Uh Oh!

how could I not get my kids a puppy???????

It's a wonderful life...

We started our very own Black Friday tradition. The kids got to go sit on Santa's lap at the mall. :-) Will did great. He told Santa what he would like, then waited with his hand outstreached for his present!
I was so happy with how the picture turned out, I ordered one of the most expensive packages. That's always been an unspoken rule with myself that I order one pic, for the last 24 years that I've been a mom. Oops. How could I help myself tho! He's got his shoes that match his big brothers, black Converse. Yikes, I am letting all my tried-and-true parenting ideals fly right out the window!

Then last night we went on our first "pajama ride" in like, 16 years! We've always done this with our older kids, and that is, we'd put them to bed, wait about 15 minutes- the get settled down, but not fall asleep yet- and go in their room making noise and call "pajama ride!" Then we go somewhere, whether it's to a movie, out for an ice cream, or last night we went to see the Christmas lights at Candy Cane Lane.

It was sooo much fun!

Awesome Boy!

Look at what William did with one hand tied behind his back. Ok, well with one in a cast anyway. :-)
Thats his new 48 piece puzzle.

surgery day- friday oct.28

William had his surgery on his "club" arm on Friday. It went pretty well. The orthopedic surgeon had hoped to get the wrist centralized and the forefinger placed in the thumb position, all in this surgery, but it wouold have taken too long. There was alot he needed to get done and it turns out the finger one will be 4 hrs in itself. So that will be revisited in spring of next year. My teacher at Cricket Academy had asked a good question of me yesterday: Will he actually be able to use it after surgery as good as he can now? Right now he is good at using his first 2 fingers and kind of holding things between them and it he will not have that good use of them after than I wouldn't do it.

Anyway, right now William is in alot of pain. He is on 2 different pain meds and still in pain. The doctor said that doing surgery on a bone is extremely painful. He had his ulna worked on and it was shaved(?) a bit because it was bowed. There was also some extra bone at the wrist that was removed and for the next 2 months, he has a long pin from wrist to elbow keeping his arm/wrist straight.

He had a huge cast on and he absolutely hates it! He was throwing temper-tantrums in the hospital (I could hear him in the recovery room!) he was so mad to have that thing on. Periodically now, 2 days later, he pounds on it and tries to rip it off. You gotta figure that all he knows is that he went in to the hospital w/o it and now he's got it on. He doesn't realize that the doctor had to cut his arm! :-( Poor kid!

8 Month Anniversary

Oh  my goodness, has it been 8 months already? 8 months of William being William. 8 months of  him learning what it means to be in our family. 8 months of learning his new language. 8 months of being an All-American, 90 MPH, boy..

He is learning so much every day still. I bought this bike off of Craig's List and he was so adorable learning to pedal. :-) Now, you should see him go! I can actually get a jog in when we go for our walks! I sat there debating whether to buy a jogging stroller or not. I mean, they are so expensive. He is almost 4. But, as it was, there was no way for me to get out and get some exercise with him in tow. But then, God practically dropped this bike right in my lap! Yay!

Will is going to have hand/arm surgery October 28th. I am anxious for this to be over. He is going to be really sad when that arm is immobilized for so long. But in the long run, he will be able to do so much! He is very active! He loves to be a helper!

We picked up brother Josh from college last weekend, just me and the 2 littles. The whole way home, William sang "I like Joshua. I like Joshua. I like Joshua........." You get the picture. It was SO precious, and yet so LOUD! :-)

William loves:
popsicles
Liberty
The Lion King
Scooby Doo
Joshua (as said earlier...heehee)
birthdays. Everyones birthdays!
French Fries
helping momma
being tickled
eggs
his very own daddy - thats what he says too, waaayyy too cute!
pumpkins
watching the Packers with Joey

I am overwhelmed at God's blessings to me.

Time for an update

Mmmm, blue frosting is AWESOME!

Here it is, the end of August and we have had such a wonderful, busy summer with William!
We just had our 6 month post=placement visit from our social worker and everything is going so well!!

Will had his urology surgery 2 weeks ago, and it's all good! Next is his hand surgery. That was suppose to happen in Sept., But the gal is not returning my calls to schedule!


He grew 1" and gained 1.5 lbs! Yay William! He knows that "W" stands for William (thanks to his teacher, Liberty!) He used to say "T" was for William because his name in China started with a T. He also knows that "L" is for Libby.

In a couple weeks we will start Cricket class! Thats a Saturday morning class that teaches Chinese language, culture and dance. (we aren't signed up for dance).

