Orphan Sunday.

Last Sunday was Orphan Sunday, and I meant to write a long post about it. But, instead, here is a quick one:


This beautiful little girl of ours was an orphan, abandoned at birth. Unthinkable. But true.

My heart is so burdened by the millions of orphans in our world and we should be doing more.

I know Chuck and I have a heart that aches for more children. Specifically children that no one wants.

Please join us in prayer today for serious revival of hearts toward orphans.

For families that will say yes to the fatherless.

That orphans will know mercy and love.

The LOVE of a forever family.

Catching up.

                                                           Well, we have just been busy.

We home school now from 8:30 - 2:30.  We have two trips a week to speech therapy, Maggie goes to a special needs play group once a week that is incredible, I cook dinner when I get a break in the day ( ha), Thanksgiving is coming and then Christmas ??  Maggie lovesssss her kitchen and will cook you up something delicious ! She also loves jewelry and wants a necklace on all the time.The boys are doing great in school - with a little help from the principle.  I made an appointment with the orthodontist for Will's braces, sewed a little dress for Maggie last week and we are getting ready to spend some time with family and friends during the holidays over food, of course. Maggie drank out of a straw cup yesterday - for the first time, yeah !!

                                               Do you see Maggie's adorable, little pony tail ?            

Football season is over and Will had so much fun playing this fall.  He played defense and offense ( that's about all I know about football) and could have kept playing if it was up to him.  This boy LOVES football !

The BIG news :

Maggie used the potty !!!

Is it really time for potty training ? Already?

Squeaky shoes...

Random little video at church after a good ol' Wednesday night supper.

What love really means.

I will love you for you,

Not for what you have done or what you will become,

I will love you for you,

I will give you the love,
The love that you never knew.

Words by: JJ Heler

Halloween 2010

One "Karate Kid"

One football player

One Chinese Princess

One attempt at a group picture !

Two years old.

 

Happy Birthday Maggie !! You are two years old today.

 

You laughed and smiled all day.  You reached out and hugged my neck with strength and love.  You snuggled close and didn't want to let go.  You played and played and played.

 

You are finding your niche in our family, feeling more comfortable and confident.

 

You are getting to be such a big girl now, beautiful and elegant. But, still such a baby.
We love you, sweet Maggie.  Happy second birthday.

War Eagle !

Auburn's new basketball arena had a special opening ceremony last Friday ( featuring the basketball team,a magic show and the Harlem Globe Trotters).  We somehow missed out on getting the FREE tickets that were passed out, so we begged for tickets.  It was a little embarrassing at first, but the boys  (and a friend)  really got into it and everyone thought their home-made signs were so cute. It worked.  We ended up getting enough tickets for all of us to attend the opening night.

The new arena is incredible and so much better than the old one ! I was a Dunkin' Darling ( hostess to the Auburn Basketball team) back in the day and loved seeing the new, shiny arena.

The Harlem Globe Trotters were just as I remembered them......

Hilarious !!!

Maggie did not need her hearing aid on.  It was so loud ( we sat behind the band) and she loved all the excitement.

What a big girl she was sitting in her own orange seat !
Oh, and......
War Eagle  !!! ( We're number ONE on the BCS poll !!)

Advocating for a beautiful girl.

Please take a look at Ruby.  She is a beautiful girl in need of a loving family.  My heart is breaking knowing she will age out in three years and that she has had to wait so long for a family.  I have spoken to several families that have met Ruby and know her personally.  They ALL say she is a very sweet, thoughtful, smart girl and would be a blessing to any  family that adopted her. Her special need is very minor - a port wine stain on her face that could possible be lightened with a laser procedure.

Madison Adoption Agency is waving all their fees, she has an additional $3000 grant and then there is the $12,000 tax credit that is available.  She is also being advocated/sponsored by Love Without Boundaries.
Please go here for more info or contact Madison. ( I will be out of pocket for a couple of days)

Join us also in praying for Ruby.  Could she be your daughter ?

Maggie eating pizza !

Friday afternoon update....

 

Maggie is now consuming pizzia without any help...

Speech update ( and other things)

Maggie enjoyed her first sucker ! She has made up her mind that she likes certain sweet treats now.  As we were all sitting around the kitchen table Sunday night after church and cheering Maggie on, I thought of December 2009.  I was packing for China back then and had read that I need to bring Cheerios and lolly pops and lots of them !  So, I stuck Cheerios and lolly pops in every crevice I could find in my overstuffed suitcase.  They were every where.  Which is funny to us now, because as every one knows  - Maggie had never eaten solid food and had NO patience for us trying to put anything near her mouth.  She would break down something terrible if we even got near her mouth.  So all that to say... It was a big deal when Maggie pulled that tootsie roll pop from my hands Sunday night and went to sucking on it.  It is the little things in our  life right now, like tootsie roll pops, that really remind us how much Maggie is changing and thriving.

