"I like water"

One of Jailyn's favorite sentences so far this summer! We just purchased her a sprinkler. She loved it! Cosmo thinks it's pretty cool too!

Sorry for the delay!

I know we haven't posted anything personal lately - sorry!
I would love to catch you up!
Our dear friends, Gary and Valerie, returned home from China with their beautiful daughter Aubriana! She is adorable and doing new things every day. As most of our kids who come home from China, she was a bit behind developmentally. It wont be long until she is doing all the same things as her big brother,(they are only 30 days apart.) Needless to say, I have been trying to get to their home to help them through this transition. I love this new family! They are awesome!!! God will bless them!



The weather in Texas has been so blasted HOT! We were able to take the kids to the pool. Usually, the pool in May is still pretty cold, but not this year! By August we will be adding ice cubes to the water to cool off! :)

Kenzie was our photographer - sorry I deleted the one with me in a swimsuit!


Here's a few photos of our sweet Jailyn - she is growing so fast! When we first met her we had her preschool days all planned out. With cleft lip and palate we assumed she would qualify for PPCD (Preschool Program for Children with Disabilities). Jailyn has far exceeded our expectations and though she will still be evaluated, we highly doubt she will qualify. Though I love the PPCD curriculum I am so proud of how hard Jailyn has worked on her speech! And the big kid, they have worked so hard with her. It's amazing how each one of their personalities teach her something!
This photo is from Mother's Day! The family took me to a Demo Derby!

Jailyn loves to help mommy in the kitchen!

Kenzie's choir went to a competition! They did great! Received a perfect score and then spent the day riding the rides at a small amusement park in Dallas! Fun! Fun! Fun! Jailyn and Mom had a great time too!



Hope that helps y'all get caught up on our sweet pea!

On a brighter note! Another family will be united!

I am so excited for my blog friend Amy! She and hubby will be united with their sweet Lexi very soon! Lexi is a cleft lip and palate baby, which of course touches my heart! Lexi is so beautiful! I can't wait to see her finally in her mommy and daddy's arms!
Follow along this week at Our Journey to China
Love you Amy!

More information

As this tragedy of Maria Sue Chapman unfolds it just continues to become more and more sad. Maria Sue had just turned 5 years old, 10 days before the accident. The family was all together to celebrate the engagement of the Chapman's oldest daughter's engagement and were hours away from a graduation party marking Caleb (their other son's) completion of High School.
Please continue to pray for this beautiful family!
In lieu of flowers the Chapman's have set up Maria's Miracle Fund in her memory.

Pray for the Chapman family

Steven Curtis Chapman's family is mourning the lose of their beautiful 5 year old daughter Maria.
She was killed in a tragic accident in their drive way.
I can't imagine the pain they are all experiencing right now!
This family has adopted three girls from China and have been an inspiration to many!

Another Forever family born!

We met this couple a few years ago, as they were doing paperwork for a China adoption. As they wait has gotten longer and longer they decided to adopt from Ethopia while they wait for their daughter in China.
The met their son for the first time this week!
Beautiful new family pictures! Click here to see their blog!
Oh, I think I want to go to Ethopia next! :)

Another new Family!

Yea! A little girl will meet her momma and daddy for the first time this week!
Follow along! Little Jenny is from our Jorja's orphanage!
Congratulations to this new family who are finally going to be together -
FOREVER!!!

THE BIG WAIT

My Advice for Amy

Gotcha' Day is filled with so many questions - will my child cry? will she/he be hungry? will she/he be tired? will she/he accept me?
Amy, remember to let Lexi take the lead! and don't take her first reaction to you personal. Her little world has been turned upside down, she will come around! It just may take time. I wish I had brought bubbles or something for Jailyn. Though she did well emotionally, but bubbles may have helped her relax a bit more with us. I've never met a kid who didn't like bubbles.

While in China Jailyn took 3 hour naps. The other mom's that we were with kept saying, "Don't let her sleep - she wont sleep tonight." We let her sleep - she got sick the next day, but guess what if though we have been home for over a year, Jailyn still takes 3 hour naps! I'm so glad we let her sleep!

