My Other Good Dog....

I'm not sure why, but one of Caleigh's favorite times of day is when I feed the dogs. She is just fascinated watching them eat & she has examined their food from time to time. I am proud to say she has never tried to eat it! Smart girl! Here she is with our sweet Duke.....He is 2 years old....I am amazed that neither one of our dogs have ever stepped on C...not even by accident. Since I bragged on Bella in the last post, I felt Duke deserved a post too! They are so aware where she is & are so careful when she is under foot. We feel so lucky because I can't imagine a life without pets and she loves them so...Tomorrow we go to get Caleigh's second flu shot & another round of immunizations.

A Girl & Her Dog

If she could talk, I'm sure she would say "This is MY dog!"

The love between this girl & this dog is so sweet! Bella watches out for her, lets her crawl all over her, gets up with me in the middle of the night...every night...and lays by her door while I check on her. If Caleigh cries, she is right there quicker than me most times. We have never owned a boxer before, but I am sold! She's so sweet & crazy at the same time! Don't tell Bella that she is supposed to be man's best friend....these guys are tight! (Now, if I could just get her to quit barking at everyone who comes in our house & to quit digging, she'd be the perfect dog!)

Home 4 Months & Did you Vote?

I'm on pins & needles waiting to see who the next President will be! Did you vote???? I hope so! We're making history either way!

We are happy to celebrate being home 4 months today with our little girl!!!
(Even though she has a raging cold & ear infection..yikes!)

Hope For 100

The East Texas Community is coming together to help promote foster care & adoption. Our little Forever Families Adoption Group is taking on the committee of Post Placement Family Care to provide support & meals for newly adoptive parents. Hope For 100 was started by a couple in our church that adopted from China several years ago. It is their hope & dream to see 100 children placed with forever families this year. It is being promoted at our church & here is the web-site...it is our hope that the program will grow to many churches state wide! I can't wait to see the results and I'm so excited that our family is a part of it! Check out the web-site! www.hopefor100.org

Halloween 2008

Make a Smilebox slideshow I hope you all had a Happy Halloween! You can click Play, then adjust the slider to make the slide show go slower....just press the black arrow to see every photo! (Mom, you can also click each photo to enlarge it on the screen.) We had a short trick-or-treat at a few houses in our neighborhood because both boys had a bad cough. We came home & handed out candy. They were in good spirits & I just couldn't stand to have them miss Halloween. They didn't want new costumes this year; they made their own out of some things we already had here at the house....today everything was packed up for Good Will so we will have some new ones next year!!! I love their creativity though!!! Caleigh had fun I think...she just took it all in...the sucker was a hit! She enjoyed playing with Blake & Bryce when they were in their costumes...she thought that was very funny!

Happy Halloween Day!

My First Halloween Home!

Happy Halloween Day! It's a beautiful sunny day here...supposed to be in the 80's I think. Should turn a little cooler tonight for trick or treating. We may be dressing up & handing out candy since I got a call from the school nurse right after I took these pictures & picked up both boys sick from school. It is a cough that just keeps coming back! Ugh! Hope you all have a Happy Halloween! You can really see Caleigh's new thicker hair coming in on these pictures. It looks much healthier. Just makes for a little scraggly look for now! Oh & I can't get a picture fast enough to avoid the teething drool! All 4 teeth on top have cut through & now she's cutting 2 more on the bottom!

And What does your child do.....

....while you are cooking?

Thank You....I'll do it myself.

It seems that little one likes to do things herself. As of this weekend, Caleigh has decided that I am no longer supposed to "spoon feed" her. She has learned to do it herself & actually does a pretty good job! If I try to take the spoon away from her & help, watch out!!! She also learned to wave this weekend...it's the cutest thing ever!

Meeting my Great Aunts

Playing at my Grampie's & GrandMama's house.

Looking for my GrandMama

My Great Aunt Sue, Me, My Grampie & My Great Aunt Bonnie

Caleigh & I left for my mom & dad's after dropping the boys at school on Friday. They live about 1 1/2 hours away from us. My aunts were both coming in for the day & Caleigh had not met them yet. It was a fun visit & a nice lunch at Red Lobster, then back home in time to pick up the boys! It was quick, but I'm so glad we went. Seeing them brought back loads of childhood memories. One of my aunts lives about 3 hours away from us & the other aunt lives in Tennessee. It was a fun morning & lunch! On another note, C will be having blood drawn on Tuesday morning for a TB Gold Test. This will tell the doctors if her TB + Skin Test is due to the BCG Vaccine or if she has in fact been exposed to TB. Please pray; drawing blood from her little arms doesn't work & they always have to use her hand. It is not fun for anyone...least of all Caleigh.
Caleigh has been our daughter for 4 Months Today!!!!!

