July 10th is the day for Tubes

Hi all, July 10th is the day LilyRose will have her tubes put in her ears. I am so nervous. I know it's common but still, she's my baby and I am freakin out. I know her ears are bothering her now because her fingers are always in them. I have an appt. with the ENT this week to see if we can get some drops to hold us over until her operation. So, please keep her in your prays and keep me in them too. I will most likely pass out when she goes under. I passed out when Joseph had to have intravenous. Not good at that stuff when it comes to my kids. Thank God for Anthony. He will have to hold both of us that day.

We had another play date last Monday with the FCCLI girls @ Vicky's house and boy, did we all have fun. Thanks Vicky for a great day and the use of your house and pool. I want to thank Emily for letting LilyRose play with all of her toys. What a big girl you are Emily. Oh, btw, thanks for the shoes, I can't wait for LilyRose to wear them. Can't wait to do it again.

Now, I want to say Happy Birthday Nola Ann. LilyRose was invited to Nola's birthday party on Sat. and we had a great time. My good friend Rebecca's family was awesome. She has 2 beautiful sisters and her parents were super sweet. Nola has been home from China I believe 2 or 3 months and she is absolutely beautiful. You have to see her sister Gracie too. She will be a heartbreaker when she gets older. Thanks guys for inviting us.

I will post again soon. BTW, look at LilyRose on the "Rollercoaster" ride. She loved it and I can't find it in any of the stores. If someone comes across it, please let me know where
I can get it.

The weekend

Ok, so another weekend is gone. Joseph had a baseball game almost every night last week. LilyRose and I went to all of them except Friday night. Wouldn't you know it, Joseph hit a home run and got another 2 RBI's. He was so happy that he won the game for his team. He made Anthony call me as soon as he hit home plate. I can't believe I missed it. I guess I will be going to every game from now on.

LilyRose had her 2nd ENT appt. on Saturday morning. I was so surprised to hear the Dr. tell me that she needs tubes put in. Both her ears had a lot of fluid in them. She failed the hearing tests that she passed the first visit we had with him. So, LilyRose will have tubes put in sometime in the next 2 weeks. I know it is so common, but I still was very upset that she needs them. I am a nervous wreck.

I have no new pictures to post. I just wanted to let you all know what was happening.

Have a great week.

No Early Intervention for LilyRose

We had E.I. here today and LilyRose does not qualify. They said she is where she should be for her age and for only being home 4 months she is doing awesome. I have to have then come back in 6 months for another evaluation. They had a Chinese Interpreter and LilyRose just stared at her with this look on her face like she was thinking "I heard that language before, but I don't know where I heard it from".

Let me explain that look. On Monday, we went to the local mall here to see my cousin who was working in an eye place helping out his friend until his practice opens next month because I needed new contact lenses. We had LilyRose with us. When we were leaving the mall, I was walking a few feet ahead of Anthony and LilyRose. All of a sudden, I hear a woman talking Chinese. I turned around and this lady is talking to LilyRose and my daughter is just staring at her with this look on her face. It was total confusion. I have no idea what this lady was saying to her and then she offered her some fruit. At that moment I snapped out of my fog and told Anthony to pick her up and let's go. LilyRose was turning in his arms to see this lady all the way out of the mall. I didn't think to ask her what she said to Lily until after we were in the car. We had one of the worst nights with her that night. She would not go to sleep and she cried like crazy and just went into her own little world. I was scared to death. I thought that she was going to regress after that. The next morning she still wasn't herself, but by that night she was ok. So I guess when she saw this lady today she had somewhat of the same facial expression but didn't let it bother her at all.

She was very entertaining though today. They got a real kick out of her. LilyRose loves to be the center of attention and boy was she in her element today.

Ok, last Sat. night we went to the Cox family's house for a BBQ. Anthony kinda invited us on his own there. We are super close with this family and had a really good time. We had a lot of laughs and Joseph and their son Thomas are really good friends. Their daughters Kathleen and Elizabeth adore LilyRose. I got some nice pics of the night.

Joseph has had a baseball game every night this week. So of course we are at the field every night. I put LilyRose on the swings and she hated them, as you will see by the pics. I didn't get one of her crying but you will get the idea when you look at them. Now the slide is a different story. She loves it. Wants to go down it all the time. So I hope you enjoy.

