Room For One More

Three Years Ago

2011-01-31T13:49:00.007-07:00

Arriving home for the first time!

(and, if you're counting, as of 7pm tonight, she's officially been HOME with her FAMILY longer than she lived in China without one)

The brothers and sister were anxiously waiting.

THEN:

NOW:

What a difference a family makes...
and what a difference she's made in our family!

I know, I know...it was three years ago. But, it was such a fun and exciting day around here, I couldn't NOT post a "then" and "now" picture.

Another Chapter in our lives begins...

2011-01-22T01:09:00.002-07:00

It's 1:09 am (Saturday morning), my family is sleeping and I'm very sleepy.
But, hard as I tried to snuggle with my man, I couldn't. I had to blog.
And tomorrow morning I will gladly suffer the exhausting consequences.

It's official...I'm headed to Africa for what I hope will be the first of many trips.
Here is a link to what's going to be happening in the very near future...

http://lovingtheorphans.blogspot.com/

2010 Fun and 2011 New Beginnings

2011-01-10T14:57:00.010-07:00

MJ looses her first tooth! Well, two actually. Apparently her teeth like like her too much and refuse to leave when a new one tries to take its place. So, her first two lost teeth were "lost" as a result of a nice dentist having to pull them for her. This Christmas she could actually say "all I want for Christmas is my two front teeth."

Update: MJ had another tooth refuse to cooperate and again, she had to have two teeth pulled.

And here would be our 2nd grader in her attractive, stylish new glasses.

Dad recently celebrated a birthday...

And though it certainly wasn't a white Christmas here, we have had enough snow to get out a play in it once in a while...

Jared and Kyle and friends playing football...

While some play football in the snow, Corey refuses. He'd rather watch.

But the girls are always good for a snow angel or two and Corey does know how to shovel...when he puts his back into it!

Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house, the kids were making cookies for Santa, the reindeer and elves.

And here is Jared practicing a recipe he learned in Home Economics.
Yummy, too!

Christmas morning (with electricity this year!)

So pretty in their Christmas dresses...

MJ gets a surprise visitor from the big guy at school.

2010-08-10T15:46:00.020-06:00

Here would be our summer in review...
It could also be called "What we did while mom WASN'T keeping the blog current".

Corey's former foster family (a.k.a one of our all-time-favorite families) treated us to a weekend of fun at their cabin at Bear Lake. Corey felt spoiled, of course, but what he doesn't know is that we all felt spoiled right along with him. However, as he said, we never would have known them if it weren't for him.

Serenity and Howie (two of the five foster brothers and sisters he had) kept Corey and the rest of the kids busy having fun.

They got to go boating for the first time and loved tubing!

This mom hadn't water skied since she was a teenager and still remembered how - on the first try! Dad, who had never been before, even made it up!

Jared tried...got up for a couple seconds, crashed, tried again, called it quits.
But, he did make it up! It took him only one try to get on his feet.

Meanwhile, the girls played in the sand. They had quite the castle/inlet/island going, too.

This would be Howie - who buried the boys alive. And, after being buried, one must wash up in the lake...right? In fact, Jared said he officially went "skinny dipping" trying to get all the sand out. (I told him I'd never tell his little secret - shhh)

Mom trying to warm up a couple of the boaters.

Fun in the water...especially when you dump someone off the raft!

A gorgeous sunset...and one adorable girl posing in front of it.

Here would be the kiddo's ready and waiting for the shuttle that would take us to the airport...at 4:00 a.m. They were excellent travelers.

While back home in the Q.C.'s, Kyle and I took a walk along the Mississippi River and tried to find the bench I sat on when he proposed. This might have been the one - or at least a new one that now sits where the old one was 16 years ago.

The cousins...Kyle's side of the family.

Visiting some lake in MO. Not sure where, exactly, but it was pretty cool!

Hotel swimming...or was it water-wrestling?

Kyle's brother has a jeep. Apparently one can own a vehicle like this when you only have TWO children. But he'll never know how cool a mini-van is!

This would be how one cools off in the mid-west. Kinda like an outdoor swamp cooler.

The Mississippi River...

The lake at grandma and grandpa's house...

Paddle Boating with the cousins...

John Deere is BIG in the Q.C.'s.
And so is cow-milking??? This is the ONLY cow MJ would ever touch!

Helping with yard work.
A quote from Jared: "It's not so bad when you get to drive."

The girl cousins put on shows for the whole family.

A couple of boy cousins were hiding from mom who was trying to get their picture. Look what I got! HA! And the twins below...would be Kyle with his younger brother.

How Chels and MJ spent their vacation...in style!

At the zoo...Jared and Corey met extended family members...see the resemblance?

A cute family photo...with long-neckers in the background.

Huge fish that loved attention...

A goat who DIDN'T get any attention from MJ.

Our little group waiting for the train...and this isn't even everyone!
Mom and dad got to share a train ride - no kids!

This could have a caption, but I think I'll let you write your own.
This would be taken at the zoo...how cool is this photo?

When the boys take a break from yard work, here would be what country people do for fun...

Amateur water skiing...the show was a first for the kids to see!

Some pics from the Precious Moment's Chapel.
It is BEAUTIFUL!

School has started for two of the three kids.
The oldest and youngest have a couple more weeks off.
That would be a little bit of our summer-time fun!

The Girls' Photoshoot

2010-05-27T21:14:00.007-06:00

The dance performance is a week away...and here they are in their costumes.

My new all time favorite photo of MJ

Ms. Chels made up her own poses
(and can "bust a move")

And how cute is this curtsy?

Like sister like sister

Sweet and Charming

Silly and Weird

That's all for now...

New Floors

2010-05-22T10:40:00.010-06:00

We decided to tear out the old carpet from the main level three weeks ago and replace it with laminate flooring. We even took out the linoleum flooring in the kitchen/dining area and the half-bath and garage entry areas.

After an exhaustive search of the local home centers and specialty flooring stores, we settled on Norwegian Wood.

The supplies.

The family room about half-way complete.

The family room, bathroom and garage entry completed.
Weekend #1 finished at 11:30 pm, Sunday.

Starting the kitchen and living room, weekend #2. I had to remove the refrigerator, stove and dishwasher to remove the subfloor underneath the linoleum flooring. Then re-install the appliances once the new floor was in place. This took all of Sunday. Plus, the whole kitchen and dining area required the planks to be glued to each other to prevent liquid from getting through the joints.

The finished product. (baseboards to be installed during a later weekend project)

Our next project will be to replace the carpet on the stairs going up to the bedrooms and the landing area with allergy friendly carpet. Basically, all of the berber carpet will be replaced.

B-Days, Baptism, Science & Saran Wrap...?

2010-03-25T20:41:00.010-06:00

In an attempt to play catch-up, here are some photos that highlight some of the recent happenings around here.

Mom left town for two days - just two days!
Look what happened...

Corey is having an "interesting" year in school this year. Unfortunately, 4th grade is NOT what it used to be at the kids' school (don't even get me started!). I was finally able to volunteer for something in his new class and wouldn't you know it - it was a party. Not really an educational experience, but at least I got in the door, right? After all we've been through we're hoping to choose his teacher next year and not let the lottery decide. Good thing he's our genius (his words, not mine).

Showing mom around the classroom...finally!

Jared and his "other brother of another mother" (aka his best friend) did the science fair together this year. They wanted to experiment with dry ice...and boy did they ever! Not sure what they learned, really, but they sure had fun with it. I know two dads who learned how NOT to store dry ice.

This would be what a "real" tea is like around here. Actual dishes are used from various tea party sets and a guest is invited. Of course, if that guest leaves early or without permission to take a nap, for example, look at his "punishment." Nice hair bow, dad!

Here would be MJ on her field trip (of course her big sister wanted to come!). She was chosen to be a "helper" when the instructors were teaching kids about creatures that live in the ocean. See how excited she is? Wait...I think it's fear...of a blue stuffed animal. HA! And, of course, Ms. Chels just fell in love with the sting rays. She couldn't get MJ to touch one, though. Why would she if she couldn't hold a stuffed creature?

Look who is 5!
She's not excited, now, is she?

And look who is now 7!
She has the same reaction to growing up as her little sister.

And her would be our big-little-man as he celebrates being a Tweenager. Here he is trying to prove that he is almost as tall as his mother...ALMOST. He wanted a Bronco's cake, and this is what we came up with. He chose the "opposing team". Very creative, eh?

Just before Chels's b-day she was baptized. We are very proud of her for making this decision. We still think that she will be a missionary or preacher someday. This girl has something amazingly beautiful inside her heart.

Finally, here would be two of my favorite "china dolls." They're sure growing up!

Happy 2 year Gotcha Day!

2010-01-21T15:05:00.004-07:00

It's been 2 years (and one day, depending if you're in the US or China)!

MJ, with help from the big sister around here, sang "happy gotcha day to me" all day yesterday. We talked a little about China and looked at some pictures from our trip. One thing MJ kept saying was "mommy and daddy come pick me up in China...Miranda wait for mommy and daddy in China." Oh, so cute. Still not sure what all she remembers, but she sure loves talking about us going to China to "pick me up."

Mom, I see you!

2010-01-05T14:57:00.005-07:00

After some healing time, MJ is happy to have her eyes and ears back.

Here is her sweet smile - and yes, her eyes are open. Both were very swollen, to say the least, and the left one was so swollen that it wouldn't even open. She laid on the couch watching a movie and when someone would lean close to her to see if she was sleeping or not, she'd yell in her whisper voice "move." By Thursday last week she woke up in the morning and said "Mommy, I see you. Miranda has two eyes". Then, on Friday as Ms. Chels and I unwrapped her head, she felt her ears and was very excited to tell us "I have two ears now". She wanted her earrings almost immediately.

We head back next week to have her JP drain removed. For now, she deals with it pinned to her shirt - something that she's used to and doesn't even complain about. This drain, however, goes in behind her ear and swirls up into the top of her head quite a ways. I'm thinking that might hurt a little when it comes out. As you can see, every scar she previously had has been cut out and re-stitched or glued. The thick scarring she had in front of her ear is gone and once the incisions heal, it looks like it will be much less pronounced - yea for her.

Last week...here would be MJ camping out - she wanted her sister to feed her crackers. Of course the big sister was more than happy to help. And her favorite game is Guess Who, and she would only get up to play this game - so we played! And yes, apparently she could see what she was doing.

Thanks for your prayers...

Surgery details...and Christmas Fun

2009-12-29T20:44:00.011-07:00

MJ had a cold two weeks prior to her surgery, but after many prayers and keeping her away from as many germs as possible (I think I cleaned twice a day around here; at least), she was given the green light for the 28th. We needed a 2009 date due to the out of pocket maximum thing...just made it, too!

So, in famous Miranda-style, she had her surgery Monday morning, slept for several hours, experienced severe nausea (gross!), and bounced back at 3:30 a.m. Tuesday morning. We watched TV in the wee hours, per her request, before going to bed again at 6:00 a.m. - just in time for the morning shift to start arriving and checking vitals and asking questions and bla bla bla. By late morning I could tell she was doing fine, so I asked to go home today and not wait for Wed. or Thu. They didn't have a medical reason to keep her since she was doing so well, so they called and got the D/C orders ready. Here's where it gets interesting...unfortunately:(

I got MJ and I all packed up, gave MJ her meds and laid her down for a little nap...then the phone rings. Kyle was calling to tell me he and Corey were heading up to get us (the other two kiddo's were at a friend's house). As he talked (and while sitting at a red light), I hear him and Corey start to yell. Of course I got chills up my spine and knew they'd been hit. Yep, car crash. It had been snowing all morning and the guy behind them was coming down a hill and just couldn't stop. I was a little panicked, told him to call me after he and Corey were settled down and sat there for a while. Kyle called back about five minutes later and said he and and Corey were okay. The back of our mini-van has a cracked bumper and dents in the tail gate - not too bad, though. The other car could drive to the bank across the street, but had significant damage to the front of his car. He too was okay.

