Thanks for the prayers...

...please keep them coming!  We are trying really hard to move forward through all the fog here, so we need you to continue to pray.  It is getting better.

Needing prayers and support...

No fun pictures.  No sweet stories.
I have to logically try and understand that dishonesty and maniuplation become survival techniques when you are an "older" child growing up in an orphanage.  That does not make it any easier to accept these behaviors when they are not things we embrace in our family.
As time moves on and we settle in as a family of 4, more behaviors surface and more things get revealed.  A recent trend in manipulation has led to another mountain to climb.  Boundaries are being pushed and limits tested.
If you refer back to the posting on November 20, 2011 entitled "Things are not always as they seem...", Kennedy told us that her birthdate was not accurate and that she was actually 12.  VERY long story short, that was not the truth.  Well...the DOB she was assigned is not accurate, but the chronological age was basically correct.  Though we will never know the exact information...she is indeed 14...or at least much closer to 14 than any other age.  I wish I could explain it, but I can not.

For now, she will remain in the grade we moved her down to as a result of that "information" in November.  It is truly where she needs to be academically at this point to fill in her many gaps in learning.  If she catches up eventually and can place out of a grade or two, great.  If not, she will be a "mature" high school senior when she gets to that point.

I am weary.  I need your prayers and support.  Thanks.

There is a new man in my life...

...and his name is Kirby!  Step aside, Charles...or actually...just roll over a little.  This curly little ball of sweetness sleeps right beside me in our bed.  YUP!  He snores only slightly less than Charles, so it is a little noisy at night.  ;)

Several months ago, my allergies and asthma, which did not even appear until I hit the age of 30, kicked into super high gear.  I have to do lunch duty every day at school because 30 minutes outside at recess pretty much sends me straight to my rescue inhaler.  (Have you ever seen a room full of 5 and 6 year olds eating?  I do NOT recommend it!) I have become highly allergic to cats and shedding breeds of dogs.  That is REALLY unpleasant for me because I ADORE dogs!

As it turns out, I can be around a few, low/non shedding breeds without a problem.  The breeds that work for me include Maltese, Bischon Frise and Poodles.  Since Charles is NOT a fan of poodles, I have been searching high and low for a Maltese or Bischon through rescue organizations.

We finally found our match with Kirby!  He is a Bischon, about 6 or 7 years old.  He is housebroken, past all things puppy, and just a lap dog!  He has brought me SO MUCH happiness!  I can just sit and pet him for hours!  He truly slows me down, and THAT is a GOOD thing!  The girls love him too, and so does Charles.  (Though I am not sure he will admit it!)  We are hoping to add another Bischon to the family soon to keep him company.  The one we are waiting for is a female, about 5 years old, from the same rescue.  She will be heading to the vet next week for shots, standard testing, spaying, etc.  If all goes well, we hope she will join our family as well.  So far, we think her name will be Molly.  She is about 12 pounds.  The Kirb man is 22 pounds!  How cute will it be to see him curled up with a girl half his size!?

Look at his face!  WHAT a CUTIE!!

Get a tissue...

I will try to post this from my phone. Hopefully, you can click on the picture on the blog to enlarge it so you can read my Christmas gift from Kennedy. She wrote a different one for Charles and one for Mia as well.  It was evident that she put alot of thought into each one.  So sweet.

Has It Really Been Five Years??

Where in the world did the last five years go?  It seems like we were just in China yesterday with Gene and Lorie, waiting to meet Mia and Zoe.  I can remember how nervous Annie and I were, waiting to go to the adoption affairs office.  I remember going up the elevator with no idea if Mia was already there.  Would she like us?  Would she trust us?  Would she love us?  I guess it all worked out.  Five blazing fast years have passed and Mia is just as awesome today as she was on the day that we met.

We celebrated our Gotcha anniversary by taking Mia to a local Chinese buffet, where we all proceeded to eat too much.  Mia got to pick the place, since it's her day.  She wanted dim sum, but the place we wanted to go to is closed on Tuesdays.  Oh well...everything else about today was just about perfect.

12/27/06

12/27/11

Thanks to everyone that helped us meet Mia. No matter how small the roles may have seemed at the time, they were incredible as far as we are concerned.

Hey Kennedy...only four more years to go!

Merry Christmas, Y'all!

Three pics of the whole fam!

A first look at what Santa left at our house.

Obviously, she liked these movies.  But look at how darn CUTE she is!!!

Kennedy LOVES books!

This is me, reading to the girls...and our little man, Kirby!

Two beautiful daughters, curled up with mom!

Anticipation at Nana and Papa's house...

