Surgery Day

Brielle had a minor, outpatient surgery today at St. Mary's. (I used to work in their Peds/PICU when we lived down there so it was nice to feel at home.) She was greeted in Same Day surgery with a welcome sign, a stuffed bear, and a Winnie the Pooh book. We had to be there bright and early so she was pretty tired when we first arrived.

We were worried about her not being able to eat since she loves to eat as soon as she wakes up. Thankfully, she never asked until we made it to the hospital and was calm when she'd tell us she wanted to eat. Then she said, "cookie? I wanna cookie." Yep, that's our girl. :)  She asked several times and Daddy said he would get her one soon.

Checking out her new bear. She got to keep the cute pillowcase too.

This may just be my favorite picture of the two of us...love her so much!

Coloring lasted a whole 3 minutes...

I think she looks so big in this picture but she's really not.  She weighs almost 22 lbs now.
(20.8 when we arrived home.)

Waiting for surgery.

Practicing with the mask. St. Mary's did not disappoint. They took excellent care of her.

Hugs from daddy before surgery

Some snuggles from momma

She finally decided it was ok to change into the gown.

When they brought her back to Same Day Surgery from recovery, she sat up and gave momma lots of hugs. Then she slept for another hour.

She's sleeping...sometimes her eyes are open a little, just like Brynna. ;)

She was quite a charmer. The nurses all came in to see the "cute little girl in room 20." She never cried while we were at the hospital...not even a whimper when they took her IV out.

Drink, girly, so we can go home! :)

We went straight to Panera to get that girl a cookie!

She's happy with her cookie...for about a minute. She ate maybe two bites of it. Then she went into a post-anesthesia I-don't-like-how-this-stuff-makes-me-feel fit. She screamed and kicked like we have never seen before. Quite frankly, I hope we never do again. She was just not herself and I could tell she was miserable. Thankfully, she slept on the way home. She had a cranky afternoon but seems to be feeling better now. 

Thanks for all of the prayers for our little princess. (For other APs, the surgery was unexpected in that we didn't know about this SN until we were home but we aren't sure how long it has been an issue. It may not have ever presented itself in China.)

2 Months {& more}

We tried to spend more time at home this week but we still enjoyed some summer outings. Sometimes I feel like we probably overstimulate Brielle so I've been wanting to stay home more but there are just so many fun things to do. :)

When we were at a local pool last week, Brynna thought she still needed her life jacket on the diving board. When it accidently was left at home this week, she decided to jump off the board to mommy. She soon realized she didn't need me or a life jacket. ;) She went from hesitant jumps to crazy jumps all in the same day!

A little unsure of herself...

Brielle tried the floatie but she really wasn't into it.

Braylee & Sydney

That evening, the girls had their softball pool party and Brynna was having fun with her new skill!

Later in the week, Mandy & I took our kids to the Splash Park. We had lunch and then let the kids play. Brielle only had half of a mini-cookie and yet she STILL had chocolate smeared all over her face! ;)

We joke about these 2 getting married someday.
We laugh about what their kids might look like because they are complete opposites.

Then & Now...

This was our 3 September Sweeties in 2009- Brynna, Emily, & Braylee

And our 4 September Sweeties now- Brynna, Emily, Braylee & Brielle :)

That evening, we invited Tim & Krista over for dinner to celebrate his new job. He took the HS math position at our school. This means my girlies get to go to school with their best friends/cousins! We made them some BR bows so they would have some black/white/red in their collection!

Saturday, Brynna Annabelle was finally old enough to experience church camp like her big sister! It was just a day camp but she was pumped!

I think she had fun!  The capes have a big cross on the back.

Saturday, we had another wedding to attend. We are so happy for Paige & Landon! I was able to snap a few pictures of the girls before we left. It was on the 2 month anniversary of Brielle joining our family!! Happy 2month Gotcha/Adoption Day to our littlest princess! I love these 3!!

My favorite pic of the 3 girls so far!

