Livi's night before.....

Last night when the boys said goodnight to Olivia, they knew that it would be the last time they saw their sister with her cleft lip open.
We are heading to the hospital at 11am today for a 12:45pm surgery to repair her lip.
We took video and pictures last night to have as our momento of how she once looked.
We've all gotten so used to it in the past 2 mos. It will be strange to see her all fixed up.
I feel bad for her that she has to go through this. It's hard because we cant' explain to her what's happening. But I'm also very excited for this new point in her life.
She will be even more beautiful than she already is.

Sunday Snapshot: Choosing Life

This Mother's Day is more special than usual.
Sure, I have all my plans for sitting around and being waited on.
But today I'm grateful to 2 woman who I've never even met.
My nephew, Ben, and our little Olivia were able to join our families and become our children because 2 women chose life when they didn't have to.
One from America and one from China..both places where, unfortunately, it would have been very easy for them to not carry these precious lives.
What a gift.
One of these mothers can start to find peace with her decision to give her son a better life because she knows the family that adopted him.
One gave up her child in secret, never knowing what her fate would be...only praying it would be more than she could give her. I pray for her and that she is able to sense her little girl's smiles and laughter, love and happiness...and feel peace in her decision.
What an awesome gift they gave.

I think about my mother in law and how she found herself pregnant at 17 in 1971. I wonder....had it been only 2 years later, would there have been someone pressuring her into not choosing life.
Just imagine if that had happened.
I wouldn't have my wonderful husband....a man who I have no doubt God had big plans for from the moment he was conceived.
God knew there would be a Tyler, Timmy, Trae, Tony, and Tanner from this baby growing in his mama 39 yrs ago.
If he hadn't been born, they wouldn't even exist....except in the eyes and heart of God, who had planned on their lives through Jason. Does He cry for all the babies that could have been from all the parents that never were?

So this is what today is really about..right.
Not how we, as moms, can get pampered and spoiled...although I'll take every bit of it.....
At it's core, it's about thanking your mom for life....or thanking your mom for adopting you and choosing YOUR life.
Every life is precious
Every life is planned
Every life is wanted by someone
Every life is a gift from God
Who are we to not give that life a chance

Happy Mother's Day to all who chose to do just that
What a beautiful day.

My Timmy

On May 5th...Cinco De Mayo....My Timmy turned 12.

Wow, just to say that amazes me. 

I was just getting the hang of Tyler being a teenager...

and now I'm on my way to having two.
 

Every year at his birthday, I'm reminded of how wonderfully special he is.

I remember his birth so clearly and the absolute joy he instantly caused

 

 

He has always been my warm hearted boy.

The one who cried at every Livi milestone during our adoption...including telling the boys we were going to adopt, telling them we got matched, and seeing them at the airport coming home from China.

He's good at sports...wrestling and football are at the top of his list.

He loves fishing and biking and camping
 

His favorite thing for dinner is pasta with shrimp

He has the thickest head of hair in the bunch and takes the most time combing it after a shower

He is a great big brother and loves his new little sister

He is a bit of an debater and will argue that the sky is blue
.....I wonder where he gets that from.....

He's kind and respectful at school and makes people laugh

He's a really great artist

He blushes when he's embarrassed

 He's known now as Tim to his friends...but he will ALWAYS be Timmy to me

And he hugs his mama whenever we're in the same room

How can you not be in love with that.

Happy Birthday to my Timmy Fimmy Cocoa Pop.

My sweet boys

My boys have a knack for making me smile. 
Sometimes without even realizing I need it....they say just the right thing. 
I've always said they are very affectionate and protective of their mama....
so maybe they sense when something they say will offset some of the stupid things other people say.

These are just a few of the things that people have said to me about our adoption and about Livi.

Before adopting....
"Are you sure you want to do that?"
"What......5 isn't enough?"
"Want that girl, huh?" 
   -I know that one doesn't sound that bad, but I've really gotten sick of it after hearing it about a million times-
"Kept trying for a girl, huh"
    -Um...no, we kept trying for a child

Since we brought her home....
"You adopted when you already have 5.....wow, I hope they have a return policy?"
    -and this chick wasn't even smiling when she said it
"Is she yours or did you adopt her?" 
    -Umm.....both?
"Finally got your girl, huh?" 
   -I know...not terrible...but again...a million times...every.single.day.  ugh
It makes me feel like I wasn't happy to complete with my boys and that makes me feel very defensive of them and has made me really hate that comment.
"How much did she cost" (store clerk....they always have the most interesting comments)
    -um, she was marked down on sale....yep, we got a good deal on her.  She's like a little bargain baby.
And then there was the store clerk who, as soon as we got the the checkout, kept saying...."Oh, poor baby....poor, poor baby.....oh, that poor thing....." 
About 25 times during the whole checkout process. 
I finally said, "She's not a poor baby...she's a very happy, healthy baby and she'll be just fine". 
To which she replied..."Oh, I know...but poor, poor baby"
Oh, brother. 

