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!