Today in Sunday School, I only had 4 girls in my class. The weather was gorgeous so we did our class time outside. When we finished up, I snapped a picture of these friends. They all were born within about 10 days of each other.

It also gave me a chance to snap some "2 Month" pictures of Brielle.

2 Months in her Forever Family  --  20 months old.

At the Orphanage

When I sent a care package to Xinmeng back in January, we included a disposable camera. Sometimes families get lucky and see a huge glimpse into their child's life and other times the families get the cameras back without ever having a photo taken on it. We had heard lots of stories of the camera being used all in the same day...and ours was one of them.  We had hoped to see pictures of the foster family's home and individuals but instead, the camera was used at the orphanage. Based on the scab over her right eye, our guess is the photos were taken within a day or two of her meeting us. We were sad that none of the pictures included the face of her foster grandma, her home, or from when Brielle was younger...and yet, it is also comforting to see photos of our child in a familiar place.  They used the entire camera but I'll just share a few...

Holding the little kitty we sent.

I see a little glimpse of the girl I know in this one.

Proof that she wore split pants. :)



This one makes me sad. I am so thankful she was in foster care.

Good-bye, orphanage! I'm going to live with my mama and baba!

Sweet Summertime

So much has happened in the last 2-3 weeks. We are enjoying every minute of being out of work and school. Unfortunately, I only have about 3 weeks left until I return to work. :(

Brielle's 1st popsicle

This little girly loves to be moving!
One of her favorite activities is getting us to chase her around the house.
When we catch her, she says, "Do again?" :)

My friend Mandy helped me landscape some around the front of the house.

Braylee had her first overnight stay at Camp Illiana.
She came home telling me her citizenship is in heaven! Thank you, Jesus!

She is so sweet but sneaky too!
She had already eaten the whole sucker when I found her in the pantry!

Daddy took her golfing, and she showed him an easier way to get the ball in the hole. ;)

Abby & Braylee were 3-legged race partners.
Braylee loves to tell others she is taller than a 9 yr old.

Brynna was partners with her buddy Emma.
They used to be the same size! Brynna is going to be taller than we thought after all.

Brielle was looking extra cute this day. ;)

That night, we went to Andre' & Mandi's to let off lanterns.
Brielle wanted to hold the sparkler so badly but then would say, "Hot!" and shy away.

So thankful for my sweet sister-in-law.

We've spent some time swimming with friends.

Little sweet cheeks got her first pony tail! She was so proud of it!

Sneaky, remember? The big girls love to use their "craft" drawer as a catch all for things they don't want to put away. In this case, it was a bag full of lip gloss and nail polish. Brielle found it.

She knew what to do with it too. :) She is so girly.

Braylee with my mom at my cousin's wedding.

My cousin Bart and his bride, Amy.

The girls were watching Bart retrieve the garter very intently. haha!

There is no denying how much my girls love their daddy. Love love this picture!
 My four most favorite people!

The girls made lots of cards for Father's Day.

In this one, Brynna stuffed it with confetti and she told him, "I put some fluff into it!" :)

Inside was this picture... Daddy golfing while listening to music on an ipod.  She said that was a magical ladybug sprinkling him with fairy dust to make him golf better!

Explaining her picture to daddy.

He's laughing here because he asked what music he was listening to in the picture
 and she said Selena Gomez! haha!

Giving that sweet girl a kiss.

We spent a relaxing Father's day at my parents' lake and cabin.

Nick was pullling them. (Don't worry, Brielle wasn't out that far!)

My big girls taking a ride with Papaw.
Brielle & I rode in the back.

Today, we visited Alex's grandma.
It was Brielle's 1st time meeting her so she was a little nervous.

We are having a great summer!  Brielle has been with us for almost 2 months! Yeah!!  Alex's youngest brother finally popped the question so we will be getting a new sister/aunt sometime soon!  Brielle is putting words together, like "me down," "all done potty," and "mommy, bite?eat?" She adds new words every day!