Needless to say, we had D/C orders in hand and anxious to find a Plan B. Fortunately, we have a friend who works at the hospital and when I called her office to ask for help, she was very kind, left work early and drove MJ and I home. Here's where it gets interesting...again :(

As we get about 10 minutes from home, MJ sits forward and hurls. Gross! Without warning, whining or wipes handy, out "it" came. I'm thinking the motion sickness got to her - she's done this before on the way home after surgery, but usually she makes a noise or tells us she's gonna be sick and we get "ready." Not today. My friend pulled over, I used dirty laundry from my bags to pick up as much of the "stuff" as I could, and wiped us off with snow that was on the side of the car. By this time, I just about laugh out loud.

When we got home, finally, Kyle was already starting to feel sore. When he came out to greet us, he could hardly contain his "excitement" when he realized he had to get the laundry "ready" to be washed (yep, it was so bad that we couldn't put in directly into the washing machine). Poor guy.

So, here I sit tonight, thankful we are all home and doing okay. I'm also waiting for 10:30 p.m. to come around so I can give MJ her meds and then put her back to bed - and me with her! I'm thinking that Kyle will need some TLC tomorrow - and some more Ibuprofren. Corey seems to be fine and I think he'll like the "attention" when telling his friends he was in an accident. He did tell me at bed-time, however, that he did feel very scared at first and that it "totally freaked" him out. This says A LOT. He doesn't easily "freak" about anything! He also learned first hand why mom and dad ALWAYS make him stay buckled - even at a stop light when he's dropped something and wants to unbuckle to get it. I doubt he'll question our reasoning any more. And one more thing about our little man. He went sledding with his friends and big brother and ended up going off a jump and landing on his face while MJ was in surgery yesterday. When Kyle got home Monday night he said it didn't look too bad, but Tuesday morning, his lip was swollen and his scratches were more pronounced. Add that "look" to his story about being in an accident and he'll have plenty to report when he goes back to school - and probably some added sympathy.

So, on a lighter side...here are some pre-Christmas photos and, of course, Christmas morning photos. Enjoy! When MJ feels better we'll put some photos up of her "new face". We get to "unwrap" her on Friday.

Cookies for Santa...and tracking Santa's GPS.

Trying to catch Santa.

It's a tradition around here to sleep as close to the tree as mom and dad will allow - in hopes to catch the big guy! No hard evidence yet, though there is a very suspicious "tweenager" living here who we think just doesn't want to spoil the fun for his parents...

Just before Christmas MJ had a visit from Santa at school. She's never seen him before and thought it was very exciting. The first little boy who sat on Santa's lap said "Santa, you're always happy." He replied: "Yes I am. Do you know anyone else who is always happy?" The little boy smiled, looked at our sweet MJ and said "Yea, Miranda!" How cute is that? And he's so right! This would be her performing in her Christmas performance. The teachers broke the headband she's wearing in all the right places so she could wear it over her "bump." How sweet of them. Doesn't she look pretty in her sparkle-y clothes? Her new dress shoes are white with glitter/sparkles on them and she calls them her "sprinkle shoes." Her shirt also had glitter in it - I'm sure you can guess what she calls it.

Look at 'em dance!

MJ and Ms. Chels. had dance performances. MJ was very entertaining - facial expressions were her specialty, believe me! And Chelsea is just amazing. She's learned to count beats, shake her hips, shimmy, and just loves to perform. Anyone who comes over now gets asked "can I show you my Christmas dance?"

And boy oh boy, this girl can dance!

And I close tonight's post with random Christmas morning photos.

December Post Op

2009-12-28T20:09:00.005-07:00

Miranda had her surgery this morning and she did wonderful. Surgery took around 2-1/2 hours and the doctor said it was a major surgery for her. He removed several spots of the nevus that was left behind from previous surgeries, lowered her hairline on the left side and removed the large scar that ran across her forehead on down to her left ear.

As you can tell in the photo, there is too much dressing for us to see the majority of the work that was done. You can see a few of the stitches on the nose and near the eye where the doctor removed some residual nevus skin. In addition, he grafted a small piece of skin taken from behind her ear to place in the corner of her left eye where a small nevus dot remained.

She is expected to be in the hospital for two nights, maybe three. I'll try and get some more photos tomorrow or Wednesday and send another update.

Playtime

2009-11-21T17:38:00.008-07:00

We've had snow! However, as you can see here, some people would rather live in denial (nice shorts, sweetie).

And, a pre-Turkey Bowl...only four people got hurt that I know of and THREE of them were Jared and his two friends (who we often refer to as his "other brothers"). The "mature man" of the group played like a 20 year old and managed to walk away without any sore muscles, bruises or back injuries.

Mom's job was to take pictures, re-fill hot chocolate and be sure snacks were readily available. Burrrrr!

Played at the park for a while...

Climbed in some trees...

and let the girls take some photos just for fun...

Halloween and Stitches

2009-10-31T14:13:00.005-06:00

This year we have a Woopie Cushion (complete with a key-chain that makes sound effects), Ben 10 (a kid who's 10 years old with special powers to defeat aliens)...

...and not one but TWO Fancy Nancy's. We thought about dressing MJ up as a "copy cat" since she does everything her sister does, but she wouldn't be anything but "pretty like Chelsea is".

A Family Photo...

Carving pumpkins & "smiling" for the camera.
(At least the pumpkins knew how to hold still and smile)

Wednesday MJ had another expander put in her head. Her surgery time went from mid to late morning, then pushed to the afternoon, then pushed back again to early evening and finally scheduled for 8pm. It's a good thing she is the cooperative, compliant and patient child in the family. She only complained about being hungry and "really thirsty" one time all day long! She was given more chances to eat jello each time the phone rang to tell us there was a slight delay, but in the end, she (and mom) survived only on water, sprite and a few ounces of jello. BUT, the two weeks prior to this she must have known something was happening because she was eating as much (or more) than Jared! And that's saying something!

Before surgery: drinking some jello...again.

After surgery:
Trying to enjoy some strawberries
and opening a box from grandma.

The expander is in her scalp and you can see in the photo below where they went in. Though it's not very big yet, there is already about 20 cc's of saline in her "balloon". We can barely touch the side/top of her head (which feels squishy) because she says it still hurts. I got her in the tub to wash off her head yesterday and just pouring water from a cup on her head, hurt - poor girl. Other than a constant "ouchie" on her head, she is finally starting to act like herself today. Usually she bounces back in less than 24 hours. This time it took a little longer. But, the good news about it taking longer is that she gets to sleep in mom's room. The first night, she and I kicked dad to another bedroom (so at least one of us would be well rested). She's now "graduated" to her HSM blow up air mattress beside the bed for probably one more night. As of today she is finally off of her narcotics. She had been needing them every 4-6 hours. Praise God for only needing Motrin now!

Birthdays...and Fall Traditions

2009-10-23T14:37:00.003-06:00

Happy 10th Birthday, Mr. C!

And when one turns 10 around here, they get to light their own candles...look at that serious face! And as I posted these photos, Mr. C was watching and said "I didn't think I smiled that much - how did I do that?"

An annual tradition - the Crazy Corn Maze (now that kids are old enough to appreciate it). We went with friends of ours and let the kids "lead" the way. Notice how it's light outside in the first picture...and how we are still in the maze when it's dark? Like I said - the kid's led the way!

Our annual trip to the Pumpkin Patch...

The kids pick out their own pumpkins - as usual. And Corey, who really doesn't want to put forth a lot of effort to carve a gross pumpkin anyhow, chose the smallest one that would still afford him just enough space for a face. We think the girls wanted to show off their muscles - which is why they ended up with "larger than usual" pumpkins this year.

And look - a picture of mom and dad - together!

Here would be Miranda Joy and BaBa bonding - again. She's sure come a long way and now picks on her dad - a lot! She thinks she got the better of him but now that the photo is taken, looks like a tie to me!

Where in the World???

2009-09-27T16:34:00.007-06:00

Sunrise...Sunset...

An interesting side-view of one of the local billboards.

Who knew this still existed?

There are signs that say "don't feed the birds" on our hotel window.
I don't think this woman got the message.

And for the kiddo's - to show you that we're thinking of you
and missing you...

85 degrees...and almost October!

A funny little "tradition"...writing one' s name backwards in the sand.
Palm trees, palm trees everywhere...

Corey - this is totally for you...

Pics...just for fun

2009-09-25T16:39:00.003-06:00

I spaced putting MJ's first day of school pictures up - oops!
Here is our very happy girl on her way to Pre-K.

And, we finally got the girls in a dance class. Here are our ballerina's.

You may remember a very similar photo a couple posts ago where Chelsea (a.k.a Sharpay Evans) was sleeping with her sleeping mask on. Well, here would be Miranda having her turn. The girls trade off each night (and they don't even argue about it!).

Our new family "toy".

I love when things are on clearance. Our fire pit was 89% off after we used an additional coupon and a little gift card. Wow!

October 28 - Surgery (again)

2009-09-24T16:57:00.005-06:00

After a very nice and long break from doctor visits and stitches, we are about to do it again. Our sweetie will be getting an expander placed in her head next month. Yep, right on the top. It was special ordered just for her and will be 9 cm long and 3 cm wide. They'll insert the balloon, expand it 4-6 weeks, then use the skin on her head to drop her hair line down and move her right eye brow back over her right eye. They will also remove the residual nevus left on her forehead. As they do this, they will do a skin graft from behind her ear to place in the corner of her left eye (to get rid of the little freckle-like nevus that is left). So, looks like we have at least two more surgeries by the end of the year. If you recall, we were doing this same thing this month last year...and trying to get that last surgery in before the new year. Here we go again...

Day Trip to Camelot...and other interesting photos

2009-09-05T20:57:00.008-06:00

Somewhere past Park City (miles and miles and hours and hours according to Chelsea) is a little resort some of our church friends went camping at. We showed up for the one-day-event (after sleeping so comfortably in our nice, soft beds). Here would be some of the scenery.

Look who climbed a little mountain together! MJ was very proud of herself for making it to the top. Dad was exhausted; of course he had to carry her on his back. Way to go MJ - and Dad!

Down by the river...

Any MaMa Mia fans out there?

MJ and her mother happen to love the movie - and the music. We often dance together in the living room and/or have our own Karaoke performances in the van when it's just the two of us.

Here would be Miranda Joy's knees after tattooing them...just like Bill Anderson. Thankfully she didn't find the permanent markers...yet! And, thankfully she can't reach her little bottom (if you haven't seen the movie, this won't make any sense to you - sorry)!

The short version: Heard a noise in the back yard...forgot about it...looked out later and saw a sickly dog in the yard...bloody and unable to walk (gross!)...brought him to the garage...walked the neighborhood with a photo of him...Animal Control came a while later. The End.

Meanwhile, while we waited for someone to come and help this broken, quiet, very friendly beast, the kids fed him breakfast, sat in the garage with their own cereal bowls so he wouldn't be lonely, and then named him "Sandy". Kyle and I thought for sure we'd end up with him - afterall, they named him! Thankfully, he went with the officer, we followed up a few days later and we were told his owners came and got him. He was chipped! That was a close one...didn't want another dog. But it would figure that the kids here would be attracted to the sickest, most matted down, bleeding and broken thing on the planet. Afterall, that's how we got Lizzy!

