And We Shall Call Her Susannah (Graceful Lily)

Susi on her way to Beijing where she resides in a long term care center.
They say Susi smiles a lot!

The paper work says she can be a little stubborn, I think this picture portrays that.

As the days turn into a blur of deadlines, paperwork, and doctor consults I feel I must start blogging our journey to Susi. A few weeks ago on what started out as a usual day I was on the computer and up came the normal e-mails of waiting children in other countries. I look at them all the time and I pray for them all the time. Various things had been nagging me, a sense of grief over facing that Thad and Kamby would be our last adoptions, a sense of something unfinished in China, hurting children without families all over the world, and my own deciphering of what God has for us now. As I prayed and discussed a little with Lee, God started to reveal more to me. We are preparing for Thad and Kamby's re adoption as well as their one year post placement, so I am still quite into the paperwork process. I faced the facts a while ago that we would not go back to China to adopt because we no longer met the requirements. We now have too many children. Plus the wait is so long and let's face it we are not young anymore and one of us is pushing the age limit. But something was not settling with me. I still felt a burden, a tug, a pull in my heart that something was unfinished in China. I began to pray and pray and wait and listen. After completing an AWAA adoption seminar where our family spoke on the joys of adoption, it dawned on me. China opened a new program for kids with special needs and I had seen a little bit about it but never read the whole thing. I came home immediately and read up on it. Could this be what God was leading us to? I mentioned a few ideas to Lee and to be honest did not get much response, after all we do have one that just started college, one that just started high school, two that just started preschool, and two that just started walking. I could see why he was not very responsive ( he is very tired LOL). I kept quiet and prayed and researched. Then there she was, I do not even remember how I found her but I found her. Not only did she remind me of my precious Graci but I became connected to her as soon as I read about her. Susi will turn four the day after Christmas. Over the past few days one confirmation after another has affirmed to us that God is in control and it is His will that Susi join our family. Concerns over the 'powers' in China deeming us worthy of adopting her was calmed through Exodus 14:14 "The Lord will fight for you, you need only to be still". Then concerns over finances and parenting were calmed in the very next verse when God told the Israelites to "move on" and then he showed His ability to do anything by taking them across the red sea to safety. God is certainly bigger than the CCAA and He will truly show his might to them when he places His child in her family. We had no idea of a name for our precious daughter and there was only one name I really wanted and that was Susannah. This is Alyx's middle name but she does not like it at all and never wants me to call her that. I love the name and its meaning. I wasn't sure if this was the name we were to use and I just prayed about it. Then when the information on our little one came to us we searched her Chinese name to find its meaning. When it came up we found out the closest English translation to this name would be 'Sue' short for Susannah. God confirmed it and she shall be called Susannah Yue or in tradition of all our kid's names being shortened, Susi.

Fall is the Best

We were all done with rides when Graci spotted the tea cups. She had seen tea cups on a Disneyland dvd and she just had to ride them because Disney land has them. She said "Are the people the tea, mommy?"

Kamby loved riding the carousel. And it is a good thing Daddy did to because he went many times with all the kids.
Thad loves to ride horsies, he thought this was great!

Kamby after she rode the carousel, she was so happy!

Graci and Dax riding a big kid ride.

I had decorated the front porch with sunflowers, pumpkins, hay, scarecrows, and fall leaves. Although Dax agreed it was lovely he wanted to know why we didn't have any spiders. Much to my chagrin daddy went and got webbing and plastic spiders to decorate the front porch. Dax was so proud of our house. He shows every person that walks up to it, "did you see my piters, I have piters at my house".

Kamby at the State Fair

Alyx and her friend Katie being silly with Graci and Dax at the fair.

All the big kids out front decorating for Fall.

Minnie Mouse Graci after one of the fall festivals we went to.

Kamby and Thad rocking in the recliner, they can really get that chair rockin'! Yes, we see their hair, I am making my peace with getting hair cuts and they will be scheduled soon. Their hair grows so fast, Kamby literally takes a nap and wakes up with more hair.

It has been a great month! The weather here has finally cooled off and we are lovin' outside. The kids play out everyday and Thad and Kamby think outside is the best place to be. Whether they are going on a walk out front or going to play in the back yard with Graci and Dax, when I say let's put our shoes on they go running for the door with huge smiles. It was a great adventure we had to the state fair last week. While it rained the first part of the morning our kids thought that was better than the fair itself because they got to use their umbrellas. It was challenging but in the true spirit of Arizona rain it subsided pretty quickly. Graci and Dax had so much fun riding all the ''big kid rides" which means any ride the babies can't go on. The babies caught on fast to the fun of rides and absolutely loved the carousel. It was a great day! The day before the fair we celebrated Daddy's birthday and tomorrow we will celebrate Mommy's birthday. Everyone is looking forward to Halloween. Although this has never been a focus in our home, thanks to public preschool Dax is well aware that he is to receive candy on Sunday. Alyx, who is 14, just learned this year that we don't trick or treat in our family. She always thought we couldn't because we had to work at the fall festival at church. So this year we are not working because of the babies and their bedtime so she wanted to take Graci and Dax trick or treating. I told her we work at the festivals to avoid Halloween and trick or treating. We will see if I get my way this year or if candy wins out.

Pancake Saturdays with Daddy

Daddy starts early so he can have a griddle and a plate stocked before the babies get up.
Thad and Kamby have about a 3 minute tolerance for waking up and be served food, then the screaming begins.
Thad usually folds his pancakes and stuffs the whole thing in his mouth. Kamby is teaching him to take bites, like the polite little lady she is.

