Update ~ Sorry, its been FOREVER!!!!

     Hello Everyone!!  I do apologize that since arriving home from China that I am not too good at this whole blog thing.  I really hoped that I would be, but.........Thats just me!
    
     What else can I say about our Mya, SHE IS SO PERFECT!!  She is so ornery and I wouldnt have her any other way!!  Her spiciness is just incredible and keeps us on our toes!!!!

     This little beauty is fitting in just perfectly with our family!  Although, we are figuring out that "2" is "2" in every country!!!  She is doing so awesome is learning how we do things and adjusting!  We gave her about a 3 month grace period of letting her get familiar with everything and then we decided that we owe it to her to start disciplining her.  She is very stubborn but overall, if we say no, she will either, stop and think about it and then continue on with her mischief or she will stop altogether.  Sounds like a normal "2" year old!!!!!

     I worked full time outside of the home before we got Mya and when we got her, we decided, of course, that if it was about to be done, I would quit my job and stay at home with her like I did the other 3 children!  It is so wonderful staying home with Mya and being with her every step of the way while she is learning and getting comfortable with her new family!!!

     I have taken up a "job" while staying at home.  I am so blessed that I am able to work from home and I have been able to supplement my 40 hour full time income while taking care and just living my life with our 4 kids!  I am promoting the 90 Day Challenge with Body By Vi~Visalus, the fastest growing home based business in North America!  I have been able to lose 36lbs and over 60 inches by using this product and changing my lifestyle!!  Its such a blessing that I can change mine and others lives physically and financially all while being at home with Mya!!!!!!!!!  Mya is my biggest cheer leader and she helps Momma any chance she can!!!

 

Mya's first Halloween was a complete success!!  She absolutely LOVED it!!  She rocked at, going to the doors and yelling, (What was supposed to be) Trick or Treat and then signing thank you about 50 times before she was off the step!!! 

 

     Moving on:  November 7th, I wake up, and had this huge epiphany!!  We are a month out from Palate surgery...YIKES!!!!  Yikes was right because Mya had a cough and had for about 2 weeks but it was really nothing...I would have never taken her except surgery was approaching..we go and she had an ear infection..What???  no fever, no pain, no sign at all..I felt awful!!!  Ok, so I would like to say that I took Mya to the dr because of a Mother's instinct, but really it was the calendar and the fact that it was November 7th!!!   Antibiotic for 10 days and still a cough..ugh, back to the dr...viral, nothing can be done..week later, still a cough, did chest xray just to make sure, clear and still viral...back a week later and they gave her an antibiotic just as precaution because of surgery, but still viral...So I called Shriners to make sure that it was ok that she be on this medication so close to surgery and they told me, its ok for the medicine, but its not ok for her to have a cough.....UGH!!!!  Ma'am, we are going to cancel surgery...I am so mad, I am almost in tears..we have had anxiety about this surgery long enough and choked twice, I was not ok with waiting another 3 mos for another date..They told me that there was nothing to discuss that healing wouldnt be ok if she was inflamed.

     Ok, so I calmed down and was getting used to the idea and then they called me the next day and re-scheduled her for January 18th..Thank you Lord!!!  That's not that far off!  Now, this is where you all come in..please pray that we have no cough, being that its still cold/flu season and her sinus cavity is completely open!!!   As of right now, the cough is GONE!!!!!

     Going to see Santa was such a great experience!!!  I have been prepping Mya with the blown up Santa at Walmart so that she wouldnt be scared and she wasnt!!!!!  She loved Santa!!!

     I know this has been very long but I had a lot of catching up to do!!!!  I promise, that during her surgery next month, I will blog as I should be!!!!  Enjoy some random pictures of our family!!!

     We are so so Blessed!!  Blessed beyond measure!!!!  Please, if anyone is even contemplating adopting, I highly recommend you doing so!!  Thank you again for following our journey!!! 

