Here We Grow Again!

Introducing 

Matheus Jefri Jianping Brady 

but you can call me

JJ

                                      

 

I am 3 years old and I live in China!

I will be coming home to my forever family in the Spring of 2014!

March Birthday Madness 2013

 Birthday Boy - Thaddeus Joel is 4

 Alyx,Graci,Savannah, Susi,Thad,Kamby,and Dax - buying tickets to ride the Light Rail in Phx

Waiting for the train to come

 These brothers............priceless!

Kamby and Thad are pretty excited to ride the train

 Oh yes, he is a little excited!!

Look at how fast it goes, what fun!

 Susannah and Savannah

 The train stopped at the Spaghetti Factory where we had lunch because the birthday boy loves noodles. He, of course, ordered what he always orders everywhere, mac n cheese.

Spongebob birthday cake was the chosen cake.

 All the sibs at the Spaghetti Factory

Alyx made her brother a cute Spongebob cake with a four on his forehead.

 The Birthday Girl - Gracelyn Jia is 7!

Thad

 Friend Haylea 

 Friend Kylie

 Kamby

 Dax

Susi

 Another great cake from Alyx - a baby doll cake was requested by Graci because she loves her dollies and playing mommy.

 Friend Macey

 Finished cakes

So proud

 Completed project

Happy with her cake

 It was a lot of work but it looks great

Creative finish

Happy birthday Graci Jia!!

A Little Poem

I came across this poem I had written a while back. I was just being silly and I guess I typed it out, so I just found it on my computer and thought it was cute.

At first there was one,

She was so much fun! But we thought we were done….

We longed for two,

And the Lord saw fit to make our dreams come true!

Ten years , a decade, we prayed to see,

Then from across the world,  came three!

We could not help but shout with glee!

Before we had time to want for more,

Along came number four, our son that we absolutely adore!

God felt we had more to add to our mix,

And together came our sweet  five and six.

Maybe our quiver was full, we were not certain,

Then suddenly we were blessed with seven!

Our seven are from heaven!

Who knows as we wait.........if we will see number eight.

Our Parade of the Nations

 Waiting for the parade to start.

 Go Team China!

Go Team Ethiopia!

As the Ethiopian flag went by and everyone was yelling and cheering, Thad screamed "That's for me, that's for me!"

Go Team Guatemala! 

 Then started our own parade of the nations

each kiddo carried their country's flag. 

Go China, Go Ethiopia, Go Guatemala, Go USA!

The cheering was loud and fun as each country paraded and held their flag high!

Other funny side notes that made this year's opening ceremony even more fun......

These kids rarely see a tv commercial, so of course tonight they watched lots of commercials and it added to the entertainment. During the Fruit of Loom commercial where the gymnasts are doing gymnastics in their underwear, Dax literally fell off the couch laughing at someone on tv in their underwear!

And when the flag bearer from Swaziland had his close up, Graci said "OooohLaLa! Red hair! I want him to be my prince and when we get married I will tell him that when I was little I saw him on tv!"

The Pain of Learning and The Joy of Progress

Susi and her peeps at the wheelchair clinic. Everyone is super excited to get Susi's new chair!

 Susi is very motivated by the camera but don't let the smile fool you. This girl is giving it everything she's got to stand up like that. Many times behind the camera she is shedding tears of pain. She has not stood up or straightened her back, butt, and legs, ever! Her muscles are very weak, feeling and muscle ability is unknown at this point, and her bones (in her legs/knees) have formed crooked. This is very difficult for her but we work on it everyday and hope that someday she might stand up.

 In meanwhile, she got a stylish new ride. Pink, of course! This is the first time she has a chair that fits her, supports her, and accommodates her feet. She can maneuver it easily and is learning all kinds of ways to deal with being in the wheelchair.

 Thad had to learn the hard way to listen to Graci when she says to get out of the way of the swing. Poor guy!

My silly little potato heads!

Susi's Journey To Walking

 January 2007 -baby girl undergoes surgery to repair her spina bifida.

Also born with bilateral club feet. No plan at this time to do anything to repair them.

At 2.5 years old she left the orphanage in Siping City and went to the clubfoot unit at  An Orphan's Wish. 

Casting began to straighten her clubfeet. Many children are successful with this treatment.

Unfortunately, for Susi, this would not be the case.

After the first set of casts, she developed an infection  in her leg and casting could  not continue properly.

It took so long to heal that progress in both legs became uneven.  She spent and entire year of casting, infection, healing and repeat. Her feet could not be repaired. Then sweet girl went to Beijing to live at Shepherd's Field. The doctor there had her seen to do surgery to repair her feet. This happened at the same time that we found our Susi -Yue and began her adoption. So the surgery was not done.

About 18 months after that, little Susi is home with her family and prepares for  clubfeet  correction surgery. 

April 2012 - Susi is ready to go into surgery with Dr. Vu.

It was a very difficult surgery reported Dr. Vu. It took almost  4 hours and he could not quite  get the feet positioned as well as he would have liked. He said this surgery is best done on a 9 month old baby. The fact that Susi's bones had formed for 5.5 years made it very difficult to correct. After surgery her feet are considered braceable. They are at a ninety degree angle. She got her first set of full length casts, pink, of course.

Two weeks later the pink casts come off and mama and Susi are shocked with what we see.  Left foot.

Right foot. Dr. Vu says the feet look good and are healing well.

So, on go the purple casts for the next two weeks.

Off come the purple casts and feet look a little more closed and healing.  Left foot.

Right foot.

There are two pins in each foot. One in the top of the foot and  one in the heal. These come out this day. They measure about 2 inches long. Unbelievable!

Last set of casts go on, red with gold glitter.

Here we are in May 2012. Casts are off for good. Feet are healing well. We have learned that Susi has ability with her right knee to kick back her foot. The left knee, not so much. But once positioned she seems to be able to hold it.

So, now establishing what feeling she has in her legs, she was fitted for braces. These will come in a few days.

In meanwhile she is trying to keep her feet as flat as she can. She is wearing whatever shoes she can get on. She loves shoes!! She is using her new trampoline and doing lots of physical therapy.

And of course, STANDING!!!!! She gets in and out of her wheelchair and now gets in and out of her trampoline.  While her feet are still sore and weak, she still smiles and is excited to learn to walk. We pray that is God's plan for her!