I thank God every day for this sweet little boy that I am blessed to raise! *as well as my other kids and hubby!!*

A Special Visitor

Will and Kyla swinging

Kyla, Will and Kyla's big brother eating push-up pops

We had the pleasure of meeting one of Williams best friends from Shepherds Field! Her name is Kyla, used to be Ginger, and her family swung down by us on their way east for a vacation. Kyla has been home for a year now and Will has been home for almost 5 months. :-) They are so sweet together. I wonder how much they actually remember.

Philip Hayden Foundation is so remarkable. They have such a wonderful orphan ministry. As the years go by, I hope that I am able to take a bigger part in their ministry. I hope that my little kids have a heart to reach out to orphans.

<3<3<3

What a great week!

We had such a nice week last week with Sharon! Will just loves her and talks about her constantly. {smile} When we brought her to the airport, we picked out a little airplane, and Sharon "showed" him where she will sit on it and he tells EVERYBODY that That is Sharons window. :-)

Thanks for everything Sharon! William loves to look at his scrapbook!

Meeting Sharon!

Well, this Monday, William will meet his sponsor, Sharon! Sharon has been such a blessing in Williams life in the orphanage. Shepherd's Field Children's Village (   http://chinaorphans.org   )  has a program that one can sponsor a child and that helps pay for food, clothing, surgeries, etc, and Sharon was "Tristan"s" sponsor for about 2 years. She's prayed for him for a long time. Once we were approved to adopt him, she sent me all the pictures, updates, anything that would be of interest for us. She has such a heart for children and the orphans of the world!

We also have decided to sponsor a little girl from SFCV. We chose a little girl named Sharon. :-) "Tristan" is one of her best friends and Will recognized her on the web site.

See you Monday Sharon!

MRI

William in his and Libby's fort

Brothers <3

Friday, April 22 we had William's MRI done to check for tethered cord. That came back great, but he does have a lipoma on his spial column/cord. Something. The doctor said it's a benign (?) fatty-tissue tumor. It shouldn't be a problem but we should see a neurosurgeon to get his opinion.

Palm Sunday

Will is really learning to sit during church. He can sit by me or on my lap if he's not loud. But as soon as he is loud, he has to sit by daddy. Then if he continues, daddy takes him to sit in the foyer. There are chairs with windows that look in at the pastor so it's not like he can play. Then when he;s quiet he can come sit by mommy. :-)

Lately I'd say he is starting to have some sadness. Sometimes when I look into his eyes, they seem sad. He has started being defiant too. It's something new for him. He hasn't pooped in his pants without coming to me either before, during, or right after, he goes in his pull-up and tells me "momma, potty" in the 6 weeks we've been home. He has started being mean to us (more hitting, yelling, taking Libby's things, etc) and sneaky in things. Today for lunch the kids had leftovers (one of Will's favorites - a ham, potato, cheese casserole) and when Libby finished , she wanted some ramen noodles. Of course William wanted some than. Anything Libby has, he wants. :-) So he got a bowl as well. :-) Libby finished and went to play, William, very slyly, pushed his bowl off the table and , viola, he was done too!

Ah, the joys of mommyhood! I wouldn't trade it for the world!!!!!

Orthopedic and Craniofacial - done

Yesterday we had an orthopedic appointment where they took some x-rays of Will. His spine looks great - the one nurse thought he might have a slight curvature of his spine- but nope. Yay! :-) They also took some x-rays of his arm and hand. He doesn't have a radial bone in his right forearm and there is no thumb. Very very classic for VACTERL syndrome. We will meet with the hand surgeon in May. I think Will will probably have "pollinizacion" (something like that....that was off the top of my head tho) where they will make the forefinger into a thumb so he can have the ability to grasp. I think there is something they can do for the missing radial bone too.

Then we saw the cranialfacial doc regarding his cleft lip/ palette. He actually had a very good surgery in China, but the uvula is pretty funky. Well see the whole cleft lip/pallet team in about a year and they will be able to decide what could be done, if anything. We have a hard time understanding alot of Will's words so that gives him time to learn more of his sounds.

Here is a picture of the whole family...FINALLY! We are never all together long enough to get a picture so I brought my camara to church. Even there I have to act quickly because we usually take 3 cars cuz everyones going in different directions afterward! :-)

And here's one of William...he just loves ice cream cones!

Medical Appointments are beginning

Here is a recap of the past medical appointments William has had, and the upcoming ones.

First of all, we saw the pediatrician 5 days after we had gotten home. All was basically fine there and we decided to get a stool sample and have blood work done. At the Dr.s lab, they poked him a couple times and couldn't get a vein so they had us got to Children's Hospital of Wisconsin. I decided to wait until I had an appointment with the International Adopted Children's clinic through the hospital in case they wanted blood for something else - that way he didn't have to be stuck over and over.

