New teeth and new toy

Jailyn had to have 3 cavities filled and her chipped tooth filled. Originally, there were only 2 cavities, in her front teeth. During the procedure the dentist found another cavity in one of her crazy teeth. Because the ridge of her gum runs behind her front teeth- she has teeth growing back there too. (I know this probably doesn't make sense - sorry) - Anyway, one of those teeth also had a cavity. This makes me sad as we had hoped that her teeth would be strong and healthy for as long as possible. To strengthen her adult teeth we need her baby teeth to stay in as long as possible. We are thankful that her tooth chipped and we were able to get her to the dentist early enough that the cavities were small.

Jailyn did great with the oral sedation medicine. The assistants kept coming out to me telling me that she was the perfect patient! Love that! I'm going to have to take lessons from her next time I go to the dentist.
She did get sick a few times after the procedure but after a bowl of soy ice cream and a 4 hour nap she was ready to go and eat chips! :) (oh, she is her mother's daughter! )

That evening we went to Home Depot to get some play sand - and the girls had a ball!
Love this sand/water table!
And a much needed bath afterwards!
All is well!!



The next morning Jailyn asked if it was her birthday last night. I guess my kids don't get new toys very often. :)
And Jailyn, continues to thank me for bringing Jorja home. Today she thanked me for her house. So sweet!!!

Jorja cracks me up!

Jorja is such a silly girl!
As she tries to learn English, she keeps us amused!
Here are some conversations that we have...
At Brady's soccer game last week - she pointed to him and said to me,
"Mamma, Billy!"
I agreed,"yes, there is billy."
She gave me a look that could kill... "No, Billya"
I had to mess with her... "yea, Billy"
"NO!!! Billya!"
and so on! :)

Every place that one might put clothing... hamper, washing machine,
drawer, bed (to fold laundry) is a "hampa". Too cute!

The other day riding in the car, Jorja was naming everyone again as she normally does...
and this time giving everyone nicknames...
"Kenzie ... sista", "Billya...bother", "Jailyn... mei-mei", "Conna... fei-sho"
Hummm... Conner and I weren't sure what she meant by fei-sho.
After asking her about this a few times - and she repeated the same words -
we (okay, I ) asked her if she meant "freak show". She laughed so hard and
now calls Conner "freak show"!
Conner loves the nick name! :)

Jorja is such a fun person to do laundry with! She loves to sort per family member
and then sort per color. She is so happy doing laundry! Love that!

I am posting some cute photos of her for a new blogger friend to check out Jorja.
Another friend thinks Jorja and another little girl from China look like sisters -
I'll see what the other little girls momma says before we show everyone their similarities.
Wouldn't that be cool if we found Jorja's big birth sister!

I surrender All!

All to Jesus I surrender;
all to him I freely give;
I will ever love and trust him,
in his presence daily live.
Refrain:
I surrender all, I surrender all,
all to thee, my blessed Savior,
I surrender all.

All to Jesus I surrender;
humbly at his feet I bow,
worldly pleasures all forsaken;
take me, Jesus, take me now.


All to Jesus I surrender;
make me, Savior, wholly thine;
fill me with thy love and power;
truly know that thou art mine.


All to Jesus I surrender;
Lord, I give myself to thee;
fill me with thy love and power;
let thy blessing fall on me.


All to Jesus I surrender;
now I feel the sacred flame.
O the joy of full salvation!
Glory, glory, to his name!

Have I surrendered all to God? Do I walk daily with Him?
This weekend I went on a women's retreat with our church -
this was the first women's retreat I had ever been on, and did
I learn a lot about myself and my God!
Learning is usually difficult - this weekend was fun and restful
in some ways, but very trying and tiring in many other ways too!

Praying for my fellow retreaters! God is working in all of us!
Whether we go quietly or with a bit of a temper tantrum - He will
guide and make His path known!
Love you girls!

2 Corinthians 4:16-18
16Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

Next time...

things that I will do differently when we adopt again.

First of all, I can't believe I actually spoke (okay, typed) that sentence. The last month and a half has been rough - and I wasn't ready to even speak those words, but God is working with me and preparing me again. He is helping me analyze our adoption of Jorja and Jailyn and what I have learned from both, and am still learning.

Lesson #1
Chill Out!

Why does a stay-at-home mom think she doesn't need to take a six-week maternity leave?
I really wish I had taken time off of everything for at least a few weeks. We did enjoy getting out and seeing friends, but next time I will take more time to get organized at home and just hang out.
I feel like it has taken me six weeks to get back to myself again.

