Character....

When I was young and a new mom, my initial thought of my parenting responsibilities were that of making sure that my babies were fed, dressed and went to school when it was time.  I have learned through many years of parenting, parenting teens and adoptive children, that my job is so much more.  At times, it involves guiding my children through some of life's most difficult moments and helping to shape their character.

Recent events have made me think hard about my character as well as my children's character.  One thing I have discovered about myself is that I am secure about who I am and who the Lord has molded and shaped me to be.  I hold firm to my beliefs in the Lord and rely on his guidance to direct my path.

Each one of my children are so different in their personalities and their character develops as they grow into the person GOD wants them to be.

Christopher is an adult - at 20 he is navigating college life and figuring out what his life path will be.  I stand back and look as he makes decisions that affect his future and although he has had some missteps, I am one proud mom and feel confident that he is heading in the right direction.  Over dinner recently, we had a discussion of how he would discipline his children (when that time comes) and it remarkably  aligns with how he was raised - Oh to his dismay....  As a 12 year old I can remember him saying he would do things so differently when he was a grown up.

Lizzy is beginning her senior year and as we all know girls can be mean and unchristian like and she is dealing with some of those challenges with her friend group.   She is also navigating those same friends heading down a dangerous path that she knows she does not want to be part of.  I continue to encourage her to be true to herself and to follow what she knows is the right thing.  I see her making difficult choices - but always choosing the right path.  I want her to know that GOD gives us life to live it abundantly and that no one person or group of people should be able to steal her JOY.  That challenges and struggles mold us and shape us into who GOD wants us to be.  I trust that through the next year she will be redefined, molded and shaped into the young lady that GOD wants her to be as he prepares her to go to college.

In previous posts I have referred to Maddie as tenacious and determined.  I pray that those qualities continue to shape her character.  As I listen to her through day to day conversations and interactions I hear a little bit of "her story" coming out as she claims it as her own.  Recently she was talking with her cousin, who is the same age, and Maddie told her that she lived in China when she was a baby and that I had to take 3 airplanes to go and get her".  That's the first time I've heard her put what she understands of her story into words.  I know that as she grows she will continue to communicate her story and as her understanding grows she will have more questions about it.  I continue to pray that GOD helps me know the right answers to her questions and when I don't have the answer, he will give me the tenderness and compassion to help her deal with the void.

Mia sweet Mia.  Mia has such a sweet and loving character to her.  I am anxious to see who she will become but want to treasure each moment of her being little that I can.  One thing everyone knows about Mia is that she loves her Momma!!!!  and her Momma loves her.  I think all moms treasure the youngest child - as they know it is their last, the last time you get to rock someone to sleep, the last sweet baby kisses, the last "first steps", etc.   She is growing up too fast!

Officially a 1st grader, Junior and a Senior

A measure of how quickly time goes by is marked by all the milestones that my kids are passing in their lives.  As in my last post, Mia turned 3 years old.  But inevitably that means that my other children are growing up as well, and too fast I might add.

Maddie has successfully finished Kindergarten and is moving on to the First Grade.  She has struggled this school year with reading and has shown her tenacious and determined spirit and mastered that that was holding her back.  She is a hard worker and more determined than ever to master whatever is thrown at her at school.  She is growing into a beautiful young girl..

Christopher finished his Sophomore year at college and is home for the summer.  He ended this semester again on the Dean's list with a 3.89 GPA and has landed an internship with the Universities' Marketing Department in the fall - when he returns for his Junior Year (OMG!)  He has given up playing basketball for the school, much to my dismay, and is focused on school and career.  I guess since we aren't going to the NBA that it probably is time for him to lay that down - lol.

To top all of that....  Lizzy is officially a Senior!!!  Today was the ring ceremony at school and as her class marched in together and were announced as the Senior class of 2015 - I cried....  Everything in my being screams  - I'm not ready!!!!  I don't want her to grow up and leave me!!!  I know its a selfish thought but I love having her home with me - We are so close!  This ceremony marks the beginning of the end of her high school days.  All the "Lasts" that she will experience - her last high school homecoming, her last high school cheer competition, etc.  Senior year is so bittersweet - I plan on soaking it all up - every last moment of it.  

Christopher presenting Lizzy's ring to her.

