Threats to Parental Rights

I wanted to add a video to the blog, but since I don't own it, I decided I wouldn't even try.  So here is the link.  If you are AT ALL interested in protecting the rights of parents to raise their children in this country, PLEASE visit ParentalRights.org website and see how you can become involved in getting a constitutional amendment passed to do just that.

Here is the link to the video I wanted everyone to know about.

Overruled trailer

The case at the end where the judge decides on "once a week church attendance" was a Washington case, ...where the 13 year old son took his parents to court because he didn't want to have to go to church with them so frequently.

And he won.

I'm interested in seeing the entire video!

Lili Mei Turns 2

Happy Birthday, Lili Mei Feng!!!

Today was Lili Mei's second birthday, but her very first with us.  We decided to have the official celebration when Scott is here, so we are waiting a few days.  But all I heard from her today (besides the normal ear-splitting screaming fits) was, "cupcake, Mama."  After dropping sister off at tae kwon do this evening, we finally made it to Safeway for a package of mini pink cupcakes from the bakery there.  Yes, I could have very easily made cupcakes, but seriously, it was just not going to happen.  I have yet to clean the very pink cupcake sponginess off my very white carpet.  oh my.


It was a good day overall, though.  Lili Mei is very happy to be two [LM says this while holding up both index fingers, or both thumbs].  She actually knows two pretty well.  Better than one.  She knows when she has two balls, or there are two dogs, or two of anything.  I know this because she constantly points out anything "two."  We are still working on "one," although I know she knows it because I am forever reminding her to take one bite (she still hoards food in her mouth and either gags or literally chokes--frightening).  She just doesn't count things when there is only one (I guess, why would you?).  


She appears to be learning normal 2 year old stuff, as far as I can tell.  She definitely knows "black dog!" after having visited Grampa (who has a BIG black dog).  She can name and point to numerous body parts (but still confuses elbow and eyebrow...I guess they sound too similar). Stacking blocks, coloring, running, stairs, climbing (a little TOO much climbing), jumping on the bed (eesh--remind me to tell you about our visit to the ER), following instructions, LOTS of make believe play (making "tuna" in the bathtub? Why tuna?  And she stirs it???), tiptoeing (which is funny to watch, since she has to make an adjustment for her right foot). She is finally throwing a ball OVER hear head instead of dropping it behind her (I think she was just goofing around...Lauren has been telling me for months Lili Mei knew how to throw a ball, yet every time I asked LM to, she'd put it behind her head and let it roll off her hands.  Stinker.  Here I was thinking she was developmentally delayed!). After having been brought half way around the world right on the cusp of beginning to talk, and having to rewire her entire brain for English, she is getting along exceptionally well.  She seems to have her own vocabulary, along with many of the signs she still uses, so in general, we understand her very well.  Others...not so much.  Oh well.  I am convinced she understands EV.Ry.THING.  we say to her!!!  She just doesn't like it!  She is speaking in short broken sentences.  She repeats what she hears.  We were listening to The No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency on cd in the car, and she kept saying, "Mma Makutsi" and "Mma Potakwani".  she thought those sounded very funny.


And she loves loves loves when her sister plays piano. 

Today I was listening to something with guitar in it and she started strumming her chest like she was holding a guitar.  Sometimes I wonder how she knows.  But she has an amazing ear.  She knows what instruments make which sounds (remember the xylophone in the movie?!).  She sort of knows the words in the (same) bedtime songs I sing her now (well, she has heard the same 5 songs every night for 8 months!).  Her favorite is still "Geeeeeee" (Jesus Loves Me).  It's a good thing she likes music because she is going to have to sit through worship team rehearsal before church this Sunday at 7am!!!


So tomorrow makes 8 months since we met Lili Mei.  Eight months!  That's dang near a year!  I still can't believe it.  What fun it has been (um...did I mention the ER?).  It is so exciting to see her grow and develop. Her little belly is thinning out, and she is getting taller.  She finally has some hair to speak of, but absolutely will NOT let us adorn it.  Rubberbands come out in minutes.  Headbands (which she loves) don't last either.  Clips and pins--forget about it.  So she generally looks like a little ragamuffin.  At least we got her bangs trimmed evenly, but they are still hanging over her eyes.  She will, however, wear a hat.  Any hat.  Especially her sister's.  When she is ready to go, you will know, because she will don a hat and sling her Vera Bradley over her arm.  (Yeah, one of those teeny tiny ones I found at a thriftshop for a few bucks--it's too funny.  What's inside?  Usually some Little People or a cat toy.)

A rare photo of Lili with pigtails AND a headband! Still lovin' the books.