Jared, our big 6th grader, is one of the co-captains for Safety Patrol at school. He didn't think his mother would actually drive over with a camera after he was already at school "working"...but she did! I think the smile on his face is one of "oh my gosh, she actually did it" - not "look at me, mom".

And look what I found...another photo of just Kyle and Me! This sure don't happen very often, so I thought I'd post it.

Back to School (sigh...)

2009-07-27T08:59:00.007-06:00

And they're off...

And since pre-K hasn't started yet, guess MJ and I will have plenty of bonding time for a while. This girl sure likes to play dress-up! If only I looked 1/2 this good at 8:30 am.

Summer Fun - Man, it's been a while!

2009-07-16T16:05:00.008-06:00

It's been a while since I blogged. Hope you enjoy the photos of what we've been up to lately. After this post is another post I made time for today, too.

This spring we had rain. And then more rain. This desert was sure surprised!

But even with all the rain, Miranda Joy still needed more water in her diet, apparently...

And so did Polly Pocket and her friends.
(is that Corey's tongue sticking out? Hum..wonder if Chelsea knows?)

And spring sports...Chelsea getting her game face on...

Jared ready to run one back for a touchdown...

And Corey running down the sidelines...
(Yes, this is a posed photo. Corey just couldn't get in on any plays on the side of the field where mom sat with her camera. Of course, when she didn't bring her camera he ran right in front of her! So, one day after a game he was happy to run right over so I could catch him in action. I believe he said "here mom, I'll even look serious for you". Didn't know he could be serious!)

Washer-repair day. Enough said.

Here would be Ms. Chelsea (playing the role of Sharpay Evan) as she sleeps with her HSM mask on. No kidding. The girl can sleep with this on and even "needs" it sometimes. Of course, the first night she tried it on for size she woke up around 1am crying out for mommy. When mom got there she had a scared look on her face and said she couldn't see anything and forgot where she was. Mom and dad tried really really hard not to giggle about this one the next morning as she recounted how scared she was.

And when city-folks want to camp without the hassle of actually camping, here is what they do: head to the backyard with flashlights, snacks, books and cell-phones (to call mom inside if they run out of something - duh!).

Summer Fun

2009-07-16T15:04:00.010-06:00

My sister and her husband came for a visit (drove from IL with two kids - man, they're brave; or nuts?!) Here would be more of why I haven't made time to blog for a while:

Getting ready for fireworks on the 4th of July.

One neighbor brought their new dog (which is the size of a small rat), another family brought over their talking parrot (which apparently is very nervous and needs psyche meds) and other neighbors brought their children. It's become a little tradition at our house to light fireworks in our driveway. And, of course, Jared went on his annual "bug hunt" looking for a bug to "light up". Boys - yuck! See Kyle's chair (it has been retired to the garage)? If anyone out there wants this chair, it's free! Call me and I'll put it in the driveway for you. Did I mention it's free?! Kyle and this chair have been friends since BEFORE I ever met him! Yikes!

Other things to do when the cousins come over: put the baby in a cave while the older kids climb the walls.

Or, ask your children to sit on a fake dragon and pretend it's eating them. (Shouldn't they look scared at least?)

Ahhh...here is the scared look on the girls' faces. But why are they scared? Maybe it's the smiling boys who were sitting across from them?

This will go in my "all time favorite photo" collection. Miranda and Daddy - bonding.

Other miscellaneous playtime activities at a local rec. center - of course the play area was for kids 12 and under.

And finally, our Lagoon Day...
Roller coasters, bumper cars, train rides, water rides - you name it, the kids did it! No fear in this crowd.

Bedtime, of course, had to include stories. So, dad helped out too.

And that's what's been going on around here during summer vacation. We only have 6 weeks because of year round school, so we're cramming as much as we can into them. Obviously!

Denver Broncos Season Tickets

2009-05-29T13:05:00.004-06:00

Year after year after year, I waited. And, as fate would have it, the email finally arrives...15 years later.

Yes, I now have the opportunity to purchase up to 4 season tickets to the Denver Broncos. I first signed up on the list back in 1994 hoping that some day I could purchase season tickets to the Broncos. Back then, I had assumed I would be living in Denver and not Utah where I currently find myself.

Now, 15 years later, I have until June 10 to decide if I want to purchase or go to the back of the line and wait another 15-20 years.

Now, I really like the Broncos. But who are they really, today.? They have a new coach, that in my opinion hasn't shown me a reason to buy said season tickets.

#1.) He ran Jay Cutler out of town to Chicago, the only Broncos player jersey that I've purchased (that was good for 5 months).

#2.) He hasn't addressed the Defensive problems while at the same time has made the offense look much worse.

Putting that aside, I still have a dilemma. Did you notice the respond by date? Yeah, June 10. Should I pass on this opportunity and wait until 2024 for another chance at season tickets OR could I get season tickets as an anniversary gift? Its the gift that keeps on giving, 10 times a season. Hmmm?

Well, at least the Broncos are the local broadcast game here in Utah for now. I guess I'll have to settle for watching them over the airwaves instead of in the stands.

For Mother's Day...City-girls on the farm?

2009-05-22T08:01:00.007-06:00

Here would be our annual "look into the sun, try to smile without squinting so mom can see her big-kids looking nice for Mother's Day" photo. Of course now that the boys are bigger they pick out their "dress clothes" which include clean tennis shoes (as opposed to the mucky ones they usually try to wear) and a button down shirt that is not tucked in. Not bad, eh?

This year the girls went to Wheeler Farm. Our church has an annual mom and daughter's day event and this year we tried to country-fi our city-self's for a few hours. You can put a city girl on the farm, but that doesn't mean she truly appreciates the smells, dirt and piles of who-knows-what you just stepped in! It was a fun day for all of us - really. Fed and pet some of the animals, milked a cow, went on a hay ride, learned a line-dance and showed the girls how people "used to go potty"...they said "oohhh gross!" That's my girls!

It's A Boy! (second post for the day)

2009-05-03T20:14:00.002-06:00

Kyle and I went out on a date this weekend (with Jared in tow) to "The Apostles of Comedy". They are a 4-man group of Christian comedians - yes, Christian comedians. They are hilarious and don't use any offensive language what-so-ever! We laughed for a good two hours (or more). If they come to your area, get a sitter for the younger kids and go! You'll laugh and you'll be blessed! They also promote World Vision's mission while on tour and we ended up leaving with an 11 year old boy whom we will be sponsoring.

Fernando lives in Mozambique (the south eastern part of Africa) with his parents, two brothers and one sister.

After 7 days of "God Stops" (a term we borrowed from Beth Moore), we knew he was to be part of our "spiritual family." Kyle is VERY relieved! He was thinking we may be headed to another country to adopt - again. YIKES! This is much, much, much easier! The paperwork only took 5 minutes! And, we didn't wait 2 years for a referral! If you'd like to add a child to your "spiritual family", consider going to World Vision's website (or just click HERE).

A very special Sunday

2009-05-03T20:04:00.004-06:00

Corey was baptized today! After taking the class for kids at our church, doing "homework" with minimal complaining and getting over his nervousness...he did it! Looks like he had a little fun, too! We're very proud of him.

When we got home we played outside for about 4 hours and then a Utah rain storm moved in (the storm where rain comes down fairly hard for about 5 minutes and then the sun comes back up and you wonder where the clouds went). This is what appeared immediately after the rain:

This is what Corey said: "Hey mom, I got baptized today and look; God sent me a rainbow".

Two years ago...this was Jared's big day.

Miscellaneous Happenings around here lately

2009-04-15T08:28:00.008-06:00

"Mama, Miranda get dressed, ok?"

This would be one of many, many outfits we've seen this past year, and the older MJ gets the more creative the outfit. Look closely and you'll see bobby socks with dress shoes, some sort of decorative skirt underneath a decorative skirt over a leotard. But wait...the sunglasses and pack-pack are essential "add-on s" apparently. Hum...wonder if she'll be a clothing designer when she grows up?

When I grow up I want to be a "Veterarian!"
(pronounced Vet-er-air-e-an)

We love the words Chelsea has come up with over the years. Our personal favorites would be "electrickity" (pronounced e-lek-trick-ity) for electricity and "pupcakes" for cupcakes.

Ahhh...Easter Fun!

We had some serious egg-coloring going on around here. Corey was far too busy playing to stop and do a "crafty" thing and Jared lasted about 4 eggs worth and he was done. Guess tweenagers just don't color eggs like they used too.

Easter Morning:

Miranda Joy sure enjoyed this Easter more than the last. She was all smiles going through her Easter "bucket". The kids and us parents have nice Easter Baskets around here - somewhere. I took them out before getting ready for the Easter Egg Hunts the kids had this year, placed them carefully on a shelf downstairs and after putting the kids to bed late Saturday night, they were gone! Good thing we had a "fall back" or we would have been in trouble hours before the Easter bunny was to arrive!

Our church has an Easter Egg hunt after the service each year and this year (and the last several years) we were "invited" to put things together for it. Here would be my two helpers who spent more than three hours stuffing between 750 and 800 plastic eggs with me. Jared and Miranda joined in after Corey, Chelsea and I got a good start, but Miss Chelsea helped me the entire three hours. Thanks, Chelsea!

When we bought our house 8 years ago, there were 6 kids on our street. Look what happens on one street in Utah (10 families live on our street). Not pictured would be three teenage boys and Jared who said they were "too old" to come play with us.

Look who now has earrings!

She's been asking for "pretty ears" like Chelsea. And since Chelsea was four when she got her ears pierced, we figured MJ could handle it, too. Here she is waiting for the pretty ears...

Here she is after the "shock" of what the pretty ears felt like.

Those of you who have been following our blog know that MJ hardly ever cries, but this is what her "I hated that, make it stop" face looked like. Unfortunately, we still had the other ear to do.

Don't worry, though, because by the time we left the mall she was happy again and from then on she has shown everyone her "pretty ears". This mother is hoping that now that her little girl has earrings, people will stop calling her "dude" and "sport" when we're out in public - wearing PINK!

MJ loves to "help" with everything. So, no matter what the task, she's all for it. On the left would be her making Rice Krispie treats...what kid wouldn't like that? On the right would be her helping mom with chores...and liking it! That's just wrong.

Not many pictures of Jared this last month; he's been busy growing up, I think. So, one night I asked him to help with dinner and I was completely impressed and amused! He was grossed out, couldn't believe that this is what raw chicken felt like and that he had to dip it in "goo" and then actually eat it for dinner. It was hilarious and the video camera also came out to play so we could get his commentary, which went something like this:

"Oh man, this is...yuck...oh...gross...it keeps sliding out of my hand...now my hand...ooohhhh...gross....and we're actually going to eat this...."

If you click on the photo you can see his disgusted face.
Thanks Jared! Dinner was yummy and I know how much it pains you that you agreed.

2nd post of the day - Important Info here!!!

2009-03-19T14:55:00.005-06:00

Please check out this new blog:

ifwehavefaithofamustardseed.blogspot.com

The Davis family (our travel buddies) are adopting again! And, God has told them where (not China like they thought, and not a girl, either). Their story of how they know their son is waiting for them is on the blog they started for Noelle, so click "Davis family" over on the right side and scroll down just a little bit to read "Big Announcement". Or, you can just click HERE.

If you like Lia Sophia jewelry, or know someone who does, here is your chance to buy something nice and bless my friend and her family!!! This friend is donating all of her commission to their adoption. You have to place an order before April 11th. The info on "how to order" can be found by clicking the above link. Be sure to order using the hostess's name: Tonya Davis

Will you consider placing an order to Bring Jonah home?

