Disney World and a Huge Boo Boo

Hanging out in front of our hotel.


You can't go to Disney without getting ears!



Piglet and the boys-Lillie Mei did NOT like the characters.



Look at my big foot!



Just before her accident-outside the hotel.


We arrived in Orlando around 3pm yesterday and at the Urgent Care Facility around 7pm. As we were preparing for dinner, I was ironing. I took a break after ironing for the kids to get ready. I left the iron on so we could continue the ironing (we had a dinner for Kirk's work). Lillie Mei decided to check out the iron and pulled it off of the ironing board and onto her foot. It stayed on her foot until Harrison pulled it off (probably 3-4 seconds). It was the worst accident any of my children have had and as usual I freaked out. Kirk was calm and got it in water. He called the hotel front desk and they connected us with a nurse. A security guard also came up to help us wrap it. She screamed when we took it out of the water so we unwrapped it and put a wet washcloth on it and took a cab to the nearest urgent care facility. The hotel actually paid for our cab! They were wonderful.

The doctor put cream on it, wrapped it and gave us a presription for the cream and some pain med. By the time we left she was her usual energetic and happy self. She has huge blisters on her toes and foot. She can't wear a shoe or get it wet. Not the day we expected but she is such a trooper!

We went to the Magic Kingdom this morning --just me and the kids. They all did great. We're resting now and going back tonight.

Here's a few pix!

Easter Sunday- Part One

Lillie Mei had a great first Easter. It was chilly but we were prepared.


The dress with the hat (I knew it wouldn't last long)


The hat was replaced with the headband. She loved her duck that was in her basket.


My beautiful children.




One of her favorite places--her rocking chair. It doesn't get much cuter!

Easter Eggs

This weekend my mom, sister, niece, and nephew visited. The kids haad a blast! We spent some time dying eggs and hiding Easter eggs (inside b/c it was raining).

Our Visit to the Doctors

Yesterday went very well at Chapel Hill. We saw 10 or 11 (I lost count) different people. Lillie Mei did great until the eye appt. She fell asleep on the way to the building it was is in and stayed asleep while they dialated her eyes. We had to wake her up for the exam and she wasn't happy!

We'll get a written report in 2-3 weeks but the general consensus was that she would have one surgery in the next few months which would include removal of the skin tags, fixing her cleft lip, and possibly tubes in her ears (she has fluid in both ears).

The 2nd surgery would be between ages 3 and 5 and would probably include a few "revisions" to her cheek area, working on her ear, and her eye.

The 3rd surgery wouldn't be until at least kindergarten (could be much later depending on how she is feeling about her appearance) and would probably involve removing a rib to fill-in her jaw.

Thank you for your prayers. Almost everyone was extremely nice, all were professional, and everything went very smoothly. God continues to follow us and take care of us on this incredible journey!

WHY do we buy toys?

Lillie Mei spent at least 15 minutes yesterday playing with juice boxes. She was very proud of herself!

Please remember to pray for us, we will be at UNC-Chapel Hill all day on Thursday. We will see a plastic surgeon, oral surgeon, orthodontist, speech path., social worker, psychologist, dentist, ear, nose, and throat dr., audiologist, and an opthamologist. It will be a very long day. Please pray that everything will go smoothly and Lillie Mei will not be too traumatized. I'll post as soon as I can after we get home.

Valentine's Day

I'm a little late posting but here are some Valentine pictures.


Prior to the sugar-filled breakfast--


During the sugar-filled breakfast--


At Zeke's class party. I didn't send enough cupcakes to include Lillie Mei. It just so happened that one child didn't want one--lucky for her!


We played a game to see who could pick up the most converstion hearts with chopsticks. Zeke won hands down!

Happy Chinese New Year!

Today marks the first day of the new moon and therefore Chinese New Year. This is one of China's most celebrated holidays. There is a lot of time spent cleaning and cooking for families. They also honor family members who have died in the past year. It makes me think of Lillie Mei's parents and whether this day reminds them of their daughter. Firecrackers are also used to ring in the new year.