Speaking of thrift shops....Lauren is in love with vintage stores now.  We visited a bunch in California, and found a Chinese quilted jacket, a wrap skirt with red elephants on it, a checkered fedora, a wispy skirt with jingly ties at the waist, a purse with sushi all over it.  We had fun.  She is fun.  Have I mentioned how much I love both my daughters?!?!!!!  I could say more about Lauren, but I don't want to embarrass her (too much).  But I gotta show pics of her getting her ears pierced, FINALLY.  (no, we didn't go to Clair's)


Nice and big...so you can SEE what she did!  

x marks the spot

first earring in--no tears

just adding the ball to keep it closed.  she had no idea it was done.

making the second hole

deep breath

look at the size of that thing

so cute! all her friends were jealous she got to wear hoops right away!

This from a kid who hates needles.


This was supposed to be a short post, because I just wanted to get something on here about Lili Mei's birthday, but of course, brevity is not in my vocabulary (well, obviously it is--you know what I mean). 


I'll try to post some more soon filling in details of the past several months.  As for the Emergency Room visit--while on vacation, mind you--Lili Mei was throwing a fit (imagine that!), standing up on the springy bed in grandparents' guest room, and she just bounced a little too enthusiastically.  Off she went, head first, neck torqued backwards.  Screaming to follow but pupils seemed normal (but how can you tell with eyes that dark!?).  She seemed ok for about six hours, then everything she ate in the past 24 hours came up (at great-grandma's apartment!).  And again.  And again. And about 4 more times.  That's how we ended up in the ER, getting sedated for a CT scan (which was normal, by the way--*whew*).  Even sedated, I couldn't hold her still.  She was swaddled and strapped in, but still kept cocking her head this way and that.  They were hoping she'd fall asleep (without being sedated), but I know her by now.  I could have told them that was not going to happen.  Actually I did tell them that wasn't going to happen.  But they still let us sit there for 2 hours before finally sedating her.  She was looooooopy.  

Just after the CT scan.

It was actually rather amusing, in a pathetic sort of way.  I had never seen her so lovey.  But I tell you the SECOND that stuff started to wear off, Lili Mei was back to her old self, and grouching at us all.  Poor thing.  She definitely had angels watching over her.  She had gotten kicked in the head by a wayward swinger(--well, the swinging kid wasn't actually wayward--Lili Mei just had no idea you weren't supposed to walk in front of someone on a swing!) a few days before, and slammed to the ground and got a big welt.  So that combined with the fall off the bed were enough to convince me I should make sure she was ok.  She is.

All this to say, Lili Mei is still climbing on things, standing up where she shouldn't be, and generally experimenting with the world like any normal 2 year old kid.  She is fearless (unless there is a speck of dirt on the floor that has the most minute possibility of being a bug).  She is determined.  She is spirited.  She is self sufficient.  She is stubborn.  She is loud.  She is sweet.  She is loving.  She is funny.  She is smart.


She is ours.


Praise God from whom all blessings flow.

Outside the prosthetist's office--first time walking with her new foot!

More smiles

Lili Mei LOVES going to the pool.  Especially if our good friend Donna comes with us.  Donna took this video for me as we pulled into the parking lot.  Just a glimpse into how Lili Mei is adjusting to her new life, family, and friends.  She has a beautiful smile, and a fun personality, evidenced in this short clip.

Five months!

I can't believe it's summer already.  Just five months ago we were bundled up and freezing at the (near) top of the Great Wall of China!  Yet here we are, going to the pool (when it is not thunderstorming), enjoying lazy days with no school, and dropping off Lauren at summer camp.

We wrapped up most of school in April, but there was one stinkin' history book we needed to get through, and Lauren finished that Friday.  So I told her she was *oficially* done with 7th grade now.  I'm giving her this week and the next two weeks off (since she'll be at camps for two of them), then we'll dive into summer school.  Well--the homeschool version of summer school.  She does Mavis Beacon, Rosetta Stone, and math on the computer.  We might throw in a few other subjects, but we won't actually start 8th grade until probably after Labor Day.  Usually we start mid-August, but are likely traveling at that time, so we'll postpone First Day of School a bit for the first time in 8 years!

The big news is Lauren cut all her hair off.  It is SHORT.  But very cute.  (I don't have a good picture yet)  She loves it, but misses her long curly red hair.  It has been getting progressively shorter since about 2 years ago, I think.  Maybe she'll start growing it out again after the summer....  The other news is that she successfully tested for senior red belt in tae kwon do, so she's only one belt away from black!