Kyle, if you're reading this, I'd like an early birthday present...maybe some Lia Sophia jewelry! Just think, your shopping will be done months ahead of time!

The ugly, red, angry stage (and other stuff, too)

2009-03-19T13:58:00.008-06:00

Here is the "ugly, red, angry stage":

No, we're not talking about our "all-smiles all-the-time" Miranda Joy, but rather her scars in "doctor lingo". We went in for her 3 month follow up and her doctor said the redness is very normal and to just keep putting vitamin E on it twice a day. Okay! We have noticed the redness slowly going away, but never knew that scarring had and unofficial title. So, the plan for her little face is to do nothing for another 6 months (YEA!), then see where she is. Then, they will remove the tiny dot of a nevus in the corner of her left eye, and a residual area just in her hairline. Then, with lazors, some of the scarring on her face can be minimized even further. And, her left eye will have a "lift" so it opens as much as her right eye does, and her right eye brow will be slid back over. Phew! I think that's everything???

Meanwhile...

This would be Miranda getting ready for bed recently. She was so proud of herself and commented on how pretty she looked. Wouldn't you agree? Who knew that Jazmin and Dora could make such a beautiful combination - to sleep in! And jelly sandals??? Who wears those anymore, much less sleeps in them?

Oh, and just so you know that we are trying to incorporate some Chinese culture into her every day life as much as possible, here she is using chopsticks! They are the most kid-friendly kind I've seen and now she thinks she should use them for any dish...even ham and crackers and macaroni.

We have a 6 year old!

The best part is when she tells us how old she is now and gives us a "high 5" and a "thumbs up" each time. And, of course, we tell her to smile beside her cake and she has to pose.

This would be what Chelsea brought home from school this week. She told us at the beginning of the year this little boy would kiss her hand, say "I love you" or both and she didn't like it. He's laid off some, and Chelsea has learned to say "I don't' like that, please stop saying that to me" (ahhh those words made her dad feel much better). She opened it and wanted to immediately rip it up and throw it away (after making a dreadful sigh) and I begged her to let me take a picture first. This little note now peacefully rests in the land-fill (garbage day was yesterday).

And for her birthday (and because MJ is tooooo big for the toddler bed), the girls got bunk beds. Miranda has fallen out once in less than a week! Don't worry, she didn't even know she fell out. I heard a thunk, went to check on the kids and found her in the middle of their room, rolling around on the floor with one finger in her mouth and the other hand twisting her hair into a knot...just like she was sleeping.

The boys love a good "girl party". Here they are cooperating with mom so she could get at least one picture of them celebrating Chelsea's birthday. Thanks boys!

Last month was Jared's birthday and look who has decided that he's old enough to play with fire...I mean light his own candles. Not sure what Corey is doing here, but he's smiling and it's the only one of him on my camera that does him justice.

Photo Shoot Photos (2nd post for the day)

2009-02-01T23:00:00.001-07:00

We had Miranda Joy's 4 year old photos taken last week and re-did some family ones. She looks so different...and notice whose lap she is sitting on in the bottom photo! You've come a long way, MJ!

Chelsea begged for one of just her and her sister. Who could say no to that?

We were in and out in under an hour! The kids all did amazingly well - and no complaining! Who gets family photos taken without someone in a sour mood or smiling "wierdly" when everyone else has the perfect smile? We've never had such luck...ever. Thanks, kiddo's! (PS) They got an ice cream treat on the way home for their exceptionally cooperative behavior. Who cared that it was 30 degrees?)

Happy Birthday MJ & Happy 1 year home!

2009-02-01T22:00:00.001-07:00

Look who turned 4!

She loved her presents - especially the singing HSM cards.

The girls attacked that poor ladybug. Of course, since most of the girls still 'swing like girls', the ladybug was only injured. It took an older girl (one who didn't swing like a girl) to help the candy find its way out.

Here is MJ dancing with her friends during "musical dress-up". Of course, we played HSM and had an in-prompt-too sing-a-long. She loves to put make-up on, and now she can help others look pretty with her new vanity. One of her friends even gave her a lucky envelope with $$ inside.

After the festivities, we set up the rather large stage in the living room and the girls had a little dance-off. Corey participated. Jared tried to watch the end of the Superbowl with his dad...of course Troy and Gabriella were a bit louder than the T.V. What a good sport the man of the house was yesterday; letting Miranda celebrate her birthday while the Superbowl was on. Thank You Sweetie!

The brothers had little to do with the party, but did a good job entertaining the older siblings...playing Wii, of course. So, since they aren't in any of our b-day pictures, here they are playing Jr. Jazz (well, at practice, anyhow).

Just for fun, here would be Miranda Joy's last years birthday photo. Of course she was sick, on her way to the doctor and just threw up. Yuck! Not to mention, she'd been home less than 24 hours with her new and crazy forever family! This year was much better for her!

Gotcha Day; One Year Later

2009-01-20T12:09:00.006-07:00

If you click on January 2008 archives and scroll to almost the bottom of the page, you'll see what we were doing a year ago today (keep in mind, in China it's the early morning hours of the 21st). I won't re-cap, but I scrolled through it last night and read through our little adventure! It's amazing to think of how far MJ has come - and I don't mean just geographically!

However, one year later, I guess the best part about today is that we are again reminded of the promise God kept to our family...and how His timing was oh, so perfect! We couldn't have asked for a better "gotcha day"!

Happy 8th Heavenly Birthday, Hailey! Your sisters are making extra chocolaty brownies tonight and putting heart shaped sprinkles on them. It was sprinkles only or we'd have to scrap the brownies the boys wanted and bake a huge cake to put the sentence Chelsea wanted to write on the brownies...it went something like: "Happy Birthday Hailey, I hope Jesus helps you have fun today and we miss you and we love you and we hope the other angels there are singing happy birthday to you too."

2008 Surgical Process in Review

2009-01-13T15:35:00.010-07:00

Miranda Joy's referral photo (this would be the one we couldn't stop looking at). She' came home January 31, 2008.

April 2008: Had tissue expanders put in - one in her forehead, one in her cheek. This is how much they expanded before her first removal surgery.

June 2008: After her first removal

This is how big her second round of expansions got (the expanders were left in; just deflated after the first removal surgery).

September 2008: Removal surgery #2 (both expanders were taken out at this time).

October 2008: Expanders went back in - one in her forehead (again) and one in her chest. The skin that comes from her chest will be grafted on her nose, above her eye and give her a new eyelid.

This would be how big her expanders grew in November - almost ready for her final removal surgery.

December 2008: Here she is the day she came home from the hospital. Scabs cover where the skin grafts were done, but new skin is growing underneath.

January 2009: Here she is today; almost exactly one year after we brought her home! Next week we celebrate her "gotcha day" and as you can see, she has a "new look" for the New Year.

Thanks to other adoptive families' blogs and Facebook, we have met new families and re-connected with several people from our past. For those of you who may be new to our blog and are curious about our trip to China, just scroll down and click on the January 2008 archives. We haven't had time to re-organize our blog - yet. Maybe this year - just maybe!

New Year cards

2009-01-12T14:09:00.002-07:00

Just a quick note to let those of you on our "Christmas card list" know that we didn't forget.
We wanted to include a family photo with MJ and her "new face" along with our letter and call it our "New Year Letter". We'll be working on that mailing this week!

A Very Merry (and White) Christmas

2008-12-29T10:21:00.012-07:00

The 6 of us together this Christmas! Below will be a little update on what we've been up to around here the last few days, but I think Jared said it best: "Mom, today is Monday, right? Last week I didn't know what day it was and it felt like vacation. I think we should go back on vacation."

Miranda Joy got to celebrate her first Christmas and though she doesn't understand why we celebrate, she was ready for anything! She even sang "Happy Birthday Jesus" with Chelsea over and over again. Here she is with her "new face"; we are still trying to get used to her "new look." More than 10x now I've look at her first photos with us and truly miss her mole. She's beautiful without it too, but she seems like a completely different little girl. Her stitches are almost dissolved, the scabs around her eye are now completely gone (this photo was a couple days ago before they all fell off) and she has pink skin everywhere! Notice the shirt, too, please. I had wanted one of these for Chelsea and never found one in her size, but got one for MJ!

The annual Christmas play...
Jared was the Mayor's assistant. Chelsea played the Sheriff and Corey opted NOT to participate. He reminded us that for the Easter play he was the ONLY kid in it (they added a special part just for him and he sang a solo about how "God specializes in taking small sizes and making them possibilities"; referring to the 5 loaves and 2 fish). We couldn't argue with that and let him "help" instead. Miranda Joy was an angel in the Nativity scene. Notice baby Jesus? He's real! Thankfully MJ didn't poke and prod him too much! She sure was a happy angel, though! When it was her turn to say her lines nobody really knew what she said but what came out was funny - and of course she was ALL smiles.

Dear Santa...

Christmas Morning:

Baby, it's cold in here! We woke up to no heat and no power. We think around 4:30 am the power went out and by the time the kids got us up around 7am, it was a warm and cozy 67 degrees. It was still too dark for "quality" photos to be taken so we made the kids wait until the sun came up so we could see what we were doing. It's hard to be patient when there are gifts waiting with your name on them!

Ahh...the coffee. We had a special brew waiting for us, but without power, there is no coffee-maker. However, being the Eagle Scout he is, my darling husband found some camping gear, turned on his "bunson burner" and got some water boiling. Then he manually added the water to the filter...Presto! Coffee!

Here is MJ's sweet smile Christmas morning...scabs almost completely gone!

MJ acted like a pro when opening her gifts. She, of course, had to put on her dress-up clothes for the rest of the morning (and the next day and the next day). She very diligently played "cards" with her HSM cards Santa brought. When any of us entered the room, she would very seriously look at us and say "Don't touch, k? Miranda's cards."

Chelsea loved her "baby alive" and has taken some serious responsibility when it comes to her care. Jared got his funny skateboard (how do people ride those things?) and Corey loves his Iron Man action figures (yep, still into super-hero's).

We actually got a "surprised" photo with one of the kids this year (no, this is not a re-created moment; it's an original). And MJ got her very own "big girl" back-pack. HSM, of course!

Some SERIOUS Wii playing going on around here! The boys made it easier on us this year; they said they would rather have one "big" thing (meaning $expensive$) instead of lots of "smaller" items. And I can't believe I'm about to write this, but it's kind of fun. I can actually play some of the games (the sports one is the best in my opinion). Not too many buttons, triggers, arrows, angles and views to confuse me! Just move your arms and play! Finally, and "easy" game for the "gaming-challenged". Chelsea and MJ like it too. They like to box their brothers and wouldn't you know, Chelsea knocked out Jared the first time she played! Jared says dad was distracting him. MJ giggles when she's at the helm and though she hasn't a clue to what she's doing, she thinks she's winning. Quite funny! Kyle and I have even put the kids in bed (late of course) and headed down there ourselves! It's even funnier to play when you're tired!

Oh! We also discovered that you can tell how much time the Wii has been played and what games have been played. So...nobody can "fudge" when mom says "is your time up for the day?" Nice feature!

We had snow Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and the day after. I don't know if it ever stopped? Might have slowed down for a couple hours before picking back up, though. The news reported our town had 16 inches + drifting. Boy, did we have drifting!

MJ loves the snow as long as her boots and mittens are snow-free. Walking in it is much easier this year for her! And going down the sledding hills she is all smiles and laughing.

Corey, on the other hand, had snow everywhere and I don't think he was too thrilled after a while. Jared doesn't believe in sleds anymore, and he and his snowboard are learning to do 360's.

