“I am not the same having seen the moon shine on another part of the world.”

It’s amazing what one little girl can accomplish. I can’t help but smile when I see her cherub face, she makes my heart feel light and, even though my eyes feel like they have sand paper in them from lack of sleep, I can’t wait to spend the day with her.

This morning, Maddie was lying between me and John on the bed and she woke up in a wonderful, happy mood. She was babbling to me and looking me right in the eye, when she heard her father move. So, she turned her head, reached out to touch his face, and said, “Dada” – clear as a bell. How can you not love that?

The boys have been playing a lot more with Maddie. She loves when they come home from school because they are willing to sit on the floor with her and make stupid faces and be crazy. Codi is convinced Maddie can say “Bubba” – I don’t have the heart to tell him she’s probably asking for her pacifier or bottle.

Last night the boys helped me blow up her inflatable ducky tub her Aunt Janece bought her. She sat in the tub, splashing and squealing. It was so adorable!!! I will try to get “tasteful” tub pictures next bath.

Tonight Maddie decided that standing on the living room chair would be fun – here is a picture of her right before she fell on her face! I still think she’s going to walk before she crawls.

Here is what's new with Maddie Moo...

This has been an exciting week! We now weigh 14 pounds and the doctor is going to pierce our ears on our next visit in two weeks. There is some stuff going on with Maddie's blood tests, but since I’m not sure exactly what yet… I won’t comment on anything right now. Hopefully it’s nothing.

The most exciting news is Miss Maddie ate a few tiny spoonfuls of cereal this week! She continues to act like I’m poisoning her with strychnine by making a sour puss face whenever food touches her tongue, but she actually swallowed the food…and it did not come back up all over me!

Looks like her other bottom tooth is getting ready to make its grand entrance any minute now. Amazingly Maddie is in wonderful spirits. She learned to wave bye-bye this week and is sitting unsupported for about 20 seconds. The crazy thing is, if you let her grab your fingers, she can pull herself up into a sitting position and then straight up to a standing position with little to no help! I think she may just bypass crawling and go straight to walking. I would say she is a totally gifted child, but right now she is blowing mouth farts on my arm as I’m typing so…I guess “gifted” is not a correct assessment.

We visited all our friends at City Hall this week and said good-bye to our dear friend Tana. Maddie also helped Mommy vote. She got a “Future Voter” sticker for her baby album. How cool!

I ordered her adoption announcements…they are so adorable – so look for them in the mail over the next few weeks.

Here are a few cutie pootie shots for you. Love to all!

Weekly update

Sorry it’s been so long since I posted anything new…but little Miss Madison has decided to give her Mommy a run for her money this week. First, she cut her very first tooth! It’s a tiny little nub on the bottom. It also looks like the one next to it is trying to pop through too. Then, and much more disturbingly, Maddie decided to go on a little hunger strike and not eat for 20 hours straight. This caused her Mommy to become a little freaked out. Everything is much better now and Maddie is back to her old sweet self as you can tell by our photos from the week.

Scooter's track meet
Grandma Helen claims ANYONE can be Irish on St. Patty's Day

If you look REAL close...you might see our new toothy...

This picture is even better...look at the bottom on the right...

Little Miss Photogenic

Mommy's favorite picture of the week...

My little blogging “helper” has figured out banging on the keyboard is loads of fun, so updating the blog has become a bit more challenging. It’s wonderful to see her being so inquisitive and alert to her surroundings. Over the past few days Maddie has been introduced to more of our friends and has had many new “firsts.” She attended her first track meet to watch her sister run – and sported her new t-shirt that reads: Scooter's #1 Fan - to support her big sister. Sam’s nickname is Scooter. So cute!
We also attended our first birthday party for our favorite little neighbor girl – Danielle, who turned 6 this weekend! Maddie got to swing for the first time and she LOVED IT! Look at that face!
One evening, when we were taking our bath, Mommy decided to put on Maddie’s bathrobe that one of her Auntie’s from work gave her. Isn’t she a doll baby?
As you can see, Maddie LOVES the camera, which works out well, since Mommy LOVES taking pictures with her cool camera Daddy bought her. I love that she lights up when the camera comes out and she can be such a ham! Her brothers also wanted in on the action this weekend, and of course I can’t refuse those gorgeous eyes! I know this is so vain – but I have some darn cute kids!!!!
Speaking of super cute kids – here are the twins…Marissa and Cade. Marissa is my goddaughter and I love these babies and their parents – Joe and Ali! The whole family, including big brother Zach (Carter’s best friend) came over this weekend and had dinner with us. It was so nice to have all the kids together and get to catch up a little. The twins Daddy is the infamous “Joe’s chicken” fireman. Thanks to my wonderful mother-in-law, I have a new PROGRAMMABLE crock pot and I will be giving the recipe a second chance with this week.
Here’s a good chuckle for you as I close – Ali and I were talking about going out to dinner and the reactions we would get when we said, “Hi! We need a table for 11 with 3 highchairs, 3 kids’ menus and the rest are adults.” Ha! Have a great week!!!!

