Christmas Eve

Lizzy opening her presents at Nana & Poppy's house (my parents)

Christopher opening his presents

Maddie enjoying tearing the paper to find Kung Fu Panda movie.

Dinner table at my mom's. She is famous for decorating at Christmas time. She hasn't done this in many years but now that she is well and feeling much better we got to enjoy it.

Part of the day was spent with Keith's family.

Dressing up in her princess clothes her Granny gave her

Getting ready to leave Santa some cookies and milk

Lizzy and Maddie baking cookies for Santa

Before bed she had to dress up one more time.

The day after....

The day after Thanksgiving hold many family traditions. Putting up the Christmas Tree, of course is the first thing that happens as we prepare for the Christmas Season. Again, this is another first in Maddie's life. We have been trying to prepare her for all that Christmas has to offer. She really is only interested in the Christmas Tree. She ooohs and ahhhs over the Christmas tree at Wal-Mart and the Mall. She has been asking all week for a Christmas Tree at her house. We bought a real tree this year to celebrate Maddie's first Christmas tree. We all pitched in and decorated a beautiful tree with colored lights. She loved hanging the ornaments!

All of us picking out the Tree.

Maddie hanging the first ornament

Decorating....

The finished product!

Another tradition that we started several years ago was baking Christmas cookies. We research new cookie recipes and bake our favorites as well. Some years we have help from Lizzy's friends but this year it was just the Portie girls. What fun....

A good day.... Lots of fun.... Dozens of Delicious cookies to eat.... Yum!!!!

Happy Thanksgiving

Today is Thanksgiving and I have so much to be thankful for. Wow! what a difference a year makes. So many things have changed and I have been so blessed this past year.

My mom is finally well and is my "mom" again. This is the 1st Thanksgiving in many years that she was herself and actually helped in the kitchen. I am just so thankful that I have her back in my life. She is such a good mom - I almost forgot how nice it was to have her around. I am thankful that GOD has allowed her more time on this earth and that she can share my life.

This was Maddie's first Thanksgiving and although she was feeling a bit under the weather, she still managed to enjoy herself. She was a big help in the kitchen and provided some much needed assistance with the green been casserole and carrot souffle. She loves to help cook and bake.

I read my Thanksgiving post from last year and remember that feeling that something was missing but I was so thankful for what was to come. GOD was so faithful to us during our journey to Maddie. I had a feeling of indescribable JOY for this Thanksgiving Holiday that all of my beautiful children were with me and were healthy and happy. It is so hard to describe that feeling in words.

As I reflect on this past 12 months, I am most thankful for:

- The gift of motherhood - this is the most important job to me and I love each of my children more than they know. I thank GOD for each one of them and all of the special moments and blessings they bring to my life.

- My mother and father - they do so much for me and my family.

- All of my wonderful and beautiful friends - they enrich my life!

- The many trials that this year has brought and the many triumph's.

- I am Thankful for Clarity and Purpose in my life - sometimes it comes when you least expect it.

- I am thankful that GOD is ever present and has a plan for me and my life.

I hope each of you had a Happy Thanksgiving....

Trick or Treat

Maddie & Halle (Cousin)

Hannah, Maddie, Lizzy, Lilli & Hailey (dressed & ready for the EDS Halloween Dance)

Maddie's First Halloween was so much fun. More fun than I remember Halloween being with Christopher and Lizzy or maybe I am just more "in the moment" than I was when I was much younger.


For about a week before Halloween, Maddie's school had been preparing the class. She learned the three steps to Trick or Treating.... 1) Knock, Knock, Knock (on the door), 2) say Trick or Treat and 3) after the treat is given say Thank You.


She chose her own costume, at her sisters dismay. Lizzy wanted her to be some cute ladybug or princess and Maddie wanted nothing but Minnie Mouse. Her costume was so cute on her and fit her bubbly personality!


Halloween Night, she was ready. Lizzy and her friend Lilli helped Maddie and participated in the festivities.

By the end of the night her bucket was FULL and too heavy for her to carry. After each trip to another house, she would pass her bucket to Nana to hold and look to Poppy to carry her to the next house. We walked and walked - she did not want the night to end.

Good Times....