Christopher placing a loving hand on her head - messing up her hair as she walked back to her seat

Its official - Senior 2015

Mia turns 3

Time goes by so quickly.  You see how quickly it passes when you have something to measure it against.  It feels that Mia just got home and now she is already turning 3.  She has grown up so much over the past 2 years since coming home.  She is talking so well!  She jabbers non-stop now!  She is fully potty trained (thank goodness) and has just recently reached another major milestone - she is sleeping in her own room!!!!!!  Her personality is coming into its own and is a vivacious, funny and loving little girl.  Can't imagine life without her!  She keeps us in stitches.

Maddie Before & After

In March Maddie had a lip and nose revision at Texas Children's Hospital.  Her surgeon felt that her initial revision now has caused her face to pull to the side and her nose to have an exposed artery which is super sensitive and will free bleed at a small tap.  Revising her lip and nose now has lessened the revisions that will need to be made later on in her teenage years. So drumroll please.......

Before

After surgery Maddie was very hard to wake up from Anesthesia.

AFTER......

WOW - it made a huge difference!  And ...  No more nosebleeds!

Maui

We took all of our children and then some (Lilly, Lizzy's BFF and Minghui our exchange student) to Maui for the Thanksgiving Break.  We, of course, had an amazing time.  Maddie and Mia just had so much fun in the sun and on the beach.  Here are some pics of my beauties enjoying Maui....

Aloha!

Qualities

With having grown children it is very easy to articulate their qualities and personality.  They have grown up and I have helped guide them through various seasons in life until they have forged who they are.  With Maddie, I see some amazing qualities about her in just 6 years of life.

Maddie has been faced with some challenges over the past 18 months.  She has had to step off her throne and share the spotlight with Mia, which she struggled with but has come to embrace her little sister and become a great big sister.  I have seen her face her fears head on - starting soccer and being apprehensive about it and realizing that she has a gift and turned into the star of the field!  In school, she has struggled this year in Kindergarten.  Her teacher confirmed some of our fears, she has some dyslexia tendencies and started falling behind.  Maddie is tenacious and determined to overcome!  She works hard - harder than any child in her class at mastering her lessons.  She never fails to do her homework and pushes me daily to help her.  She will go over and over her lessons, never tiring.  She inspires me!  She inspires me to never quit because something is hard, inspires me to be a better mom, a better person!  I know that she has a lot to overcome but I know that she can do it!  I love her - my tenacious, strong willed, determined, bright and beautiful little girl!

Check up's

In November, Maddie and Mia both had check up's at Texas Childrens Hospital in Houston with the entire craniofacial team of physicians.  My dad came with me to try and help me wrangle both kids through parking, waiting and getting examined.  The day proved to be just as challenging as I thought it would be and was glad he came to help - 4 adult hands were just not enough to handle my 2 little chicklets.

Mia's check up went very well.  The doctors raved over how beautiful her lip closure was and they were in awe that it was actually performed in China.  Her palate is beautifully healed and functioning appropriately - yeah!  Her vocabulary is expanding and her speech is coming along beautifully.  I think she will still need some speech therapy but she has come along way.  She will have a full speech evaluation in March.  The tubes in her ears look great too!

I expected that Maddie's check up be as routine as Mia's.  Wrong.  Unexpectedly, the physician (who had not seen her before, as her physician that followed her from the time she came home passed away from cancer), was immediately concerned about her lip and nose.  He felt that they needed to be surgically corrected soon, as her face is pulled to one side as she is growing AND her nose has many issues - it was not reconstructed correctly initially.  But it got worse.  Her palate was not corrected properly either and the muscles aren't functioning correctly and may need to be redone.  Whoa!  Not at all what I expected to hear.  Maddie has had several obstacles to overcome here lately at school and this is just adding to the list.  I have been so burdened for her recently and pray daily that GOD gives me the tools to be a good enough as a mother to help her overcome.

Once I got over the emotional side of my baby having to have surgery, the practical planning side of me kicked in.  If we are going to do the lip and nose surgery we need to have a plan and schedule it for the end of school so that she doesn't miss any critical material that she needs to move on to 1st grade.  We will go for a surgical evaluation on January 6th.  Hopefully we can put a plan of action together.  As for the palate surgery, we will wait until March and see how she fairs in the Speech Evaluation.