Weilong talks about the circus

Weilong talks about the tooth fairy

Pictures

Look at how much Weilong is growing. He is getting so tall. He eats well, but is still so thin. I think his weight cannot keep up with his growth in height. He weighs 44.6 this morning.

But his headaches continue to get fewer and farther apart and we're all so thankful for that. He is active and seems healthy and of course he's always happy. We are doing physical therapy at home every day, and have cut back to once a month at the therapist's office. Everyone gets in on helping him stretch those tight tendons.

Summer is almost over and we haven't visited Nana yet. I'm afraid I will have to put it off til later. I'm so busy and it's so hot. The kids are not happy about it, but I just can't squeeze a trip in before school starts.

More Growing

Weilong grew another half inch in July! He is getting so tall, but remains painfully thin. He eats well though. I think he is just growing tall and that makes him look thinner. He weighs between 44 and 45 now, back up to his weight before surgery.

I'm going to have to get him new clothes before school starts. Everything is too short. He's very excited about this. And his feet and hands have grown too. He looked at his hands the other day and said they do not look like his hands. They are longer and thin and the veins show.

The PT said I must be more diligent with his stretching exercises. His bones are growing faster than his tendons and muscles and that makes for problems. He is painfully stiff sometimes until we stretch him out. He's so sweet about it, but he says it is painful when the PT does it. I am much more gentle with him, afraid I'll break something. He urges me to push harder so I try. I would not make a good PT, too afraid of causing someone pain.

It has turned off terribly hot here in the Dallas/Ft Worth area. Over 100 for days on end. At times like this I wish I lived at the North Pole! But I keep thinking about how nice it will be this winter and that brings things into the proper prospective.

Two of my nieces have given birth to baby boys in the last six weeks, so that means mom has three new great grandsons. She is thrilled. I am longing to visit her and see the new babies. Maybe soon.

School starts on 8/25. How does summer pass so quickly? My boys are wondering the same thing.

I plan to take a lot of pictures later after the girls fix their hair. They are all growing so fast that I feel an urgent need to get pictures before they change yet again. Hopefully I'll get time to post some to my blog. I haven't seen Hannah for about a week and I miss her terribly.

Slumber Party

Will any of us get any sleep? We talked Andrea into letting us keep Zack tonight. I think getting up every three hours for feedings might be fun for just one night, don't you?

All the kids love the new baby. I'm afraid he'll never lack for attention, and lots of it. Isn't he precious?

Weilong Update

Weilong is doing much better. He has resumed normal activities! He does still have headaches, and we are still praying that they cease completely. They are not as severe as before and tylenol or ibuprofen help a lot. His vomiting is very infrequent now, still gets nauseous about once a week, but laying down and taking a rest helps. His endurance and stamina are almost up to pre-surgery levels in my opinion. I struggle not to "baby" him. But he's so sweet that I just can't help myself sometimes.

He is continuing physical therapy and doing well. Another endocrine problem has crept up, but his recent blood tests were fine so we're not too concerned. His next MRI and neurosurgeon appointment is August. It's so good not to be visiting a doctors office every day.

It's hot here and the children are swimming every day. They are keeping me busy, but it's much easier than I anticipated. They are all being very good for me this summer. Not too much fighting, just an occasional disagreement. I think they're growing up on me!

The boys are forgetting their Mandarin. I took them for Chinese food recently and they had a blank look on their faces when the people there spoke Mandarin to them. One older man urged (demanded?) that I put them back into Mandarin classes and Weilong was loud in his disagreement with this gentleman's opinion. The man insisted it would be in the boys' best interest, but both boys told me that they really really did not want to go. I don't think I'll force them, after all I cannot help them with their homework and make sure they do well in class. Such a hard decision for me. I want them to be able to retain their Mandarin language skills, but I don't think I can force them. That older man told me the boys would regret it when they get college age, and I know he is right. But I can't force them to learn something if I don't know it myself.

So, we're just going to take it easy and enjoy the rest of our summer. We'll try to take the kids on a little trip when things cool down a bit. Too hot right now to think about it!

I'll try to post pictures tomorrow. I let the battery run down in my camera, so I have to get it charged up.