Lesson #2
Birth age is not always developmental age

I knew this in my head, but preparing Jorja for school in the fall has been difficult. I am beginning to slow down with her and she is doing much better. I have been verbally referring to the girls as my 3 year olds. The older kids corrected me, of course, but I explained to them that Jorja is developmentally a 3 year old.
So what if she is not ready for kindergarten in the fall. God will provide schooling for her. Whether she needs a private pre-school, public school, a charter school or home school.


Lesson #3
Babies vs. Older Children

We knew it would be different but didn't realize in how many ways bringing home our 5 year old is the same as bringing home our 16 month old.
- sleepless nights
- diapers
- bland foods
- temper tantrums (like I've never seen before - and I though I had seen it all!)
- not being able to leave them alone as they will find anything and everything to get into.
Added differences:
- bad habits - spiting whenever/where ever she wants
- screaming in fun whenever/ where ever she wants
- never had learned what a "hot" stove is!
- doesn't understand the safety precautions needed to cross a street or walk in a parking lot.

All orphans are survivors but older children are even more survivors! Which is a nice way to say they are stubborn and know how to get their way. Learning to share and learning house and social rules are a daily battle.

But, how fun she is to take to the park and see run with freedom! And the hugs are endless! The silly expressions are precious! Watching her learn and experience all these new things are priceless!

Lesson #4
Accept help

This has been a hard lesson for me. Accepting help is very difficult for me! I think I should be able to do it all! Guess what - others want to help! This doesn't make one a bad mom or incapable! God gave us friends and our church families as support systems! Let your friends help!!


Lesson #5
God is in control

This really should be lesson #1! Though things around have been breaking - household things... we are down to one full bathroom (for 7 people), our car engine has been in the shop for 3 weeks getting a new/used engine, a roof leak... but Jorja's Hep B test came back negative! And that trumps every other struggle!
Satan has tried to attack our lives, our spirit and our faith! God has remained faithful!!!! And He wins!!


Lesson #6
God wants more

What is "more" - we are not sure yet. Praying that God will show us His plan for us and what He wants us to do from here.
Just a few lessons I have learned so far! I know there are many more to come! Hopefully, they wont be hard lessons for me to learn!

Chipped Tooth

As we brushed Jailyn's tooth the other night - we notice that one of her front teeth had a huge chip in it. "When did that happen?" Who knows - Jailyn didn't! :)
We went to our dentist yesterday - and found out that her two front teeth have cavaties in the back of each tooth. This is probably the cause of the chip - weaking of the tooth.
Next Wednesday, Jailyn will have to have oral sedation as the dentist fills the cavaties and fixes the chip.
Please remember her in your prayers. Not sure how she will take to the oral sedation.

1st Day of school!

Jorja began pre-school today at the same pre-school that Brady, Kenzie and Conner went to! The Director was surprised when we came knocking at her door a few weeks ago. They were able to add Jorja to the 3 year old class, which is about where she is developmentally and socially.

Her teacher, Ms. Cory, said that she had a good first day of school. Ms. Cory said she could understand everything Jorja said. When I came picked her up she was very tired and took a 2 1/2 hour nap! Wow! This is the longest nap we have gotten from her! It paid off as she had a great afternoon, and she was fun to be around!

Jailyn and Jorja were playing in the backyard this evening. I couldn't believe they wanted to go outside - it was too cold for me to be out there with them. :) The girls wanted to got he trampoline - sounds like they had a great time! Jorja kept getting down and coming to tell me stories about what was happening on the trampoline...
"Jailyn ... jum... jum... peeans down!!" or in English - "Jailyn... jump...jump...pants fell down!" Jorja was laughing so hard she could hardly tell me. :)
She went off running - another minute lately she came back to tell me that she pretended she was sleeping and Jailyn jumped and she was bounced. :)
Too funny!

The part that really cracks me up is that shoes are not allowed on the trampoline - but every time Jorja came running to me she had her shoes on, when Jailyn came to check on Jorja she came without her shoes or socks on. These two girls are so different! I love when they can actually enjoy each others company. :)

Jorja turns 5!

Happy Birthday to Jorja!
Jorja turned 5 yesterday. We had a fun day scheduled but for some reason Jorja woke up on the Diva side of her bed and decided not to be co-operative. Not until some time out in the cold at Brady's soccer game did she decide to give up on the "tude" and join the rest of us in celebration of her birthday.
She loved her cake and presents! Especially her "puppy" from Uncle JB!





As everyday, but especially yesterday, I prayed for Jorja's birth mother. She must still be in pain having to leave her beautiful daughter at that bus stop. I don't know how she was able to do it, but am so thankful that she was so strong and loved her daughter so much, so that she can be a beautiful part of our family!

Finally Friends!