One more word of advice... I know many adopted kids suffer from constipation. While in China we gave Jailyn bottles and Congee. What she was used too. Her little world was so crazy already -the last thing she needed was more stress. We kept her on her comfort food. On the airplane ride home she had her first taste of muffins, and at home we slowly brought baby food into her diet. This really seemed to work. She never suffered from constipation. We are hoping to do the same with our 4 year old. Somehow, I need to make baby food seem perfect for a "big" girl! Plus, it's gotta be healthier for these kids!

Can't wait to see you with your little girl!

Shower Game #3

Hey Ladies,
This is not really a "game" but can be very helpful to Amy as she is united with her sweet girl!
Please list any advice you would give her while in China, on the way home and when she get home.
Feel free to blog on your blog, and/or send directly to Amy on her blog.

Amy, so excited that you are leaving so soon! We will be following your journey through your blog! And will
be crying tears of joy when you and hubby finally have your little Lexi in your arms!

Love ya,
Jodi Sue :)

The Winner is...

Lexi's mom! Yea Amy!
Amy guessed 165 and there were 166 whoppers in the jar!
Way to go Amy! Your prize will be sent to you this week!

Our next game will be announced tomorrow!
Hope y'all have had a Happy Mother's Day!

Jodi Sue

Baby Lexi's Shower game #2

I loved hearing all the Gotcha' Day stories! I love to see Forever Families born!

For our second shower game we will play -
Guess the number of whoppers in the jar!
Leave your guess in the comments! Even if you don't know Amy and Lexi feel free to play along!

My daughter, Kenzie, made her guess this morning.
I haven't counted them yet - so I have no idea either!
Have fun guessing!

Sharing our Gotcha' Day with Jailyn

February 5,2007 - What a great day. We were filled with excitement and fear. We had no idea of what to expect. We were going to meet our daughter for the first time - Wow! We didn't know much about her at all, but were in love with her already! We made sure we made the hotel buffet breakfast thinking that this may be the only meal we get today if Jailyn is cranky and not happy with us. As we ate breakfast, we also watched the Superbowl - yeah, kinda funny! Monday morning in China!
Our guide,Nancy, took us to the Civil Affairs office and after being there for 15- 20 minutes a van with 6 little kiddos pulled up. And there was the first time we saw Jailyn's sweet face. Tears came to my eyes, but I was determined not to cry - I didn't want to scare Jailyn.
As the children were brought into the room, Nancy began yelling, "Yunyan! Yunyan!" She didn't know which one was Yunyan (Jailyn's chinese name). Coco brought her over to us immediately. As soon as we held her we knew that she was our princess!

She took us in and didn't whimper a bit. We tried to give her a bottle but she wanted it much warmer then it was. But, she was fine - just taking everything in.


Jailyn was 16 months old and only 15 lbs. She was not walking yet. She didn't show us for a few days that she knew how to crawl. As she began to trust us did she begin to show her true personality and what she could do.
After we returned to our hotel room we stripped Jailyn down to see how small she really was. We gave her a bath. She did okay, but she was nervous and clung to me. This was a good thing that she had to trust me to take care of her.

We spent the rest of the day hanging out in our room and the hotel hallway with our fellow travel mates, meeting their children.

The personality that we met that first day - I still see in Jailyn 15 months later! She takes everything in! She is so observant and very social. She is also still our princess! Not so much an "angel" but our "princess"! :)

Baby Shower for Sweet Lexi

Our dear friend Amy will become a mommy again in less then a month!
We want to be part of this celebration so we will be having a Virtual Shower for her!
Lexi is in China, and will be 19 1/2 months on Gotcha' Day!
She is a peanut, but Mom is hoping she will be wearing 18 month clothing.

The shower will run from today May 5th - Friday May 16th.
Our first shower game is to share your Gotch'a Day experience with Amy!
Hopefully, this will give Amy some idea of what this incredible day will hold for her!
Blog your experience on your blog but make sure you let us know that you are joining us so that we can check your stories out! (feel free to leave your blog address here or on Amy's blog)And remember to post photos! We love photos!

