She Did it!!!

So, look who took a few steps FORWARD with a walker today!!!!
She did it.  She moved her feet , as if walking forward, a few steps. 
It made all the therapy worth it!  It was amazing to see and to know that she will walk one day--SOON!!!
Her muscles do not have the strength to go very far or very long, but that fact that she took some steps is HUGE!
Avery's PT let us take home the walker to practice at home.  It has been a big hit with all the kids!  It is like a new toy and Avery is very protective of it.
Look at these pictures...and big sister to help along the way!

I am so proud of her.

Happy Day

Kate had her very best friend spend the night.  The first for both of them and guess what?  They did it!  She stayed the entire night and they actually fell asleep at a decent hour!

There were lots of giggles.

 This past Saturday, we also got to celebrate Lifeline's (the adoption agency we used) 30 year anniversary.  There were 22 Chinese delegates that attended and lots of families, those who have adopted, those who are going through the process, and even those that have not all celebrating the lives that have been changed over 30 years.  It was very cool to see so many other families that look like ours.  There was a ton of stuff for the kids to do and we all had a great time hanging out as a family--even amongst the craziness of our kids all over the place.

AND  I got pigtails in her hair for the event!!!  YAY!

 so glad she is ours!

 This is actually the V.P. of adoption affairs in Chonquing (the providence where Avery is from).  She spoke Chinese to Avery and I could see the look of confusion on Avery's face....I am sure it brought back some memories for her upon hearing it.  As you can see, Avery was not too thrilled to be next to her.

 Can you believe I am in a picture? 

Here we are eating lunch!

 Kate and Owen

 These 2 (wills and Kate) are by the far the sweetest with Avery.  They love her to death and give her lots of attention.



An Off-beat post

So, I am about down to a once a week posting lately, and although so much happens in a week that I could blog about, it cuts from other things that I need to be doing.  I kind of wish there were more hours in a day, but then again at the end of the day, I am so exhausted and drained that I wonder if a few extra hours would be a good thing?!
We have had a little bug make it's way through our house this past week.  I have had the company of 3 extra school aged children at one time or the other throughout this week. 
We also are slowly getting the hang of this party of 5 thing.  Things are looking  up.  I find that Avery does so much better when she has one on one time with me, and then when everyone is home she tends to scream more and be very needy.  I am trying to be patient, as she is learning that she has siblings that I need to take care of too...like it or not!  I have noticed that she is trying to say things now, which is so cute.  We are starting speech therapy soon, so I am hopeful to see some strides in language.
Kate is doing cheerleading and that poor child got the rythmn of her mommy.  She cheered at the school pep rally and when I got there, she was on the front row.  I kept asking Matt, "why is kate on the front row?"
True to her roots, she was totally delayed in her claps and off beat, but she smiled and loved every minute of it....atta girl!
We got our Halloween costumes recently and now Gray thinks he is Batman.  If you remember this summer, he wore his polyester Superman costume for 20 days straight.  Well, now we are on to a better super hero ....batman.  So if you are out and about and you see a little boy in full Batman costume...it might be me   (not in costume, but with the child).
My big boys are playing tennis and complaining the entire way to practice every time.  Once we get there, they love it.  I am trying to enjoy the crowded car ride to the Y with 2 kids moaning about how they will never pick tennis for their sport again and the other 3 screaming about something.
I hope this blog post encourages you in that Your kids are either normal or better than mine!

Goings On

Look who got a haircut!  She wanted it short, like her cousin Caroline.

I think it turned out so cute AND it is so easy to fix.  Less tangles and quicker to fix in the morning.

I have a hair appointment Friday, so maybe I will follow suit.

On another note.  We are having a much better week--even with Matt out of town a few days!  Avery is making huge strides in so many areas.  I feel like she is getting so much more secure with our family.  I can actually cook dinner or do the dishes and she will play on the floor close by, but at least she is ON THE FLOOR and not in my arms.  She is also getting stronger daily with her PT.  I am seeing her do new things  everyday.  It is so exciting to watch.  Today we got her to climb the stairs and climb up onto her ride-on toy.

She was so proud, as is her Mommy!

Gray continues to be my clothes horse. I am not kidding when I say the kid changes clothes 10 times a day.  I really do not care what he wears, so I don't feel that it is a control issue, but I am getting tired of walking into his room and it looking like a teenage girls room with clothes strung everywhere.

Wills and Owen continue to get more independent and need me a little less everyday.  They are on this kick of "exploring" the neighborhood.  I am allowing them to venture out a little further on their own.

They have enjoyed some neighbors play sets (so I have heard). In fact, today Wills came home and told me that he told this man that "we were interested in buying his play set from him".????

Life is good!  A day at a time.  God is good.  All the time!

Just a Swingin'

Here are a few snapshots from our new backyard tire swing.  It goes really high and is a lot of fun!  The kids have been pretty much playing on it all weekend. 

 Here I am.  Finally got a turn.  Matt got me going so high and with all the kids pushing me all over the place, I actually hit that tree to the right a few times.  Ouch!

 This is my favorite picture.  Owen said,

"Daddy, you look like a scary old man"

car drama = new backyard toy

I am finding that having 5 kids doesn't leave me too much time to do some of the things that I enjoy...like  blogging!  I cannot believe it has been a week , and honestly I have not had one spare second to sit down and just pour out words.  I miss you!
I have found that this season of my life...nothing is going to be easy.  I am thankful it is just a season and optimistic that the Lord is working on me daily and teaching me a lot....most importantly to trust and lean on Him.  Daily I wake up and just say the words, "God, thank you for another day".  That is how I am getting through it...taking it one day at a time and really, the weeks are flying by.  Can it really be October?

