Wednesday, October 28, 2009

The Great Pumpkin

For those of you who may be growing weary of our "Beaver Cleaver-esque" family fall traditions, you may want to move right along. Last night was pumpkin carving night, and Gracie had the time of her life. At the beginning all she could say was "Eeeew!", but as she watched her sisters and brother, before long she was scooping out pumpkin guts like a pro. I love this time of the year!
Tomorrow we head to Virgina to spend time with Brian's family. More Cleaver family photos to come, don't worry. (For those of you born after 1975, and who may be unfamiliar with the Cleavers, you can get up-to-speed HERE....You can thank me later)



Oh, that Erin...





Gotta love Charlie Brown & the Great Pumpkin


Uh, can one become ill from consuming raw pumpkin?


There she glows


Our hard work appreciated

Reading the Pumpkin Patch Parable

Monday, October 26, 2009

Ye Olde Apple Orchard

Ready for fun








Quinn found a ladybug





Do you think he knows what annual American
holiday is coming up in November? Hmm...

Friday, October 23, 2009

Pass the smelling salts, please...

Yep, that's our first born
holding up her newest prized possession...
She got her driver's permit today.
Whaaaaaa!
I guess the true miracle of it all
is that her mother is only 29.
They're handing out those permits earlier and earlier...







Oh, and I think we might need to
invest in some new toys around here...
Gracie enjoys hanging out in the laundry basket.

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Happy Cows

Saturday the kids and I trekked out to the Happy Cow Creamery to freeze and make some memories! Just another one of those yearly outings where we would say "Maybe next year we'll have Gracie."... Thank You Jesus for bringing her home!



Do you think those are Happy Cows standing in 6" of Mud?!





"Is this supposed to be fun?"


Friday, October 16, 2009

Updates!

Has another week passed by already? I mean, really??! Sometimes I look around at the end of a day and wonder if I accomplished much...Then I remember there's a toddler in the house again! The new normal is busy!

Gracie has a pretty full schedule, and she loves it. An early interventionist visits once a week for an hour, and brings a huge bag of great toys. (Don't tell Gracie Shu that they're actually teaching her playing and reasoning skills) Ami oversees Gracie's other therapies which include speech therapy twice a week and soon to be added occupational therapy once a week. Yeah, we know how to party around here! That pretty much takes up our mornings, and that sweet girl is more than ready for her afternoon naps before it's time to go sit in car lines for her siblings. I am honestly grateful that these services are available to us, and even more grateful that they are offered here at home!


Gracie and Miss Ami

Today we headed back to Charlotte on what we thought would have been her surgery day. Gracie needed to have another impression made of her palate, and round 2 was not as rosy as round one. Evidently the doctor who makes the Latham device was out of town for a while, and a new mold was needed so that it would be a perfect fit as she is growing quickly! The impression took a little longer to set this time, and Gracie was good and mad by the time we were done. She kept signing for her Daddy to pick her up and rescue her. That was tough to watch. Hopefully we should be back in a few weeks for the actual procedure!

We also had an appointment with the ENT who will be putting the tubes in Gracie's ears. We were SO impressed with this doctor and his manner with Gracie. On the way up this morning my brother sent me a text telling us to have fun watching God at work at our appointments. I loved that. We definitely sensed God's hand in this visit. He totally confirmed our decision to go with the Latham before palate surgery. He said he has seen over and over that in the long run this process is so much better for mouth and speech development for someone like Gracie with a significant cleft. He also spoke so highly of our surgeon, and said the times he has witnessed him placing the Latham in surgery, it fits like perfection! (Hence the re-making of the impression!)
God is great, and is greatly to be praised. He continues to lovingly Father us through every step!

Monday, October 12, 2009

Rain, a Baby Shower, and a Funny China Memory

It's a rainy, chilly Monday here.
What could be more exciting than helping sweet faces like these?!

Hop on over to my friend Lori's blog HERE ,
grab a cup of coffee, and join her blog shower to help out
THIS amazing ministry!
They are truly doing God's kingdom work
this side of Heaven.
(I've never attended a baby shower in my pjs before.
More comfortable, but without all the fun food.)



In my mind I daily re-live moments from our life-changing trip to China. One of the funniest sights we saw was at the zoo in Guangzhou. Let me tell you, this was the biggest zoo I have ever seen in my life, and it was one of the hottest, most humid days of our trip.

We saw your average, expected exhibits...







and then we came across three or four cages of this exotic animal...


Yep, Pomeranians. It was actually pretty pitiful.

Weird, but pitiful.


I won't even share about the children playing in the goldfish pool...

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Happy Birthday!

Happy, happy 45th to the most incredible husband and dad on this planet!


We love you Daddy!