Zach

Hannah's New Brother

We just got home from another exiting adoption journey! Not to China, but just as emotional and exciting. This time we traveled with Hannah and her Mom and Dad to adopt Hannah's new baby brother, Zach. He's such a beautiful sweet little boy and we love him like crazy cakes already. Prepare to see many more pictures of him because he is small and will be still for pictures, unlike the other kids around here.

I feel privileged to be invited along for this trip. I loved seeing the new family being formed. Such sweet memories that will last a lifetime. So, life is so exciting around here, never a dull moment. We're blessed with all these precious little lives to invest ourselves into. It's so rewarding. Like someone has already said "This is the hardest job I'll ever love".

Through the Years

These are the girls from Yongxiu, adopted in Dec 1998. Sometimes one would miss a meeting, or another of the group would slip into the picture, but for the most part these pictures are of the Yongxiu four. My sweet Julia lived with these sweet sisters for the first two years of her life. I'm so glad she has them and their families in her life.

Snowflakes in June

We had a wonderful time this weekend with our fellow Snowflakes. These girls and their families have been like a part of our family for nearly 10 years now. We're so thankful for them.

The picture of four girls are the ones from Julia's orphanage. They spent their first two years together in Yongxiu, Jiangxi, PRC.

Hannah

Hannah loves playing in with the clothes in the dress up box. Here she is in one of the girls' old Christmas dresses. Brings back memories of Christmas past.

Happy Birthday Lisa

Weilong Swims

Temporary Post

This post will only be up until it is discovered by the person pictured. He was in a friend's wedding this past weekend and I got a picture of him.

He threatened to erase my whole blog if I used the picture, but he is so handsome and so sweet that I had to brag by showing ya'll his picture. Oh, and the same razor that got hold of Weilong also attacked him!

Sorry, son.

Summer Buzzzzz

Weilong and his oldest brother had a run-in with a mean razor. I think the razor won! They are both almost hairless. Wonder what the razor looks like?

Don't you love that smile? I'm seeing it more and more often now. Weilong's headaches are much less intense than before and less frequent. I've noticed that the more active he is, the more headaches he has. But it's good to see him so happy and normal. I try not to be overprotective. He deserves some fun after all he's been through. He has already started asking for a trip to the beach again. May I please say that a long drive in the van with 4 or 5 screaming kids does not appeal to me right now. Maybe later.....

Lisa's last year at West

Lisa is a little sad because this is her last year at West Elementary. She says she'll miss everyone. I think she's surprised at the sadness. We realized that there is always a little sadness with any big change in life. Lisa has gone to West since she first came to America, when she was in kindergarten. Those loving teachers taught her to speak English and loved her from day one. Of course she'll miss them. But she can visit any time she wants, we live practically across the street!

Weifu Turns 10

Sunday was Weifu's 10th birthday! He loves chocolate so we fixed brownies for him with hot fudge and ice cream. Believe it or not, these were the first brownies I have fixed since the boys came home. I think they liked them cause they disappeared fast.

Of course our little ham, Weilong, had to get in on the birthday picture! The kids voted for only 5 candles cause they didn't want wax all over their brownies. They have now decided not to put too many candles on birthday cakes, a very big decision that will impact my baking for years to come. We can get rid of the fire extinguisher in the kitchen now!

Oh, and in case you're wondering why the kids have on their pj's a lot in my summer pictures it's because I usually take pics at the end of the day. It was still daylight, but they had finished swimming and so they just put their pajamas on. We ordered Chinese food (what else) and the birthday brownies were desert. A very nice end to a very nice birthday.

Weifu Swims

Peaches

Weilong enjoys eating his favorite fruit.

Feelin' Good

Weilong continues to improve every day. Still having headaches sometimes, but not fierce ones like before. He is also gaining weight and strength. And isn't as grouchy as last week.

Yesterday he finally got into the pool for a little bit. It has turned off pretty hot here and the water is warm now.

I also took him to the pediatrician yesterday morning. He had a little fever and sore throat and runny nose. They told me to give him tylenol and cough syrup as needed. Before the surgery I would never have taken anyone to the doctor for such a minor thing as that little cold. But I'm paranoid now and don't want him to get sick and end up back at the hospital.

Hope you all enjoy the long weekend!