Jorja and Jailyn have been friends from first sight. They generally get along very well - they do have their moments but generally they have fun together. They are such opposites! We are hoping this is good in the future! Opposites attract!
It is very hard to get a cute photo of the two girls - as Jailyn loves to huge and cuddle with anyone - Jorja is very picky as to who and when she hugs! For photos Jailyn always wants to put her arm around Jorja's neck - Jorja is never excited about this type of affection!



The friends that I am talking about is Jorja and Cosmo or "Caacamo" as Jorja calls our Black Lab! Cosmo was in at the vet for the first few days when we returned home from China. We brought him home Jorja was very nervous. Cosmo could have cared less about her - just another kid in the house!
As time went on - Jorja realized Cosmo was staying. She dealt with him, but didn't like his kisses! That totally groused her out!
They are finally friends! Cosmo can wag his tail and she laughs! This helps with the peace in our house.

Locks of Love!

This is second time Kenzie has grown her hair out long enough to get it cut to donate the cut hair to Locks of Love.
Here are some photos of the process!
Unfortunately, Jorja was unhappy that she wasn't getting the haircut and had a temper tantrum so, I wasn't able to get a photo of Kenzie after the cut before she went off with her friends to the school dance. Hopefully soon!

Paintball Fun!!

What a fun boy party!
And they could be outside! Conner had a very long birthday party this year!
He had 5 friends over to spend the night, get up early for pancakes or if you eat pancakes like Conner - a little pancake with your powdered sugar and syrup! And then we were off to play paintball! They played for a good 4 hours. They were surprised how badly the paint ball hurt when they got shot, but believe it or not - there was not one tear shed! I wasn't sure if they would last 10 minutes or the full 4 hours! :)
We had pizza and then headed home - the boys convinced "Coach" Bryan to take them to the park for some soccer! (Agreed, it didn't take much to convince Bryan to play soccer with them.) They were there for another few hours! And, again everyone got a long really well! We were beginning to get worried as they were all so tired from the birthday activities, but they handled it! :)
After most of the kids got picked up we headed to the soccer fields to watch a friends team play! Yeah, they won! Conner was still going strong! I think it helped being outside for the whole day! :) But, boy did he sleep in the next day! And showed his crankiness the next day - but that's okay. :)
Happy 10th Conner J! We love you!
Our friend Nick ready to roll!
My sweet girl ready to take the boys on! And book a party for her birthday!


Another Dad giving his sweet girl some strategic moves!
Shoot...
and score!!!
First injury on the field! Wow that looks like it hurts! This is when Sensory Integration Disorder comes in handy... "I didn't even feel it!"



Jorja and Jailyn loved the day too! We all love to be outside! Jorja is handling the Texas wind much better. It's all about peer pressure... she really wants a jacket with a hood - but Jailyn doesn't so Jorja gives in. :)

We love Lapbooks!

We are new to home schooling and am constantly looking for ways to make learning fun for our kids, especially Conner. I found this wonderful method of learning called Lapbooks!
It's inexpensive and fun! Conner's fine motor skills suffer, due to his SID, so that art work helps him too.
We have done three lapbooks so far - China, Human Body and Soccer. Soccer was of course his favorite. Below are some photos of his work! He really had fun coming up with questions to research, finding the answers, and putting it all together - he is even proud of his mosaic picture! (Mrs. Smith, I hope you are proud of him - you know you are still his favorite Art teacher!)
Presently, he is working on a Lapbook about Sensory Integration Disorder. He is really enjoying this as he is also learning about himself! After researching activities that help a person with SID or SPD he asked if we could go to the park, because he felt like he needed to swing! This is a huge accomplish for Conner! So, we went after school and all the kids had fun! I think we all needed a little swing time! :)
Conner is using his Human Body lapbook as another material of reference for his SID book. It's great to see him make the connection!

We are doing a study on weather and when we are through the study we will make another lapbook as a review to the study! This is sooo much better for Conner then testing. :)

Jailyn loves her "home school" time too! Here are some photos of Jorja and Jailyn making their art work too! They loved cutting and gluing!

"Haircut!"

Okay, can you believe it? Jorja has been asking me all evening for a haircut!
Her hair has grown really fast - I'm thinking she must of gotten a haircut right before we met her.
Her Sensory Integration Disorder is pretty bad - so I understand that she is having a hard time with her hair growth but... sorry babe! We're growing it a bit more! :)

These photos are from our Valentine Party at Michele's house. (Our neighborhood playgroup!) Thanks for the fun time Michele! And your house is so organized I went home and began cleaning! You are such an inspiration! I think I need to come over more often! :)

Surprise!

What a fun time! My Bible study friends threw a fun "baby" shower for Jorja and I. Mrs. Amy made a beautiful, yummy cake and everyone was so sweet and gracious with their gifts! Jorja was so excited to see all these gifts for her!!! She has no problem remembering which is hers and which is Jailyn's! :)
Thank you ladies! This was a very special day!