Daddy preps Thad's tray in anticipation of him awakening. Add a banana and cup of milk and this is his first course.

Every Saturday Daddy gets up early and starts the pancakes and then one by one each of the kids gets up to help. This used to involve just Graci and Dax and so Daddy would not get up so early and then they would do the whole process together. But now, enter Thad and Kamby. These babies eat ALOT! Especially our thriving boy! When we brought Thad home he was just a itty bitty little thing with a big head. He weighed 14 lbs at 9 month old in December 2009. He now at 18 months old tips the scales at around 25 pounds and gains daily. At first, Thad had issues with texture, tastes, chewing, and swallowing. It became quite a problem for a while. We thought he would need eating therapy and for many month we just fed him jar baby food. Well, this is no longer an issue. The boy eats everything (except fruits) and pancakes are his favorite. In fact, so much so, that he has broken the house record and eats 25 mini pancakes plus his banana and cup of milk. He out eats Graci and Dax together. It is quite impressive! Now someone might read this and think, why encourage over eating in children. When you have a sickly child from a third world nation with multiple medical issues and appears to have an eating disorder, let me tell how we rejoice in this turn of events. We praise God that Thad is strong, healthy, thriving, and loves to eat!

Is Cinderella in the Bible?

Alyx asked Graci, "What is your favorite Bible verse?"

Graci replied, "Cinderella 87:08 - God made all the animals."

I wish I could take a recorder in with me when I pray with Graci. She prays the most innocent, sweet, precious, and funny prayers every night. One part of one very long prayer that stands out in my memory is when she was praying for orphans.

"God, please help all the children, in all the big lands to find their families. Thank you Jesus that my family found me in China, my Dax in Dottemawa, and Fad and Kamby in Eeefiopia. Have mommys go get all the children in all the lands, please God! And God please give my family the money so we can go to Disneyland, thank you for making Disneyland for us. In Jesus name, Amen" (Graci - 4 years old)

Just a Little Fun with our Kiddos

We took the kids to Prince and Princess night at Chik fila (above is picture one).
We rarely go anywhere without someone falling and knocking something over, we just don't usually have pictures of it. (The boys were fine by the way)

This is Graci's "picture" smile. We took the kids on walk for autism that ended at the zoo. Then we spent the morning at the zoo.

Dax is trying to see the tortoise at the zoo.

Alyx with the littles.

Posing (kind of) with the pumpkin.

Happy Kamby!

Oooooh, Kamby thinks the goat stinks.

Graci, Dax, Thad and Kamby in a cave- Kamby is singing the itsy bitsy spider.

Thad doing his babboon imitation.

We never wonder what is on Kamby's mind, her expressions tell all.

Graci is hot and very done with the zoo. Before this picture we went through monkey village and she said, "my biskies are hot and I need a fan for them".

It is so fun to tickle Thad.

Kamby is a daredevil, the higher Daddy throws her or holds her, the better.

Our little princess, Graci Jia.

Blaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

Daddy and babies.

College Life

Everybody helped move sissy into her dorm room.
Savannah's room is huge. It has a full stove, fridge, and sink. She is only sharing it with one room ate, Jen.

Having some fun with Sissy before we leave.

Savannah at her new desk.

It is all sinking into my brain. Yesterday we celebrated 20 years of marriage, 1 month ago we became parents of a college kid, and in one month I(Tami) turn 40. This is a lot to process, especially when I have two preschoolers and two toddlers running circles around me all day. I don't feel old but my life says I am. :)

We are so proud of Savannah and her quest to receive her degree. She started at Southwestern College a month ago. It is an intentionally Christian four year college that is about 45 minutes from our home. She lives on campus and comes home on weekends. She is doing so well adjusting to life "on her own". Tackling her two classes, Bible and Math, as well as taking care of all her physical and occupational therapies, doctor's appointments, and everything else that life involves. She is pursuing a double major in English-Secondary Education and Christian Ministries. We are ever so grateful to all the people that made this opportunity possible for her and most grateful to God for bringing her through, continuing to heal her, and give her a desire for education.

Thad's Speech

Thad working with his speech therapist.
Kamby is not happy that Thad is getting the attention.

That has been working on the "p" sound, it comes out more like an "f" though.

That mouth is always open, with the tongue out, especially when he is focusing.

Our home is like one big speech therapy session. We are always correcting, pronouncing, articulating, and repeating words in order for all the kids to speak clearly. While Dax and Graci attend the developmental preschool in order to receive speech services, Thad has a speech therapist that comes to our home. Kamby appears to be developmentally on target in regards to speech and just about everything else. We first noticed Thad seemed to have issues eating. He has a sensitive mouth and it was always open with his tongue hanging out. He is now 18 months and still has very little babbling, mimicking, or words. He is progressing though. He probably says a new word about every 3-4 weeks. He does a little bit of signing but not much. We have to be sympathetic to the little guy, even if he did talk, he would not get a word in due to his sisters. Between them(always talking over each other) and Dax (who you can only understand 50% of the time) it would be very hard for him to pick up proper speech. But we are getting there and are greatly encouraged because he did not need eating therapy. He now eats many textures and is chewing and swallowing well. I am very proud that one of his few words is "mama" with an "n" sound but nonetheless it blesses me to hear it.