Lili Mei has been smiling more lately, and seems to be more comfortable around big groups of people than she was before.  She's letting more of our friends hold her, and even giving some of them hugs when they ask!  Our very dear friends are moving in a few weeks, and I know Lili Mei is going to miss them very much (as are we!!!!!!!).

We had our first amusement park excursion with Lili Mei a few weeks ago.  It was not a hit.  She did not enjoy the one or two rides I took her on, but she did like the carousel.  Every time we'd come back around to where Ba Ba was, she'd wave.  Too cute.  We are going to another BIG amusement park in a few weeks...hopefully we'll have better luck at this one.

Grandpa and Grandmere came to visit around Easter.   That was their first time meeting their new grand-daughter, and they are smitten.  Lili Mei will get to meet one of her great-grandmothers, her aunt and her cousin soon too when we go visit the west coast this summer.

What else....
Oh!  Went to a homeschool conference recently and am now officially a full-fledged stereotypical homeschool mom.  I ...ahem....bought a grain mill and am now grinding my own wheat!  (Delicious pancakes so far, but bread has been a complete failure)  And no, before you ask, I do not wear denim jumpers--well, except for the skit a bunch of us goofy moms did at our co-op end of the year celebration this month. But that's another story for another day....

Four months!

I can't believe I didn't even have one post in April, and now it's the middle of May already.  Lili Mei's first Easter and Mother's Day with us have come and gone.  This Mother's Day was especially memorable because it was my first as a mother of two, it was my birthday, and we had Lili Mei's child-dedication at church.  God has blessed us beyond measure.  Yesterday was four months since we officially adopted Lili Mei Feng!  She is 20 months old now, and gets cuter every day.  It feels like we have always known her.  

Easter 2011

Lauren mentioned she feels like the honeymoon period is over, but is still glad she has a sister.  They are amazing together.  When Lili Mei gets up in the morning and passes YeYe's room (well, she can't say "Jie Jie, and it sounds like yeh yeh--that's pretty much Lauren's name now)--when she passes YeYe's room and sees Lauren, she gets the biggest smile on her face.  When Lauren is gone, Lili Mei wanders around the house yelling, "YeYe?  YeYe!  Ye YE!!!"  I'm not sure how things will go when Lauren goes to camp this summer and is gone for a week at a time.  

My two beautiful girls!!!

I had a hard time resisting this little Harley jacket!!! (but I did) 

Lili Mei definitely likes routine, and she lets you know if something is not right.  Her freak-outs only seem to last a few minutes now though, and seem to be less frequent.  Boy she is loud.  I mean LOUD.  Like, headache inducing loud.  I am convinced she will be an opera singer, but a friend who plays flute suggested oboe might be her instrument with all that wind and breath support.  

I know I've mentioned that she loves music.  She walks around the house playing my plastic recorder (she hasn't figured out fingers yet...just blowing), and hums all the time, or plays her 4-key piano or her xylophone.  She loves that thing (and it challenges me to come up with songs I can play in C in only one octave!).   One of the pictures in a book she has shows a toy xylophone, and each time we get to that page, she gets down from wherever we are reading, walks over to her toys, and fetches her xylophone.  Lauren and I were watching a movie on Netflix the other day, and the soundtrack at one point was little pinging sounds...a xylophone!  Lili Mei heard it, found hers, and started playing.  It was too funny.  I LOVE that she enjoys music.

A little Chopin and she is out! (notice the ever-present "tag-tag" blankie under her head)

Speaking of enjoying music, we have discovered that if we tune to the classical station in the car, Lili Mei will instantly fall asleep.  Oh my goodness it is wonderful!  It works almost every time.  My secret weapon.  It reminds me of Father Tim's dog in the Mitford books--when, if the dog is out of control, Tim recites scripture and the dog (Barnabus, I think was his name) would immediately chill.  Getting Lili Mei to chill can be tricky, so this is good.

We are figuring her out.

Blood, Tears and lots of cuddles

What has life been life since we last posted?

Well, since Lili Mei was internationally adopted, it is recommended that she have a thorough physical and get all necessary immunizations.  So for the last few weeks we have been in and out of the military medical facilities, having x-rays, bloodwork, exams, and so forth.  Oh my goodness...it was AWFUL!

First, we saw a family practice doctor (who was wonderful) for a sort-of-well-baby-check.  As soon as they tried to weigh and measure her, the fit began (flashback to China!).  He examined her and everything looked good.  Second was the PPD (TB skin test). She had fallen asleep in the Ergo Baby, and when we went in, I had to put her on the table, so she woke up to two gals with needles.  Lovely.  I was able to hold her down for that.  Next we went to the lab.  Six vials of blood (with me and two other people holding her down) later, we were off to x-ray.  Six or so x-rays (with me and three other guys holding her down) later, we finally went to lunch.  Fortunately, by then she had settled down.  At the end of it all, we walked out with referrals to pediatric orthopedics, audiology, developmental pediatrics and ophthalmology.  

