14 Months Old

First taste of White Castles and it's a winner! (as is ALL food!)Of course she is our child!

This is my favorite pose, here I am giving Sawyer lessons on standing on your head!

So Big!

Beautiful Sage

See my teeth and my long bangs!


We have held Sage for 5 months now! Sometimes China seems like it was just a dream. Other times it feels as if it was just yesterday that we were walking the streets and getting to know Sage. The first day I held her my heart was so full and I was so in love. Yet I am even more in love with her now, my heart continues to grow and stretch and she is so much a part of me, of all of us and we continue to give thanks for this blessing. She is a BUSY girl! She does not stop unless she is asleep. Loves to explore and nothing is safe, nor is she! We are doing ok with changing her bandage from the fireplace burn, we go back in a few more days to recheck that. It is not pretty. And I thought maybe she would be afraid of the fireplace now. Nope. She walked right up to it, looked at me, looked at it for a second and touched it with her non bandaged hand. Of course it was off, as it will be from now on when she is awake, but obviously even a BAD burn did not deter her. She is determined, or maybe we should say SPICY, as we were told those Hunan girls could be! Sage stuff for 14 months..

• Eats, and eats and eat. I am not sure she would stop eating. I guess all the walking makes you a hungry girl! Even with one hand she shovels it in! Will not eat it if she can't feed herself though. Makes for messy meals! Does not care for carrots, but that is about the only thing I have found that she won't eat.
  
• Have switched from formula to soy milk.
  
• weighing right about 20 pounds now.
  
• walking, walking, walking! She is fast & EVERYWHERE! Got to love those squeaky shoes, I can always tell where in the room she is. China is so smart!
• Now has 6 teeth, 4 top 2 bottom.
• Blows kisses, but refuses to give kisses. She thinks it is funny to tell me no.
  
• Puts everything in her mouth, but if I come near her pulls it right out and hands it over.
• Now climbs up all the stairs. (we figured that out when daddy was "watching" her downstairs and all of a sudden she was upstairs by herself!) We are trying to work on going down, not throwing ourselves down
• Still in our room, and sleeping pretty well overall this month. She is still taking 2 really good naps every day, goes to bed by 830 and sleeps on average till 7. Better than any of our other kids ever did.
  
• LOVES to dance & sing. When I sing to her she starts swaying her head and then if I stop she sings it back to me! SO cute!
  
• Remember I worried about attachment, well I am pretty confident that we are bonded as is anyone that wants to hold her! I can't believe how much that has changed. The first couple of months she let EVERYONE hold her. No looking back. Now, she fusses if you even act like you are going to take her. She is a mommy's girl, but gets very excited to see Daddy or her siblings.
  
• Knows where her hair, nose, eyes, ears and belly are.
  
• Repeats most words we say, we are amazed with how much she talks. Some new favorites in our house are Sissy for Makenna and Lainey for Malaine. We also love asking what a cow says, "MO"and a bear "AHHHH"

We are thankful to be starting out 2007 as a family of 6 and are grateful for the ways God has allowed us to grow. In the next month we will have our 6 month homestudy visit done, WOW!

Always Something

When asked "Sage, where is your owie", this is her reply, since she is always bumping her head!
It's been a VERY rough day, let me just sleep it off and forget about it.
It's a New Day & I feel much better & can even hold my cup w/ a bandaide on!

Who needs 2 hands, I can still walk!

Yesterday Sage touched the glass on the gas fireplace. I was right there, and did not catch her in time. She screamed forever as I tried to keep cold on it. The dr said to bring her in, and while I thought it was silly last night to go, today the blister looked pretty large. So, we went. The blister covers a good portion of her palm and for fear of infection they want to keep it wrapped for a week w/ antibiotic ointment on it. It took 3 of us to get it wrapped at the office, I am not sure what we will do here this week, it needs changed every day. So far she is doing great with the wrap. Only tried to pull at it once. She ate lunch fine w/ one hand. Has not acted like she is in pain. Will we survive walking? She fell in the tub one day and gashed the back of her head open, pulled open a cabinet and fell onto the corner of it and bruised her face, now this on her hand. And these all happen while I am standing RIGHT there watching her. Sigh.I think we need to move into a big rubber room where she can't run into anything!

