Happy New Year!

From our family to yours -
Happy New Year!

Off to Cincinnati

Tomorrow we leave for Cincinnati - the mecca for children born with imperforate anus. Kai will undergo several tests (all requiring general anesthesia) on Friday and Monday. Depending on the results of those tests, Dr. Levitt will decide if more surgery is necessary. This is a change since I last posted. We thought that Kai was definitely going to Cincinnati for surgery, but after some really positive test results (from the week before Christmas), Dr. Levitt has backed off of the word "definite". To be honest, Kai does not have any of the main symptoms of a recto-urethral fistula. Most people (even his doctors and surgeons) can not believe he has this defect. Unfortunately, I know he has it (since I am the one that witnessed the evidence) and I will feel much better after Dr. Levitt gives Kai a thorough check-up and a clean bill of health.

We're going to try to make the trip as enjoyable as possible. I've heard that the aquarium is nice and depending on the weather, we may try to see the zoo. Of course on Friday night we'll stay in the hotel room to root for the Tide! If you know of anything fun to do in or around Cincy, leave a comment and we'll try to get to it. Also, we'd love to have your prayers for Kai. Regardless of whether or not he has surgery this week, we know he's going to be put under general anesthesia twice. Thanks so much. You guys are awesome!

Have a wonderful New Year!

Pray for Stellan

I just sat down at my computer ready to write some funny Christmas stories. I was going to tell you what horrible things Santa put in the kid's stockings, how much I enjoying seeing the movie Twilight with my mother, and how I took my dad to the airport this afternoon. But right now I can not think of anything but Stellan. Many of you in the blogging world know McKMama and her sweet Stellan from My Charming Kids. Stellan is quite simply a miracle baby, who by all medical accounts, was supposed to die in utero. Stellan, however, is a fighter and his family has enormous faith, and because of that, Stellan was born perfectly healthy. Unfortunately, Stellan (now 8 weeks old) was just diagnosed with RSV and is in the PICU. He is very unstable right now and really needs our prayers.

So if you are reading this and you have a little faith, say a prayer for Stellan. He could use it right now.

Joy is...

Spending Christmas with your family

Your favorite present (puppy slippers)

Spending time with your father who
lives 1,656 miles away from you

Ditto

Sitting on Santa's lap

Joy is...

Emceeing Christmas Eve games

A Harley

A new guitar

Giving your Granny a present you picked out
and bought with your OWN money

Making cookies with Grandmama

Joy is...

Reading the Christmas story on Christmas Eve

Hugging your great-grandmother

A Rubix cube you will NEVER solve

A Northface jacket & Bama shirt
(all the rave in our neck of the woods)

Hugging your grandfather

Joy is...

Santa hats
Having a cousin

Night vision goggles to spy on your parents

A book from your grandson

"A Christmas Story" action figure (with lamp, of course!)

Granny, this one's for you!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

From the Kids!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Merry Christmas to You!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

DTC Baby!

Our completed dossier - on it's way to China

Our first glimpse of HeJun

Getting bigger and happier!

My gorgeous boy

Exactly seven months ago, we decided to adopt a 2 year old little boy from Wuxi, China. He looked scared and confused in the 2 pictures we had of him. His head was shaved for the summer. I immediately thought that this little guy needed a mommy (and fast.) Although the fast part was not to be, the mommy part was. Today our dossier is officially on it's way to China. It should arrive there on Tuesday so we are calling our DTC (date to China) December 23, 2008.

Cooper has grown so much since we first saw his sad little face. He has made the transition from baby to "big boy" toddler. He looks amazingly well and seems playful in his photos. My mom recently commented on how handsome he truly is. Of course we agree but then again, we might be a tad bit biased.

Not Me! Monday

Since I pretty much live in a state of unbelievable confusion and chaos, I decided I should fess up and join MckMama (from My Charming Kids) in her “Not Me Monday” posts. Here’s my first effort to unite with hopeless overworked mothers everywhere…

I most certainly did not pay $520 to expedite our dossier at the Chinese Embassy when we barely have enough money to buy groceries (or dare I say, Christmas presents) this month. Never. Not me. No way.

While attempting to get the “Magic Elves” out of Piper’s bedroom, I did not freeze in fear that she was waking up and stand perfectly still for 15 minutes in the pitch black (at midnight no less.) That would be entirely too stupid and I would never do anything like that.