God Bless,
Mindy

 

6th Post Adoption Visit

     Our social worker came to our home last week for our 6 month post adoption visit!  I can not believe we have had our little girl for 6 months, except, I dont remember not having her!:) 
     The social worker comes in and asks questions like, what is Mya's routine, feeding, sleeping, playing, napping...etc.  Also, she asks about her night terrors and if she is having anymore...Im happy to say, that her last night terror was in JUNE!!!!  PRAISE GOD!!! 
     Mya is an awesome little girl!!  We are so blessed to have her in our family!  We think that God chose the PERFECT Chinese Princess for us!  She is so spunky and full of life!!!!  Mya hasnt had any fits since about the first month home, we have really been working on that and she stopped almost immediately.
     After about 3 months, we decided her "grace period" was over and that it was time that we started buckling down and enforcing some rules!  She has done so so well with this!  I mean, she is 2 years old, but all in all, she is a very very good girl!!!:) 
     Here are some random pictures of our sweet Chinese Princess!!!  Enjoy!

    

"Team" Appointment @ Shriners

Our next appt was scheduled for December 5th, 2012 and we were going to have a "team" appointment.  This consists of an all day appt...8:00am-3:00pm...With a 2 year old, not looking forward to that one:)
     We recieved a call from Shriners about a month ago and said that they had a cancellation and could we be there at 8:00am the next morning....WELL YES WE CAN!!!!!!!!   There was a problem though, Josh had to work and was not able to go with.  He was upset about that, but at least he will be there for surgery!  So, we asked MaMa Bonnie to go with us!  We got up bright and early and left our house at 4:45am.
     Shriners has the "team" appointments down to a science!!!!!  They really know what they are doing!
We arrived and they put us in a quaint waiting room and then called us back to the room to check her vitals and then had us go to a different waiting room full of ADOPTED kids!!!!!  There were some there from China, Russia, Ethiopia and some were biological children!  I was so excited to sit and talk to these families! 
     While Mommy was filling out all the paperwork, clowns came to visit the children!

We saw all of the specialists one at a time in the am and then broke for lunch from 12-1:00.  We had a great time, Bonnie, Mya and I went and found an Applebees and enjoyed some time out!  Then we came back and saw the dentist, orthodontist, and surgeon.  The surgeon said that he thinks that he is now going to wait on redoing her lip for now due to theres a chance that it will be too tight and that he didnt think that it was all that bad and that we are going to really focus on her palate and putting tubes in. 

     Mya was an absolute Angel the whole day!  She never fussed, ever!  I wasnt sure how it was going to be with a two year old for an all day appt, but she was amazing!!!!!

     Mya thought that since there was nothing under the sink that she should play there!! 

This was all fun and games until, of course, she smashed her fingers!!  We told her, but she is "2"

    Then, later before we met with the whole panel of doctors, they brought in 2 dogs to see the children!!

I wasnt sure how Mya would react to the dogs, she is or was very very scared of animals, but these, she loved and ended up feeding one of them!!!  I was so proud of her!:)

Mya was to be tested for any parasites that she may have since she came from Orphanage life and another country and we did indeed find one.:(  We have been battling getting rid of it due to the kind of medicine that she has to take to get rid of it.  They are having to prescribe a pill and we are to crush it and its AWFUL..so the pediatrician found a liquid and it didnt work, she still has it.  Its called Giardia.  So we have done the pill again and it was so terrible giving it to her, but we got it down her and its over..So we will find out next week if this took care of it and if so, then we can now schedule surgery!!!  Hopefully for September or October!!  I am anxiously awaiting for this surgery to be done.  It is so hard to hear what she will be going through, but I know that she needs it done and wouldnt have had it done otherwise..TO GOD BE THE GLORY!!!!!!!! 

Thank you again!!
Mindy

First Appointment to Shriners!