Happy Birthday to Maddie

Happy Birthday to me - Maddie says. She has been so excited about her birthday. And in "Grand Portie style" we did Maddie's birthday!!! Birthdays are very important at our house and the normal birthday just will not do. Following that same philosophy we planned Maddie's birthday celebration.

- Homemade birthday cake and a test run of blowing out her birthday candles on the eve of her birthday. She was a pro at blowing out the candles

- Cupcakes for her class at school on her Birthday - October 18th., made with love by her Mommy!

- Followed by a birthday trip to Chuck E. Cheese with us and my parents. She quickly realized how much fun Chuck E Cheese was and decided to forgo pizza and just play. She eventually would snag a quick bite of pizza and then run off to play again. She had a grand time. We closed the place down.

- Birthday party for her friends and family at our house. Complete with a Space Walk/Slide combo, cake and ice cream and lots of good snacks. She had a grand time. Her big present was a swing set that Keith built the night before the party (that's usually how we operate - wait until the last minute to do something) . The moment she noticed that she had a swingset in her backyard she wanted nothing to do with the Space Walk and Slide. She played on the swing the entire day. We made her get off to come and sing happy birthday to her and open presents. After singing happy birthday to her she waved the candles out instead of blowing them - I guess the practice run earlier in the week was enough candle blowing for Maddie. Then on to the "Presents". You would think that all kids love this part of the party. Not Maddie. She opened a couple of presents and loudly stated - "I'm done with that" as she marched off to the swing set. That was yesterday morning and all of her presents are still not opened.

My sister got her a little kitchen set and we did open that for her and put it together . I have eaten more imaginary hot dogs in the past day than ever before. She loves that present!!!

I am so happy, beyond words, that I was able to spend her birthday with her this year. And a little sad that I missed the 2 before. She is such an amazing little girl. I look forward to many more birthdays with her. I did take a moment the morning of her birthday to remember the mother, in China who was undoubtedly thinking about the little girl born on October 18th, 3 years before and prayed for God to give her peace and comfort.

As the days have past since Maddie's birthday, I know she can't wait until next year, she absolutely loved her birthday and we loved celebrating it with her!

Just wait until she experiences Christmas!!!

October

October is a very busy month for us. Birthdays, Halloween, College Fairs, Basketball, Soccer, Cheerleading, etc.

Christopher and I recently went to Baton Rouge and attended a College Fair. 100 colleges were represented from all over the country. We went there specifically to talk to a few targeted schools that he is considering and to our surprise added a few more to the "Short List". He is still on the Medical School track but I think the end result will be geared toward Research, specifically Neuro/Bahavorial Science rather than a practicing physician. Our short list of schools consists of Springhill College ( a private Catholic college in Alabama). This school has an excellent curriculum for his major, is a small school with only 1400 kids and he would most likely be able to play basketball. This is my choice for him. On the list is also George Washington University in Washington DC, Baylor University in Waco, Tx and surprisingly Ole Miss. We will be visiting the campuses of these schools in the spring. Please pray for Christopher as he makes this very important decision. Christopher also went to Homecoming last weekend. Although we don't get much of a reaction from him it appears that he had a good time. He definitely looked handsome!

Lizzy has been quite busy herself. She is cheering for EDS and the football team has weekly games. Add that commitment to tumbling once a week, Cotillion once a week and Soccer twice a week (of which I am the coach) and it makes for a very busy week! Her birthday is October 4th and we do birthdays in a GRAND way at our house. She has already had a swim party and sleepover for all the girls in her class. This was only the first party for her. I will be taking her and a few of her friends next weekend to Houston for a big weekend. Seems like we party all month for her - lol.

Maddie was quite upset at Lizzy's recent birthday party. She cried and wanted it to be her Happy Birthday. I have been reminding her that her Birthday is coming soon. That seems to appease her just a bit. We are planning a birthday party at our house with all of our friends and family. Maddie loves to swing so she will be surprised with a new swing set in the back yard. I know that this is her 3rd birthday but it feels like her first birthday to me. I am so happy that I get to celebrate with her this year!

Halloween is coming so keep checking back for cute pictures of Maddie in her costume.

Hearing Update

We recently took family pictures. A good friend of our family offers professional photography services but has such a unique style that is so different from the normal family portrait and this is what I wanted. Normally Maddie is all smiles for the camera but wasn't on this occassion - that figures. lol However, we were able to get some beautiful and dramatic shots of her and the family.