It's Official, we have a walker!

I will get you Sissy, You better watch out, Here I come!
And back to Daddy. Is everyone watching, come on clap for me!
All that walking wears me out, how about a ride in my wagon? It is just my size!

Sage has been taking steps for quite awhile now. But for the last couple of weeks, she has been doing much more walking than crawling and I would now offically say she is a walker. Today we were out at the mall, and she was a riot wanting to walk like the big kids. In her squeaky shoes of course! She just seems way to tiny to be toddling around!

I v'e Been Tagged!

By The Waala Family

A - available or taken: Taken forever
B- best friend: My Jesus & Of course, my husband
C- cake or pie: cake, filled choclate with Chocolate, Costco, YUM!
D- drink of choice: Cherry Coke, but usually trying to diet so Diet Dr Pepper
E-essential item you use everyday: Computer, but baby wipes is a close second.
F-favorite color: If I admit I love black and brown, will I be labeled weird? ;)
G-gummy bears or worms: like those sour worms, though not as much as chocolate!
H-hometown: Columbia, Illinois
I-indulgence: Chocolate, caramel with chocolate, reading & bubblebaths.
J-January or February: January-always a new start and the house seems so much bigger w/ Christmas decorations down!
K-kid's names: Makenna(9) Sawyer (6) Malaine (4) Sage (1)
L-life incomplete without: My relationship with God/Family and Friends
M-marriage date: 6/11/94
N-number of siblings: 1
O-oranges or apples: Apples, covered in Chocolate or caramel!
P-phobias or fears: Fear I will look back and say "I should have..."
Q-favorite quote: Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away. But prefer a bible verse Now Faith is being sure of what we hope for, and certain of what we do not see. Hebrews 11:1
R-reason to smile: God trusted me with 4 kids! And He calls me by name.
S-season: Fall
T-tag 3 people: Jenn/One House--Taylor Grace--Ceradsky's
U-unknown fact about me: I met my husband in the church nursery as a baby.
V-veggie I don't like: Easier to list what i do like!
W-worst habit: Getting overly passionate about things(can be my worst, but also my best!)
X-xrays: Do ultrasounds count?
Y-your favorite food: American Chinese, Good Italian and CHOCOLATE!
Z-zodiac: Aries

Paula Zahn/ Let's Try Again??

Thursday’s show
She’s a proud parent now, but if she wanted to do it again, she couldn’t. Will strict overseas adoption standards rule you out too? Tune in Thursday at 8 p.m. ET on “Paula Zahn Now.”
http://www.cnn.com/CNN/Programs/paula.zahn.now/

I would like to say that maybe the 3rd time is a charm, but I doubt it.

Hair Fun!

Very excited to say that Sage has enough hair to have some real fun with! And she leaves it all in very well! See, getting those headbands started in China did pay off!

NEED BLOG HELP!

Something crazy is going on. I lost all my bookmarks on my computer. Actually I lost the bottom half of them, which is where I kept all my blogs that I read through DAILY! I have no idea what the address' are, because they were saved and I just clicked on each of them. I should set up a blogroll, but I can't figure that out either. SO...Please email me your blogs, I am going through withdrawl! And if you have any idea on how bookmarks could have just disappeared, please help!