All the other kids have "first Christmas photos" with mom and dad, and here would be Miranda Joy's. Santa brought the girls a doll-house this year (it only took us 2 1/2 hours to set it up)! The sweat shirt she put on when we woke up to chilly temperatures says "Hug Me". So we did!

Merry 1st Christmas Miranda Joy! You are just that...a true Joy!

Yes, We're Home! That was a close one!

2008-12-15T14:42:00.004-07:00

Here is the smile we've all come to know and love. She's home and eating her favorite noodles!

Well, after Kyle posted that we'd be able to bring MJ home a day early, things went downhill fast. So fast that he didn't even know what happened until late Sunday morning. Long story short, one of about three reasons could have caused her fever. In Dr. speak, something with 17 letters and a hyphen described the most "likely" educated guess (yes, the on-call doctors had to guess on this one). The nurse came in later to clarify and talk to me about it in terms I could understand. Basically, when someone is in bed for a long period of time after anesthesia, the outer portion of their lungs can stick together. The weird part, though, is that she wasn't in surgery that long and she certainly wasn't in bed lying down! Regardless, as we gave her meds. every four hours, her fever only continued to rise. It took about 18 hours before it finally broke and went down .02 degrees. Phew! That mama bear Kyle mentioned made its appearance a total of 3 times during our stay, the second time regarding the Tylenol #3. IT DOESN'T HELP A FEVER AT ALL! I'd asked them to change the order on Friday for regular Tylenol if she needed pain meds (in addition to her Motrin PRN) but Mr. "Schmuck" said "oh, she'll likely have some pain and we don't want her to be without pain meds if her eye begins to hurt." He doesn't know MJ! When her fever spiked, he got a call about alternating Motrin and Tylenol every 4 hours and he felt that the Tylenol with codeine would work better then regular Tylenol. So, we had to do Motrin, wait four hours and do Tylenol #3, then wait four hours for Motrin again. I begged, but no! Once eight hours since her last dose of Motrin passed and Motrin could be given again, she instantly felt cooler to the touch. An hour later she did cool off. A charge nurse heard about my issue and said she too has seen regular Tylenol work better for fevers. AAIG! When Dr. "Schmuck" came in to check on her the next day I told him I refused to have her on narcotics any longer. Period! He reluctantly changed her order to regular Tylenol and after that, her fever dropped dramatically! In fact, her temp at discharge was lower than it had been on admission and at any other time during her stay by .6 degrees. Poor girl was freezing! (haha)

Here are two photos of her last night when she felt all better again. We played Princess checkers the "MJ way" and she entertained the nurses like she did all week. Her eye will be bruised for several weeks and go through the stages bruises go through - the rainbow of colors. We love that she has a face with no facial hair, so rainbow bruising sounds fantastic! She has seen her "owies" and just looks at them with a thoughtful smile. I showed her a "before" picture of her with the mole we first met her with. Then I showed her this smile and told her that the mole was all gone. She pointed to the first picture and said "all gone". Not sure what she understands, but someday I think she will be glad it's all behind her! I know we will be!

PS) Way back when we were reviewing MJ's file and before we officially signed her LOI, a specialist we discussed her nevus with asked us if we were sure we wanted "this one". She said she would recommend that we "not take her" and "wait for a better one". A better one? You've got to be kidding! All of our blog followers know how perfect she is for our family (duh...God made her just for us!). And though her nevus surgeries have been a little time consuming, we hardly consider it a special need! Furthermore, she is "special needs" no longer! 10 months after bringing her home, Miranda Joy is mole free! God blessed her through this whole process and her doctor has been amazing! Hopefully his "schmucks" will learn a thing or two by observing him! Thank you to our friends here and all over the world for your prayers and comments. And thank you for sharing her story with other families - some of whom are now signing their own LOI's for a little one with a nevus! How wonderful it will be for us to follow their journeys now!

Day 5 and a high fever

2008-12-15T07:46:00.003-07:00

Well Sunday was another busy day around the home front. But it was Saturday night that was the cause for concern. After I left the hospital with the kids, Miranda spiked a fever up to 39.9 degrees Celsius (I think that is just shy of 104 F). They had to call the doctor 3 times during the night. Her heart rate also jumped to 180/minute. So, they had to keep her through Sunday. By morning, on Sunday, she was doing much better. However, when the Tylenol wore off, the temperature began to rise again. Towards the end of the day, she was holding the temp down.

So, on Day 6 (today, Monday), I await a call from Angie to know when I can bring them home.

Day 4 and no banana bandage

2008-12-13T15:49:00.002-07:00

Here is the first look. We just finished up play practice and 2 back-to-back basketball games. Miranda has been up a lot today since her bandage has come off. Dr. Siddiqi removed the bandage and the other doctor assisted. Her eye is still sewn shut but the stitches will dissolve on their own in a couple more days. The purple skin will slowly fade back to a normal color in a few days. The doctor said the new skin has taken well enough that he is not worried. The good news is, she gets to come home tomorrow instead of Monday. Yeah!

As for the rest of the family today, Chelsea was such a great coach. She went 1 and 1 today. Corey's team played much better this week. They may have still lost, but the team passed the ball better and they attempted more shots than last week. Jared's team pulled out their second win of the season. Jared also got his first 3-pointer of the season today. He went 1 for 3 from behind the line. Jared also perfected his behind-the-back dribbling technique blowing by the defender several times while playing point guard today.

We are headed up to seem mom and Miranda, so I'll have more photos and progress upon our return this evening. Miranda can't wait to see the brothers and sister.

Day 3 and the Utah Jazz

2008-12-12T21:18:00.010-07:00

Day 3 has had a lot of excitement. Miranda is up and moving around more and more and seems to have gotten her attitude back.

I got to visit again at lunch while Miranda was having her "usual", pizza. "Just put that on my tab please!"

While I was there, the Utah Jazz were paying a visit to Primary Children's Medical Center where Miranda is staying. Coach Jerry Sloan and center Mehmet Okur along with one of the Jazz Dancers stopped in to say hi and Merry Christmas. Miranda even got an autographed basketball. Her brothers are so jealous! After they left, Miranda put on her shoes and the basketball turned into a soccer ball for a few minutes.

The smaller pictures below were taken on Angie's cell phone and show Miranda in the playroom cooking. She also helped mama brush her teeth this morning and she is all smiles while talking to her brother Jared today.

The drainage tubes were supposed to be taken out at Noon today, so they came out on time around 5 pm, of course. The Doctor wasn't very gentle and he is scheduled to remove the bandage off of her eye tomorrow. Well, Angie decided that her surgeon, Dr. Siddiqi should be the one to remove it, so she put in a request to not let that first doctor return...ever!

Back on the home front, we have play practice in the morning, back-to-back basketball games at 1 pm and 2 pm (across town from each other), and then we will take a trip up to see Miranda. After our visit, a quick trip to the grocery store so that we will be able eat on Sunday! Good night everyone.

Chillin' in the Hospital - Day 2

2008-12-12T08:15:00.004-07:00

Miranda did very well during her second day in the hospital. She had two midnight snacks throughout her first night. She took a couple of naps during the day and I got to have lunch with Angie and her. In the morning she went down to the play room and brought some toys back to her room. Here she is showing me how to rock out to the music mixer and eating lunc.

She is doing pretty good watching her HSM movies, Alvin and the Chipmunks, Sky High and Enchanted. Mom reads, kisses owies, takes her potty, helps her eat and takes naps herself.

Miranda did get a sort of sponge bath yesterday. The stood her up in a pan of water as the washed her from the belly down. She thought it was fun to stomp in the water and make bubbles. Occasionally she will taunt Angie and show her attitudinal side like kicking the kleenex box off the bed and asking mama for a tissue...laughing loudly. She also gets on her kick of "I do it" when eating sometimes.

I will have more photos to post tonight after my lunchtime visit. The kids will get to go up and see her tomorrow night - after our play practice and basketball games.

Surgery update

2008-12-10T20:39:00.007-07:00

The surgery went well. Here are a couple of pictures before and after for those of you that want to jump right in and see the progress before reading about it.

Miranda went into the OR around Noon today and was out of surgery at 3:30 pm. Angie went back to the recovery room around 4 pm and I got to go back when she was assigned to her main room around 4:30 pm. Miranda is doing really good and is flipping through channels on the TV. I guess I taught her well. :)

The doctor got 99% of the mole removed. There is one spot in the corner of her eye that the doctor did not want to remove because the sutures would have been on the inside of her eye. He said that he will be able to take care of that spot on her follow up surgery in about 6 months. That surgery will be to clean up some scarring and make things look all pretty.

As you can see from the photos, there are no bandages on her head that we were used to seeing. The yellow "banana-looking" bandage is called a bolster and it covers the skin that is grafted around her eye and on her eyelid. It is sutured to her skin so it stays in place and holds the new skin down. Her eyelid is also sewn shut to prevent her from opening her eye and dislodging the skin graft.

Now, here is the shocking part...the doctor wants to keep her in the hospital until Monday. Uhhh, hold on there Doc, Monday? You forgot to mention that part.

He doesn't want the bolster getting hit or knocked around. It needs to stay in place and undisturbed so the skin will "take".

Well, Angie only packed for one night so I'll be bringing up a suitcase tomorrow. I'll post another update tomorrow afternoon after my lunchtime visit to the hospital.

Doctor running late

2008-12-10T11:39:00.001-07:00

Miranda was scheduled for 10:40 this morning, then a couple of minutes later Angie found out that the Doctor is running late and the little boy ahead of Miranda had not gone back yet. So, surgery is scheduled for 12:30 pm today.

More updates to come later.

Check-in 9:15am

2008-12-09T21:13:00.002-07:00

Finally got a call tonight for MJ's surgery time. We check in at 9:15, and are guessing she's on the schedule for 10:30 or 11:00 am. If it's not too late once Kyle gets home, collects the other three children and gets them ready for bed, he'll post an update! Thanks for your prayers!

Thanksgiving...and Holiday Beginnings

2008-12-03T12:59:00.004-07:00

What are the kids thankful for? You're looking at her! When we asked the older three kids what they were thankful for this season, all of them put "Miranda Joy" at the top of their list. How sweet is that? I'm pretty sure Santa was paying attention to those sweet comments, too! The parents here are thankful for the busy, silly, stressful, quiet and rambunctious times with all of them, but mostly that we are all together this holiday season!

We continue to be in awe of how well everyone has adjusted to having another sister; especially one who gets stared at, made fun of sometimes and takes their stuff out of their bedrooms. The older three are still protective of her, and are ready to "defend" her rather large "goose-egg" if needed. The most common phrase they use to tell people looking her way is "that's just a balloon by my sister's mole." (DUH? Shouldn't everyone know that?) We couldn't be more proud of how they have all dealt with Miranda Joy's expansions and surgeries this year.

Getting ready for Christmas...that was fun!
Jared, Corey and Chelsea are "pro's" at putting ornaments on the tree, and Miranda Joy was fascinated, to say the least. I couldn't get the ornaments out fast enough for her. She put ornament after ornament on and smiled so big each time she added one (of course, the one's she put on were all on the same branch). Good thing the "experts" were close by. They let their sister decorate in her own special way and when she turned around or left the room, they would separate the ornaments and put some a little higher.

Drum Roll Please...

Chelsea lost her first tooth. It had been fairly loose all of last week, but by Sunday night she wanted the tooth fairy to "bring me some money!" So, she worked until she pulled it out (and we had the video camera going, too! Shocking, I know!) Her brothers, one in particular, will wiggle a loose tooth but will NOT, under any circumstances, try to pull it out. Even if it's hanging there, dangling out of the mouth for a week and causes pain while eating! Yea...our boys aren't nearly as brave as their 5 year old sister! In fact, I'm pretty sure Miranda Joy deals with pain better then they do too. So, the saying around here is often "girls rule and boys drool".