Sending gifts to Amy - please email me at soccermom@tx.rr.com and I will give you her mailing address.

Virtual Baby Shower

I get to host a fun Virtual Baby Shower for my friend, Amy! I am so excited to celebrate the adoption of their daughter Lexi! Amy should be traveling by the end of May.
I have never hosted a Virtual Shower so if there is anyone out there who has some suggestions please feel free to leave a comment! I want to make this special, but have no idea of what I am doing!
Here are some sweet photos of little Lexi! She is so adorable I can hardly stand it! Oh, adoption is such a wonderful thing!

Drama Queen! OOOPS DRAMA KING!!!

Conner preformed for his school with his fellow third graders! They sang a rap song about how they are going to ace the TAKS test (state test). It was too cute! Brady and Kenzie asked me to get them out of school a bit early so they could see Conner perform. Too sweet!
Conner did a great job and was in total character! He was even on pitch!

We love our little girl!

Just thought we would share some photos from this sunday! She such a doll face!

Jailyn's favorite activities!

Jailyn cracks me up!!! She loves to wash her hands! She has found that she doesn't need any help to turn the water on at the bathtub! She will stand there for a long time just washing her hands! The other day she was having a typical two year old temper tantrum... I said, "Do you want to wash your hands?" She jumped up and ran to the bathtub, of course with a smile on her face! Too cute!
Jailyn also loves to jump on the trampoline, especially with her brothers and sister! "Jump! Jump!"
Jailyn loves to take everything in where ever she is! We were waiting for our car to get an oil change - and she took over the position of the Welcome committee at the garage. Not a shy bone in her body! :)

Jailyn keeps us all smiling and laughing!

Finally in their arms

Oh Valerie and Gary have had a day of it! Check out their blog! What a day! They must be exhausted but at least they finally have their precious daughter!
Aren't they a beautiful family!!!
www.countdowntoaubriana.blogspot.com

Valerie where are you?

Oh my! I couldn't sleep last night! Our friends Valerie and Gary are holding their little girl for the first time today (last night in China!) Valerie please post some photos! I can't wait any longer!
Brady told me today -"It's like you are getting another baby!" I know - I am just so excited!
Come on Valerie post already!!!

Another forever family born!

Please join us watch and pray for our dear friends Gary and Valerie as they are finally united with their little angel! Aubriana Rose

Fourth time mom fails

You might think that on the fourth kid I would have a handle on this baby/kid stuff! Jailyn has been restless for the last week at night. Up whining, and sometimes even crying. I was getting so upset and sad that she was going back into her feelings of insecurity and wondering if we would be there for her when she woke up... all those wonderful emotions that go with adoption. :) Today Kenzie was playing with Jailyn and said, "Hey Mom, Jailyn has a new tooth!" Oh, brother - all that worry for nothing! Nothing a little Orajel wont cure! :)
Lesson learned, not everything needs to be analyzed!

Have a great day!

I've been TAGGED

I have been tagged by threepsinapod!
These are the rules:
1. Link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names a well as links to their blogs.
4. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

7 Random facts about me...

1. I am in a phase of my life that I love to wear and buy jewelry. Jewelry always fits. Okay maybe not always but it's not a personal when a ring doesn't fit as when a swim suit doesn't fit. I love shoes too - but I have big feet - so my shoes don't ever look feet.
2. I am a coach potato during the Olympics! Don't care if it is summer or winter Olympics. (of course, Apollo is the highlight to my Winter Olympics.) I am glued to them. I am so excited about this years Olympics in China. I hope all of this controversy blows over! The athletes need to compete!
3. I have begun a new clothing line. Sweet but Sassy! I am selling these clothes to raise money for the adoption of our little girl, Jorja. I hope to have a website up soon! I am still designing this new line.
4. I love to craft! Scrapbook, cross stitch, paint... I love this stuff, but I am so behind on all of my projects!
5. I have "cows" not "calfs" - yes, I have been told by my brother, and a very good friend in College - with friends and family like that who needs enemies!
6. I am not naturally a red-head. I thought most people new this but just found out that a friend that I have known for a year didn't know.
7. I am absolutely terrified of the dentist. I am getting a filling and a crown next Tuesday. My tooth is killing me but I am still extremely nervouse!