CNN & Paula Zahn

So if you have not heard about the CNN report on Friday night, please rush right over here and read it. It was a very upsetting view of Chinese Adoption. I encourage you to write in to CNN and let them know what you think about it. You can go here for a full list of where you can contact any one that was part of the panel. The good news is, this site says that they are going to revisit the topic tonight with people who are actually informed. And while I hate to raise their ratings by watching the show, I do want to see what they have to say.
Ever since we started the adoption, we have tried to remind ourselves that the comments that are made are not always out of stupidity,(though they are stupid!) but out of being uneducated. If you have not been through the adoption process or do not know anyone personally who has, you don't have a clue! Don't pretend you do. I especialy loved it when people tell me how much it costs, or how long I have to travel, or how long I have to wait. I had a chinese lady at the buffet tell me, you adopt, you live in china one month. I said, no just 2 weeks. She said " no, one month!" I just smile. And the list goes on and on. What I want to say is, "Hello, I LIVED IT!" Simply uneducation. So I try not to judge. But this report really made me a little more frusterated than normal. Please pray for Paual Zahn, and for all of those who have this same view on adoption. Pray that we who have adopted can open doors for those who don't understand. Most important, pray for these chlildren, who will grow up with these comments. For it is them that will be hurt.
Below is my letter I sent to Paula Zahn.


Not sure what I feel more. Shame on you, or pity. You brought out both feelings in myself from your show on Friday. I have 3 biological children, and one daughter from China. We have just recently returned from China with her. I wish you could meet her. We worked for 18 months to get this child home. A beautiful baby girl who was abandoned at 8 days old. ABANDONED. I wish you could look in her eyes and hold her in your arms and then, I would like to see you have the audacity to question why I would adopt her. Did I do it so I could have a “china doll” or so that she would outsmart my “American” children? What a sad little shell you live in.

We did not go into adoption lightly. We had 3 beautiful, smart children already. But I am a Child of God, and when He speaks, I listen. God told us to adopt. And so we moved forward and after doing extensive research on adoption from everywhere, it came down to this. My child was in China. That is what He said, and that is where we would go. It was not about what she looked like or how she would turn out to be, it was a matter of the need that was there. How about instead of questioning why, go to China. Walk through an orphanage. Look into the eyes of those babies, pick one up and hold her in your arms. Think about her future in China and what it holds for her if she does not leave.

I refuse to judge you on your stupidity or lack of knowledge in adoption. Your view is exactly as most of the United States is. You have no clue what it is all about. Yes, there are orphans ALL around the world. Maybe your panel should think about what they might do to help out, instead of judging us on what we have done. If it were only as easy as you all appear to think. Want to adopt a “Muslim” kid? Just jump on a plane and bring them home. That is NOT the way it works. Do you know how many countries are open for adoption, but have the right to close the doors on you, even if you already have met your child and are in love with them? That is one reason people are lined up for China. Besides the fact of sad the fate is for the girls there, China’s adoption program is strong. And contrary to your belief, the children are healthier there than most other countries.

Paula, you are a mother. You know what it is like to carry a child, birth it, and hold it in your arms soon after. What would it be like if you had to give that child up, walk away from her after holding her in your arms for 8 days? Or on the flip side, what would your life had been like had you NOT blessed with birth? How would you feel to be judged on where your children had come from had it not been your own womb? Or put yourself into the shoes of our Chinese children and what they might feel from your words or the words allowed on your panel. Shame on you for that.

My prayer is with you and each of the panelists that God would deal with your heart. My prayer is especially with your children as they are raised by you, a mother who dares to judge other mothers on their choices. I sure hope they are never in the position of adoption, just think what your grandchildren could look back on. How do you feel about yourself now?

Sincerely,
Shannon Laxton
Proud mommy to 4 beautiful children & yes one of them from CHINA!

UH OH!

Somehow I dropped my pacifier into the ball blower, Oh NO!!
Someone, help me, we have to get it out of there, I NEED IT!
Maybe I can crawl in there with it? Please come out paci!
Mommy saves the day, All is well!

My New Favorite Recipe

Picture does not do these sandwiches justice. I had them at a baby shower last month, and WOW!! So made them for Christmas Eve and they were a huge hit. I promise you will LOVE them! And though it appears they might be soggy, I guarantee they are not. YUM-O!