Mole Removal: December 10th
This time next week Miranda Joy will be having the rest of her mole removed. We are, again, at the top of the cancellation list just in case Friday or Monday has a sudden opening (wouldn't that be great!). She is complaining of pain when she bumps her head or her chest and that is something she never does. It's time to have those balloons out for good!
So, now we pray for her to stay healthy!!! She can't get even a sniffle before then, or we are postponed until after the first of the year. So far, so healthy!

Almost ready for surgery

2008-11-18T11:36:00.005-07:00

It's about that time again...only this time should be the last major surgery! MJ has done very well "expanding" and we will try next week to get a few more cc's in the balloon in her forehead. Warning: if you don't like strange medical photos, don't click on the two below. I left them smaller for the "medically fragile" out there! As of today, MJ is on the schedule for December 10th! Yea, a 2008 date! Thank you Lord!

But before we go there, here is how I found MJ after a nap recently. Interesting sleeping position, eh? How she sleeps ON her forehead with that balloon is beyond me! Shouldn't that hurt? Or at least not be very comfortable?

Here we are mostly expanded. The balloon on her forehead should take care of the remainder of the nevus on the side of her forehead and maybe even some of what is above her left eye. The balloon in her chest (or as Miranda Joy calls it, her "boop") will be used as a full thickness skin graft around her nose and eye. This one will be very interesting! So far this mama has been very pleased and surprisingly not too worried when MJ has had her removal surgeries done. Now, I am prayerfully trying not to worry about the eye. God has been faithful and I trust her doctor completely. But it's her eye! So, if you're praying with us, let's get the prayers started for no complications with vision, eye-lid movement, etc. We also know that it will be impossible to remove the nevus on her brow without the nerves being affected. So, she should end up with that special talent of being able to lift one brow and not the other! Someday, when she realizes she is missing an eyebrow, we'll gladly get one tattooed on for her.

With her balloons filled this much, she sure loves the hugs and kisses she gets when the brothers and sister come home from school. They all feel so sorry for her, so she milks it for all it's worth! What a smart little girl!

It's Fall

2008-11-06T12:38:00.007-07:00

Here we are, cleaning out pumpkins. It's "yucky", but you know who doesn't mind? Our girls! The boys got grossed out and asked for help, but the girls, not matter how LONG it took, wanted to do it themselves. Couldn't believe how much fun MJ had - especially when hand washing and lotion is soooo important to her!

And the costumes this year...this is the only photo we got of her wearing her hat. HA!

MJ likes to dress up, so here is her curent favorite: Strawberry Shortcake (Chelsea wore this when she was 3yr). And Chelsea loves to be a girly-girl and is Rapunzel. She loved her hair!

Corey wanted desperately to be a Star Wars character. Who he is I don't really know. And Jared was the only Crash Test Dummy in his school. He was proud of that fact because two years running he's had a different costume from everyone else.

And since we don't really celebrate Halloween (what's to celebrate?) we went to the local shopping district and trick-or-treated at the stores with 2000 of our "closest friends." Here are is our small group.

Expander Update: Today we got her balloons filled. Only 15cc's in her head, but 45cc's in her chest! She didn't cry, didn't squirm too much, but certainly didn't like that one at all! Now it looks like she has a tumor in front of her shoulder - one that will double in size over the next few weeks. Her surgeon is still confident he'll get the rest of the nevus off during her next surgery, which we are PRAYING will be THIS YEAR!! Her "revision" won't be until 6-12 months after that, and we will probably forget to schedule it since she'll be "mole free" and "expander free" and look perfectly normal to us. We met the surgical student following our surgeon around for the next three months and he said "I remember her very well. I was in surgery with her last time and she came in happy and playing; it was amazing!" I hope he realizes that is NOT the norm!

Like the fake glasses? She is wearing them around the house more and more and today we had to wear them to the hospital. We got some stares, but who cares! We're used to it! Why does she like them? We don't know. But if someday she does need glasses, we think she'll look darling and oh so intelligent!

Another prefect surgery

2008-10-23T09:44:00.006-06:00

Here would be our "star patient." She is showing off her fashionable gown before putting it on and heading to the playroom. Once she got there she acted like she owned the place, moving toys from shelf to shelf, washing dishes in the kitchen and feeding the new baby she found there. I particularly like the baby's hospital gown! HA! The two of them shared a little snack before they called her back. Here is the amazing part: we walked hand in hand behind the surgeon and Child-Life specialist down the hall to the "check-point"(that line parents aren't allowed to cross). She held in her hand a little lap-top computer, carrying it like she was going to work. I told her I would go and get baba and be back soon. She looked at me, said "okay", hugged and kissed me and headed around the corner. She then stopped for a second to blow me a kiss and continued her journey without me. When I got to the parent waiting room the Child Life specialist came in and said "she hopped up on the bed, played with her laptop and looked at the mask like 'do I have to do this?' but then put it up to her face and fell asleep quickly." She also told us that her doctors were "very impressed." As usual, so are we. She is sure a tough little girl, but oh so sweet!

After surgery, her surgeon came to tell us that she did great as usual. He said she looks good and there would be only two bandaids over the incisions. Holy Cow...look at the size of these bandaids! Not what we were expecting, but kind of amusing. Didn't know they made them this big.

Today she is watching HSM 2 (go figure!). In fact, HSM 1 was on her TV in the recovery room and she was sooooo excited. As you can see, she has one expander (a rather large one) in her forehead and one near her collar bone. She is very gingerly lifting her left arm today and says it hurts. No crying, though, just a few moans when she moves it too much. All in all, another perfect surgery! Praise God for that! She continues to amaze us...and we continue to love this little girl, sometimes wondering what we would do without her. Her brothers and sister are taking very good care of her too! Chelsea left some special coloring pages for her, Corey volunteered the use of his new drum set (I'll post his b-day photos later...after he has his "party.") and Jared gave her kisses before school (she loves her Jared!). Off to put her in the bath-tub (her request).

Crazy Corn Maze & Pumpkins

2008-10-23T08:54:00.004-06:00

Our annual trip to the Pumpkin Patch...Miranda Joy's first one! Plenty of dirt, pumpkins and stuff to climb on...what kid wouldn't love that?

And this year we went to the Crazy Corn Maze for the first time. The kids and their freinds had fun getting "lost" and trying to read the "map." It got more interesting once the sun went down!

This would be the famous somersault. Miranda Joy insisted that I get my camera and "take pict, mama". Perhaps when she is older, she won't think this is so funny...but now it is!

Surgery - Oct. 22nd

2008-10-21T14:28:00.002-06:00

We just got a call that there was a cancellation for tomorrow...so Miranda Joy will have her expanders put in sometime tomorrow. Yea! Maybe we will have both surgeries in by the end of the year!

Shocking New Photos and Another Surgery Update

2008-10-16T14:05:00.007-06:00

This first photo isn't shocking. I just thought it was cute. MJ used to be so afraid of stuffed animals and now she is posing with them.

HERE'S THE SHOCKING PHOTOS:
Notice that I am not in these photos...and she' smiling with her BaBa. Kyle ran an errand for me and asked Miranda if she wanted to go with. She said "yes". We got her all ready to go, and I had to get a picture of this...just in case she changed her mind when she realized I wouldn't be going. I just love this picture!

We buckled her up and she waved good-bye to mom and blew me a kiss. Off she went with her dad! Yea for dad! And if that wasn't enough, two nights later she brought her blanket into our room and made a little bed for herself and let baba snuggle her. Good thing he was already laying down, or he would have fallen over!

Finally, a couple weeks ago the kids wanted to sleep in the basement (it's really not so scary with walls, paint, carpet, etc.). They invited dad. I gladly slept upstairs! Of course, when bedtime actually arrived, the crying started and Miranda "needed" mom to be there. So we compromised and she slept with me in my big bed. The "plan" had been for mom to get a "much-needed good-night's-sleep" and dad to tuck the kids in, get up with them and make breakfast while mom slept in). Well, at 2 :00 am, Miranda somehow rolled over the "barrier" of pillows on my big bed, wedged herself between the bed and the night stand and landed above the pillow "cushion" I had made for her just in case she rolled off. So much for those "plans!" She wasn't hurt and didn't cry too hard, but there was no way I was sleeping with her beside me anymore! Not without dad there! Once she finally fell back to sleep, I put her in her bed. She slept fine after that, but was the first one up that morning...and came to let me know it. So much for that "good" night's sleep.

Surgery Update:
I know I wrote recently that she was done with surgery for the year, but plans changed (actually, we realized that our "out of pocket maximum" was already reached for this year). We asked her Dr. about doing at least one more surgery this year (before our out of pocket MAX starts over January 1st) and he said "okay". She was measured for expanders this week and is on the schedule for October 29th. We're first in line for a cancellation, though. He will be putting one in her neck, near her collarbone and one in her forehead again. Once he saw how well she healed he wanted to try and do the forehead again because "sliding" the new skin over has less scarring than a full-thickness skin graft. The mole around her eye and nose will be removed and new skin from her neck will be grafted there. Her eyelid will come from a single, tiny layer of skin from her hip. If all goes well with the expanders (and why wouldn't it? she's done perfect every other time, right?), she just might squeek her removal surgery in under the 2008 "deadline" too! We're praying for that! (or maybe it's begging?)

Proud Members of Two "Clubs"

2008-10-10T15:21:00.011-06:00

Since having children, rarely do we have photos of Kyle and I together. Found one! And, since this post isn't related to anything photo related, really, here are two misc. pictures... just because. (The extra blonde between Jared and Corey is not ours...well not legally anyway. He and Jared are "brothers from another mother.")

October is National and Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month. How many people actually know this? We didn't know such a thing existed until 2001 when we became "members". Not a club I'd go searching for, let me tell you! However, it's a group I'm very proud to be a part of. I've met the most wonderful families who didn't go looking for this "club" either, but found themselves there anyway. To all my SHARE friends out there, you are some of my biggest inspirations! To learn more about SHARE (at least the local one here), you can go to: http://www.shareparentsofutah.org

Then there is the Nevus Outreach. What's a nevus? That's what we wanted to know when we got Miranda Joy's referral. Now that she's our daughter, we get to be called "nevus parents". How cool is that! Again, I don't think people ever wish to be part of this club, but when it affects someone you love, you find out it's filled with families who are "experts" at supporting one another! To see what this nevus thing is all about, you can go to: http://www.nevus.org
If you look at the photos of people on the banner at the top and click on them long enough, Miranda Joy's face will pop up and smile at ya!

I think everyone has a "club" or two they are part of, whether they willingly signed up for it or not. It's been my experience that the one's I found out of absolute need, rather than the ones I signed up for just for fun, have been the biggest blessings! How 'bout you?

Surgical Process & Off Track Adventures

2008-10-03T15:28:00.006-06:00

I have requests for "before and after" photos. Here they are - without having to scroll down and look in the archives to see how much Miranda Joy's mole has changed!

photo 1 - before expanders

photo 2 - fully expanded (round 1)
photo 3 - after first removal
photo 4 - fully expanded (round 2)
photo 5 - after second removal

Meanwhile...

Off Track Adventures...what we do when school is taking a break for three weeks. Chelsea gets into her creative mood, painting and coloring and hanging up "I love you" signs all over the house. Corey experiments with food; here he has a "Lunchable" pizza and dessert all at once - yuck! And Jared and his friends stay up way too late! Here he is "waiting" for his friend to pick him up so they can go golfing today (he had a sleep over last night, can you tell?).