Our latest adventure began this morning when I was happily on my way to Atlanta with the 3 younger kiddos.  The boys were hanging with Daddy and had some cool "big boy" things to do and I was taking Avery to meet her cousins (most for the first time) and for Kate and Gray to get some cousin time.
I packed the night before.  Loaded the car.  We were on the road at 7:58 a.m.  Our first road trip with Avery!  As I sped down hwy 459, my friend calls me and says "mallory, are you driving down 459?"
me..."Yes"
friend..."You need to pull over NOW your back right tire is about to blow it is so flat.
So, off I pull and lo and behold my tire is flat flat flat!
Ugh...really God?  Really?  Come on!  Remember I adopted a baby?  Can you cut me some slack?
A nice young kid pulls behind me and offers to look at it.   Meanwhile, my darling kids are not being all that darling , and he tells me that my tire is pretty much shot because apparently I ruined it by driving on a flat tire.
You think I would have noticed that?  Nope!  Not me.  I guess I am way too busy throwing juice boxes and snacks back to the kids, and changing out the kid's music and putting on a new DVDs to notice that I am driving on 3 wheels.....Atlanta, here we come, with a full fledged flat tire.
I call my family in tears that we will not be coming.  Call Matt who is not too happy because just 3 weeks ago I had to get a new front tire. I sit and wait.  I cry.  Kate cries because we are not going to Atlanta.  Gray cries because his shirt is wet from spilling his drink.  Avery cries because she is in our family (ha). 
Matt saves the day.  We get to a Chevron.  Hang out for an hour or so while he puts on the spare. 
I take his car home and he drives mine to get a new tire.

I don't want to be Debbie Downer on this post, so I will end it on a high note.  We will never ever forget this adventure because look what we have in our backyard now!

A new tire swing.  More pictures tomorrow!

Therapy

I won't lie, I am not a fan of therapy. Maybe it's the fact that Avery absolutely HATES it or maybe it has something to do with going 3 times a week, or I guess it is both! I am working with the sweetest lady, who has been in this business of pediatric therapy for 30+ years. She is amazing! I just dread going because Avery really has a tough time doing what other people ask of her. She gets so worked up. She barely will leave my lap and when I do get her to do the exercise, she scoots right back over to me. The added challenge with her therapy is the issue of trusting others. She trusts me. The sweet baby loves me to death. In fact, she only wants me and is not too keen going to others. She is so funny because she will just wave and smile from afar at you like she is the friendly little thing, and so people are drawn to come closer and then she will let out the loudest growl like scream at them. It is really quite embarrassing, but funny to see people's reaction to it.

So, even though it is tough going to therapy 3 days a week, it has already paid off because in this video she is doing something she has yet to do...pull up over and over and even put a little booty shake into it.
Please disregard all my chattiness....ugh...I hate hearing myself on video and the rather obnoxious 7 year old all up in our business, but it is hard to get quiet time around here.
so, enjoy...we are on the road to walking!

Pt and more....

Last week we tool Avery to the Orthopedist to get her legs checked out.  For those of you who do not know, she was a special needs adoption, so we knew that we would be dealing with some sort of orthopedic issue before officially adopting her.
With that said, she is scooting everywhere on her bottom and crawling on all fours, she just cannot pull to stand or walk.  The Doctor did multiple x-rays and Avery's hips and spine look great (praise God).  The knee is hard to tell on an x-ray because the knee cap will not show up until a child is 3 or so.  With that said, our Doctor, who is known to be the "best" in Birmingham, recommended we begin Physical therapy as soon as possible and if we do not see any progress we will do an MRI of her knee. 
In short, he thinks it could be that the tendon is not attaching the muscle to the bone, therefore she has no extension or flexion from her quadriceps.   If this is the case, we are looking at some reconstructive knee surgery and much more PT down the road.
I met with the PT on Monday and she is fabulous.  Avery is a determined, spirited little girl and I believe she will walk.  She is so strong and wants to do it.  With the PT, we also have to work past the issue of her will!
She has an extremely strong will and if it is not her idea to do something, she is mad and shuts down.  She will scream and scream and arch her back and just lose it!  I am hopeful that the more comfortable she gets with Mrs. Patrice, the more willing she will be do to what is asked of her. 
At home, my job is to exercise her legs, encourage her to pull up (even just for a little) not to carry her on my hip, but out front with her legs together.  She also wants me to start binding her legs together at night!  (I haven't got around to that one yet).
We brought out Kate's old ride on princess toy and sat her on it so she could push with her feet.  She was so mad at me for putting her on that thing because she could not get off, but I persevered and with help from the kids---lots of cheering and clapping--she started to move and she hasn't stopped.  She will just wheel herself all over the house now!  It is so cute.
So, I am going to spend the next few months doing lots of appointments for the PT and for early intervention program.  It should be an adventure for sure!

A Weekend in pictures!

When we were not drilling abc flashcards this weekend, this is a glimpse at what we did...

(quick side note: I really love gray's preschool and all the teachers he has had....for those who truly "know me" you can understand my candid postings)

a little driving...

 crazy driving

 football during half time of the AUBURN game!

 Still driving...

 Climbing Trees...mark my words-we will visit the ER at some point during this kid's lifetime

 Acrobatics

 Truck push

 and another in a tree

 bubbles and grass.  Avery does not like grass.  We are trying to get her to give it a chance!

 loving the camera

 Bathtime!

 Jumping

 Movie Night

 Family picture. 

there is one child to the far left who did not make the picture because he refused to scoot over to the right!

(quick side note: I really love gray's preschool and all the teachers he has had....for those who truly "know me" you can understand my candid postings)