GO Brady!!!!

Not very often do I get to brag on Brady and his soccer team. They have gone trough a lot of growing pains in the last year.
Not being able to pull out a win all season. (some games were so close!!!) This Saturday they won!!! 3-1!!!
The other team was not happy at all! That made it even more sweet!

Of course, Bryan and I were tag team parenting on Saturday. Conner had to get to his game 20 minutes after Brady's game began so I didn't get to see the game. Of course!!!
Conner's team won too.
Kenzie team lost 0-1 but won a tough scrimmage on Sunday!

Just had to share Brady's happy news!

What a difference we all can make!

When Jacob Winters invited all of his classmates to his birthday party recently, he asked them not to bring him any presents. Instead, this very special young man asked them to make a donation to IAAP for the care of little Zhang Qi. Jacob had seen Zhang Qi on our site, and wanted to raise enough money to cover a sponsorship for one year. To the delight of everyone, Jacob's friends donated a total of $642.00! We are so proud of Jacob (and his friends). We know Jacob's parents are very proud, too. Little QiQi is a very lucky baby to have such a special honorary big brother!

April Fool's!!!!

This is a great day to be a mom!
How fun was this! I woke the kids screaming, "Snow Day"!
They were a little confused, but Mom said it, it must be true!
April Fool's!

In the kitchen I was preparing Green Eggs and Ham!


They were pretty disgusted by these - Brady of course ate them.
Being the nice mom that I am, knowing that the kids would probably not be too interested in eating green eggs and ham - I had donuts holes on hand for them.



Well, of course I had to play another trick! I had made edible play dough Donut holes. This shocked each and everyone of them! Brady even said, "oh, these donuts look good!" and he put the whole thing in his mouth! I thought I was going to pee my pants!
Conner was a bit more suspicious, but finally took a bite! :) Gotcha!


and Kenzie was the least excited about the green eggs and ham went right for the donuts. The look on her face was priceless.

I wish I could have taken photos at the moment, but that would have given the surprise away.
Good thing these kids have great sense of humors! :)

A beautiful family!

Another family made in heaven, finding each other half a world apart!
We are so happy to see Robyn and Paul finally united with their sweet little Avery!
Congratulations!

www.chasingchinadreams.blogspot.com

Happy Dance!

We just received word from our adoption agency that China has given us permission to adopt
Suixi Chun Yu! (otherwise known as Jorja) We are so excited to have this paper!
Please pray for Jorja, as she learns she has a forever family just dying to hold her!
I am so excited to be able to send her packages!
Any ideas of what to send a 4 year old are welcome!

12

Jailyn is growing!

This is Jailyn and her speech therapist

Jailyn had her speech evaluation today! A year ago, she was 17 months old an her speech was evaluated to be that of a 4 month old. Today she is 30 months old and her speech development is that of a 26 month old! WOW!! Her vocabulary is strong but her articulation is what needs more work. We are so proud of the accomplishments she has made!

I've been tagged!

Okay, I have never been tagged before, but I guess I need to list 7 random things that many of you out in blogland may not know about me. The rules are to list the person who sent this to you and leave a comment on their blog so readers can visit yours. Post the rules on your blog. Share 7 facts about yourself. Tag 7 people at the end of your post, linking their blog. Let each person know they've been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

1) As my husband says, I rise with the sun and set with the sun! I am an early to bed, early to rise type of person.

2) My favorite vacations have been skiing with my family. The kids love skiing! I would love to take them on a cruise at sometime! If any of you have any ideas of what cruise is good for families feel free to let me know.

3) I accepted Christ as my personal Savior when I was 5 years old. Thank God for His ultimate gift of salvation!

4) I would love to open a hands on children's museum.

5) I often have car rage! Especially in the middle school carpool lines!

6) My dream house would be a large home on 3 or more acres, filled with the kids we have now and more Special needs kids. The 3 acres would have to be some what flat - there would have to be room for a soccer field, that way Bryan would be home more often. :) I hope God leads us to adopt a deaf child some day!