In an effort to have 10 minutes alone to myself, I did not encourage allow David to take Kai and Piper to see Santa without me. I would never do that, especially since this is the first Christmas that Kai actually understands who Santa is. It would be a travesty to miss the wonder of Christmas on my children's faces as they sit on Santa's lap.

I did not keep my 3 year old in his pajamas ALL DAY LONG on Thursday just because I could. But why not, right? You can’t see inside the minivan from the carpool line and David was out of town (so no witnesses!)

I did not tell my son that I could not help him with his book report because I had not read the book. What kind of witch person would turn away their 11 year old son when he really needed help with his schoolwork? Surely not me.

There is absolutely no way that I ate an entire bag of chocolate Christmas bells this week using the excuse that my husband had been out of town for 3 of the last 4 weeks and I deserved them. You can clearly see I didn’t do that by looking at my entirely svelte average figure!

I did not purchase the wrong airline ticket for my mother on Travelocity’s insanely easy-to-use website. What idiot does not double check the arrival and departure dates before they hit the “Buy Now” button?

During the above ticketing snafu, I did not break down and cry while begging "Sylvester the Indian Travelocity Customer Service Agent" to please allow me to change the ticket without incurring any penalties. And I certainly did not explain to him (ad nauseam) how this ticket was being used for my mom to visit Kai after his surgery and not for something as meaningless as a vacation or business meeting.

And last but not least, I did not require let David change every single dirty diaper this entire weekend to punish him for travelling help him bond with with his adorable (and diarrhea prone) son!

No, not me. I'm an angel at heart.

My Angels & Decorating Triumphs

Kai in front of the tree

My first ever bows

"What good fortune to have each other."

Chinese cloissone ornament bought in Guangzhou

Wow, what a year this has been! Last year at this time, we had been home with Kai for a whopping 2 weeks. That Christmas was wonderful yet crazy trying to adjust to a new toddler in the house and fitting in his numerous medical appointments (no lie, I kept an Excel spreadsheet called "Kai's Doctor's Appointments".) This year, it feels as though Kai has been with us forever. He is smart, funny and (unfortunately) 100% American. The only reminders that he was indeed, adopted, are his Asian features and his English pronunciation (which can definitely use some work.) He is truly my angel.

Which brings me to my newest angel, Cooper. Oh how I wish he were home to spend this Christmas with his family. Of course, he has no idea who we are or what he is missing but I yearn for him nonetheless. Two years ago while we were waiting for Kai to come home, we bought a Hallmark Christmas ornament of a Chinese take out box. Beside the box is a fortune cookie holding the message, "What good fortune to have each other." I will always treasure that ornament and the meaning it holds for me.

I guess you can infer that we did decorate the house last week (although last week would really be pushing the truth since it actually ended up taking us 3 days to complete the job.) And I have something to admit - I learned how to make a bow. Many of you are thinking, "big friggin deal, Heather, so you made a bow." But that would come from those of you who are crafty. I am NOT crafty. I hate crafty. However, David wanted some garland in our new great room. So, being the fabulous wife that I am, I went to Hobby Lobby and bought a string of garland (bang, Wife of the Year award coming my way!) I got home and instructed David to put some nails above the back door so I could hang the garland, and voila... it looked sad (pathetic might even be a more appropriate word.) It needed something. Something like bows! So, still working for my Wife of the Year award, I headed back to Hobby Lobby for some bows. Unfortunately, the only bows they had left after their 60% off weekend sale were U-G-L-Y. All of a sudden, the super strong "I can do anything" part of me jumped to the surface and decided that I can make my own d@nm bows, thank you very much. Fast forward to 8:00pm tonight and J.D. and I are at the computer googling "How to make a bow." We didn't do too badly either. Just a few discards before we got 2 that looked moderately decent. No, they don't look exactly like the ones in the stores. No, they don't exactly match. Yes, one is definitely bigger than the other (see photo above for proof.) Big deal. I made them and they're beautiful to me.

It's Him, Isn't It?

Okay, I admit that I am way too excitable when it comes to news of Cooper, but I just found this photo (taken the same day in the Wuxi SWI as Cooper's photos below) and I really think Cooper is in it. Look at the little boy in the yellow jacket on the right. That's Cooper, isn't it? It's the same yellow jacket with gray cuffs, the same reddish, brown pants and ugly brown shoes. Yea! It's Cooper in language class. I'm happy...

Let me know what you think.