Doctor News

Mommy's blogging helper...

This week we scheduled a pediatric appointment at Quest so our poor little thing could have her blood drawn for all the tests she needs. When we arrived, the waiting room was pretty quiet, and since Daddy wanted nothing to do with holding her down, Mommy went back with two technicians. What an excruciating 20 minutes! Neither tech could find a vein in either of her arms, legs or feet and Maddie was howling blood curdling screams because the tourniquet hurt. She was also sweating like a sprinkler system, which was making Mommy sweat – needless to say, this was not at all very sexy. Finally another technician came in and drew the 6 vials of blood we needed. I walked back out into a FULL waiting room of people who were looking at me like I just tried to kill my child. So glad that is over!

Great news! Maddie’s TB test came back negative!

The kids have all been getting back into their routines and John and I have been relaxing and just enjoying the peace and quiet and each other’s company. It feels so amazing to have all of my children around me. Each one waits patiently for their turn to have my undivided attention once Miss Madison has been taken care of – which obviously takes up a great deal of time. All of the research I’ve done on bonding has said it’s extremely important to answer her cries immediately, so when she bellows, I hustle to be there. I can’t say it enough – she is a great baby. Everyone who spends time with her notes she is a very content child. She can entertain herself for fairly long periods of time – sometimes just with her binkie and fingers. She also LOVES to talk! She had a 5 minute “conversation” with Carter this morning. He would talk to her and she would babble back, and then he would talk and she would babble. It’s adorable!

Our new trick is to nod our head – as if to say “yes.” So, we decided to only ask her questions she can answer with “yes.” Like, “Maddie, do you love your Mama?” Then she nods her head “yes” and we all clap and say good girl! This is great! A baby who doesn’t say “no” to everything!

Maddie and I are also trying to find our own routine. Maddie gets up around 5 to 6 a.m., has a bottle and fills up her diaper. Yeah! She’s a morning baby! She plays for a little while, naps for an hour or so and starts the eating, playing, sleeping cycle of the day. She still sleeps like an infant, with small cat naps all day long. I try to keep her up playing, but when she gets tired, her little eyes roll into the back of her head and she just zonks out! I’ve been trying to let her get as much tummy time as she can handle in her play yard and also sticking her in the Bumbo chair. She’s really too tiny to actually sit in it correctly, but darn it, she looks so cute in it!

We took her back to our pediatrician the other day because, for the life of me, I could not get this child to eat any solid food. I would put the spoon in her mouth with a small bite of baby food and she would act like I was poisoning her! We saw all sorts of faces and gags and then…the vomiting. So, the doctor said to stop trying to feed her food and just stick to a bottle for another month. We are going to treat her digestive system like she is four months old, her body like she’s seven months old and her brain like she she’s 10 months old. The pediatrician assures me that by the time she goes to Kindergarten; she will be all caught up with herself.

Projectile vomit and baby paraphernalia

We took Maddie to the doctor on Thursday. The poor baby had to get one shot in her thigh and endure three sticks in her arm to do her TB test. Of course the doctor had to use the scare tactics and inform us her test may come back positive – which, so far, does not seem to be the case. I have to officially check it tomorrow. He also argued with us about her age. He felt confidant she was only 7 months old, not 9 months, since her anterior fontanel (soft spot) was not closed yet. We’ve been racking our brains and trying to figure out a time line to see if it might be true. Honestly, I’m not sure either way, which truly saddens me because now we really aren’t sure what her birthday is. I mean, I knew all along her birth date was probably not correct since the orphanage lists her b-day as the day she was abandoned at the orphanage, so it was probably off by a day or two, but this revelation could really make it skewed. I personally think your birthday is important. Asian cultures celebrate the birth year – so dates really aren’t as significant to them.

