Wordless Wednesday

Sunday Snapshot! 6months today!

Photo taken Feb 28, 2011...Daddy is the baby whisperer...she calmed down when he held her.

It's been 6 months today since Jolie was placed in our arms. In that short time, it seems as if she's always been here with us. She says more and more English words, understands everything we say and still says a few Chinese words. She loves, loves, loves, her siblings, parents, grandparents and great-granny.

 She's grown a lot taller in 6 months too. This photo was taken in Guangzhou. 

Shek and Jolie play in the playroom 6 months ago.

5 months later...joking around with Zach

6 months later...Jolie received mail and she is excited to share with Sis!

Great-Granny (aka Honey) love

the kids and the grands

 She loves SHOES and new Clothes...she loves to sing and dance. She loves to sing along with that country hit "Remind Me" and Jamie Grace's new Christian hit "Hold Me"...she is also partial to Rascal Flats.  It's especially heart warming when she sings "Jesus loves me". I love it when she brings the books to read with Jesus in them and she always points him out and calls him Jesus. She even points at the cross at church and says Jesus. She winks like me (we wink like a pirate ~one eye squinted and our mouth open). We've come along way in 6 months, but not with our winks!;)

This week I met a lady who kept telling me that we did such a marvelous thing in adopting her, and that we were compassionate and we should be commended. I always like to turn these conversations back around to the fact that our girl has far blessed us more. BUT this lady went on to tell me that she was adopted when she was a toddler. So I listened intently, I knew she had a different perspective, one of an adoptee. She even told me that as a toddler she remembered much of her life before being adopted. I was amazed at her memory. She told me that one traumatic event stuck out in her little girl memory and that was when she had to be transferred from one home to another group home in the middle of the night. She said she remembered arriving in a large dark room with bunk beds and that she was very upset and crying. She said the other children there were nice and told her that if she just rocked herself back and forth she would go to sleep. THIS. BROKE. MY. HEART!

I think of all my babies: my almost 19 year old, my 15 year old, and my 9 year old and my 2 year old. I would hate to think of them having to rock themselves and comfort themselves when they were babies because there was no lap or no arms to comfort them.

All my babies!

There are approximately 143 million orphans in the world...with no parents to comfort them, no lap for them to sit in, no arms to rock them...

So if you have ever toyed with the idea of adoption, felt compassion about the orphans, maybe even said I would adopt BUT....get past the BUT and just do it. There's a lot of paperwork to do, but it's well worth it. Check out our timeline on the left, it took us about a year from adoption application till travel. It's a journey you won't want to miss.

I am glad we heard HIS call and did it...I would have hated missing out on Jolie.

Jolie and me at the beach.

Jolie loving life!

Borrowed this quote from a friend's facebook status:

 "By adopting a child and helping them reach their potential, they help us reach ours. An adopted child is not an unwanted child; to the contrary. They are a child who was searched for, prayed for, cried for, begged for; received by arms that ached, making empty hearts full. Love is meant to be shared" - Author Unknown

I am participating in Ni Hao Y'all's Sunday Snapshot....check out other  snapshots at  Stefanie's blog:  Ni Hao Y'all

Karlie

Yesterday, after a very long day of education, I told Karlie to put on her glad rags so we could take some photos. So before long she emerged from her room completely changed into something different, with new hairstyle and makeup too. We had fun taking photos around the house and next door too.

 You take a pretty girl and add a cute hip happening zebra top

  throw on some hot pink pants and converse shoes

add a sweet smile...

 and a little sunshine too...

  a little greenery is nice...

  a glimpse of the pond in the background...and you've got some pretty cool shots of a pretty sweet girl.

The END! 

Time for a new "do"

We have not had internet since Saturday morning.( I was able to connect through my phone...so it wasn't as bad as it could have been). LOL Let me tell you what, this blogging girl was having a little withdrawal. I couldn't do the Sunday Snapshot at Ni ha Y'all, I couldn't check emails, and even some of our school work had to be put on  hold till AT&T finally got the problem fixed. We called everyday, and everyday the same ole answer...tomorrow it should be fixed. Today, I asked for a credit, and told them that as a homeschooling parent and that my husband worked from home Wed.- Fri. that they were really putting me in  a bind. They said they understood my  feelings...I don't think they really understood...because they had internet. Anyway....mid morning it came back on! So KB can work from home tomorrow - Friday without going into the office....and I can get to cracking on those assignments that needed that internet tomorrow.....