Poppyseed Ham Rolls

12 hawaiian sweet rolls
12 slices ham of choice
12 slices swiss cheese
Prepare sandwiches and place in 9 x 13 pan.

cook to melted on stovetop
1 stick butter
1 Tablespoon yellow mustard
1 Tablespoon Teriyaki Sauce(original recipe was for worchester, i like the teriyaki)
1 Tablespoon Brown Sugar
1 Tablespoon Poppy Seeds

Pour mixture over the top of the already made sandwiches. Refrigerate at least one hour prior to baking. (can be made a day in advance) Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes. I saved the leftovers and reheated a few days later and still good! Enjoy!!

Introducing our chinese pet

This is the mean hamster who was eating the other. The bloody hamster is back at the petstore being fixed up! Actually, this one is sweet. I did not remember hamsters were friendly, but he is! Makenna carries him around like a little baby. He is a chinese dwarf hamster and this is as big as he gets. Cute? At least it is not a pet pig, that is what the kids were convinced they needed after seeing Charlottes Web this week!

What we should have bought for China

Each year I end up with $ for Christmas from my grandpa, returns on Mark's gifts that don't work for me ;) , etc.. One gift he bought me this year was a small point and shoot camera, since I could not manage to take a decent picture on our camera we bought for China. However, the Christmas camera just Way to SLOW. I went in to exchange it, and we ended up selling both the Christmas Camera, and the new camera we bought for china, using Christmas $, so we could now own this. I LOVE it. We totally should have bought this for china. So, going to China, need a new camera? Ask questions away. We have now owned 4 digitals before this one, and I do have an opinion! I am pretty sure this one is unable to take a bad picture!

Twas the Week After Christmas...

Christmas Cousin Fun!
Happy Birthday to Jesus!
Matching Christmas Morning PJ's(malaine acting like the hamsters w/ her cheeks stuffed full of breakfast!)

And all through the house, there are toys to put together, and we now have a MOUSE! Ok, so it is a hamster, 2 hamsters to be exact, but they definatly have a mouse looking quality about them. Especially when they get loose from their cage and scurry around the room. Why add hamsters to this chaos? Why not? ;) If the hamsters survive that is. They are chinese(of course they are!) dwarf hamsters, and though they are "supposed" to get along, they don't . So we now have 2 cages, one holding a bloody hamster! But the kids are THRILLED and think Santa is the best to bring them more pets! All about making happy kids that is our motto!
What a different Christmas for us this year. Last year we ached to hold Sage, this year our arms are full of her! She is definatley not all that impressed by the mountain of gifts that had her name on them, but we sure are impressed that God allowed us this gift of His children. All 4 of them. More Christmas pictures coming soon...

Merry Christmas!

Our prayer for this Christmas Season is that we can all step back and enjoy the gifts that God has delivered to us. And most important that we will remember the Greatest Gift of All, Jesus. May God Bless you and your family. Have a VERY Merry Christmas!

The Cuteness Continues at 13 months!

Cute Christmas PJ's from Megan & Shannon. Not sure about that hat!
The smile that lights up the room and melts our hearts!
Walking like a big girl! Look at that concentration.
All ready to go in my coat from China!



Sage is now officially over a year old, and has developed quite the personality! We are having so much fun with her and we all agree, she is the most amazing baby in the world! Sage stuff for 13 months...

• She is 19 pounds. I am hanging on for her to stay under the 20 pound mark, I love being able to use the infant car seat still!
• Her hair is growing, it lays down as much as it stands up now.
• She is CRAZY with no fear at all. Her favorite game is to sit on the couch and dive off headfirst in a flip. I tried to teach her to climb the stairs, she just throws herself down them. Same thing off the bed, etc. And then she just laughs and laughs!
• Favorite activity is still a bath. She stays in till she is shivering and blue and I have to force her out while she loudly protests. Still loves to go under, bathtime is an adventure.
  
• Eats anything you give her. Is most happy to feed herself, though still does eat baby food good for us. We are slowly switching to milk, very slowly. She still enjoys bottles before going to sleep, and I am keeping that up for at least another 6 months for bonding.
  