I want to say hi to my brother Ralph. I was happy to see that he commented on here the other day all the way from Iraq. We are in the count down for him to come home on leave. He will be getting home on July 6th. and will be here for 28 days. My mother is beside herself. We have not seen Ralph since Feb. 16th. The very day we got home from China with LilyRose. He left the next morning and we really can't wait to see him. We are picking him up at the airport and my mother doesn't want to go because she is afraid that she will make a scene. I know I'm going to make a scene and I don't care. Damn, I miss him and can't wait to see him.

Wow, haven't been here in a while

I hope everyone is doing well. I can't believe it's been this long since I was here last. So much has happened.

First off, I would like to welcome home April, Sean and their new son Aiden. He is the cutest little boy and we are so very happy for them. We wish them all the best and I can't wait to talk with April when she gets settled.

Joseph and LilyRose are doing great. Joseph has been playing soccer and baseball like crazy. Over Memorial Day Weekend he had a tournament and played 3 games in the afternoon. I will be bragging right about now, Joseph was the only one to score any goals for his team in all the games. I have to say that I was jumping up and down as I do not like most of the moms on this team. I know it sounds bad, but I can't help it. No love lost there. Thank god the season has ended. Joseph is doing great in baseball too, although the other night he caught the ball with his upper lip. I got there after it happened and of course being the way I am I kinda flipped out for a minute. He was on the field and I could see that something was on his mouth. To my surprise it was his lip that was so puffy that you could see it across the field. It's still swollen but it looks much better. He has 16 more days of school left. He's counting, not me. lol But he lets us all know everyday how many days are left. He will go to a summer program that the school offers for the month of July. He has a great time and all of his friends go. Have no idea what Aug. will bring. He will be playing Baseball though. Lets hope the Asthma stays at bay.

Now for LilyRose. Lets see, she is spoiled beyond belief. She is getting chunky and her hair is growing nicely. I even got 2 clips in her hair at once. I had Early Intervention come. Not sure if she will qualify, but I made them come anyway. She was saying 14 or 15 English words and then kinda stopped. So, I figured I had nothing to lose. Other then that she is doing great. She is a very happy little girl and we love her to pieces. She is the main event wherever we go. She loves the attention. She will be famous one day. I still can't believe that she is ours and how very lucky we got. She is the sweetest little girl and very lovable. Her favorite thing right now is talking on the phone. Boy does she love to talk. My brother calls from Iraq a lot and she has some conversation with him. He cannot wait to get home to really get to meet her. Don't forget, he left the very next day when we returned from China. He only got to see her for an hour or so. He says listening to her makes him laugh. I guess where he is he needs all the laughs he can get. He will be coming home for a 2 week break in the beginning of July. My mother is counting the days until she sees her son again. I think this is the hardest thing is has ever lived with. I couldn't imagine what she feels or any of the parents with children over there.

I hope you enjoy some of the pictures. Lets hope that I don't stay away to long again after this post.

Happy Mothers Day

I would like to wish all the Moms, new Moms, and soon to be Moms, a very Happy Mothers Day. Enjoy your day.

Joseph's First Holy Communion

Well, Joe made his First Holy Communion and I am thrilled. He looked so very handsome. It was a beautiful ceremony and thank God I wore waterproof mascara. I wasn't the only mother crying either by the way. He looked so grown up walking down the isle and he had the biggest smile on his face. We were not allowed to take pictures during the ceremony which was to bad because he did look so handsome and it is a special day and it would have been nice to have. We went to the Church at 10am so that we could take pictures before it got really crowed. At 10:30am they were lined up and at exactly 11am it started. I liked the way they did things. Anthony and I sat in the pew with Joseph between us and my family that came had their own pew. We actually went to the altar with Joseph and had to introduce him to the priest and watch up him take his First Communion. It was really neat. I saw my mother out of the corner of my eye staying off to the side watching Joseph take his First Communion. When Joseph saw her he gave her the biggest smile. When we got back to the pew he looked at me and said " it taste like foam" "So I asked him how he knew what foam taste liked" He had no answer for that. It was to funny. The party was really nice too. Anthony worked on our backyard for 3 weeks to get it in shape and we had a tent and table and chairs and he planted all these flowers and it looked great, but it was really cold out so not that many people sat out there. We had a little over 60 people here and everyone had a great time.