We celebrated by having Chinese take-out! Lillie Mei at her favorite, dumplings! Lillie Mei and I also watched Nickelodeon's new show, Ni Hao-Kai Lan, which is very much like a Chinese version of Dora. It was cute and teaches a few Chinese words. I watched while Lillie Mei played--she's not very interested in the TV except in the car. We also have a little book for Lillie Mei about the holiday. In China, the children get money in red envelopes. I have little red bags for the kids that I'm going to put a small amount of money in--I don't want to set any great expectations. I hope we can continue to have some traditions from China so Lillie Mei can have a little understanding of her culture. So Happy New Year--BTW it's the year of the rat :)


YUMMY!

We're finally ready to try Chinese food again.

How do these things work?

Our very own tradition--wearing the valentine bucket on your head!

Three Months Ago....

Exactly 3 months ago today we welcomed Lillie Mei into our family! What a difference such a short time can make. Since November 5th we came home from China, celebrated Thanksgiving, Christmas, and the new year. Lillie Mei has learned to pat-a-cake, sing, say several words (including "Go Tarheels" much to my dismay), walk, and pretty much get her way in most situations! She has also won our hearts and been an incredible blessing. I don't think any of us remember what life was like without her!


Three Months Ago


Today

Beach Pictures

I never got around to posting the few pictures from our trip to Hilton Head (this was when Lillie Mei got sick). I didn't have my camera the day we actually went to the beach--I'll have to get those pictures from Donna.

BTW- we are going back to the doctor Wed. morning. She's still coughing and I just want to make sure they don't need to change her medicine.



I'm ready, where's the sun????


Lillie Mei bonded with our friends Kent and Donna. At one point when Kent had her she wouldn't come to me!!




Who would have put that horrible hat on such a pretty little girl?

Feeling Much Better!!

Yesterday Lillie Mei was feeling much better so we decided to take her to church. She looked very cute! She is beginning to walk more than crawl now. She is very proud of herself!

Today however, she began to cough again. We did breathing treatments more frequently today and may have to take her back to the doctor. It almost seems like she has a cold on top of everything else. We'll see how she does tonight.

Our Sick Little Girl

Please pray for Lillie Mei. We were at the beach this weekend but she didn't have much fun b/c she started running a fever and coughing really bad on Saturday. She was better on Sunday but got much worse again yesterday. We went to the doctor this morning and she has RSV and pneumonia. She was terrified by the chest x-ray. She's on 3 different medications now. She is going to be fine but please pray that she will feel better quickly and that we will all get some sleep tonight! Thanks!

SNOW!!

It has been a long time since the boys have seen a decent snow. Today we got 4-5 inches and they are having a ball. It has been raining off and on so I'm not sure how long it will last. Zeke has been outside almost non-stop since 8am and it's almost 12:00 now. Lillie Mei was interested in it but I didn't let her stay out long because it was raining.

The Boys' Big Weekend

We had two big events this weekend. On Saturday, Zeke had his first Upwards basketball game of the season. He did an awesome job and had a great time!

On Sunday, Harrison had his first ever gymnastics tournament in Raleigh. He also did a great job. He qualified for the state meet in March and learned a lot!




Zeke ready for action.


We need to get out there!


Lillie Mei cheering on her brother.


On the pommel.


Hanging out with the coach.

Christmas Morning Breakfast

Our good friends, the Baldwins, taught us several years ago about "Chocolate 'n Biscuits" for breakfast. You basically mix together sugar, cocoa, and milk, cook it, and then dip your biscuits in it. My children had it at the Baldwins' house during sleepovers and were hooked. We've now made it the breakfast of choice on special days like birthdays, the first day of school, and Christmas. This was Lillie Mei's first taste of the tradition. It's amazing how far 2 tablespoons of chocolate "gravy" will go!