 BUT...in the meantime, we went to Gina's for our haircuts.

Gina fixes Karlie's hair...and has styled, cut and colored it since she was about 4!

Today was Jolie's first hair cut in America. She has had her hair cut before we have the photos of the crew cuts to prove it. We are letting her hair grow out, but she needed her bangs trimmed and an overall shape-up.  Later, during Gam's haircut, Gina got out the buzzers to shave up Gam's neck...from across the room, Jolie came back to Gina, pulled back her shirt to show her neck for the buzzers...We all laughed knowing that the buzzers have been the frequent used scissors for Jolie's hair cuts in China...lol

Gina cut my hair first and then put a cape on Jolie and she sat in my lap. She didn't seem to mind her hair trim a bit and wasn't too squirmy.

Trimming the bangs.

Gina wanted me to  hold her head steady.

Jolie says, "That wasn't bad at all!"

We looked in the mirror and said," Aww, you look beautiful!"

Jolie says, "Thank You, Mrs. Gina!"

My Girls

My Girls

Here's today's photo for the day. My real camera has a dead battery, so IPHONE it is. We had a long day of SCHOOL work and needed a break. So Daddy said we could eat supper at FireHOUSE. We girls were sitting together in the back of the truck and I snapped this picture. Aren't my girls beautiful? Check out the band-aid on Jolie's head, she has no 'wound' there, she just loves band-aids. She goes through about 3 or 4 a day. She keeps Karlie and Shek hopping to get her a new one when the sticky wears out.

When I was a kid, I loved band-aids too with the same kind of passion as Jolie. Karlie doesn't like band-aids on her head, I guess  band aids are just a little kid thing...

Black and White~Wings Wednesday

WiNgS WeDnEsDaY!

gOoD to the Last BiTe!

It's Wednesday, and I had not thawed any meat for supper...so I grabbed some wings just down the road at the shack!When Jolie first came home she would eat everything, but lately she's become not really picky, but a little more selective.

 We knew that she likes chicken, but we recently discovered that she loves wings. Tonight THE Shack was running a special...for every 10 you buy you get 5 free...so I brought home a pan full....and the family devoured them, all except Karlie...she had pizza! LOL

 Jolie kept wanting "mowerrr" There was  one left and Karl was going to give it to the dog, but Jolie said," NO!!!" From the photo above, you can see who ate the very last one! Baby Girl Loves some wings!

Check out other black and white Wednesdays over at Lisa's Blog .

Sunday Snapshot~Photos on the wall make a difference

I love taking photos and have lots of my kids. I have made lots of photos of Jolie since she has been home. She has been photographed so much that she now gives a cheesy grin everytime I lift up my phone or camera. The below photo was snapped just two months home. I took her photo in her Easter dresses on the stairs. I have photos of all the kids on these same steps. In this photo, she looked at the wall next to her and from the look in her eyes I can tell she is thinking where's my photo. The wall she is looking at has photos of the kids as babies with either me, or Karl, but at that time I had not gotten one of her included. After looking at that photo I knew I needed to get busy. 

The photo below hangs on the wall by the stairs...Jolie loves to see herself on the wall with the other kid/parent photos, and points at herself everytime she passes by it.

We took lots of family photos and made a collage and hung them in the kitchen. My mom snapped the two photos above.  We could tell that having her photos on the wall meant a lot. I had her China photos around the house, but I don't think she had really realized those photos were really her.

When we went to the beach a month ago, we had the "beach family photo" made. I've always wanted one of those and I've always wanted it HUGE size. Several of you saw from a previous post which ones we were choosing from for the BIG wall photo.

We ordered it and it finally came in...

 When I went into Sam's the box was HUGE and had to ride in the back of the pickup!

 Here's Karl opening the box

 Wow...we're so life size! lol

 Propped up on the mantle.

 Time for the ladder

It's always good to have a few helpers.

Jolie really liked "helping"...

Hanging it up!

 Wah-la!   

Even though I have new  5x7's and 8x10's  family photos scattered around the house...the large family photo with Jolie in it...has really made an impression on her...it has made a good difference....so if you're adopting soon...get a large family photo on the wall as soon as you can!

