Ponderings

I don't know how the conversation evolved tonight, but the girls and I sat at the dinner table and we were talking about Sierra and Laurels' behaviors while I was pregnant. Sierra was a mover and shaker and occupied every inch of space she could, all the while searching for more. It seemed that she got the hiccups everyday and continued to for about two months after she was born. Laurel was a much more subtle and quiet child as she grew inside me. I LOVED feeling them move, even when it made me uncomfortable, and almost felt a bit robbed of this experience with Laurel because she was such a chill little fetus. I had horrible sciatica and Brad says I wasn't the most pleasant pregnant mama, but I look back on those 18 months with only good, wistful thoughts. I loved it! How can you not feel complete awe when you consider that a whole, entire human being grew inside of you?!

Then I looked at Cadence. Did she move, punch, and kick her mama as she grew? Did her mom love to watch her belly ripple as Cadence changed position? Did Cadence get the hiccups? I suddenly felt so sad for her that she will never be able to ask these questions. Granted, these aren't life altering answers that will change her life, but she will never know. One day, as she grows a whole, entire human being inside of her, this fact won't be lost on her. She will never know about her earliest days and there is nothing that will change this. It doesn't matter how much we love and support her, she will always have a void.

Before and after

This is my girl.... goofy as they get! I think her motto must be "If I made you laugh my job is done!" She truly gets joy from cracking herself and others up. This was the activity that brought down her wall in China and continues to warm our hearts to this day!

On another note, particularly of interest to parents of children with cleft palates is her "before" and "after" picture below. Cadence had a VERY significant cleft palate. As kids grow, if they aren't repaired, their cleft continues to grow. She got along pretty well despite it all. She never had any issues eating or drinking and obviously was growing well when we met her. Obviously her speech isn't where it should be, but there's a few factors behind that. Her cleft palate extended through her gumline and you could see up to the top of one of her nares. Quite interesting to look at with one of her many belly laughs!







BEFORE








You can get a general idea of how things looked pre-op....















AFTER

















And here's a good look now. She's had one surgery in November for her cleft palate and one in January for her cleft lip. She does have a small fistula (hole) just behind the gumline that the doctor constructed. It's about the size of an eraser and we haven't met with him yet to see if we will do anything about it before her hard palate repair when she's older. It doesn't seem to cause her any problems so far.

Just wanted to share this with someone who might be standing in our shoes 6 months ago. It's always nice to see what the outcome will be!

My servant?!

Cadence gets to hang out with me in the bathroom while I shower. She generally entertains herself with her box of toys that I drag in there or sometimes manages to get into the Q-tips! Regardless of what she is doing, as soon as I turn the water off, I hear her drop everything and the pitter patter of little feet. When I open the door, this is what I find....

Happy Chinese New Year!

Sierra dons the dragon head

Cadence & Zac, both from IM



Cadence & Laurel

Pretty in pink!

It's the Year of the Rabbit (my year!) and we had a few celebrations! We started off the morning by eating fortune cookies. Ironically mine said "Your ability to love will help a child in need". To continue the festivities we met up with some friends at a yummy Chinese restaurant - Ni Hao - for dinner. I coordinated with two different families to meet there and, such a small world, they ended up knowing each other! The food was yummy, company was good, but the kids (ok, my kid!) slightly out of control. Hence, no pictures of the event since I spent most of it juggling Cadence!

The next weekend we met up with Families of the China Moon, based in Richmond, for a celebration. I've emailed and followed blogs of some of these families and watched a few of journey through their adoption on a similar timeline as ours. It was great to meet a few new families, even if I feel like I already know them (oh, the world of blogging!). There was one little boy whose blog I found through the Inner Mongolia yahoo group and a couple months later realized they were only an hour away. There aren't too many adoptions from Inner Mongolia so it's pretty cool to have one so close. Once again, not a whole lot of cooperative for the photo ops, but we managed one or two.

Sierra, Laurel, and Cadence all received books about the holiday and money in a red envelope. Sierra's book is about all of the Chinese holidays, so we are excited to have many new things to learn about & celebrate!

Wild ride!

Ok, not that wild, but to Cadence it probably feels like it! She got a little "help" from Laurel!
P.S. If anyone knows the magic trick to turning it, please let me know!

Great Wolf Lodge

For Christmas we gave ourselves the gift of an overnight trip to Great Wolf Lodge. It was a two-fold gift... I've been DYING to go there & we got the kids fewer individual items which equates to less stuff piling up in our house! If you haven't ever been you absolutely must go!! They are all around the US. For those who don't know it's an indoor water park & lodge. The park is "free" with your purchase of an overnight stay and because you can go both the day you arrive AND the whole day that you are checking out, it's actually a pretty good deal. There are themed rooms, so Sierra & Laurel had their own little bunk nook with a TV & all (not that they ever watched it!). Cadence actually slept well in her pack-n-play and we were thankful for that. Brad and I took turns hangin' with Cadence and going on the slides with the big girls. Now that I think about it, I don't think he and I ever swam in the same pool at the same time! But everyone had a blast! Cadence loves the water, waterslide, and all of the fountains. It bodes well for a summer filled with pool time! Of course, Sierra & Laurel always have been waterbabies!

Cadence ventures down the slide - with a little help from Laurel!

Bunk beds

Cool picture of the girls under a waterfall at night



The fam... is Sierra already reaching that age where she's going to looked pained everytime we bust the camera out?!

She said it!

Mama! What a beautiful, amazing, humbling word. From the day that she had her lip repaired, actually had the "hardware" to make a "m" sound, she's been murmuring the letters. Mamamamamamama. Maaaamaaaa. Mama. But she never looked at me or called out to me with it, just buzzed around the house with lots of m's and a's following her. Since we came home in September we always look at pictures and say "Where is Mama? Where is Cece?..." Sometimes she points to the right person, sometimes not. We know that she knows us. But boy, wouldn't it be nice for a just a little direct recognition? Mama's hold their babies when they cry (I've done this!), stay up all night with the restless one in their arms (yep, many nights!), and spend countless hours making sure their kiddos are clean, fed, and happy (um, right here!). This is the moment all Mama's wait for... their baby to say their name.

After working all night I went to my parents to pick Cadence up today. As I walked in the door she came around the corner, squealing with delight and ran into my arms! I picked her up and smothered her with kisses as she giggled. My mom came into the room and said to Cadence "Whose got you?". I swear that Cadence tucked her chin, looked up coyly at me and said "Mama". Ahhhh.... My heart is full!