Love/Hate

Bryce & his latest creation.

It has been a love/hate relationship for years now. He leaves them for a while, but they always get back together! A boy & his legos....a relationship like no other!

Flower Pictures for my late Papa

These remind me of pictures my Papa would have taken. He loved flowers & he loved photography & always used the old fashion cameras with the fancy lenses! So, here's to you Papa! I wish you could have lived to meet your great grand-daughter! You would have loved to photograph her & your pictures would have definately turned out better than mine!!

HAPPY FALL Y'ALL!

On The Front Porch...At least all 3 are looking at me!

I don't think Caleigh finds this as funny as Blake!

Caleigh laughing at Bryce... I love this one!

HAPPY FALL TO YOU ALL!

We met with our attorney today & he is filing our paperwork with the judge to complete Caleigh's adoption in the U.S. Court system which will allow us to obtain her U.S. Birth Certificate & ultimately a Social Security Number...very exciting!

2 years ago today

I also just realized that it was 2 years ago today that we mailed off our Application Part 2 to Dillon. It is hard to believe that it has been that long in one sense & then it seems like a life-time ago in another....to those of you still waiting for your miracle....hang in there! Sometimes these little miracles take a while!

Things they are a changing....

Excited to be crawling!

I Can Do It!

Going to see Bella at the window.

Can you see my two teeth? I'm cutting 6, yes 6 more right now!!!

I'm getting to be such a big girl! This is my mommy's favorite picture from this day....

Caleigh can crawl full speed now like a champ & things they are a changing! She's so curious & into everything. She's playing in my pantry right now beside me as I type with a spoon in each hand. She likes the tupperware lazy susan cabinet & plays in it while I cook. She pulls up on everything & loves to be where the action is. She learned to wave today & was waving at everyone in Sam's Club this morning. We are trying to transition to whole milk, but she still prefers her formula, so I am mixing it 1/2 in 1/2. She wears a true size 9-12 months clothing and her favorite time of the day now is riding to pick up the boys from school. We went yesterday & bought pumpkins, so hopefully I will have some cute Fall Pictures soon of all the kids. I'm still trying for all 3 smiling! It hasn't happened yet!

Ready to Cook???

So, we're gearing up for Fall & Winter weather....a lot more cooking has been going on around here lately. Caleigh wanted to help! Don't worry, I supervised!

She had her 1 year check-up on Wednesday & everything looks good. She's still in the 25-50% on height at 28 1/2", but still below on weight at just 16 1/2 pounds. She will start the transitioning from formula to whole milk now & we're on table foods only. She never would touch the baby food, so we've been on whole foods for a while now. We'll be adding meat to her diet after we transition to whole milk. She started full out crawling the afternoon that we had our doctor's appointment so I spent this morning baby proofing as things have quickly been pulled off of tables etc. since she can pull up onto her knees very well now too. She's even figured out how to crawl with her braces on this morning. The pediatrician is very pleased with her development. She got a flu shot & a TB Test which is reading positive....hope that's just the BCG Vaccine that she got in VN as a baby. We go in tomorrow to have it read.....
Follow-up: The skin test was indeed positive so we were sent for a chest x-ray. It came back clear thank God & we'll talk to the doctor next week. Also, she figured out how to crawl even with her braces on & so she's all over the place all the time now...it's a new world around here!

The Pumpkin Color & The Fridge

I thought I would try the pumpkin colored background on my blog since I still cannot seem to get the cute little borders to work for me. SOOOOO Frustrating!!! Well, I made the 7 days of postings....so now for a little break....but, before I go, I will challenge you: Go to your fridge & take a photo & post it on your blog. You cannot clean it, organize the pictures neatly, etc. before you take your photo....I'll go first. What does your refrigerator say about you??? I obviously need to de-clutter mine, so, bye!

The Birthday Celebration

The Cake

Checking out the Cupcake

The First Bite..

The Aftermath...

Patiently waiting to open presents

Yesterday was fun! 2 Birthdays in one! I didn't get too many pictures since I was busy running around & visiting, but my Sister-in Law took a ton & she'll be downloading to SnapFish soon....Here are my favorites...my baby is 1! (And yes, that is a giant mosquito bite right in the middle of her forehead! The bad thing about living in East Texas!)

Happy 1st Birthday Caleigh!

A baby was born in CanTho, Vietnam on this day last year.....

On the day we celebrated her Daddy's Birthday.....
Today there will be 2 Birthdays to Celebrate!