My mother cooked her butt off for this because Joseph didn't want it catered. He loves my mothers cooking. My poor mother was wiped out. On top of that my brother called from Iraq to congratulate Joseph (he's Joes Godfather) and to wish my mother a Happy Mothers day (this is the first one in 45 years that he wasn't with her) and she was crying and I think after that she was in a fog. But all in all, it was a really nice day.

A friend of mine owns a party entertainment co. and I had one of those big bouncy things that had a rock climbing wall and a slide. The kids had a great time in that thing. I went in it also. I don't think it's made for people over 40. I got super dizzy and when I went to slide down the slide, I don't know what I did, but I went down head first and tumbled over like an ass. When I got out of the thing, my legs were like jello. I had to sit for a half hour after that. I am just way to old for this stuff. LilyRose got in for a little while with all the other babies we had here. It was really cute. Thank god we video taped it all. My daughter ate all day long. Anyone she saw that had food, she was on them like jelly on peanut butter.

I'm glad it's done. It was a lot of fun, but very stressful. It started to pour right after the last guest left. God was good to us today. I hope you enjoy the pictures.

So much to tell

So LilyRose turns 20 months old today. She is getting so big, and the bigger she gets the bigger her attitude gets!!! She has some attitude already. They were not kidding when they told us that the Hunan girls were "Spicy Girls" she is wild. But we love her to death and wouldn't change a thing. My mother tells me that she is a mini me. No problem!!! She talks up a storm and laughs all day long. It's amazing that she is here and she's all mine. LilyRose is a momma's girl all the way. Thank You God .

Joseph made the All Star Team. We got the call tonight. So, out of something like 50 or 60 boys that tried out, Joseph was 1 of 12 that made the team. He was so excited he almost fell down the stairs when he went to tell my mother that he made it. He is officially a "Bulldog All Star Baseball Player". I am so proud. Woo Hoo!!!!!!!! He can't wait for my brother to call tomorrow from Iraq so that he can tell him that he made it.

My niece Angelina made her First Holy Communion last Saturday and she looked beautiful. LilyRose had a great time at this party. She danced, she ate and she sang and she ate, and ate and ate. I don't know where she puts it but God Bless her. She has an awesome appetite. Joseph also had a great time. There were a lot of kids at the party and some were his age. The DJ was pretty good and Joseph danced. WOW, my son danced and in front of people to boot. I wish he would take Hip Hop classes. I think he's a pretty good dancer.

I want to wish April and Sean a safe and wonderful trip to bring their son Aiden home. They are finally leaving on May 18th and we couldn't be happier for them. This is such an exciting time and we wish you all the best of luck. We love you guys. Can't wait to see the very first pictures of you and Aiden together.

More updates

Boy, am I slow at posting again. First off I have had 2 sick kids this week. WOW, I have to give tons of props to the mom's that have more then 2 kids. I don't know how I survived. lol haha

Well, on Saturday, April 21, my agency, Adoption House had a party for the families that have adopted domestically and internationally in the last year. We had a really nice time and LilyRose finally got to meet Paige. Paige got home in June of 06 and boy is she gorgeous. LilyRose gets a little high strung around crowds and she was off to the races that day. Anthony was trying to calm her down most of the day. I never saw it that bad before. To top it off, my SW was there and she got a little of bit of the "spicy girl attitude" also. Can't wait to see what happens at our first post-placement meeting. LOL.

Now onto Joseph's updates. As I said earlier, he will be trying out for the Summer All Star Baseball team and he is really very excited about it. The head manager checked him out at his first game but wants to try him out one on one. So Sunday April 22, he had a soccer game in the morning and he got one of the 2 goals for that game. He got the goal off a kid that he has been in competition with for 2 years. Then he comes home and we get a phone call that he has a baseball game. It's a make up game from the week before. But, he has the All star try out in the middle of it. So, we go to his baseball game and he plays really good because he is pumped up about the try out. We leave one field and race to the other field and there goes my son, The All Star. He did awesome. The manager said it looked really, really good for Joseph. We won't know for sure until next week, but I think he did great either way. He can't wait for my brother to call from Iraq so that he could tell him all about it. My brother was a great baseball player when he was younger, actually a great pitcher. He had a try out for the majors but blew his arm out right before. So instead of being a baseball player, my brother became a NYC Police Officer. My father never recovered from that one. So anyway, Joseph had a busy Sunday and the price that he paid, he got a really bad cold on Monday. LilyRose got sick Sunday night, so it has been a crazy week.

I have some pictures, not many, but some cute ones. Hope you enjoy.