All Better Now

2008-10-01T12:57:00.004-06:00

Well, after my last post, Miranda Joy sure had a turn around! In fact, had I blogged only 2 hours later, it would have said the following...
So, we put her in the tub Saturday evening and she went "swimming" with the bubbles. She started giggling and splashing and just having her own little party in there. We got her out, put the PJ's on and she immediately went to jump on our bed. It was funny. At bedtime, she ran around from room to room telling the kiddo's good night and climbing on their beds, kissing them and just laughing. Holy Cow! Couldn't believe it was the same girl! And, as for her drainage tube being removed this week...well, that came out Saturday night too; all by itself. So, it was hand delivered to her doctor in a baggie. HA! Her doctor is still amazed at how well she does, how happy she is and how well her little face is healing. So, ready for the real surprise?

After the holiday's (which will give her three months of healing again), he's thinking of putting two expanders in near her collarbone (one on the right, one on the left). Then, after they expand, he feels he'll have enough skin to graft and remove ALL of the remaining mole! All of it! Her eyelid will come from a single layer of skin from her hip while they are removing everything else. Didn't see that one coming! He did say her eye would have to be sewn shut for a little while afterward, but he would really like to get everything taken care of at one time! He was pleased with how much he could take off even though her skin didn't stretch as much as we'd hoped. We are still in shock that she just might be ALL done before summertime! How nice would that be?!?! He did mention that after such drastic plastic surgeries, people often have revisions done to "nip" or "tuck" this or that, and after all was healing he would probably want to do one revision for her to make things perfect. So, if his prediction is right, three more surgeries! One to put the balloons in, one to remove the mole and one to make her perfect features more perfect.

That's the surgery update! Future posts will probably have the 4 kids doing "stuff" because the three older ones are off track for three weeks. Gotta go play "Apples to Apples"!

My very own cheek and almost a forehead!

2008-09-27T13:40:00.005-06:00

What do you do and what do you eat after being so brave (and still dealing with pain)? Anything you want! So, pizza it is. And HS Musical 1 and HS Musical 2 and Enchanted. Yep, today is a movie day...that's about it.

Well, here is what's left of her cute little mole. They didn't put the expander in her neck because the doctor felt there was already enough trauma to her face and eye (which is almost swollen shut at the moment). She is doing very well, but she definitely has more pain than last time (remember, last time she was dancing on her HS Musical 2 dance mat 24 hours later). In fact, she noticed I left the couch and is calling for me at the moment. Guess I better go sit and hold her feet like I've been doing since yesterday. She is even more snugly than usual... but I'll take it! We go back Tuesday and she should have her drain taken out then.

Oh, the expanders are gone too! Once the swelling in her cheek goes down, she'll have a normal shaped forehead and cheek again. Then, mama and baba can kiss the squishy cheeks and not the expanders.

Speaking of expanders...wanna see what was in her cheek and forehead? Here they are. I asked to see them and they bagged them for me. Gross, maybe, but I was curious. I also know there are a couple other families about to have expanders put in their children and asked what they look like. Now you know (and so do I)! This is how full they were and had her skin stretched more, they'd be twice the size!

I put a teaspoon in one photo so you have an idea how big they are.

Surgery Update - She's coming home!

2008-09-26T13:10:00.009-06:00

Miranda Joy's surgery went very well yesterday. It was a little late in getting started, but once she went back, it took about 3 hours before we could see her. She appeared to be in a bit more pain than the surgery in June. I talked to Angie this morning and Miranda had her breakfast and kept it down. That is a good sign. She has been moved off of the morphine drip and onto the pain meds she can take at home. She has her discharge notes as of Noon today. She should be going home this afternoon. Such a blessing. We are praising God for His healing hand He has placed on Miranda.

Here are two photos of before and after.

The doctor's were able to remove quite a bit of her mole. As you can see from this photo, all of the mole has been removed from cheek up to her left eye. We are also told that the majority of her forehead is now beautiful new skin. There is a small strip that extends from her eyebrow out to her hairline. In this post-op photo her is a bit swollen, but much less than the doctors anticipated.

For the next surgery they will place a skin expander in her neck near her collar bone to use as skin grafts for the remaining portion of her mole.

We'll post again later today once we get her home. Thanks to everyone for your prayers and to our wonderful friends that have called, checked in, and taken care of our other children. You are a blessing to us.

Our Adoption Story in the TPE

2008-09-21T19:35:00.009-06:00

I never tire of reading adoption stories and I know other people's stories inspired us years ago. Here is our story, as told by a reporter from the TPE (The Pentecostal Evangel). The kids think it's "cool". Kyle and I just feel humbled and amazed that God would choose our family to be part of His story. Here is the LINK to read how God took our tears and used them to grow our family!

(note: if it doesn't open, right click on "link" and save to your desktop; then open it)

PS) Our Pastor and his wife were kind enough to order extras, so if you want an actual copy of this issue, e-mail us and we'll send you one (or two, or three...).

What's she doing now?

Now, this is an interesting photo, isn't it? After dinner one night this week, Kyle handed Miranda Joy a cookie from the cookie jar. She took a couple bites of it and decided she didn't like it. She made her "yucky" face, shook her hand from right to left (which means "no!") and promptly tossed the half eaten cookie in mom's drink. And to think that all these years we've taught our other kids to put things they didn't like on their plate. As Corey would say (again)..."must be the Chinese way!"

Missing: Remote Control
M.J. loves to take things, put them in bags, backpacks, toy boxes, cereal boxes, shoes...and on and on. Our remote control (the only one that works the TV/DVD/Video combo) is missing! We don't know for a fact it was her that removed it from the vicinity, but she is the one who is known for putting car keys in the Lucky Charms! It's been a month now, and the kids (and the parents here) are offering a hefty finders fee!

Surgery Scheduled (REVISED)

2008-09-16T19:34:00.011-06:00

We got an earlier date...the rest of this post is the same!

Can't blog without a photo, right? So, here are MJ's toes. She FINALLY sat still so we could paint them something besides clear sparkles! Now, she goes around telling everyone "pitty o's" (close enough!).

Went to the Dr. today and no new stretching :( He has her scheduled for Sept. 25th for the next removal Without the skin growing anymore, he doesn't think he'll get the whole mole on her forehead removed, and that a strip in about a 45* angle will be left. She should have a great looking cheek though! From then on, it's skin grafts. Unfortunately, more scarring on her head than originally planned. Guess you just can't "will" the skin to grow, dang it. The balloons will also come out of her face (yea! we can hug again normally). Her doctor will put an expander in her neck while she's out, thus saving a surgery later; we're all for that! So, looks like her nose and eyelid and the surrounding area will be grafted with skin from her neck. That should be interesting...

And, here is Lizzy, our shih-tzu. This would be the ferocious beast Miranda Joy was scared of back in February...

And now, she takes her for a walk any chance we give her!

Balloons, X-Box and Plastic Bags

2008-09-10T14:02:00.003-06:00

Miranda Joy saw the doctor Tuesday and her balloons have NOT stretched her skin any more since the last expansion a week ago. Therefore, no "ouchie" (a.k.a. expansion) today. Bad news, no additional growth this week. This is the very first time her skin didn't stretch! Oh well. If this is the only problem we have, bring it on! He said to bring her in Tuesday the 16th and we'll see if her skin stretches any more between now and then. If not, her doctor will call it good and schedule surgery to remove more of her mole. We are hoping for a little more stretching - more skin to use - but we'll take what we can get!

Her she is with Ba Ba. Yep, she is getting more and more used to him. He teases her, tickles her, spins and tosses her up in the air (don't worry, she asks for it and them more!). No wonder she won't let him cuddle her very much. He's the "playtime" parent!

And this is Chelsea learning to play Ratatouille on the X-box. Look at all the "helpers" she has! The boys have solid "trigger fingers" and are teaching her how 'A' makes you go, 'B' makes you jump, 'X' whips your tail around and 'Y'; what did 'Y' do again??? I am proud to say that I still know nothing about how that thing works. I could handle the up, down and side to side games, but with all the view changes, triggers, buttons, arrows...man that confuses me! Oh well, good thing reading is still like it used to be...words on a page...story in my head...ahhhh...so relaxing.

Baggies you ask? Why bags on a blog?

Well, since we first introduced M.J. to grocery shopping, her job has been to come home and put the plastic bags all in one. Notice how full the bag is? She puts in one bag at a time, pushes it all the way to the bottom before adding the next one. It's exhausting watching her as she spends quite a bit of time making sure things are in there "properly"! HOWEVER, the truly interesting "work" can be seen in the second photo. Notice the intricate handle work? Well, after she finally gets all the bags into one, she twists the handles..and twists the handles and twists some more! Then, she puts the nicely twisted, very full bag of bags in the pantry. Now, let' say that later today I need to use one of these bags...I have to un-twist the whole thing cuz she has it twisted so tightly that not even one bag will easily pull out of the top!

As Corey would say, "that must be the "Chinese way!"
(who knew?)

Ouch! And Good Night

2008-09-04T10:57:00.006-06:00

Miranda Joy started the expansions again. She played in a brief, but powerful, rainstorm and here she is a little wet. This is also the 'round-1' expansion.

A week later, here is her poor face and where the "Ouch!" comes in. For the first time ever, she cried on the way home - after trying to eat one small fruit snack. She put it in her mouth, barely chewed it and the tears started. She held her little cheek (which isn't little anymore) and said "mama, ouchie" all the way home (which was a 35 minute drive). She didn't eat the rest of the day, either. Poor girl.

After one day of misery, though, she was pretty much back to her usual happy (and hungry) self. She really likes to avoid bed-time lately and thinks that if she tucks herself in with a sibling, that counts as going to bed. Yea right!

Surgery Update

2008-08-29T16:29:00.002-06:00

It's been a while since anything surgical happened and it's been a nice break for her and for us. Her scars are healing very nicely and she had no problems! Tuesday we started expansions again and her doctor says that in about 6 weeks she'll be ready for her second removal/grafting procedure. It still amazes me that she's been home for 7 months! Here is our sweetie with one round of expansions in her forehead and cheek (so far). She goes in once a week, just like last time, until her balloons are filled and enough skin is ready to be used. I still wish I could give her some of my unwanted skin...wouldn't we all donate that!

And she is getting used to saying goodbye to all her siblings each morning - though she constantly tries to unbuckle and go to K with Chelsea. Good thing Chelsea is only gone a couple of hours - she'd go really crazy without her all day!

Fun Photos

2008-08-07T11:39:00.008-06:00

The girls like to dress up and tell their parents to "take a picture." So we did. See the picture of Miranda with goggles? She wore those for quite a while and ended up with indentations on her forehead. That was interesting.

And here Miranda Joy is "helping" with dinner. I asked her if she wanted to help me make dinner, she said yes..then got her little chair and sat right in the middle of the kitchen...some help, eh?

Now that K has officially started, Chelsea has homework. Here she is at school and at home doing her worksheets.

Before school the K's have their own playground. Notice who the monkey is on the tallest climbing area? Yep! Someone might think she has two older brothers teaching her how to be so daring.

Here we are at Lagoon. It's the smaller "Utah version" of Six-Flags. As usual, the kiddo's loved it! It was hot, so cooling off once in a while felt good.

Miranda Joy wasn't afraid of anything. She wanted to go on a couple of the bigger rides with Chelsea and Corey, but she is about 5" too short. At the rate she's growing, though, next year she'll be 46" or taller and able to ride with them on the bigger rides. Fortunately, both Corey and Chelsea are still short enough to ride on the smaller ones, too.