Two days later we went back to have the PPD read (negative, thank goodness, as one of the adoptees in the Guangzhou clinic while we were there was quarantined because he was positive for TB!) and to draw 3 more vials of blood (and a repeat of the previous visit), only this time, it trickled at a snail's pace...she had not had enough fluids!  They tried to make it work, and as far as I know they tested whatever they needed.

The following week we were back for a visit with our family doctor (it's a long story, but we made this appointment first, then I tried to get a sooner appointment, and that ended up being the ones we completed--so now Lili Mei was really just meeting her regular doc).  More crying, and referral to immunizations.  Oh joy.  

She got 3 shots, and has to go back in a few months for some other ones.  There was some discrepancy between her Chinese shot record we received when we got her, and the one we received with her referral.  So I checked with CCAI, who checked with a  rep in China, and found out the orphanage "lost" her record, so it recreated it based on records of when they had shot clinics;  hardly anything matched what they originally gave us with the referral.  So basically, we don't know what she really had (other than what we could definitely tell from the bloodwork).  But I guess that is par for the course with an orphan.

Today we had her ophthalmology appointment, and were kept waiting 45 minutes, during which Lili Mei threw several tantrums and ultimately fell asleep in the Ergo Baby.  Of course, that is when they called us in.  It was worth the wait though...the doc was excellent!  And Lili Mei's eyes are in great health.

Still waiting on the other referrals, which will be sent to civilian providers.  There don't seem to be any abnormalities with her  hearing, and as far as ortho goes, just hoping we can get her into regular shoes with some sort of prosthetic.  She is walking GREAT and even running (as well as would be expected that a toddler would run!).  She has been able to negotiate steps using the spindles on the handrail going up, but just began going down stairs with her hand held.  She even alternates feet now.  Not exactly sure where she should be developmentally, but she doesn't appear to be too far behind.  

As long as she is not in a hospital, Lili Mei is pretty fun to be with.  She loves books and music so she fits right in, as far as I'm concerned!  She gets books and points to the rocker to indicate she wants to be read to.  She also loves her sister to pieces and is quite the copycat.  

She likes to listen to Lauren practice piano, and sways to all kinds of music and rhythms.  She has been getting better about us leaving her in the nursery at church, but still gets teary.  She was home with Scott and Lauren for several hours yesterday and did fine (this was a first!).  And Lauren has been a great babysitter on her own as well.  Bedtimes have been pretty good (and EARLY, which is great!!!) and she is sleeping til about 7am.  Anyone who knows me well knows I am NOT a morning person, but I have been going to bed about 4 hours (or more) earlier than normal so I can be up for her, and I get Lauren up about an hour later.  She is eating great (and not constantly anymore) and is not picky, although often she will chew food and then spit it out.  Yuck.

Still fits the shoes we bought in Zhengzhou...but nearly grown out of them.

  Anyway, a long post, but hopefully I caught everyone up.  Stayed up way to late to do this.  Enjoy the pictures!

LOVE the veggie stix

noonoonoonoo kee-ey (as Lili would say)

Valentine's Day party at a bounce house

Playing Dress-Up

One Month!!!

One month ago today we met our Lili Mei!! She turned 17 months old yesterday, and I can not believe the changes in her since we got her.  She has begun nodding yes (instead of just shaking her head "No!") and giving kisses.  Well...we discovered she will nod yes to pretty much anything if you sound like you are asking her a question.  But it is better than her being disagreeable!  The kisses are so funny--she smacks her lips and leans forward, but knocks her forehead to yours, a bit like Jane Curtain and Dan Aykroyd as Coneheads.  She is putting signs together and also using them to express things she doesn't actually have a sign for.  For example, she'll sign "hungry" + "food" + "more" (such a piglet!), and when she was on Lauren's bed she pointed to a unicorn she wanted to play with and signed "more."  So she's figuring out how to get things.  She smiles most of the time, and her tantrums are pretty small and infrequent enough that it is not completely exhausting!    She is trying to say words in English, and chatters constantly in toddler-speak (not sure if it is Mandarin or not!); she whispers like she is saying something very important, and points at you or an object as though she is explaining some great philosophical idea. She is sleeping great in her own room all night, and generally wakes up in a pleasant mood.  She loves her little tag blankets I made and constantly has them with her.  If she is walking around and I hand her the blanket, she'll drop to the floor and put her fingers in her mouth and say, "Night night."

Are we in love--you bet.