Our little girl turns 1 today! What a difference a year makes! On this day last year when we were celebrating her Daddy's Birthday, Caleigh was born. 9 months later she would become a part of our family! Happy Birthday Daddy & Caleigh!!! Party at 2:00 if you're in the neighborhood!

The Problem With Blogs

I've discovered the problem that I have with blogs. In case you care, here it is: most folks don't update often enough for me, because you see, I think I'm addicted to blogging!! I can't seem to get into FaceBook that much, although I did discover the Word Challenge Game last night & I stink at it!!! So, I'm trying to get better LOL! I don't know what it is that makes me want to hear of others' joys & trials, see their cute kiddo pictures & such, but I do. Maybe it's just the nosy mama in me! I want to see some new pics of Tanner whose mama is there in VN with him right now. It seems that Meredith has password protected her blog & I can't get in this morning. If I don't hear about Sophie Le whom I've been praying for for 2 weeks now, I might freak out! What's going on? Is she ok? Help me out here....you see, it's all about me! So, that is why I have loved this week & Leigh's challenge. Every day, something new! On lots of blogs! It's so much fun! I officially have too much down time in the mornings before everyone wakes up!!!

Enjoy your day. Daddy & Caleigh's birthdays are tomorrow, so I'll be cleaning & getting the cake, etc. today. Here's a random pic just because.....

Every adoption is a leap of faith.....

Later, on the day we accepted our referral, our daughter's face was reavealed to us. This time, the photo was brighter & we could see her toes! I remember being so excited that she had toes & that there appeared to be 10!

In my opinion, every adoption is a leap of faith. International adoption especially, because we just do not get much information...no medical background, very limited if any history of the child, etc. We just don't have much to go on...do we? Except faith. Faith that we are united with a special child for a reason. Faith that this was "meant" to be. A higher power other than our adoption agency has guided us & led us.

Special Needs used to be a scary term to me. Now that I am a parent of a "special needs child", it's not so scary anymore. When we checked off our list of "acceptable things" on our homestudy, I gave it little thought I am embarrassed to say. I checked 'no' to just about everything. I think a lot of PAPs do. However, when I got "that" e-mail..."that" e-mail about a special little girl available for adoption..."that" e-mail about a 3 month old with 'special medical needs', my heart jumped. A little voice said "ask more questions...get more information" & we did. We had little to go on. A dark picture with a blacked out little face & wrapped up little feet. I want to tell you that sometimes the terminology of a defect or medical condition gets lost in translation. This was the case for us. The information stated malformation of both feet; innate chipped feet. Well, we couldn't see her feet & the doctors that we spoke to (4 total) said that there was no such term for any known medical defect, genetic or otherwise, pertaining to feet.

So, we had to look at the best case scenerio & the worse case scenerio & make a decision. I am a stay-at-home mom with two children in school...we decided what our threshold would be & it was greater that the worse case scenerio that the doctors presented to us, so we went for it & accepted her referral...feet unseen. And you know what? I wasn't even worried. I knew she was our daughter....she was not her feet. Strange, because I am OCD to the limit people! 2 weeks after we accepted her referral, the orphanage staff took the photos of her little feet that we had requested & we found out she had mild to moderate classic club feet. We were excited & off I went to study about it. The rest is history. From the unknown & faith to a trip across the ocean to bring home our special girl! SN Adoption is not for everyone. I just wish that everyone knew of the wide range of SN that there are. Some are very minor & require minimal surgery or physical therapy. Some are major & would require one's full & devoted attention. I can only encourage you... If "an" e-mail comes to you, ask lots of questions before you dismiss it. You may be missing out on your miracle. I am trying to find it in myself to look for a way to help promote SN Adoption. So, pray for me because I am not normally a very outspoken person :) This is a start I guess....

Today is a Froggy Day

Today is a froggy day...what I mean is, most of my household occupants sound like frogs. "Croaky": stuffy, coughing, sneezing (do frogs sneeze?)....well, I contribute it mostly to some weed growing tall with yellow blooms on top along all of the roadways & pastures. I call it golden-rod, but I'm not sure if that is the actually weed. I envy those cruzing along with their windows rolled down in the cool breeze...not I! I can smell it...it burns my nose & throat...ack! So, windows up & AC still on in our house. Hopefully the boys will feels better after the long weekend coming up. The only one who's fine is Caleigh.

So, for my froggy day, I thought I would introduce you to the frog who has visited our back porch every night for 4 years now. I should name him....any ideas? Here he is....he's a beauty...well, as far as frogs go, or is he a toad?