7) I have become a home-body. I love staying home with my family!

I will have to add the people who have I will tag. It took me long enough to come up with these seven things. :)

Jailyn's First snow!

Babies! Babies! Babies!

Yeah! My dear friends Valerie and Gary received the first photos of their daughter today!
She is so precious!!!
Aubriana Rose

She looks like her mommy!

Congratulations! I can't wait for our first play date!

Love ya!

Happy Kaeleb!

Oh I believe this little guy is happy to be with his mommy and daddy!
What a blessed family! Congratulations y'all!
www.k6comehome.blogspot.com

Kaeleb meets his parents today!

Oh, my heart is just doing flips!!! Kaeleb is meeting his forever family today!
He is so adorable! Continue to pray all goes well for this beautiful family!
Some of the family are in China and stayed home.

Follow their blog and encourage them as they are half a world away from their family.
www.k6comehome.blogspot.com

Update on My friends daughter

Yeah! Her surgery went well! All is well!
Thank you for your prayers!

Prayer Request

Please pray for my dear friend in Germany. Amy's 16 year old daughter is having ear surgery on Thursday.
The tough part is that this sweet 16 year old is autistic. This is going to be very hard on her and the whole
family. Please keep them in your prayers!
www.cathchingbutterfliestwo@blogspot.com

Love you Amy!

Kaeleb will meet his parents in 4 days!

A little boy from our agencies WC list (Lifeline Adoption Services) will be united with his mommy and daddy in four days! Follow their journey! www.k6comehome.blogspot.com
He is sooooo adorable!!!
Congratulations Connie!

Don't mess with these karate kids!

Today Kenzie and Conner participated in their karate school's Board Breaking seminar.
How fun was that!!!
Each student was given 10 boards and could choose their favorite style to break each board. When all the students were done, our wonderful instructors gave demonstrations! I am putting together a slide show - and hope to get it up soon! :)
Jailyn loves going to watch Kenzie and Conner. She can't wait to be a karate girl! One of the Asst. Instructors, Ms. Brianna, helped Jailyn "break" her pretend board. Jailyn loves to do this at home too.

It's all about Conner

Conner had a great day on Friday! At school he has been studying economics. Today they had "Market Day" every 3rd grader had to make up a business plan and have a product or service to sell. Conner decided to name his store "The Wheel of Fortune" He was selling chocolate covered fortune cookies, but with a twist. He made a spinner with four colors on it. He had dipped the fortune cookies in chocolate and added colored sprinkles to match the spinner's colors. Depending on what color your spin landed is what colored fortune cookie you would get. We were very proud of him! Not only did he have a fun product, but he made it fun for his customers. Good job Conner! Infact, the whole 3rd grade did a great job! This week they will figure out what their profits were. :)
- for those wondering, the students didn't use real money. They earned money over the last few weeks in school and used that play money. :)


Conner also had a big evening! He belt tested at Sidekicks karate for his brown belt! He has done a great job in karate! There were some months that we thought he might drop out. But he has stuck with it and should be a black belt by next year at this time! We are so proud of him!

Chinese New Year Celebration

We had a fun celebration with our city wide group of adopted kids from Asia. We had a yummy potluck of Chinese foods. Fun crafts for all the kids and a dad even brought his portrait studio with him and took beautiful photos of the kids! I will post those when I get them. I wasn't too worried about great group photos since he was taking much better ones!
We had great help from Brady, Kenzie and Conner and their friends Rich, Lauren, and Anthony! Thanks guys! (They wanted to provide Valet parking, but we didn't think it would be a good idea to let Conner get behind the wheel yet!)

Happy Year of the Rat!

Kia!

Our next karate girl! Jailyn was given an adorable gee and karate pants from a friend - she loves it! When Kenzie and Conner are getting ready for karate class she yells to me "Gee! Gee!" She loves wearing her Gee! and of course Jailyn has her pink belt! Only 7 months away from being eligible to earn her white strip! She already knows her beginner pattern for "Little Dragons", the attention span is something we will need to work on over then next few months! :)