This is what I hear at home from my boys.....and it makes me forgot all those
stupid comments.  Why are kids smarter than some adults?

When Tyler found out she was scheduled to get her lip surgery done...
"aw, I'm gonna miss it.  It's like a part of her" 

Trae, the other night as we are all sitting in the family room getting a kick out of something silly she was doing...
"how did we get so lucky to get her?"

Tanner, when he came in from outside and left her out there with dad and his other brothers...
"mom, she was so sad that I was leaving her....it's because she just loves me so much"
He's always saying how she's so cute and how much he loves her.  And this is the kid that everyone was wondering if he'd be jealous.....nope.

Those are just a few of the things that come to mind. 
There are so many times, daily, that they all say how much they love her. 
They hate to see her cry. 
They fight over who's next to hug and kiss her goodnight. 
Anyone who ever teases her or, God forbid, decides to date her will have to get through them first.
She is so lucky to have such sweet brothers.....
 ....and I'm so lucky to have my beautiful boys.

Happy Easter

Okay, so I'm a week late.  I've been so terrible about getting on my blog lately.  Lots to do around here and, truth be told, it's garage sale season so that has taken priority these days.  I never drive by a good garage sale.

Anyway...getting back....Last week was Easter and it was not only Livi's first Easter with US, it was her first Easter EVER. 

She's had a lot of "firsts" in the past 6 weeks and it's been fun to have a front row seat to each and every one. 

It doesn't take her long to get the hang of things that are new and fun. 

I wonder what she must think when we do things like coloring Easter eggs. 

 The Easter Bunny knew she couldn't really tackle the traditional candy in the baskets, so he brought her the movie, Tangled. 

 Our annual picture on the steps before the kids get to come downstairs.

 She was so excited!

 And loved finding all the colorful eggs in all their hiding spots.  The Easter Bunny made sure to make some easy to find for her.

 We were all decked out in our Easter best.  Coordinated and all....much to Tyler's chagrin.   

 Time for Grandma's annual Easter egg hunt outside.  Thankfully the weather was nice enough. 

Carrie Underwood w/ Vince Gill How Great thou Art - Standing Ovation!

This is amazing and just proves to me again why I absolutely love Carrie Underwood....both as a singer and a person. Love her!

Two things

First...
Yesterday was Livi's first dr. appointment for her cleft lip/palate.   She saw the orthodontist and the surgeon who will do all lip and palate operations. 
It was really just a consult and info appointment to see where we needed to get started with her care. 
The ortho first thought, upon seeing her, that the gap in her gums is rather large and may need to have a procedure done before we could go forward with her lip repair.  It would involve having a device surgically implanted into her gums with pins going up into her palate.  It would then be tightened over 3 weeks to bring that gum line together a bit. 
When we saw the other surgeon, he agreed that it may be normally something that she would need....but because of her age (it has a better result on babies) and it being 2 additional surgeries, he felt we could go without it.  Good.
So, as of now, I'm waiting to hear from the surgical scheduler to find out when her lip repair will be.  They said they would like to get her in within the month. 
After that, we wait 6-8 weeks for that to heal and then do the palate. 
That means that by the time summer is over, she will look like a very different little girl.
I'm nervous for her and the discomfort she is certainly in for......
but I'm so excited for her too.  It will be a whole new life for her.

The second thing is that Tyler was nominated for and accepted into the National Junior Honor's Society.  YAY Tyler!  He had to write an essay about why he should be accepted.  He also had to ask an adult (non-family member......he asked his best friend's mom) to write a recommendation for him. It is also based on his grades and conduct. 
He found out today that he was among the kids chosen.  We are soooo proud of him.  He's such a nice boy and just a really good kid. 
He graduates from 8th grade this year and I can't believe he's starting high school this fall. 
Am I old enough for this? 
Way to go, Tyler! 
You make us very happy.