1 Down 2 To Go

"Only 2 more months of braces? Really? Cool! "

We had our check-up for Caleigh yesterday in Dallas. We are 1 month into the braces & the doc says we are right on track & we have 2 more months to go. After that, she'll only wear them at night. So, back for another check on Nov. 7th. So far, so good. It is always a long day on "Dallas Doc Days", but luckily we only go once a month & once she is in the braces only at night, it changes to check-ups once every 3 months. I'm not sure what I expected, but I thought this whole process would be much 'worse', for lack of a better word. I have a post swirling in my head about adopting a child with special needs...the words 'special needs' tend to freak out PAPs, but there is such a wide range....if only everyone knew....ok; I'll save it for the next post! Have a great day!

My Nonna's Chair

Lydia was my Nonna's name...well, Mary Lydia actually, but my Papa always called her Lydia. Caleigh's middle name is Lydia~Grace...My Nonna was the most graceful woman I knew. She's been gone from this Earth for two years now. It's hard to believe she's not hear to watch my daughter grow; she was such an influence in my life...we always lived in the same town. My favorite thing that reminds me of her is her rocking chair. It was at their lakehouse when I was growing up. It's been in every home I have owned because she gave it to me years before her strokes & the memory loss...she wanted me to have it & that makes it so special. It sits in Caleigh's room today, where she loves to sit in it...Here it is....I will never strip it, paint it, stain it, etc. It will stay the way I remember it forever.

OK Leigh....I will take the challenge....1 blog entry a day for the week! I'll be checking in on you!

My favorites from the weekend....

Blake on top of the Firetruck Bryce by the rattlesnakeCaleigh watching the boys play.

All three kiddos

Daddy & Caleigh hanging out.
We visited the Brookshire's Wildlife Park & Museum this weekend. It is in our town & has always been the boys' favorite park. They were excited to show Caleigh everything since it was her first time there. The weather was perfect & we all had a good time. They have a real tractor, fire-truck, caboose & lots of swings, slides, merry-go-rounds, etc. It's a really neat park...if you're ever in East Texas, check it out! Here are a few of my favorite pictures from Saturday.

Tomorrow morning we head out to Dallas for our 4 week check-up on Caleigh's braces. We had our first visit today with Blake's new orthodontist...it looks like braces on the top permanent four teeth until they are straightened & room made for the other perm. teeth to come in...then the braces will come off until he is 11 or 12 & more of his perm. teeth are in. Then, we will re-evaluate & probably a 2nd set of braces. We'll know more after x-rays & a consultation which will take place in the next couple of weeks. I can see the $$$$ flying now....

New Tooth, SW Visit #2, Immunizations: Oh My......

This has actually been a pretty full week...Fall is finally here & has brought the cooler weather in the evenings. It's still in the 80's during the day, but I have high hopes for next week! I'm definately a Fall person...love it! Caleigh's 2nd tooth has finally broken through...hooray! I think I could have filled a gallon jug with all of the slobber it took to cut it! So, now she has two cute little bottom teeth. I think several more are in the works...she chews on everything.

Our 2nd Post-Placement Visit was Tuesday...so of course, Monday was spent cleaning...I wish she would use just one of the bathrooms, just one time...just to make it worth the bleaching & scrubbing! Nope! Our last visit will be in December & then we can start the Re-Adoption Process/Name Changing, SS#, etc. Also noted...time to start baby-proofing. She can get herself to just about anywhere she pleases now. She doesn't like the tile floor yet, so I'm fairly safe with her on the carpet in our living room. However, she really wants to be in the kitchen & toy room so I'm sure she will venture onto the tile soon!

Caleigh had her second round of immunizations this week. She did really well...no fever this time, but I was on time rotating the Motrin & Tylenol to a "T". Her 1 year check up is October 15th. The nurse did weigh her & we were right...she's 16 1/2 pounds.

James has been in South Texas/Corpus this week bird hunting. However, I'm confused because he sent me a text this morning that he got a hog. Huh? A hog? I thought you were bird hunting....huh? Sounds like they had fun & he's due back tonight.

Caleigh's schedule has changed since school started. Since I am waking her up most mornings at 7:30 to take the kids to school, she has started napping from around 9:30 or 10:00 until around 11:00...then another short nap in the afternoon....sometimes a long one. Still to bed around 8 & up once for the bottle. She is drinking out of a sippy cup for juice time now & wants to feed herself all the time. The crawling is coming along. She is starting to pull up onto her knees a lot to 'climb up me'. She's so funny...the pictures are from the day of the SW visit...when she saw the camera was ready, I got her funny 'cheese' fake smile....

Tomorrow will mark 3 Months Home with our baby girl. Time flies! I feel so lucky to have her here with us. Please continue to keep other families who are waiting to travel for their children still in Vietnam Orphanages in your prayers. The DNA Requirements have put lengthy delays on travel dates.