• Totally attached to pacifier. Sigh.
• Is a snuggle bug! The cutest thing she just started this week is reaching up to be held and then laying her head on my shoulder and patting me. Love it!
• Taking about 5 steps now. It is a fun game to practice walking. About half the time she just throws herself at you counting on you to keep her from crashing to the ground. It is so funny watching her do the "munster" walk, stiff legged arms out.
  
• Continues to sleep pretty well overall. We have alot of night wakings needing the pacifier and last week had alot of wake ups with uncontrollable screaming. She is still trying to get a top tooth in, so we are praying that once it is through, she will sleep better. She is still in our room and we are debating making the move to her own room. I wanted to wait till summer, but I know I wake her up w/ my bath at night.
  
• Her communication has been the most amazing thing to me this month. We have been working on a few baby sign language sign's w/ her, but when I teach her the sign and say the word, she mimics the sign and says the word w/ me! Here is what she can now say..

1. Uh oh
2. Dog
3. Dada
4. Mama
5. Ball
6. Football(mark was pretty pleased w/ himself for teaching her this one!)
7. Bye bye
8. Night night
9. Bear
10. Papa
11. More (and the sign)
12. Bath
13. Ouch(she always rubs her head when saying this, she constantly bumps her head!)
14. Uv oo(love you) my favorite of course, and it is done w/ a tilt of her head back and forth, CUTE!
    

Since we have had Sawyer in speech for 3 years now, I am really excited to hear her saying so many words, especially for not hearing anything but chinese for 9 months of her life! If I say night night, she knows where her bed is and says bear. If i ask her if she wants to eat, she will crawl to her chair. If I say want a bottle, she knows where they are kept. See, isn't she amazing? ;)
I am still in awe of her. We all are, especially with Christmas upon us. The kids daily say, remember last Christmas when we thought Sage would be here? Yes, I remember very well. But we are also reminded that if we had a baby last Christmas, it would not have been Sage and so we are all thankful that God made us wait! Mark can't help but always add, Isn't it amazing, God actually is smarter than you are! Thanks for the reminder honey!
13 months old and 4 months since Gotcha. Time flies when you are having fun!

What a Difference a Year Makes

A Glimpse of Our House at Christmas

Look Who is Using a Cup!

We are trying out the sippy cup and Sage is doing great! So far just using it for juice, I still enjoy feeding her a bottle when she needs it. Doctor said she could start making the switch to whole milk, but we are holding off this week since she is on antibiotics yet again. Diapers are "interesting" enough without anything else new. Cups, real milk, taking steps, what is next? Our girl is getting big! And sadly, we see fewer hair days like this too, it is getting longer!

Sawyer Lost a Tooth!

Finally, after being loose forever, Sawyer allowed us to pull out his first tooth! (This happened right before the icestorm, trying to get caught up on my posts!) He was pretty excited about the toothfairy coming to visit, especially about the fairy dust she left behind! Makenna wanted to know why he got more $ than she did for her first tooth(who can keep track of that!) and why the tooth fairys handwriting looks so much like Santa's! hmmm...

Weekend Fun

Depsite the ice and snow, we headed out to Kansas City this past Friday. What should have been a 4 hour drive, turned into 24! The roads were pretty clear, we thought we were making good time and then they shut down the highway, right in front of us! So we rerouted through the backroads, and I saw more of Missouri than I needed to for sure! We stayed the night in Jefferson City, the kids were done w/ the car and were not going to make it another 2 hours. Had lots of fun with Sage at her first swim! This child is a fish. She honestly thinks she can swim, she has no fear and going under water is no big deal to her. We laughed and had such a good time watching her. We have to find a good floatie for her though, she is hard to hold, she wants away!
The kids had a blast in KC w/ all the snow! St Louis does not get alot of snow, so they could not wait to get out in it. Isn't their snowman cute?
We were able to see the Christmas Pageant at my brother in laws church, the reason we went. I should say the rest of the family saw the play, Sage does not sit through anything at this point, she is BUSY!
So despite being in Kansas City less than 24 hours, and spending more time in the car than not, it was still fun to visit with family and get away!