I recently took Maddie to have her hearing tested on the request of the Speech Therapist from Texas Children's Hospital. Not surprisingly, she past in both ears! No hearing issues noted. After remaining very still and quiet for the test she immediately announced that she wanted a sucker and the nurse kindly gave her one for being such a big girl. During this visit I also learned that she has grown 4 inches taller and gained 3 pounds since coming home! WOW she is getting so big. Just a confirmation to how much she has grown, I just this week took out some winter clothes that we had purchased earlier this year and that she wore after arriving home. Some things she had long outgrown and those items that were too big on her fit her perfectly. She is getting so big!!!!

I have to reflect on how truly blessed we are that Maddie is so healthy in all aspects, well adjusted and developmentally on target. GOD is sooooo GOOD!

Speech Therapy Visit

Last week we took Maddie to Texas Children's Hospital for a follow up speech evaluation. We were feeling somewhat confident that she would have a good report prior to arriving for her appointment.

The Speech Therapist talked with us briefly and we pieced together a prior medical history from what little we knew of her first 2 years. After our brief conversation it was Maddie's turn. The Speech Therapist had a book with many pictures that she showed Maddie and Maddie would in turn tell her what they were. Keith and I were quite amazed at 2 things - 1 was her ability to recognize and verbalize what she was seeing and 2nd was her actual speech. The Speech Therapist was equally as impressed. After the evaluation we received a summary of her findings and recommendations.

- Throughout the evaluation, there were only 3 times that the Speech Therapist heard bursts of air coming from Maddie's nose as she spoke. The therapist recommended a wait and see approach to this issue. She feels that this is a timing issue with the soft palate and will likely correct itself as she gets older. If not there is a surgical remedy, but I pray will do not have to go down that road.

- The speech evaluation was scored in relation to age. Maddie scored a 2.7 (2 years 7 months old). She is actually 2 years and 11 months old but the Speech Therapist stated that she was on-target and was pleased with her progress.

- Ongoing Speech Therapy was not recommended for Maddie at this time. This was great news!

- A hearing test was recommended just to make sure that no hearing issues exist. I have scheduled this for October with our local Pediatrician.

- We will follow up with the Speech Therapist in 1 year and Dr. Stahl, the surgeon in 14 months to re-evaluate any surgical needs Maddie may have as she grows and develops. We will also have an Orthodontist evaluation in 12 months as well with the Orthodontist at Texas Children's.

Another interesting fact that the Speech Therapist shared with us is that Internationally adopted children normally will be caught up on their comprehensive level after being home for 1 year. Maddie is again on target for hitting that benchmark.

This was an amazing visit and an answer to prayers! Maddie is growing and thriving. She is very bright and healthy! Praise God for small miracles!

Bedtime Stories

It has been quite some time since my last post. As you can imagine we have been so busy getting back in the swing of things with school and after school activities.

For the most part things have been really good in the Portie Household. We did have a blip in the road though. Shortly before school started, I planned to move Maddie upstairs to her room to sleep in her "big girl" bed. I purchased the video monitor and finished coverting her baby bed to a full bed. We were ready! Maddie was actually open to the idea - she likes climbing the stairs. The first few days were fine. I laid down with her until she fell asleep (which usually was after I fell asleep) then I went downstairs to my room for the remainder of the night. She would wake up around 5 or 6 am and I would go and get her and bring her to my room until it was time for everyone to wake up. After we did that routine for a few days, I wanted to start weening her off of me staying in the room until she fell asleep, so I changed the routine up a bit. This is where it started getting complicated and utlimately spun way out of control. I would read her a story and then lay with her for only a few minutes and then go downstairs and watch her until she fell asleep. The first time was perfect - I thought for sure we have conquered the bedtime and bedroom issue. NOOOOO - the 2nd night was a disaster - she did not want to stay in her bed without me laying with her and by the 3rd night refused her big bed altogether and just wanted to sleep in Mama's bed. After a week without restful sleep I gave up. AHHHH! Why fight it. She is sleeping in my bed and is proud to let everyone know that she sleeps in Mama's bed. It's really cute the way she says it and smiles like the Cat that just ate the Canary. lol She has thankfully mastered sleeping all night without needing to get up and potty. That's a big accomplishment!