Kennedy was VERY excited when she opened up this purse!

"WOW!!  MORE stuff from Santa at Nana and Papa's house!!!

Mia would NOT like me posting this one, but it shows her CRAZED excitement that lasted throughout the entire day!!!

Not much time for words today.  I know you really only check for the pictures anyway!!  Hope you enjoyed a peek at our Christmas.  It was great!  Yesterday, Charles and I celebrated 19 years of marriage!  Today, we are celebrating our 5 year Gotcha Day with Mia!  We are heading out to eat at her favorite Chinese food spot soon!  It has been a full 3 days of happiness and celebration!  We wish you all the same!

The Great Outdoors

I rarely blog, so I thought I would at least post a few pictures of our amazing girls!  Mia looks grumpy in a few, but she had the sun in her eyes.  They actually had a great time!  Promise!

Happy Birthday and Boo to You Too!

Mia is 7!!  HOW did that happen so fast???

Mia and her BFF, Leesie...our girl chose a skate party again this year!

This is what Mia's face looks like right as she is about to crash on to the skate floor...

Kennedy and her good friend Charlotte.  They met in high school a few weeks ago, before we found out Kennedy was really only 12 and needed to be moved to junior high school!  Still recovering from that news!

Trick or treat???

Since she is younger than we thought, Kennedy got to dress up for the first time ever for Halloween.  We tried to talk her out of the witch costume, but it is what she really wanted.  She said, "Witches are bad, but I am pretending...so I am not bad!"  We could not really argue with her logic!

Here are our two beauties at the Halloween festival.

OK, this one posted out of order...but check out the "REALLY DAD????" pose.  Can you even IMAGINE when she is a teenager?????  Can you say ATTITUDE CHECK!!??

Action shot of the ring toss.  (Really, Mia wanted me to post a picture of her "cute cheerleader hair"!)

Pic In The Park

I took the girls to a local park over the weekend. I snapped this totally cute picture and had to share it.

Things are not always as they seem...

What do 12 year olds like to do???  Well...now I know, since I actually have one!  Yes, you read that correctly!  Anyway...see the photos above for some of Kennedy's favorite recent activities!

As we approach our first full year together, Kennedy has started to share more and more information about her life in China.  I think that she finally truly understands that family is forever, and this is a permanent thing.  She also understands MOST English, and speaks the language pretty well.

As a result, she recently told us that her Chinese name and birthdate were not accurate. (We had a feeling the age was off by at least one year...) A few days later, she shared many more details, including the fact that she was given a new name and a birthdate that was 2 years older than her age when she arrived at the orphanage.  GULP!  This information was delivered during dinner...at a restaurant...in public...

I was pretty proud of how calm I remained as the blood drained from my face and hands.  I excused myself from the table and freaked out where she would not see me.  I returned to the table where I assured her that she could tell us ANYTHING, and we would still love her the same.  She waited a few more days, then gave us the full story.  She was visibly relieved.

She has been a totally different kid since then!  She is relaxed, playful and at peace.  She looked at me in the middle of a shoe store last weekend and said, "Mom, since I told you the truth, I feel so much better!"  I can not imagine how hard it has been for her to keep her identity hidden for so long.  There is an unspoken tension that has disappeared from our home and we have made huge strides in the bonding process in a short period of time. 

Kennedy and Mia have been getting along better than ever as well.  They jump-rope, play with sidewalk chalk, and do other "kid stuff" that Kennedy has been pretending not to be interested in...though we could see that she was.  Bless her heart, she has been in 9th grade for the last 9 weeks.  HIGH SCHOOL.  A 12 year old!!!  Double GULP!

We had a meeting at the school yesterday and decided as a team (Charles, myself, the principal, counselor and ESL teacher) that Kennedy will move to 7th grade on Monday.  We are all relieved.  This will also give us back 2 precious years with her and give her more time to develop physically, emotionally, socially and academically before she actually does get to high school. 

When we go through the readoption process (...not required, but we did it with Mia and will do the same with Kennedy...) she has asked that we remove her inaccurate Chinese name that we had retained as a second middle name.  We asked if she wanted her actual Chinese name added, and she does not.  We will ask again when the time comes, but will certainly remove the inaccurate name.  As far as the birthdate...that is not as simple.  We will at least move it to June from March.  However, adjusting it 2 years earlier can cause problems later when paperwork does not match.  We are working through that as we go.  The most important thing is that we are placing her in the appropriate school setting for her true age and that we celebrate the birthday she knows to be true.  That is our focus for now.

I may not post often, but when I do...I go BIG, huh?!!!!