     WOW, its been a very long time since my last post!  Im sorry!  Life has been happening and Time got away from me!  
      Mya was scheduled for surgery with a Dr Bueno in Springfield, Il on 7/29/12.  We were so ready to have her palate repaired.  We really loved Dr Bueno and his staff!    Mya was accepted into the Shriners program in Chicago a week before her already scheduled surgery. 
     We went to her first appointment at Shriners and let me tell you, they are phenomenal!!!  We were in a room for about 2 hours and the whole team came in one by one to talk with us and let us know what to expect.  Mya was an absolute joy!!!!  Mason and Myles went with us and they were so awesome!   They did say, that next time we went, they were not coming...BORED!!! 
     When we saw the surgeon, they had mentioned that there were 4 surgeons that could possibly be the surgeon to take care of Mya.  Thats a little scary, not meeting all of them prior, but I trust Shriners!  The surgeon did say that he thought that he would want to redo her lip....WHAT?????  We think it looks amazing!!!!  He said that it looks like it was done 50 years ago.  Now, we have a HUGE decision to make...do the lip or not!! 
     Another BIG decision was....Keep her already scheduled surgery for July or wait until possibly December to have surgery at Shriners??  So, on the way home, I started making a list of pros and cons..We chose Shriners and I am glad we did!  The Lord brought us to them for a reason and I am so excited to see how they will help our little Chinese Princess!!! 
Thank you for your support!!!!!!

Our 1st month Post Placement Visit

                Its time!!  We have been home for a whole month already.  We are required to have a social worker come to the house at 1 month, 6 months, and every year for 5 years post adoption.

                Our social worker came out to the house and asked us a lot of questions that really consisted to Mya’s adjusting, our adjusting and our new normal!!  She wanted to know about Mya’s schedule and how she was handling everything, sleeping, playing, strangers, eating and just everyday relations. 

                I knew that Mya had some “situations” in China with certain things that I have mentioned  but I guess I haven’t really thought about them much until the SW asked the questions and my response was: well in China she did that, and in China she did that, and no she hasn’t done that since China.  I am so pleased at the progress that she has made, but it also makes me reflect back to what she has and is really going through. 

You know, we often say when a child is crying, “oh it’s so hard being insert name here well, and it really is hard being Mya.  Sometimes, when she lets out this screeching cry and the kids all try to comfort her, I just tell them, just let her cry and let mommy and Daddy try to comfort her, because we aren’t sure if she possibly had a bad memory happen or maybe she is remembering a good memory and is missing someone or something, we just don’t know.  I wish I could be in her head and be able to know what it is that she is going through so I could help her in any possible way.  Well, we all know that isn’t possible, so we are just gonna love her through this!!!!  She could also just be acting like a normal 2 year old, but I don’t know that for sure and I don’t want to just assume it’s a 2 year old fit that she is throwing or if she just needs some extra love at that moment!  I am so happy that we are here and are ready to give her the love that she needs!!!!!

                Sorry, I just got off the subject!!!!  Anyway, our post placement went really well and the SW was very pleased with Mya and her progress!!!!!!  We will see her again at the 6 month visit!!

Until next time~God Bless!

Mindy

Our Trip To Alabama

We had the most AMAZING trip to Alabama to see our family!  Mya hadn’t met her Aunt Hollie, Uncle Aaron, cousins, her Aunt Carrie, Uncle Marvin, Uncle Charlie, and Grandma Nancy as of yet, so ROAD TRIP!!! 

                We left on Thursday, around 7am and arrived in Bama around 5:30pm.  Our first experience traveling a lot of hours in the van and Mya in a car seat was awesome!!!!!!  She didn’t even cry until our last 10 minutes of the trip, which I think was sooo good! 

                We were greeted by everyone and they were so excited to see our family and especially our newest family member, our Chinese Princess!!!!!

                           

Aunt Hollie and Mya ~ 1^st time meeting!!

                I really missed all of my kids this weekend!  They were all gone running around the “Hood” at the creek and just having fun!!!!  It was so great!  I really got to visit with my family and show off all of my “4” children!  LOL, 4, that still sounds so weird!!!!  Mya was A HIT!!

