WoW TiMe FLiEs...

How in the world can summer be over??  Most of all how could I possibly have a 15yr old in Gr. 10, an almost 13yr old in Gr. 7 and little miss 4yr old in Preschool!!  I knew this would happen and I would look back, become nostalgic and wish time could stand still just for a moment, but it never does and my babies keep growing older as I somehow stay the same age! ;)

Gr.10

Gr.7

Preschool

Keely has been home with us for over two years and I can't believe how much she has grown up, especially over the summer.  She is so very chatty, dramatic, hilarious, full of imagination and cuteness!  Looking back on pictures of when she first came home with her wonderful bowl cut and round chubby face, I now realize how much of a baby she was.  I didn't realize as much then because I wasn't being handed a newborn, but a 2yr old girl.  

Summer 2011 & Summer 2013

We had a fairly busy summer with lots of beach days with friends, Noah having his wisdom teeth removed then getting braces two weeks later, hockey at the QPlex, swimming, Rotary weekend, first visit to Swallowtail Lighthouse, Isaiah with his Dulsing business, going to see Thomas the Train, boating, whale watching etc.  We also were sad to lose our sweet cat Cinder.  With two vet trips and them in the end thinking she may have rabies, YES RABIES, it was a the most stressful week of my life!!  After 4 days of complete hell, we found out that she in fact did NOT have rabies!  Thank you God!  I finally felt that I could feel sad and miss her now that the scare of possibly being exposed to a deadly virus was over.  Keely still talks about her and prays for her and is certain that we will go and see her in Heaven with God, and that makes me happy!

Keely with Cinder the day before she left us! :(

The Big 15 on June 23

Miss was 4 on July 14

There are probably so many things that I am forgetting to write about, so I will try and capture a bit of our summer with photos.

Rotary Festival 2013, 1st place winner in the Doll Carriage Parade.

Beach Bums

Finding crabs with Zay and Hardin

 1st time out to Swallowtail Lighthouse

 Boating at Nana's Cottage on the Saint John River.

The boys tubing

 

These two were quite full of it! So cute!

Beachin it with friend Kellan

 

Evening walk on Stanley's Beach and happy to see Daddy after he had been away all day.

My Hard Working Boy

Words of Keely

It is so cute listening to our girl talk and carry on conversations especially when she has her own interpretation of words.  
Here is a list of the Keely words: kepitch (ketchup), maudy(Molly our bunny), Taida(Isaiah), Oh Tay (ok), Ee-ll (eagle), 

This is what I can think of right now, I will add to the list when I hear her say other words.

When we were at the cottage last week, her Nana was laying down with her and Keely said "goodnight my dear friend". Lol. She also made Chris pinky swear with her in the truck this evening. Where do they come up with this stuff?

My Baby Turns 4!

Our sweet girl's 4th Birthday is today.  I am amazed at her everyday.  She is absolutely hilarious, super chatty, dramatic, loving and just darn adorable.  She is becoming very imaginative when she plays and had us sit down in her little chairs the other night and performed a puppet show with her panda puppet, including a little song and dance!!  Super cute. 

She hasn't been home quite two years yet, but this is her second Birthday that she has celebrated with her family.  She has learned so much since her homecoming in Aug 2011.  This past week we spent at Nana's cottage at Beulah and she loved walking on the beach, collecting frogs and tadpoles, playing with cousin Cooper meeting new friends at McDonald's for a playdate and had a blast watching Monsters U in 3D.  We did some shopping at the Mall and as we were walking through the stores she would sing either her ABCs or count forwards and backwards (which I didn't even know that she could) or she would just sing a little tune.  One comment as we walked by a lady was how happy of a little girl she was and thank you God THAT she is!!  (Unless her brother's are bugging her, then WATCH OUT!)

Celebrating her Birthday is more than her turning another year older, it is being thankful that she is here, thankful that she is ours, and thankful that in a world that can be so terrible, that a beautiful story came out of that day 4 years ago.  Knowing that there is a loss for her and for her Birth-mother on this day still brings me to tears, but I am so very humbled by the courage that this woman had and forever thankful that she chose life for her! 

