Caught Acting Natural

Yesterday we celebrated my mother's birthday. When I had asked her what she wanted her answer was she had wonderful gifts from our boys. I thought a picture of the sweet boys would be a great way to remind her how much she is loved. I got the boys rallied and outside for a picture, but my momnesia kicked in and I forgot to put a card in the camera. I had to run back inside. When I came out this is what I found. The boys had just relaxed and snuggled up. I took a quick picture and I think it ended up far more true to who they are, however....



These are some darn cute smiles as well. They are just such happy children. I know Jack has brought a new level of depth and maturity out in Hunter. Don't get me wrong, if I can capture video of them racing around the kitchen on tricycles I will. It can be crazy, but we are loving every minute. It's certainly not always easy. Take today for example...this picture below is my little man after his visit to the dentist.


He had his second of two scheduled dental visits where he had to be in a conscious sedation. Today's visit included 11 fillings and two crowns. One crown was finalized following his first visit. On that visit he had to have an abscessed tooth pulled. In order to maintain the bone in his maxillary bone a spacer was attached to the crown. I don't know if you can tell from the picture, but he is covered in stickers. Everyone at the office loved him and kept giving him stickers. He ran out of room on his pajamas and started putting them on his arms. He has an airplane in his hand that he got when we arrived at the dentist at 7:50 a.m. (we had to leave the house at 6:45 a.m.). They gave him the plane as his reward for drinking a concoction of medicine that helped him relax and undergo the procedure. He is still holding right now (completely asleep) more than 12 hours later.

CONSIDERING ADOPTING A CLEFT AFFECTED CHILD? HAVE ONE ALREADY? Yahoo has an awesome group for cleft families that has been a huge help to me. I feel that knowledge is so important to allow you to be a better advocate for you children. I am also always up for an email with questions.

Summer Wrestling, Clean Plate Club & the Solo

The boys have been wrestling and running through the house since we finished dinner. I love having boys. I didn't always think it would be for me...parenting boys seemed foreign. Its turned out to be such a blast. And the personalities on these little boys are so different yet the same in many ways. While is louder, more outgoing and physical. Hunter is more quiet, sometime shy and prefers time with his Legos to just about anything. But they both exhibit tremendous caring and sensitivity to others. It makes a mother proud.

We took a picture of this event...that's right... a clean plate. Jack ate everything on his plate for the first time in ages. The last time this happened was after his hard palate repair surgery. Perhaps he has sensed that he goes back for his second dental surgery on Monday. This one requires no extractions which should make it easier for him.

Lastly, I don't have a picture (although he has video) but Craig completed his first solo today. He's been taking flying lessons for several months now. Today he completed a successful solo flight. The video showed beautiful landings, which he said he "greased".

Happy Father's Day to All

Our Father's Day started a day early with a special lasagna dinner for my father. Special thanks to Giada DiLaurentis for her awesome cookbooks - veggie lasagna with cannelloni beans. Craig preferred my mother's Boston Creme Pie to the main course. He brought the cake out onto the dining room table before dinner was done. Compliments to her for his Father's Day favorite.

Madras-clad boys invaded Grandpa's house for Father's Day. Jack is doing great with his speech. He said "Grandpa's House" several times today. Today we had the chance to start preparing for our big family trip this summer. The boys are really excited.

Sentimental Mood

Here's a picture from when Jack first came home. He's grown and changed so much since then. And, the love you see from Hunter toward his brother has only gotten stronger.

A Moment of Thanks

(Olivia is in orange and black poka dots. Jack is in the middle in the red ski suit...I am sure its not technically a ski suit given Rongxian's proximity to the equator, but it might as well be one.)

Whenever I stop to appreciate Jack I try to remember the important people who influenced, educated and loved him before we could. He is such an amazing and brilliant little boy. He has a tremendous capacity for love. He knows how to have fun and laugh. He is inquisitive and delights in learning. So much of who he is today comes from the foundation he received at the social welfare institute in China. As we learn more and more about conditions of children around the world, its worth taking a moment to be thankful for Jack's start in life.


Jack is very fond of using sign language to talk about his friends. I am sure if he could have signed it then, he would have told us about his friends. His school transitioned some children from his class into a new program for the summer. On the way home from school he told me (through sign) that his friends had gone bye-bye. It struck me that he had experienced friends going bye-bye before at the SWI. I plan to make a point of finding some of his friends at the school in the morning so he will know they didn't go bye-bye like he might think. I want to make sure he knows that he isn't going to ever go bye-bye again.

Family Weekend

Happy Birthday to Grandpa! We got the family together and headed to Grandpa's favorite restaurant for dinner. Madison finished up work and made it over just in time for dessert. Afterward we went back to the house for presents. Grandpa loved the big and little ducks he got from the boys.

A first for Jack. He went to the movie theater for the first time this weekend for Kung Fu Panda. We all enjoyed the movie and Jack did very well. He started out in a booster but worked his way into my lap. As much as he likes watching movies at home, I think he is really going to get into visits to our local movie house.