So I am relaxing a bit and enjoying having a 2 year old in my bed, loving on me and rubbing her feet against my leg and having a sweet smiling face wake me up on the weekends with a hug and a kiss. She will eventually move to her room and want her own space, but for now she just wants to be with me and her daddy and I am savouring every moment!

Dance Class

Today was Maddie's first day of Dance Class at Sulphur Dance Academy. In the weeks leading up to this day we had multiple shopping trips to find and purchase a tiny pair of tap shoes and ballet shoes and the cutest dance outfit there ever was! We were all so excited and just knew that Maddie would love Dance Class. To our dismay, she did not. She was fine going in to the Dance Studio and had no apprehension following her teacher and the other children into the classroom. Tap class was first up. I watched for a few minutes at the beginning of the class and she was taking it all in and was not real excited about the class. After a few minutes I returned to the waiting room with the other moms. I could hear what was going on in the class and heard all the girls start tapping - "Right Foot - Left Foot" tap - tap - tap. Through all of the tapping I heard a couple of girls start crying. After 5 minutes or so I decided to go and make sure Maddie was OK and to my surprise it was her crying inconsolably . I took Maddie in my arms and left the class. When we got to the car Maddie tells me through her tears "Momma, I not go back to Dance." I reassured her that we would not return to dance class again. She is so willing and happy to do the things that she loves - Gymnastics, Swimming Lessons, School - I think we will stick to those things. She definitely knows what she likes and what she does not and in her 2 year old way, lets me know.

Although we will not be returning to Dance Class - her pictures were too cute!!!!

Lots to write about

Summertime is coming to a close, although it is EXTREMELY HOT here and we don't see an end in sight.

We had the swimming pool put in and it is finished. The kids have been swimming in it for a week now. The girls couldn't wait for the pool to be filled up completely and took a swim with only 3 feet of water in the deep end. In preparation of having a completed pool in our backyard - one of the priorities was to get Maddie swimming lessons. The same swim teacher that taught Christopher and Lizzy to swim many years ago gave Maddie private lessons this week. She did GREAT! She was very relaxed in the water - which is very important to be a good swimmer. She listened and followed directions. By the end of the week, she was going under water to pick up toys, kicking her legs and jumping in off the side. She has the basics down and we have been working with her to improve her swimming skills every day. It has been so amazing to watch Maddie transform from a child who hated the water and taking a bath to a child who is so comfortable in the water and LOVES swimming. She is an amazing little girl!

This week I also took Maddie to see the Dentist for the first time. She climbed in the dentist chair and opened her mouth and sat still for the Dentist to examine her teeth. What a trooper! She does have a cavity that will need to be filled. We will return later this month for this procedure. The dentist will be giving her a little anesthesia type medication before the procedure that will not put her to sleep but will not let her remember the procedure. While they have her under this medication they will clean her teeth and take some x-rays. Out of this visit I received really good news. The Dentist was able to confirm that she had all of the teeth that she should have at this age and is even cutting 2 of her back teeth. She has no extra teeth or missing teeth (which is common in CL/CP children). When it is actually time for orthodontics we should have an easier time that we initially thought because the Orthodontist will not have to contend with removing extra teeth or dealing with missing teeth. We have just been so blessed with respect to her health and the extent of dealing with any issues related to CL/CP.

Lizzy and Maddie went back to school this week too. Both were ready to get back in the groove of things. This is Lizzy's last year of Middle School - so her first day was monumental and a little emotional - for me :( Maddie returned to the same classroom and same teacher as she had in the Spring when she started. She will repeat PK2 as she only got the tail end of the curriculum last school year. The teachers and aides immediately noticed how much her speech has improved. Christopher starts school this Tueday and will be a Junior at St. Louis High School.

We had several opportunities over the last few weeks to fly. We flew to Austin to pick Lizzy up from her friend Lilli's house and then the next weekend to Marble Falls to pick Christopher up from Camp Champions. Maddie came with us during these trips and did very well. She really liked the headphones and the microphone used in the plane. She quickly noticed that she could hear her voice in the headphones when she talked in the microphone.

Sorry for the long post but lots has happened since my last one.