So, last night Maddie christened Mommy. She actually ate three or four spoonfuls of squash and then polished off 8 ounces of formula. I guess I should have questioned her eating so much, since 5 ounces seems to be the most she can handle. But, I feed her on demand and I was following the doctor’s instructions to start her on veggies. Well, after dinner I was rocking her in my arms and staring into her beautiful brown eyes when BLURRRRRB, BLURRRRRB, BLURRRRRB, BLURRRRRB!!!!! Maddie started projectile vomiting…into my wide open mouth and all over the two of us. All of the children were watching this and Sam kept asking, “What can I do for you?” I could not form a complete sentence to even ask for help, so I start laughing. After a minute or so, I did manage to wipe my mouth and ask for a towel. Of course her entire 8 ounces were now all over the chair, us and the living room. Her very helpful brothers disappeared after announcing that she smelled bad.

Last night we bought Maddie a play center to get more tummy time. She loves it! Carter helped put it together. She now has lots of toys to play with. I keep forgetting how much stuff one little tiny 12 pound baby needs! Between the swing, the bouncer, the car seat, the play center and her toys we have all stubbed our toes and tripped over at least one baby contraption every day since she came home.

Before I close, let me give a shout out to some VERY important people - our dear friend, Rick, who just came home from his second tour in Iraq. We are so happy he is home safely. Also a big shout out to my favorite Marine – Douglas Zimmerman – who is currently serving our country in Afghanistan. I was going to tell him to remember to duck and cover, but it seems his biggest nemesis these days are spiders! Douglas…stay away from the creepy crawling things and come home safe and sound so your mother can get a good nights sleep. Love you Marsha!

We have pretty flowers in Nevada too! :)

WOW! Jet lag SUCKS monkey butt!

Have you missed me? Yeah, right! You just want to see pictures of the kids, I know, it’s okay, I’ve come to terms with it.

So, let me catch you up on the past few days. We arrived back in the U.S. on Friday and I can happily report I have a world-class traveler. Maddie slept in her bassinet on the long trip from Taiwan to LA and barely made a peep. We had to say good-bye to our dear friends, Jen, Addison and Grandma Lisa, who still had 9 more hours of travel ahead of them. We landed at home and my sister Heather, my niece and nephew, Halle and Caden, along with Samantha, Codi, Carter and Grandma and Papa Gregg were there to meet us. There were a lot of tears and hugs and smiles.

It is now Wednesday night and I’m still not completely back on U.S. time. Neither is John or Maddie. We still get up at night and want to sleep in the day, but it’s getting a little better. Grandma Helen has been here all week to help and the kids have been in school, so I’ve actually taken everyone’s advice, and I sleep when Maddie sleeps.

Sam, Codi and Carter just adore their little sister, as you can see from the pictures.

I knew Sam would be a great helper, but Codi has really surprised me and has turned out to be a great big brother. He is very attentive to his sister and always seems to know what she needs – usually her pacifier. Carter has also shocked me by not being too upset about losing his place as the baby. He is ready for our routine to be more normal though, and I think this next week things will start to calm down.

I’m tired but I love the phone calls, so please don’t be shy if you want to check in. I’m still a little apprehensive about taking Maddie out yet until we see the doctor and she can get a little over stimulated when too many people get in her face at one time, but otherwise she is a pretty easy going baby with a wonderful disposition. Holding her is very soothing to me.

Here’s something funny I haven’t shared with you yet. Guess who called while we were traveling to get Maddie? You’ll NEVER guess, so I’ll just tell you…our other adoption agency! After two years the Chinese government is finally going to review our paperwork for our adoption in China. Don’t freak out! It will probably be another two or more years before we would hear anything. We told them we were completely committed to adopting a child from China so we are still moving forward. Hey Ali- I guess I’ll need another t-shirt that says “Mommy of 5” soon.

It really means a lot to me to know so many people have been following the blog. Keep checking back and I will try to update you on how we are doing and what the doctor says.

Love to all!