Five years ago today...

Five years ago today Jin Jie Li was placed in our arms in the Lottery Hotel in Nanning, Guangxi, China. We are so lucky and blessed to be her parents.

New Family Member

Last night before Doug went to sleep I said "By the way, I know we don't want to get a puppy right now but there are Bull Mastiff puppies for sale in the classified". Doug said "you really should go and check them out with the girls and send me some photos at work." The next thing I know I am calling him at work and telling him they only have one girl left and she is very sweet. We have wanted another dog after we lost sweet Hudson and had pretty much decided on a Mastiff. Needless to say, the little girl puppy is sitting at my feet being adorable.The girls have named her Rose.

Happy Father's Day

My girls are so blessed to have such a wonderful Daddy!

Last Day of School

We are so excited that Jetty's last day of school was a little over a week ago. We already had some wonderful visitors. Lisa and Maisie we all had so much fun:) I didn't sign up Jetty for any summer camps because we are going to take advantage of as much family time as possible.

The photos are from her last day at school and the awards ceremony. Jetty received an award for reading, music and another for P.E. She was very excited and all the little ones receiving their awards were so proud.

Jetty also showed her braveness with another round of blood work this week and a CAT scan. She went right into the cat scan all by herself and didn't shed a tear with the blood work. I was so proud and hope it will be the last and they have an answer for us soon.

Field Day Fun

How many of you remember field day? To be honest I never had fond memories of field day as a child. I was a chubby little kid who truly was embarrassed when I had to participate. Once I became a teacher I loved field day and being in charge of one of the games. Watching the children having so much fun is contagious. As a Mom it has reached a whole new level of fun for me. Having an athletic child who truly enjoys sports takes it to the next level. Only one more day of school and my little peanut will be finished with kindergarten.

Rain, Rain Go Away

If you had asked me a week ago I never would have thought that those sediments would have come out of my mouth. As of last week we were in such need of rain to lessen the fire danger and the high pollen count but enough already. Since Monday we have had over 16 inches of rain(and that was yesterday's count) and they are expecting another 4 inches of rain this weekend. For us it is so far just a major inconvienence but for many other families it is very sad and tragic. We had our boat cover ripped from the rain, we will probably lose some plants, and we have lost many hours of sleep this week. Between the weather radio going off for warnings(flood and tornados) and our sweet Murphy terrified of the storms we are not getting much sleep at night. I am reaching the state of exhaustion and would take a nap if I was able. We have broken down and we are going to try medicating Murphy tonight so maybe we could all get some sleep. She just wanders around our room all night panting like she is going to have a heart attack. But, as I said before, these things are nothing compared to the loss some families are feeling with their houses flooding and cars unable to get them to work. The county above us has gotten over 28 inches of rain since Monday. That is insane. Even with all the tropical storms and hurricanes we had dealt with I have never remembered rains like this week. Hopefully the rains will let up soon and no more property will suffer damage.

Fashion

"Project Runway" better look out because I think my husband has started a new fashion trend. Okay, I don't think anyone would be caught dead in this outfit except my husband. This is the romantic garb he wears to bed. The tights are some fancy schmancy pants that help circulation(or something like that)before a bike race. I think the Birkenstock really take the outfit to the next level. I still think he is adorable no matter what he is wearing.

On another note, Happy belated Mother's Day to all the wonderful Moms out there and all the Moms-to-be. I remember how hard Mother's Day was before our family was complete. To all the Mom's out there who are waiting I hope you hear good news soon. I can't say enough amazing things about my Mom. She is truly amazing and inspiring...I love you Mom!

I really need to put more of an effort to posting. By the time the girls are asleep I really am spent. I usually want to do something creative so I sit and hand-sew or needle felt. Posting can also be creative but for some reason the technical aspects zaps my creative spirit. I need to give a better effort and that will be my goal this week(maybe this month:).

Jetty was feeling better this week but her joints started hurting her again this morning. She ended up testing positive for mononucleosis and had a positive ANA test for Lupus or Rheumatoid Arthritis. We are praying that it is a false positive from the Mono which can happen. We go back for more tests in the beginning of June for Rheumatic diseases. Please keep her in your prayers and hope it is just a combination of the sinus infection, mono, and double jointedness that is causing her to be out of whack.