Some spring fun on the trampoline

I had the appointment with the nurse there for a "Welcome Home Appointment" (how cute) on March 21st abd I received a list of the doc's we will see....
-cardiology
-urology
-orthopedics
-general surgery
-cl/p drs (cranial/facial)
-genetics

We went to the lab that day and had his blood taken...it took 2 tries before they foind a vein that would give up some blood. That next Friday my doc called and told me the newborn screen they do came back abnormal and he's got "organic acidemia". We have to have bloodwork done again. :-(

I have the appts made, except we will also need an appt at the hand clinic at Froedert Hospital, but I'm going to wait and catch my breath.

March 31st, we went to the urology clinic. The Pediatrician thought he noticed a hernia so that was first on the list. He doesn't have a hernia, but he does have chordee and his test*cles need to get "tacked" down.

Next we went to get an ultrasound of his kidney. Made sure that there was only one (yup). Then we went to Cardiology. He had an echo cardiogram done and the heart doc said his CHD was GREAT! Both holes closed and there is an issue with his aorta where it's shaped funky, but we will do an echo every other year and watch it.

Both excellent news!

This Wednesday we have genetics and general.Then Monday the 11th, we have cranial/facial and orthopedics.

Here is my beautiful Megan and her guy Tyler. Aren't they cute??

after 1 1/2 weeks home.....

Will discovered PillowPets. He saw a commercial and went around the house patting his chest saying "pi-yo" and it finally dawned on us what he was talking about. :-) So of course we headed right off to Walmart to let him pick out his own.

 It's been so nice out so we got the kids out on the trampoline. Yay! They love it. Will keeps getting Joshua to take him out there during the day.

We Are Home!

Friday night at 10:00 pm we finally were home. The worst part of adopting, for me anyway, is the LONG trip home. Sitting on an airplane for 15 hrs with a new child. A layover in NJ that lasted 6 hours. Then a teeny tiny airplane that had to circle for an extra 1/2 hour at Mitchell Field cuz it was foggy/snowy/rainy and there was a slowdown with the 3 planes in front of us.


BUT


We are home! It's been fun getting William used to things we do here. Including dogs (!) , weird food, people coming and going. Now we shall start with doctor appointments. And I want him to meet our family and friends. He is just a joy to have in our family. Liberty is such a wonderful big sister. M,J, and J love him too. The boys think he is hilarious when he gets in his "acting up".


We had such a nice trip. We were there, in Guangzhou, with 8 other Madison Adoption Associate families. Our guide Connie was absolutely FANTASTIC! All of our appointments, re: our kids physicals, to all the paperwork, to the actual CA, she took care of. We had alot of good food. We got together at Lucy's Diner for meals sometimes. It's a little diner type restaurant that they "try" to make American food. We enjoy the effort and can eat relatively familiar food. :-) Libby and I were big on their grilled cheese. Mmmmm.

Connie took the group out to a traditional Chinese restaurant, and she ordered for us what she thought we'd like. She asked if it was ok to order their famous roasted pidgeon (squab? or something like that). So we had that, of course tea, fried rice, spicy chicken dish, fried pork and scallions (it looked like deep fried bacon), and some other dishes i don't remember. There was orange slices and guava slices for dessert. All very very nice.

Life is good!

Sometimes I wonder how/why God has blessed me so greatly. I have such a great group of people in my life!!!

What day is it even??????

Last day here. I wasn't sure if it was Thursday or Friday, but it's Wednesday. hehe. Must be because of OMOT syndrome ( old mom of toddler).


We are off to take the Red Couch photo then to dinner.

William got a haircut today. The gal was just trimming a tiny bit, and Brian motioned to cut of his Elvis sideburns, and she said "oh, girl?" lol Poor Will!

CA today....all done!

This morning was our consulate appointment. It went so smoothly and quickly. First we took the oath, the the gal called our name and she went through our paperwork. That's it. They tell you there is an interview, but it was absolutely nothing. She asks friendly questions like how is he doing, and that type of thing. Nothing at all. We're done! Will is ours! He is definately going to be a wonderful addition to our family. :-) The big kids love the whole skyping thing. :-)
We get his visa tomorrow and then we are going by van to Hong Kong on Thursday morn, and our flight leaves from there Friday morn. So it is looking like we might walk around HK Disney, the free part tho!
Then HOME! Yay!!!

We are here in Guangzhou!