And we're off...Again...Back to School

2008-07-28T09:21:00.003-06:00

And, today, we headed back to school. The boys seemed excited about it. Chelsea met her teacher this morning and has testing one day this week. She doesn't officially start until next week. She was a little bummed...so she came home and began working on her "homework" her teacher gave her in her Kindergarten packet.

As we prepared for school, we took a family bike-ride to the park. Chelsea is riding a 2-wheeler now and Miranda Joy now has the "baby seat." Of course, in 8 more pounds, that will have to change. She is also just about too tall for that thing. She sure loved her first bike ride, though!

Cherry Hill - and the Big Storm

2008-07-23T08:10:00.009-06:00

Finally made it to Cherry Hill this year for some water fun. Chelsea loved the lazy river - and pushing our tubes along. She probably went around at least 80 times. Corey "tube hopped" in the river and made several new friends along the way (adults and teenagers commented on how funny he was, how they had a "history" with him; meaning he was teasing them while in the lazy river, having splash fights and tipping their tubes). Jared and his friend hung out together most of the day and checked in with mom and dad periodically, but otherwise did their own thing. Miranda Joy loved the water slides, swimming in the pools, being splashed and walking around in the lazy river (yep, she was tall enough to walk it!). Here are a few photos from our trip.

a silly tradition - pictures in cherry trees...

This is Eric; Jared's "other brother from another mother"

The next day we had quite the storm! Some houses in our neighborhood were flooded, unfortunately, and one reportedly had 6 feet of water! The rain hit hard in 15 or 20 minutes, and the hail hitting the house was so loud and big! It was nap time here and we thought surely our three little ones would wake up, but they slept through it. We also thought we might lose a window with the size of the hail and how hard the wind was blowing it. The retaining field across the street flooded over the bank and into the street - yuck. There were trampolines flying out of backyards and into the streets, backyard kid pools flying through the air, garbage cans rolling down the streets, etc. A man on his bicycle was found hovering beside our house when we opened the blinds for a better look. He said the hail was pelting him and he was quickly on his way once the hail let up for a couple of minutes. Ouch!Once the hail stopped Jared wanted to go see the flood across the street. I don't know if this picture is detailed enough, but the pond there is overflowing into the street.
And what 10 year old boy wouldn't want to play basketball in the rain?

Annual Bee's Game

2008-07-11T17:25:00.006-06:00

Our annual Bee's game...

and Chelsea has a "crush." Yes, after the game I asked her if she had a new boyfriend, and she smiled and said "I love the Bee." Here she is dancing with him (Miranda Joy got just close enough to watch, and just far enough away so he couldn't get her). The second picture is her huge grin after the dance.

Kyle and I think we saw about 2 or 3 innings tonight. Between drink runs, potty-breaks, riding the train, playing at the playground and more potty-breaks, and another snack...
Who goes to baseball games to watch baseball anyway? Who with kids, that is?

Jared still says he wants to play professional basketball, but when he's watching a baseball game, that familiar look comes back. Hum...could he do both? Meanwhile, the girls smiled for daddy, while Corey was busy doing who-knows-what with his cup. For a little man, he can sure put away a LARGE drink in record time!

Kyle's boss secures tickets each year for this event. Since the Marketing Department has only 3 people in it, everyone and their families are invited...of course, we're the only one with small kids. Notice Miranda Joy borrowing peoples' hats? She thought it was hilarious to take a hat, put it on someone else's head and on and on and on. And see Corey there in the middle? He hung out with the boss all night and said "don't worry, I was appropriate; I was just being entertaining!" Good thing this man has grand-kids.

4th of July

2008-07-05T09:57:00.009-06:00

Red White and Blue...China shirts. Can't talk everyone into wearing them all at once unless it's a "special" occasion. Here the girls are posing with their hair-do's; yes, Miranda Joy has almost enough hair to keep a bow in it - just barely. And the kids took a break from running around just long enough to get a picture all together. Of course, I had to beg for this one!

After helping Chelsea count "wake-ups until 4th of July fireworks" all week long, we finally celebrated. Corey is helping us get a ball out of the gutter, Jared is killing bugs in the dirt with his sparkler, and Chelsea and Miranda Joy are just having fun watching the sparks.

Some neighbors got together and we all lit our fireworks together. Made for a "bigger" show. One friend made patriotic hair bows for the girls on the street and here they are...all wearing them! How cute is that?

By the way...we're potty trained! Almost 2 weeks now - and NO accidents! Way to go Miranda Joy! (With all the money we'll save in pull-ups, maybe now we can afford gas prices.)

Summer Fun

2008-06-30T08:17:00.011-06:00

Summer is here! We're not sure where spring went, or if it even happened. All of a sudden we go from 60 to 90 degrees. Here the boys are headed out the door for their last day of school. We aren't counting tomorrow (which is really the last day) because it's a 1/2 day and they'll be home before lunch. Hard to believe we will have three in school next year! 5th grade, 3rd grade and a Kindergartner.

Chelsea still loves to dress up. She is counting down the days until K starts and wants homework. Her brother's think she's nuts. Her dad and I just think she's smart.
The Welcome Home banner was on our house the night we came home from China (which was 5 months ago). It was dark, cold and we were delayed, so we never got a good picture of Miranda with her sign until now. It was professionally painted by our friend's friend. Now, how do we keep this...and where???

The girls painting on the patio...

Father's Day pictures...

We took dad golfing for father's day. Not "real golf", as Jared put it, but it was still fun. Miranda Joy didn't care too much for the golfing part; she preferred to explore the course.

Here we are swimming at the rec. center. The kid's area is really nice. The older three are becoming quite good swimmers and Jared even did a flip off the diving board. We didn't even know he could do that! Miranda Joy was shivering, had teeth chattering, but would not get out of the water to warm up...kept saying "swim, swim".

Another special gift from across the US

2008-06-13T12:54:00.007-06:00

Fed-X came with a special gift from a special family today. It's a Build-A-Bear wearing a hospital robe; and accessorized with some "bear aspirin", a thermometer, a water bottle on the head and bunny slippers. How cute is that! Thank you Amanda's family! You are so sweet to remember her!

Who is this family?

The Keller's, who live on the other side of the country, met Miranda Joy two summers ago when they took their daughter on a heritage trip back to China to see where she used to live too (their daughter is now 12 years old or so). They sent us a home movie on DVD last summer when they found out we were waiting to be Miranda Joy's forever family. This mom said that her family had a soft spot for Miranda and asked the orphanage director if she would ever be adopted due to the large mole on her face. They were told "not likely..." by the orphanage director (some of you may remember this story from this time last summer).

Well, we all know how her story is turning out! Lucky us!

And here are a couple more pictures of this "bounce back" girl. Tuesday night (the night she came home from the hospital) she was chatting away on the phone to whoever would call her...Wednesday morning we took off her bandages and she wanted to paint after she wore out the dance mat.

We had one drainage tube taken out Thursday, but the one behind her ear is still draining and we will go back on Tuesday to have that one removed (hopefully it will be done draining). She doesn't seem to mind the "attachment" and we have it pinned to the back of her shirt. When she bends over and it flops to the front, she acts like a girl with long hair and just throws it behind her shoulder.

She has a forehead!

2008-06-11T10:00:00.003-06:00

We took the wraps off this morning and this is what we found. She has a forehead! (The photo is small, so those of you with weak stomach's might not want to click on it.) The drainage tubes will come out tomorrow morning. She's still pretty swollen, but we're very pleased with how things turned out so far. They left the expander in her forehead and put a smaller one in her cheek this time. Expansions won't start again until her stitches are fully healed. Then, we'll do this all over again until the nevus is completely gone.

Last night around 7pm (which is 24 hours after surgery was completed) she got out the High School Musical Dance Mat and started to dance on it (slowly and timidly, but dancing none-the-less). She's on pain meds and an antibiotic every 6 hours. She is eating her regular foods - just smaller portions, and even went potty on the big girl potty last night. She is one amazing little girl. She and Chelsea are playing quietly together today; sharing snacks on the couch, watching The Chipmunks and dressing up Polly Pockets.

Thank you for praying for her. We were all surprised that she didn't need the morphine - which is why we came home a day early! God is Awesome! So are our friends!

Coming Home! Yeah!

2008-06-10T10:53:00.002-06:00

Just a quick update. Miranda Joy gets to come home this afternoon. She is managing her pain well and is awake and had breakfast. Chelsea and I are heading up to the hospital around lunch time to pick them up.

We will get another update posted after we get back home this evening.

Post-op, Finally!

2008-06-09T21:33:00.005-06:00

That's one good-lookin' cheek!

Miranda Joy came through her surgery just fine. It took a little longer than the doctor had expected, but there were no complications. She is doing much better now that she is in her own room. She did vomit a couple of times coming out of the anesthesia. She will be in a bit of pain for some time, but the drugs are there to help manage that part. Angie is holding up pretty good. She didn't eat much today and sleep tonight will probably be off and on. She has her bed (recliner chair) ready next to Miranda's.

As you can see from the photo, the doctor got quite a bit of the mole off of the cheek and it looks really good. He put in a smaller expander and its port is now located behind her ear. The forehead is covered in this photo, so we can't quite see how much was removed. We're told that he got about half of the way. Not quite sure if it was half North and South or East and West (so-to-speak). The suture lines in the forehead are in her hairline and along her nose. He didn't have to cut through the extra skin. This way he was able to avoid another suture line in her forehead. Just amazing!

Miranda has two drainage lines attached to manage that part of the post-surgery. And, she will probably be in the hospital a couple of days instead of coming home tomorrow. We are praying for a discharge on Wednesday. Miranda was awake for a little bit and was able to drink a whole juice box. She was even awake long enough to play with the remote control by pushing buttons and thought that was a bit of fun.

The kids are doing well here. They went back to school today (on-track now). Chelsea's strep throat is much better. She played outside a little bit this evening while Jared mowed part of the yard. All are sleeping now.

Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers.

Surgery under way

2008-06-09T16:37:00.003-06:00

Miranda went into surgery around 2:30 this afternoon. At 4:30p they had the cheek completed and looking good. Now they have begun the forehead and said it will take another 2 hours. Angie is waiting patiently in the hospital. I...got to stay home with Chelsea who decided to get strep throat over the weekend. Chelsea is doing much better and should be able to go up to the hospital tomorrow to bring Mom and Miranda Joy home.

Here is a picture of Miranda waiting around for the fun to begin earlier this afternoon.

As soon as we hear more, we'll let you know. Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers.

Name Change, Painting & Surgery Date Set

2008-05-28T11:03:00.003-06:00

We made our appearance in court today to get Miranda Joy's name officially changed so a new birth certificate could be ordered. Most families get to skip this step, as MOST judges just sign the document. Wouldn't you know it...we got to take up our morning with the one judge who enjoys this sort of thing. We figured we made those who work for the court and have to hear the not-so-fun cases actually have something to smile about for a short period of time. Thanks Burnside family for joining us!
Our basement is almost finished. Nothing fancy down there...just two rooms with walls so the kids can have "kid rooms" down there. One is purple - the "girls room", and the other is blue, for the "boy stuff." We should be moving stuff down there this weekend. The kids wanted to help, and here is their favorite way to help...paint! Jared rolled the walls after the little ones were done "helping" with a brush. And Miranda Joy's head is fully expanded (that sounds funny), and her cheek is expanded enough for now. June 9th will be her first removal/grafting surgery. They can't predict exactly how much they'll remove until they start, so we will have no idea what to expect until we see her in the recovery room. She will be spending just one night in the hospital. Looks like the love of my life and I will be celebrating our 13th anniversary by bringing home our sweet little girl from the hospital.