I love this picture of Maggie and how much it captures her personality - Independent, Beautiful and Spunky.

Speech Update #2034

(Most of my updates on Maggie's speech are for my records and to see just how things are progressing.) 
Maggie had a great speech therapy session today - her best one !  She has started saying Ahhhh with a good open mouth sound and on request.  This is huge for our baby girl !!!

She has been babbling off and on, but never on request and very little imitating sounds.  So, I started working with her and got a little creative.  Right now, I am using a wooden clothes pin that I hold up to my face, I open the clothes pin and say Ahhhh and for some reason that made sense to Maggie.  She started repeating Ahhhh back - a lot, consistently and on request.  Her speech therapist was blown away today !  Maggie worked so hard in therapy and she was so tired and worn out when we got home.  We will continue to work on her open mouth sounds and try to get her to say Baa Baa on request too.  Maggie is trying so hard, you can see it on her face and in the way her mouth moves.  But, this is very difficult for her right now and it takes a lot of her energy and a lot of my energy. Plus, Maggie could win an award for being a super Velcro baby ( clingy baby) if there was such an award being given out !  I am wondering when this Velcro baby stage will end ???

I also wanted to mention how WONDERFUL Maggie's therapists (Her Early Intervention special teachers and her speech therapist) are.  They are AMAZING !  We are so blessed to have access to them and they truely love and care for our Maggie.  They are some of her biggest chearleaders.  They come up with the most creative, fun things to do with Maggie which has helped her develop  and change to who she is now - a much different little girl compared to when she came home from China.  Thank you Missy,Suzie, Shannon, and Lucy !!

Late Night Party.

Maggie is a night owl and she really gets going just before bedtime.  At night she is happy, babbling and dancing.  But during the day, our little girl is cranky, whiney and clingy,very clingy.

A lot of times,we let Maggie stay up because she's just so cute and fun to play with.

It really kills us to have to put her to bed when she is in the happiest, playful mood.

I don't know what it is about standing in her kitchen drawer, but she thought it was a great idea !

Happy (early) Birthday Maggie.

Our big family birthday celebration for Maggie was Saturday and she was a little overwhelmed and still sick from a nasty cold.  Her face says it all in this picture.  She had no clue why we were all looking at her and singing.  We blew out her candes for her and tried to get her to get messy with her cupcake.  Maggie ate a little of her sprinkles, but no icing.  She even gagged a little when I put some in her mouth.  Oh well.  Maybe she'll get the hang of it all by her third birthday.

Her big present from us was a kitchen play set.  Honestly, I was not sure how she would react to it.  (Maggie is still delayed in some of her pretend play skills).  But, to my suprise, she knew exactly what to do !  She opens the cabinets,stirs the pots, and is so busy with her kitchen.

  She loves it !!! 

She also got a shopping cart from her grandma and grandpa.  She pushed that cart around the house for hours !  Maggie is such a little busy girl cooking and shopping.
( I had a hard time getting some good pictures of her cute smile on her birthday, she's just so busy and fast.  Most of the pictures I took are of her back because she would just take off running in the other direction)

She also got her first dress up clothes, a Magna-Doodle, clothes, coloring books, markers and crayons, blocks and this cute little desk.  Finally, a place of her own to sit and color during school time. She is quite the little student in her new desk.

This was Maggie last night.  W o r n O u t. 

Happy Birthday Maggie ! It is hard to believe you are already two years old. You are the sweetest little girl.  Our hearts melt when we look at you and you are such a blessing to our family.  We can't imagine life without you. It breaks our heart that you had no one to celebrate your first birthday with.  But, what Joy it is now !  You had all your cousins,aunts and uncles,Grandma and Grandpa,Ninny and Pappa, your brothers and YOUR mommy and daddy - quite a lot of people to celebrate YOU !  Hang on, we will celebrate again at home on October 29th, the day you were born in Gaozhou City,China.
  We love you Maggie Caroline,
Mommy and Daddy

Happy Birthday Walker.

We are so blessed to have two children now with October birthdays.  Walker will be ten years old on the 13th and Maggie will be two years old on the 29th.  So, this year we had one big birthday party with family to celebrate two very special birthdays. Walker also had a friend birthday party on friday to make his tenth birthday even more special.

He about drove us crazy asking to open one of his presents early.  He won ! A D-S game he had been dreaming about from his Nin and Pappa. 

Walker is my social child. He loves to have friends over. He was in "Walker Heaven" on Friday when lots of his friends came over after school to hang out and play football in the back yard.

Happy Birthday Walker.   Your life shines with JOY and CONFIDENCE.  We are so proud of you and think you are wonderful ! It is exciting to be on the front row of your life, watching to see you grow in Godly wisdom and maturing right before our eyes.