Anna's First Swim

Fantastic Friday was last night at Cub Run! Emily and Sarah were thrilled as Cub Run is the best rec center pool around. It has a water slide and a water playground. We were looking forward to taking Anna for her first swim too! Unfortunately, mom's suit got left in a bag at home so it made things a little more challenging. But Emily and Sarah helped Daddy with the little girls. Anna took her time watching before she went into the water. After 30 minutes of seeing Lauren have a great time with Daddy she decided she was ready to try it. Daddy held her for a while and let her touch the water, then he let her stand in the kiddie pool. She seemed to like it. She definitely was not scared. I so, so wish we could read her mind. I wonder what she is thinking when she sees things for the first time. There are so many things she is experiencing. I can't help but think about how awful it would be for her to have missed all that life has to offer because she spent it in an orphanage. She has such a vibrant personality...what if that personality was stuck in 2 rooms in XianYang? And how many other precious children are sitting in orphanages today, missing all that life has to offer? Pray for them. Pray for families to obey God when He calls them to adoption. It is an amazing miracle that we've experienced in our family. Enjoy our pictures...there are more below. Don't miss the ones of Lauren learning to swim. She is doing fantastic!

Fun with her big sisters

The big girls had fun with Anna at the pool. They were very gentle so Anna wouldn't be scared. Anna slowly warmed to the idea of being in the water. They are such great big sisters. How did we get so blessed?

Anna's first swim

Anna with her biggest sissy...Emily had a great time playing with her.


Silly Sarah standing under the waterfall!


Lauren showing off in the pool...she swam from Daddy's arms to the wall, would take a breath, and push off the wall back to Daddy. We had the BEST time watching this girl learn to swim. I think she just may do it!

This is in the kiddie pool where the water is about 2 feet deep. Lauren stayed UNDER the water more than she was above it. She loves it!!

Our 2 Littlest Girls

My little beauty




My precious (not so) little Lauren!


Anna is loving the tub. This is the child who screamed when we put her in 2 weeks
ago. Tonight Lauren stretched out and Anna immediately followed suit!


Daddy with his 2 littlest bundles of joy!

More new pictures below......

New Pictures

How precious is this child?


We all help out around here....you're never to young to learn! : )




Anna continues to do well. She is happy most of the time and is beginning to play more without me sitting right beside her. She is a precious gift to us all. Tonight she picked up one of Lauren's favorite Dora toys, walked across the room and handed it to Lauren. So sweet!! Wish I could write more...but I am tired. I know you really just want to see her anyway! Enjoy!

Craniofacial clinic

Today we went to Children's National Medical Center for the craniofacial clinic. It was a good day and we are certain this is the team we will go with for Anna's surgery. The plastic surgeon was great. Not only will he repair her palate but he also will make improvements to her lip, however these will be two separate surgeries. Anna did very well, considering our day at clinic began at 10AM and we didn't leave until 3:15. We saw audiology, ENT, dental, plastics, genetics, speech, and psychology. Other than the animals in boxes at audiology, she did great! The animals in the boxes?? Nope! Didn't want to have anything to do with them! But it was a good day! Surgery will probably be in May. We will keep you posted on that. We are thankful so many people referred us to Dr. Boyajian. He was great!

So, you wanna hear what we've learned is one problem with having 4 kids?

More kids = more opportunities for problems at night!!

Last night may very well be our worst night yet in our parenting career. I did stay up late, trying to get things done because I knew it would be a busy day today. So, I got in bed around 11:15, read a book for 20-30 minutes, yes, I know it would have been better to go right to sleep...but I didn't know what was coming! I turned off the light about 11:45. Anna woke up at midnight, and I do mean, WOKE UP! This girl was no where close to going back to sleep. She wasn't crying, she just wasn't sleeping...and she was in our bed. For 2 hours Shawn and I tried various things to get her back to sleep, in the crib or in our bed. At 2AM we finally resorted to Ben*dryl. Yes, I know you aren't supposed to do that...but one night isn't going to hurt her. Now remember, I still haven't been to sleep. So around 2:25 Anna begins drifting off. Thank you Jesus! I can sleep. I whispered to Shawn, "I think she is gone." And I'm not kidding you, 30 seconds later we hear coughing and gagging in the next room....then "Mommy!" Yep, Sarah was vomiting ! Holy Cow! Is this really happening? Shawn bounds out of bed because I am still holding onto Anna to make sure she is really asleep. They run by the doorway to the bathroom. As soon as I can leave Anna I go in there. Sarah is in an undershirt with vomit in her hair, shaking uncontrollably! I wrap her in a towel, wash her hair, and then go find her pj's. I come back with Emily's fleece ones to help warm her up. By now its close to 3AM and Sarah, who is still shaking, says to me, "I don't think I can wear those. Emily is not going to be happy if I puke on her pajamas." Of course, I reminded her that since I was the mom I got to make that decision, so she put them on. We made her a bed on the chair and ottoman in the living room so she wouldn't be in a bed with Emily....yes, the bed they were in TOGETHER when she vomited in the first place...but still, you don't stay there! So she lies down and still can't stop shaking. She then says, "Mama, will you stay with me?" And what does a good mama say to that? Of course I will. Yes, it is after 3AM and I still haven't been to sleep, my migraine is returning, and I have a LONG day before me! But yes, I will sleep with you in the chair. So we snuggled in, I kept turning her face away from me so she wouldn't breathe her germs on me, and we slept...kinda...for at least 3 hours. And then Shawn woke me up so I could get a shower! And a new day began! Thank heaven we had a good day at the clinic. : ) So, the first example of more kids = more opportunities for problems at night! I'm sure we will have more examples in the future! And for the record, I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE having four daughters!!!! God has blessed us immensely.