                  Everyone just fell completely, 100% in love with her!  I was told that some weren’t sure how the love would be with Mya due to her being adopted.  They knew that they would “love” her but they were TOTALLY AMAZED at the love that they did have, right from the first look!!!  It was that “Love” that they had for the other children!!!!!  I was actually approached by my brother-in-law, one who has already adopted as well, and he asked me, “Isn’t it amazing the love that we have for someone else’s child?!?”   He is so right, It is so AMAZING!!!  I was really blessed when this person was humble enough to tell me their thoughts in this regard of Love and how there is such unconditional love with everyone!!!!!  Thank you Lord!!!  You know we are, as believers, adopted into the family of God and He loves us all unconditionally!!!  What an awesome God!!!!!

                Friday evening, also Mya’s  2^nd birthday, a woman from my family’s church,  whom I didn’t know, opened her home and had an open house / birthday party for Mya!!!!!  I have no words to describe this wonderful gesture that she and her family have done for our family!  It was so amazing, all of the wonderful food that was brought in, the beautiful decorations, and ALL of the total strangers that came!!!  These people were all from their church and have been praying for our journey!  Some even made the prayer blankets for Myas friends at the orphanage.  Such a BLESSING!!!  It really amazes me that people I don’t even know have such a heart for our family and our adoption!!!  What wonderful people of God!!!  We love their church and feel honored to have had their support!!!!  Our church and other churches have had the upmost support and prayers and I feel so blessed!  It is amazing being a child of the King and am so thankful that this very weekend, Jesus Christ died on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins and then 3 days later, rose again and now sits at the right side of the Christ’s throne in Heaven until He comes back again!

                                                                    Me and My Sister, Hollie

                                                             Miss Sherrie (hostess) and Mya!

                                                                                   My family

                                       Miss Sherrie (hostess!) and Mya and party in the mirror!!!

                Saturday, we went to their church for an Easter egg hunt!  There were separate areas for all ages of the children and food, face painting, cotton candy, and the Resurrection story was told to all of the children!!!  Then, that afternoon, Papa Cheezie wanted to take all of the grandchildren fishing!!!  Josh and Aaron and Papa got everything ready and headed out!!!!   They had a blast!!!  What was caught was then fried by Madison and Ali for dinner!!!!  That evening, we had a girl’s night out and went to Birmingham and saw Casting Crowns in concert!!!!!  AMAZING!!!  It was soo fun!  We had such a great time praising our God together!!!  Me, my sister, my Mom, Aunt Carrie, and 3 of my sisters friends, who are now my friends went and they are BEGGING us to move to Alabama!  They love our family and we LOVE them!!! 

                                             Mya thought she needed “2” buckets for the hunt!!

                                                                             Mya and Daddy

                                                                       Mommy, Mya and Madison

                                                  Papa Cheezie and Mason on the fishing trip!!! 

     Sunday, we woke up to the Easter bunny that had been in the yard and left evidence!  He left all of the children, a chocolate Jesus fish on the front porch!  We then gave all the children their Easter baskets!  This was also Ali, my niece, her 12^th birthday!!!!!  Can’t believe that one!!!!  We then went to church and celebrated our Savior rising from the dead and reigning forever!!!!  That afternoon, we played outside and the children went to the creek and played and it was just so relaxing being with family and visiting!  Then, at the request from my nephew Connor, I was to make my famous goulash that is to be made every time we are together!!!  My Uncle Charlie and Connor insist!!:)

                      Can you see the bunny trail?  The Easter Bunny always leaves evidence after being here!!!

    Me and My Daddy!!!!

y Mommy

                                                    My Momma, me, Mya and my Aunt Carrie

          All the kids after playing in the creek!!!  Mason, Ali, Myles, Madison, Gianni, and Connor!!!!

                We are now on our way home and we miss our family alreadyL  What is good about this is, some of the family is coming to our house in a couple of weeks for the 8^th grade prom that Connor has been invited to!!!!  That makes saying goodbye a little easierJ  

                A little update on Mya:  She is doing soooooo well!  I am so proud of her!   We couldn’t have asked for her to have been any better this weekend!  She had only one night with night terrors!!!  No fits were thrown!!  She really has come a long way since China!!  Thank you again for all of your prayers and we would ask that you would continue!!!!!  God Bless!

                                             Mya saying HI!!!!!!!!!!!! I LOVE THIS PICTURE!!!!!!

Mindy