We are here safe and sound. Brian is here safe and sound! Yay!
Here are some pics....1st one is Lib and Will in Nanchang. We took a long walk. It was nice
2nd one is Brian and the kids. It makes it so much more relxing for me with him here!
3rd one is at the Safari Park. It was so cool! The animals come right up to your car.
Gotta go to the playground now. Everyone is tugging on me. :-)

Update From Bridget

Meeting William

With the orphanage director

Boy, is Will keeping me on my toes! He never stops! :-) He is so incredibly smart too! Wow. He knows quite a few songs in English. Old MacDonald had a Farm, Where is Thumbkin, Jesus Loves Me (he sang himself to sleep with that 2 nights ago), The Wheels on the Bus. The kids take a long play bath every night and we all sing the songs he knows. 

Libby has been very needy as well. I'm pretty exhausted. 

Tomorrow we go to Guangzhou. I am not looking forward to another flight. But at least my hubby will be there.

Oh yes, and he sings the ABC's with sign language! PHF really is impressive!

Today in the swimming pool, a man came up to us and pulled out Williams diaper to see if he was a boy or girl! Heehee, I do just love these people! :-) We took a long walk today, down our street. We were looking for the Walmart, but never found it. Lots and lots to look at. Lots of guns being sold :0, as well as wallets and jewelry, and eggs boiled in tea on cloth laid down on the sidewalks. People stop and stare at us. :-) They literally walk right in front of us and turn to stare right at our faces. lol, it's actually very sweet. I feels very safe, except for the cars driving down the sidewalks and such!

Our 1st Hitch

We have hit the first, and hopefully the last (yeah, I'm sure!) hitch in our travel plans. We head out to the airport tomorrow morning around 4am and the weather just said that the fog will be so dense from tonight at 6pm, until tomorrow at 6 pm, and there will be many plane delays. So my darling husband has been scrambling around finding us a way to O'Hare in case of a cancellation. He is my hero.

Two Days....

......until we leave! I just can't stand it! We are pretty well packed. I got my computer all set to be able to Skype back home. We will meet my little honey on Saturday! Man!
I'm hoping things go well here at home. I'm trying to plan out meals, make sure Josh remembers his Tues/Thurs. allergy shots, and that they remember to feed the dogs, and put them out periodically, and get school accomplished, and get to work on time, and clean up along the way- have the house looking nice to welcome us home (a girl can dream, can't she??)

Hopefully I can post while I am in China.

He knows!

William now knows he has a family! A mama, papa, sisters and brothers! Yipee!

What a snow storm!

Libby in her snow fort in the backyard

snow drift in front of our bay window

Eli, loving every minute of this! He bounds around in the snow that is up to his back!

And my sweetheart, Megan, loving the snow as much as her dog~ and sister!

Another milestone!

Ok, not regarding the adoption, but my 17 yo got his DRIVERS LICENSE yesterday! Woohooooooo!

He already took himself for an allergy shot today and now he is going to the library for a while to work on an assignment (homeschooled)!

Way to go Josh!

When it rains.....

...it pours!

I am in tears as I write this! I am so blessed beyond belief!

Oh my goodness, can it be.......                                                                  

I need to catch my breath.

Today in the mail I got a letter from Show Hope. I knew it was the letter that would tell me we were not chosen for a grant. I didn't even want to open it. (I know you know what's coming here!) Whenn I opened it, it said " Dear Brian and Bridget,
......we are pleased to  inform you........"

Wow. Right there I couldn't even go on. First, finally getting our TA, then getting this! $3000. Wow. I don't even know how to express my gratitude. Wow.

TA! TA! TA!

Woohoo! FINALLY!
Lookin to get my son on Valentines Day!!!
I'll find out forsure in the next day or two!

Still waiting

..with no news. And no, no news is not good news! I am trying to stay busy and not stalk the computer. You know, refreshing my email every couple of minutes and such.

It's been pretty easy for me to kinda redirect my mind when I'd be obsessing during this adoption, and tell myself that it's really all in God's timing and I can accept that. Life goes so much smoother for me when I am content with God being in control. But this wait for travel approval is killing me!

I think about trying to pull a donkey by a leash when he does not want to go. He digs his heals in the ground and fights you every inch of the way. Eventually he gets to where he needs to be, but the trip was exhausting, for him and his owner. Now, if he just resigns himself and walks along with the master.....

See you at the finish line!

Last March I ran my first 5 K. It was called the Blarney Run and me and Brian did it together. I started out toward the front of the pack and little by little people passed me." Hey, you go gf!" "see ya at the finishline!" Ok then.
It reminds me alot of this adoption. It was a forerunner. I'm waiting right now for my TA.12/23 was my A5 pick up.  Last week people were getting theirs who were art 5 after me. Today people got theirs who are art 5 after me. While I am happy that their race is nearing the finish line, I'm getting tired of my run and want to see that finish line too!