Friday Fun!

Sometimes it is fun to pull everything out of a cabinet and then climb in. I watch Anna do these things and wonder what her little mind is thinking. You can see the wheels turning in her head when she is looking at something. She had the best time sitting inside the cabinet....and it helped me too because I was cooking and couldn't hold her!

Anna decided that she wanted to sit in Lauren's lap today. She kept sliding in closer and closer between Lauren's legs. She had a scoop from a formula canister and she kept putting it up to Lauren's mouth. She was doing her best to feed Lauren. Lauren didn't particularly care for the attention. She was trying to play with her toy and was just fine, thank you very much!! If you look in the first picture of the 2 of them you will see her foot poised to push Anna away. Right after I snapped the picture she did just that. Anna decided she didn't want to feed Lauren anymore after that! We've had a fun Friday. We went to our homeschool class and Anna did well. After class we took Lauren to the ENT to have her tonsils checked. He said they are big but they aren't causing problems and so we won't mess with them. Yay! We really didn't want 2 surgeries this summer!
And now here they are in our bed! Both girls went to sleep in there together. Lauren has had trouble going to bed lately...now we are thinking it is because she knew Anna was sleeping with us. So it looks like we may have a new bedtime routine for a while. Lauren can fall asleep with Anna and then we can move her later. 2 sweet sisters...have I mentioned how blessed we are? We have a relaxing weekend planned...hope you do too!

Strides for Lauren and Anna

My two little girls made great strides in
their relationship during their bath tonight. They played, laughed, and looked at each other with joy in their eyes. It was so much fun to see them interact that way. Enjoy the pictures!

Cute Anna pics....'cause I know you want them!

Could this child get any cuter???? We let Anna play with a toilet paper roll over the weekend. You see what happened. She kept pulling paper off and handing it to everyone. And how could we not let her play with it? Uncle Ryan then turned her into a mummy. She thought that was funny, especially as the toilet paper began falling off! She also found the cabinet that holds the pots and pans. She pulled out pans and began banging them together. In an effort to keep the noise down, we offered her a big spoon and showed her how to stir her pretend food. She would stir and taste, stir and taste! Too, too cute! I look at these sweet pictures and wonder how in the world we lived without this child? And have we really only had her for 3 weeks??? That doesn't seem possible. Thank you, Father, for this indescribable gift.

HAPPY 5TH BIRTHDAY LAUREN!

Today Lauren celebrated her 5th birthday. What a blessing this precious girl is to our family. We have gone down a path with Lauren that we would have never imagined and certainly one that we would not have chosen. But Shawn and I have talked about how thankful we are for Lauren, just the way she is. If she didn't have Rett Syndrome how would her personality be different? Would she still have those eyes that look deep into your soul? Would she still have that smile that melts hearts? Would she still have that infectious laugh that makes every person smile when they hear it? Would she have the innocence and trust that makes us want to protect her from every hurt? We don't know but we thank God every day for entrusting her to us. I am so very, very thankful that I get to be her mommy. I pray every night that I will be the mommy that she needs, that we will make the best decisions for her, and that she will know how much we love her and how much Jesus loves her. Thank you Lord, for this precious gift. Thank you for protecting her, for giving her good health, and for letting us love her. Happy birthday sweet girl. I love you very much! Love, Mommy
*2 additional posts below!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LAUREN!

Yep, she got a trampoline! And she LOVED it!! Oh my goodness! The laughter we heard from that belly! Daddy would jump and she would laugh. And do you know how much we love to hear that laugh?? We had a party on Saturday. She enjoyed it and so did her guests. They all jumped before the rain started and then we took the party indoors for the rest. Happy Birthday Lauren!

Meeting the Family

Anna and Mallory


Anna with Sydney


Alexis giving Anna a great big hug!


Anna loved riding on Uncle Ryan's legs


Playing with Aunt Tricia


This past weekend Aunt Tricia and Uncle Ryan came to Virginia to meet Anna. Of course, Alexis, Sydney and Mallory came too. We had a friend's house lined up for them to stay so that we could minimize the chaos in our house. Well, the friends were sick...and Tricia doesn't do sick....so they stayed with us! I trusted that God would handle the details and sweet Anna's heart since it was out of our control. And Anna did well. I do think we had a rougher night because of all the stimulation but it wasn't terrible. And she got to spend more time with her cousins and that was a good thing. I've got a picture of Anna with each member of the Short family. She and Mallory are only 7 months apart so we know they are going to be great friends as they get older. I am so glad that things worked out the way they did. Emily and Sarah loved having their cousins here for sleepovers and we got more time to visit too.