PRAISE FOR MYER MASSEY!!!!

I took this post off of Myers website just now.. If you did not see my prayer request please scroll down. "How Great is Our God, Sing w/ me, How Great is our GOD, and ALL WILL SEE..."

December 06, 2006 at 04:43 PM CST

All Glory to God!!!! It is a MIRACLE!!!! More than we can hope or imagine!!!!

The last few days Doctors have been coming in and scratching their heads... "Its not making sense"... "its not adding up"... more tests... more speculation. All the while we've been praising our Merciful Savior, Healer, Redeemer!!!!

The geneticists doctor came in today after looking at the last MRI and confirmed that it IS NOT MITOCHONDRIAL DISORDER!!!!!! It is Encephalitis cause from Influenza B. Encephalitis is inflammation (irritation and swelling) of the brain, usually caused by infections.

We are hoping to bring her home next week and begin rehab. She has lost major milestones… walking, eating, etc… its still hard to tell at this point. Therapists looked at her today and will continue their assessment this week. However, she took a bottle for lunch!! No feeding tube!!! Myer sat cuddled in Ally’s lap and quietly looked around. (Picture soon to be posted!!!)

There is absolutely no doubt that this was the work of our Jesus!! Our Yahweh Rapha!!!

When you share this testimony God gets ALL THE GLORY!!!!! This is HIS WORK!!!! This is not about Myer Massey, but the amazing way God draws us closer to Him. Please join us in praise and worship to our most loving God. Our hands are lifted, are hearts are full of gratitude and are smiles reach from ear to ear!! Whoo-hooo!!!!!
More to come on the expected rehab and recovery…

One Year CheckUp

If you did not see the post on prayer for Myer, please scroll down to my next post...
Sage had her one year dr visit today. The doctor is not her friend! Everytime she goes in there she gets a shot or her ears dug in! Today being no exception. Our baby girl is growing! She is now weighing in at 19 pounds 4 oz, which puts her in the 20th % for weight on American charts. She is 28 inches long, putting her again in the 20th-25th% for height. She is actually bigger than Malaine was at this age! The great news is, she is developmentally right on target now for a 12 month old baby! The doctor was very excited with her progress, as are we! She can now start switching to whole milk, which really makes Mark happy. This is our first experience w/ formula, it is expensive! She did have 4 shots, which is always horrible. And they were having a hard time getting a good look in her ears, had to dig out lots of wax, not fun. She said 2 more teeth are about to come in, which is probably the cause of her never ending runny nose. Overall a good vist and our Sage is a healthy girl! By the way, she can finally wear her first squeaky shoes, aren't they cute? She thinks they are so funny!

Prayers Needed

This is Myer. Her family traveled to China in our group, but Myer was in another province. Myer is very sick and their family is asking you to pray with them for a miracle. She was admitted to the hospital a week ago, and is still there. So many things, I can't even pretend to understand, so I am going to link you to their site. Go here www.carepages.com You will have to register, which is very painless, I promise. Then it will ask you to enter a care page name and you need to enter Myer.
There are things in life I don't understand, and this situtation would be one of those. We waited for these babies for such a long time, we fell in love with them before they were even born. We traveled around the world to bring them home and now here they are. It is hard for me to comprehend that it might have been God's plan to have this little girl here for such a short time. However, I continue to trust Him. And I continue to pray that He would do a miracle here and allow her to be healed. That He would send his angels down to hold her and her family in his arms. That He would prove to the doctors that He is bigger than genetic things, sickness, coma's and that He holds the Truth.
My heart hurts for them, I look at Sage and my eyes just fill with tears. She is mine. The thought of her being taken away just takes my breath away. While I don't know Myer or her family well, I do know that she shares a history of China with us. I ask that you would please be on your knees for this family. And if you can't get into her site, just e-mail me laxton@htc.net and I will try to help you out..