The gift opening part became a bit crazy! Jorja and Jailyn were opening gifts faster then my friend Bobbi Jo could write everything down for me. :)
Bless you Bobbi Jo!



Thank you friends! Y'all are so sweet! I couldn't of made it through all of this without you! :)

God cures another waiting child!

Jorja was listed on the Special Needs list for as a Hep B carrier. When we inquired about her with our agency, they said that the blood work reports they had received makes the physicians believe her body has fought off the infection and she is clear of Hep B.
We still weren't sure but trusted God that Jorja was our daughter and God wanted her home with us.
God has blessed us over and over with the home coming of our daughter but today we received a wonderful phone call from her doctor's office. After 3 viles of blood and lots of tests... Jorja is Heb B FREE!!! I'm so happy for her!

Thank you God for your many blessings!

Just a funny for the day:
I have lost my voice today - (not good since we have Conner's sleep over b-day party tonight and we have lots of crazy 10 year old boys coming over.)
When Jorja first got up this morning she was scared of my voice - she is now saying, over and over "Momma silly" as she points to my mouth! Too cute!

Two Years ago...

we first met our precious Jailyn!
What an amazing two years!
Jailyn is a ray of sunshine to every one she meets!
and an infectious personality!
Look at the difference of bathtub time 2 years ago!




And now...





Where does the time go!

"No Fai"

Jorja is really picking up on English! She has amazed us with her speech and her ability to understand what is being said.
Some funnies:
"Bye! Bye! See ya later! " this she shouts at people as we walk through the grocery store.
jelly = Brady
poopa = poop
kailley = potty
dru = drink
boo = book, bow,
pay = play
cool = school
no fai = no fair
wit = wait
wa ya sa... pweeze = what do you say? Please
pennies = panties
pent = pants
wo la Jorja? Momma = Who loves Jorja? Momma! (our little song)
couwer = color
NO! = NO!
soh = shoe
ock = sock
hsss = hiss
Hey! = hey!

Conner, Kenzie and I can pretty much understand her -
Dad and Brady have a bit more trouble! We laugh at them!

Catching on!

Jorja is so smart! She cracked me up last night!
As sleep time has been the most horrible time of the day - and exhausts and stresses all of us - it has been sooo hard to be consistent with bed time. But praying for help and praying Jorja will understand with her heart and head that we will be here for her in the morning (or in the middle of the night if she needs us!) - last night, though I'm not sure if she still trusts that we will always be here for her - she has caught on to the night time game! :)
Because jorja has had such horrible nights - (whether we lay down with her, hold her on the couch, or put her in her bed) we have had to take Jailyn out of the room and let her sleep with us. Jorja's temper tantrums and screaming scares Jailyn and hurts her ears!
Kenzie and I came home last night to Bryan putting the girls to bed - Jailyn had been having a tough later afternoon - I think she is sleep deprived, her sleep schedule has been really messed up since we came home from China. (Not to mention being overly tired from the fun Super Bowl party we went too.) Anyway, Kenzie and I both told Jorja - "No crying and you will get to come to Mommy's bed." She nodded her head, and stopped any whining! Jailyn was whining and crying.
Kenzie and I left their room - Jailyn whining, and Jorja as quiet as ever! Kenzie and I were amazed! A few minutes later, Jailyn still not stopping crying I went to get Jorja and bring her to my bed. I walked in her room - gestured for her to come to me - and she jumped out of that bed faster then ever! She jumped in my arms, and was silent as we walked to my room - we walked in my room and she gave out the silliest laugh I've heard from her. It was so funny! She was so excited to be put in my bed. I tucked her in and she was asleep in minutes. Oh, so sweet!
Don't worry - Jailyn fell asleep with a bit more cuddling! Hopefully, they will both sleep in a bit today! And then the rest of the day will be much better!

Wishing a non-whining day for y'all too!

Shout out to Manchester 96G's soccer team!

Just a quick shout out to Kenzie's soccer team!
Winners of the Winter Cup 2009!
Go Manchester Strikers!
What a fun team!! These girls are great and their team spirit shows
on the field! They all get along so well, they really play as a team!

Love ya girls!
Congrats!!
And thanks to all the parents who have helped us through Jojra's adoption!
Y'all are great!
(Great photos Conner J - thanks! It's hard to take photos when I am chasing the two little girls! Thankfully we have such great photographers in the family! - If only they would scrap book the photos for me!:)

Too many posts!

I have so many post ideas running through my head - but no time to complete any of them.
I hope to get a breather in the next few days - so that I can share my words of wisdom or more like - lack of wisdom!!!

Here are some precious photos to share!
This week we were actually able to put a pony tail holder in Jorja's hair! She loved having a bow that stayed in!