, I think she enjoyed having all the layers.

Sweet girl selfie - just waking up.  She will often sit with a blanket and her Lambie on the stairs waiting for me to come pick her up.  She loves to stroke the satin tags on things.

Grace has come a long way on the playground equipment.  She can now walk up the tall spiral slide the wrong way ( yeah I know this against the playground rules, but I was so glad she tried it).  She still has difficulty with some of the more challenging things on the equipment, but she is doing so much better.  Pretty amazing for a girl who couldn't raise her foot to put it up on a curb several months ago.  Matthew is awesome to show her how to do things, best physical therapist ever! 

Giving her baby a ride.  When she first came home, she didn't have a lot of interest in her dolls.  She is very loving towards them now.  This is her baby "Piao Liang" (which means beautiful in Mandarin) or Piao Piao as she calls her.  

First day of preschool!  Preschool has been going well so far.  Grace hasn't cried when I have dropped her off, but has cried when I pick her up.  She seemed so overwhelmed that I really did show up. She also cried when the teacher told her she couldn't ride the bus home since her mom picks her up.    Grace loves carry her new back pack.  She is receiving physical therapy services at her school which is nice for me.  I had been taking her to PT this summer to fill in till school started. It was the longest hour ever each week.   Miss Grace wasn't always the willing participant and she enjoyed  being her own one woman show.  She mastered the art of the "limp noodle" when she didn't want to keep going or the "mad dash" when she wanted to go and explore the other equipment in the gym.  The hardest part was to watch all the silly faces she made during therapy and not to laugh.

Best buddies - most of the time 😉. These goobers sure keep me on my toes.

4th of July

Hope you all had a joy filled 4th of July and get a kick out these 2 sweet goofballs who can never sit still for a picture.

They don't quite understand 4th of July yet, but the magnitude blows me away.  It wasn't long ago that Grace and Matt had none of the freedoms they have now.      Three years ago, they both were orphans 8000 miles away with uncertain and very limited futures.  While I love China and the U.S.  is far from perfect, how amazing the opportunities this country has given my two youngest Americans.    I am thankful that our country has allowed us to share our freedom with them so they can be two dearly loved goofballs with a future full of unlimited hope.  

Dream Night at the Zoo

Dream night is celebrated at zoos across the world and we got to go for the first time this year this past June.   Dream Night allows children who have chronic diseases or disabilities to spend time at a special evening with their families at the zoo.  Grace got an invitation to go this year.  Akron Children's Hospital and the Akron Zoo had dinner for us and opened the zoo after hours.  They brought several mascots in from the various sports teams around the area - Grace kept yelling "high five!" to all of the mascots.   They had face painting, crafts and the kids could ride the carousel and the train as much they wanted.  Grace didn't want to linger too long looking at the animals, but she seemed to really enjoy her time at the zoo.   Grace is still at a point where taking her places is sometimes difficult, so this really was a perfect visit for us.  

It turned out to be a very humbling night for me as well -   Humbled by all the volunteers that gave of their time, so we could have such a nice night.  But more humbled by the families that were in attendance, some of the children had very life threatening conditions.    For many of them, this is the only night each year that their family can go out together anywhere.  Sometimes Spina bifida is no picnic and having a child going through some pretty big adjustments to their new life is no picnic either, but seeing all the other children sure gave us a different perspective of our own struggles.  Many thanks to the Akron Zoo and Akron Childrens Hospital for such a wonderful night! 

                                                         

Grace baptized

This past weekend we were able to celebrate having Grace baptized.  I am happy to report little miss cooperated and it went really well.  Thankfully she doesn't mind water at all.  I was thinking ahead and  I bought her this outfit in China before we came home.  The salesperson said it was real silk ;) but I am guessing since it cost me about $7 U.S., it probably isn't silk.  It was beautiful none the less and perfect for today.  We came home and had a small low key party with pizza for lunch with all her grandparents, Uncle Adam, Aunt Jenny and her cousins.  I am happy to report that Grace is finally a big fan of pizza like her mama.  

Gracie joined by her brothers, sister and cousins after church.  

This blanket was made by the sweet ladies from our church's prayer shawl ministry to honor Grace's baptism. She loved it and Matthew got his out from his baptism to show Grace.