So Stinkin Cute!!!

I just can't get enough!

Enough said!

Does a Momma good!!!!

It does a momma good to get pictures of her son that is oh so far away! I don't take one of these pictures for granted.

Liam is the crazy boy in front running out in the street! Gonna have my hands full.

LOA! LOA! LOA! LOA! LOA! LOA!

Yes, we got LOA today. This is another big milestone in the process of bringing Liam home. From this point the estimate is that we would get travel approval in 11-15 weeks. I am praying that it doesn't take that long, because that would put us getting TA right at Chinese New Year when the chinese government shuts down for 2 weeks. I was hoping to get our TA in December and travel in January before the Chinese New Year. I guess only time will tell!

Update on Lily

On Tuesday we had an appointment with Lily's surgeon. At this time, Lily is not progressing with the clarity of her speech and therefore we have discontinued her speech therapy (for now) and are looking at another surgery. It appears that she is not fully using the muscles in her palate and the palate needs to be extended to enable the flap in the back to close when making certain sounds. During this surgery they will adjust the muscles in the palate and stimulate them to make sure they are working properly and have not been damaged in her previous surgery. It is not a 100% guarantee fix, but he sees about a 90% increase in speech clarity after this operation. I have complete confidence in her surgeon and know that if anyone can do it he can!
In addition to the palate being revised, she will also need a revision to her nose/lip. Currently she is not able to breath very much out of the cleft side of her nose. You really wouldn't know it by looking at her, in my opinion! However this is what is best for her in the long run. This part of the surgery has me a little more stressed out than the other. Apart from soft foods for a month after the surgery due to the palate, Lily's nose will be packed for a week and then....are you ready for it....I wasn't....tubes in her nose for 3 MONTHS!!! Are you kidding me?!??! And yes, you will see the tubes! My poor baby. I know this is going to benefit her greatly, but I hate to see my little girl in pain. The recovery from her last surgery is still very fresh in my mind and it was brutal. I am not going to sugar coat it. It was ALOT of sleepless nights and the hospital stay was just AWFUL!!!!! I am hoping and praying for a quicker and more managable recovery this time.
I am so used to looking at her beautiful little face just the way it is and it is about to change. I know it probably sounds weird, but it saddens me some.
From the first picture of saw of her beautiful face:

To the one after her first surgery:

To after the second surgery:

I will miss that quirky litte nose!
On another note, we recieved Lily's passport. So as long as she is cleared to go after her surgery (hoping to have that done in November), she will be heading on a jet plane with us to China to bring Liam home!

Our Newest Addition - Meet Jade

So after a nice dinner in downtown Concord at one of our favorite italian restaurants we strolled over to a place that my kids love to visit....Kitty City. With no intentions of bringing another animal home! We were just visiting, like always. However, one special cat caught my husband's eye heart. Now you have to understand something....My husband is NOT a cat lover. He doesn't even like to go in this place becasue it smells like a huge litter pan. So I was shocked when he said he would like to take her home....WHAT?!?!? I am still confused. But, I have to say she is a real sweetie and she is so good with the kids. They guessed her age to be about 1 1/2 years old. She was found on the steps to a local business with her two kittens.
She has done very well. We brought her home on Friday evening and she stayed in the laundry room until today. She finally ventured out when Lily was napping. She explored upstairs and then found her way back to the laundry room. Morgan decided that it was time she came into the den with the rest of the family. So she carried her out in her cat bed and put her on the couch with her. Now, several hours later....she is still there. And even a bigger shocker is that Lucy (our dog) was laying on the couch with her. Crazy!!! Maybe they will be the best of friends...maybe?!?! Take a look.

Check Out All That Hair

I must say this boy does not lack in the hair department! Looks like they have started to let it grow out again. He is just super cute though and I was so happy to she his beautiful face today!

Pumpkin Patch

We had a wonderful, fun-filled weekend. Friday night I had my accountablity group with women who I "do life" with. It is always a great time! I look forward to meeting with them all once a month. I am so honored to have a group of women like this. We pray for each other, hold each other accountable to living Godly lives, and just have fun. We are "real" with each other and there is nothing better! Our masks are left at the door!
Saturday night our accountablity group had our quarterly "family get- together". It was a ton of fun. We had dinner together, hayride (minus the hay), crafts, movie outside, smores, pumpkin pie, cookies and cupcakes. The older kids enjoyed dirt bikes, a go cart, baseball and hide and seek.
On Sunday my sister and I took the kids (well each of us only had 2 of our kids with us) to Patterson Farm. The kids had a blast. We watched the pigs race, saw the animals in the petting zoo, played on the playground, duck races, corn maze, tomato launching, pony rides, cow train, hayride and last but not least picking out a pumpkin. It was a beautiful day with temperatures in the 70's. Here are some pictures from our day!

Matilda Jane????

You may look at this outfit and think...Is that Matilda Jane? No, it is actually home made by this girl herself! I have looked at the Matilda Jane website so many times and I just couldn't bring myself to spend that kind of money on clothes for Lily. I am such a bargain shopper and so what does a girl do who knows how to sew? She does it herself. I think it turned out pretty good. Next time I will have to make some adjustments to the top so that it is not quite so long and I had to take it in alot.
It doesn't get any cuter than this....