This morning when Jolie woke up she came into the living room and crawled up on the couch and sat by me and looked up at the big family photo....she pointed and said, "ME" she pronounces it ME-ah...I said yes that's you...then she pointed out everyone else by name and smiled....

Visit Ni Hao Y'all for other Sunday Snapshots

Tutu cute

Today Karlie and Shek helped Jolie pick out some clothes to wear. She started the day out in a pink dress, but later in the morning she found her tutu and had to put it on. She wore it with her Wild Olive Tees shirt "chosen". She wore it  all day, and even had to wear it to town...because I did offer to change her into a denim skirt, but she wouldn't have it. THE TUTU was the CHOICE of the day....and of course "MINE" had to go too. At one point she was quite the cute sight in her tutu, toting "mine" and drinking her bottle....

Jolie is tutu cute...

Tutu cute comin' and a'goin'

Yes, she wore it to town with "Mine" in tow!

Rockin' the tutu at guitar center!

To whoever placed the bench outside of Guitar Center, we say, "Thank ya, Thank ya very much!" insert Elvis impersonation here.

For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. Out of all the peoples on the face of the earth, the Lord has chosen you to be His treasured possession.  Deuteronomy 14:2

Surgery!~postponed...

On Friday, as I was walking off the walking track my phone rang. I thought it was a telemarketer and I was really getting ready to tell her I was not interested in whatever she had to say. She just had that telemarketer tone and when she started off with, "MIZZZZ Berry, we have some bad news....I thought what?

She proceeded to tell me that the ENT scheduled to place one tube in one of Jolie's ears would be unavailable to do it on our scheduled surgery date...I said, Fine send another one. She said she would but because our surgery has to be on Wednesday due to the dental retainer thing that has to be inserted, that there were no available ENTs for that day...

I'm thinking you wait this late in the game to figure it out....we have already arranged days off (well at least Karl has)...we've already started juggling our schedules around. .....UGH would not even define how frustrated I was. She said I will give you a few moments to decide and call you back...

What's to decide....You can't do it when you said...what now?...but of course, my manners and sweet disposition and  all kept me in check.  I didn't say how I really felt....as Pioneer Women often quotes Nicholson ...(THEY CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH)...

SO our choices that I discussed with Karl after I got home were ...keep the same surgery date....and do the tubes later.. which would mean 2 surgeries, more pre-op visits...more $$$ so we said no reschedule it. She said it'll have to be September. I said if you're going to do it in September, can it please be during Fall Break. I thought at least that way I don't have to worry about NCC homework, HOME of FINE arts classes, other school work or carting everyone around...because....everything stops for that week.  She finally called back with the new date and it was during Fall Break. SO for that I am very thankful!

GOD does have a plan...and all things work out for our good if we are called according to HIS purpose.

So prayer warriors keep on praying for Jolie's upcoming cleft palate repair, ear tube surgery that will take place on Wednesday September 14....time of day I don't know...pray it's early cause Jolie likes her milk first thing...and to tell her NO MILK may not go over well and we will all need some prayers of grace and such for that one.

Have a great week...fall break it's coming up soon, right?

Jolie says, " Don't be messin' with my surgery date anymore...we want to get this thing over and done!" 

Sunday snapshot~Pop's bday

Today is Pop's birthday. After church they came by for lunch. Here's a few photos of the celebrations.

 Karlie usually bakes everyone's birthday cake, but we were in Sam's last night and I said let's just pick out one...so she picked this one. Jolie was pointing to a pink one, but she did get excited that "_ake" made it in the buggy. Today I took it out of the cake package and placed it on the pretty white cake stand that Honey gave me. I placed it on the side board in the dining room and went back to the kitchen...in a little while Jolie steps into the kitchen and opens her mouth showing me that she had peeled off a blue fondant dot and was enjoying it! So change of plans ....had to move the cake to the kitchen counter. She wanted to eat all the fondant dots off of everyone's slice. She did have her fair share. lol

 Here's Pop.

 The family...I'm behind the camera and all you can see of Karl is his arms. We had just finished eating steak, PW potato skins, Karl's squash, rolls and green tea...we have cleared off the dishes and everyone is ready for "_ake" and ice cream.

Shek is the official birthday candle lighter.

Pop is  really older than three...but we only put three candles on the cake.

Pop with some of his grands.

 Pop with some of his grands and one of his kids.

Pop and Gam with the grands.

 Happy Birthday, POP!

We love you!