Happy 4th Birthday Baby Girl, we love you to the moon and back to dat sun (Keely's version) and of ALL the girls in the world you are Mommy's favorite!!

 

Because every little girl needs a number 4 and heart pancake made by her daddy on their Bday! 

 

Giant panda from her brothers!

 

 Shutterfly book made by mommy of her first two years at the orphanage

 The Keely way to eat tomatoes and watch a Gameboy!

 Breakfast on the deck at the cottage with Nana and Grandpa

 Playing with Cooper on the beach!

Tomorrow we will be having a some of her friends over for another party, so more pics to come!

Prayers

Every night Keely and I say her prayers together.  We pray for family, friends and pets.  The last few weeks I started adding in praying for all of the babies in China that need mommies and daddies, the nanny's at the orphanage and for her birth mother.  It was a bit awkward at first to bring up the subject of her birth mom.  For one, she is 3 and a 1/2, second it's not exactly an easy subject to talk about.  I was worried I was putting ideas in her little head that she wasn't quite able to understand; I don't really understand it all myself; but I knew I wanted to start the conversation sooner than later.

The most precious moment was when she prayed for those babies, nanny's and her birth mom all on her own without me prompting her one night.  I must say it brought tears to my eyes!  She loves to talk about being a baby in China.  She will explain the whole story about mommy and daddy coming to get her on a big plane and that she cried and cried!

The other day while Chris was home for lunch, she was sitting on her trike and started talking away about her birth mommy not being able to take care of her.  I guess I forgot to mention to daddy that I had talked to her about this.  Needless to say he was a bit surprised!

 I'm not exactly sure what to say to her about this topic.  I believe her birth mother wanted her to have a better life.  I also believe that she loved her so much that she chose to wrap her up and place her in a bamboo basket with formula, the date of her birth and place her outside the police station, knowing that she would be quickly found and taken somewhere safe.

 I know in the Chinese culture the grim reality of so many babies is death by abortion or shortly after they are born.  This is not because they are horribly cruel heartless people, but because they feel there is no other way!  I can't imagine the turmoil and pressure so many mothers feel that they must choose death for their babies!   I am so very thankful that our daughters birth mother chose life for her and
had the courage to do what she did.  For that, I can have the confidence to tell my daughter that she IS SO LOVED by her birth mommy, the nanny that cared for her and now her Forever Family!

I know the more we talk about this, the more questions and many different feelings will arise.  Am I prepared?  No!!!  But for now we will stick with Prayers and let her freely talk about her birth mom, hoping that as she grows it will be a natural and comfortable conversation for both her and I.

This morning while getting ready for church she asked me, " why are you my mommy?"  I said, "because God chose me to be" " are you happy that I am your mommy?"  "Yes" and away she went.

So today I am thankful that she is content with that answer and especially thankful that she is happy that I am her Mommy!!!!

Love Every Other Day Too!

I know it has been a long time since I have posted and I am going to blame it on my Ipad!  I really don't like blogging with it and that seems to be what I am on most of the time. So, I thought I would switch over to the good ol' desk top and update this neglected blog.

Today is Valentines Day and have somewhat rebelled against making it a huge deal.  I hope my family, friends, husband and children know that it doesn't take one day out of the year to publicly make it known that I Love them.  On a regular basis they get heart shaped pancakes, I make them their favourite desserts and I tell them I love them!  I don't need you Valentines Day to make me!  Anyway, that is my rant for today! 

This past weekend we went to Fredericton ahead of the "storm of the century" to celebrate CNY at the Playhouse and meet up with our new friends the Morin family.  Poor Keely hadn't been sick all winter and ended up coming down with a fever, cough and runny nose all weekend.  Thank goodness for Advill and Tylenol is all I can say.  We did have a great time despite her being sick and were so happy to connect with another family and their little Chinese Princess.  Now for some photos from the last month and our weekend:

Daddy pulling them on the sled, the faster the better for this little dare devil!

1st official hair cut in Canada a year and a half later!

Miss Makeup

Kallie and Keely build snowfriends!

New Friends in the New Year at Arom Chinese Restaurant in Fredericton.

Daddy's and their girls watching the fish and turtles in the Ramada courtyard.

Two little Chinese Princesses waiting for the CNY show to start at the Playhouse.