Happy Halloween

A new creation

John 8:12  " when Jesus spoke again to the people , he said, "I am the light of the world. whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of light:.

I found a cute little pumpkin devotion today & decided it would be fun to do with the girls tonight after dinner.

So after school we set off to the pumpkin patch to get us a few pumpkins.

Then after dinner we all went outside and as David started to cut the top of the pumpkin and we started to pull out all of the "yuck" inside we talked about how that is a picture of what God does to us when we ask Him to come into our hearts. God takes us & cleanses us from all our sin- casting them as far as the east is from the west. We let each of them pull out some of the "yuck"

As David carved the eyes, nose & smiling face we talked about how this represents how God makes us a new creation.

And as we put the light in the pumpkin, we reminded them that Christ comes into our lives as a light & can shine through us into a dark world. ( insert McKinley singing..you are the light of the world, you are a city on a hill"  Oh yes, she did folks!)

We wanted to remind them that on October 31st we are celebrating Jesus Christ and HIS beauty & light!

Blessings-
Melissa

Madison's interview :)

This is how my little firecracker has come out of the bedroom these past 2 mornings..





Oh my, How cute she is all snuggled up in a blanket!

I decided to do a little impromptu interview while she was eating her bfest this morning, enjoy!

Life

So if you were at the 11:15 service at our church yesterday, then you know my morning was...well, NOT the greatest! My sweet hubby shared it with the whole congregation that I had a bad morning...God bless him! I told him he really needs to learn what things he should share & what things he shouldn't. :) But his intentions were good. :)

Anyway, it was just one of those mornings.  Madison had gotten up at 6:15, and then soon after McKinley woke up! And well, I think if you were honest we all have these kind of mornings where everything seems to go wrong. It's funny how it happens a lot on Sunday...Satan tries whatever tactics
he can to discourage us. Anyway, I had gotten dressed & then knocked over a coke someone (David) had left on the side table, and it went all over my dress so I had to go change!  Then we were about to walk out the door & Madison got mad because I told her to share with McKinley, and she ripped her dress off and took her hair bow out etc... So you see, this was just a little taste of my Sunday morning!

I saw this video today & had to laugh because (minus the husband being home to help) this video was my life yesterday!  Enjoy



Sunday Morning - IgniterMedia.com from ignitermedia on GodTube.

Just Dance !

I caught Morgan & Madison playing just Dance on the wii earlier...It was so cute I had to post it. It is not great quality & SHHH If Morgan knew I posted her dancing she would DIE:)

Blessing-

Melissa

SPECIAL NEED OR NOT?

When we were praying about adopting last year, we knew that God was asking us to adopt a "special needs" child because the camp that David & Morgan worked at last summer were all special needs children. He and Morgan both came back feeling lead in that direction. I am not going to lie and say that it was a easy decision, because making the decision to adopt was a BIG deal for me but then the unknown of "special needs" and what that meant was very scary. 

So we started filling out all the mounds of paperwork in which you tell them the needs you feel like you & your family can handle and you go from there. We had prayed about it & marked down several needs, such as: cleft lip, hep B, any blood disorders and minor heart defects.  We submitted all the paperwork and when the referral came back in February with Madison's photo and file it listed Thalassemia as her special need.  In simple terms Thalassemia which is a blood disorder passed down through families which destroys red blood cells and leads to anemia.  

Well it just so happens that our social worker also adopted a little girl with Thalassemia so I called and spoke with her.  There are two types of Thal; Alpha and Beta and Beta is more severe and requires blood transfusions on a regular basis.  Once we got the file we felt like this was indeed the daughter God had chose for us and that He would help us take care of her regardless of what the need was.  So we stepped out on faith and said YES.

Now skip to yesterday when we went to the Dr. to discuss the blood results and get a few shots...as we discussed the test results we found out that Madison is only a carrier of the Thalassemia and that she DOES NOT have a blood disorder at all!  She will never need a blood transfusion or to be treated for this in anyway.  Dr. Tappan said the only concern would be that if she were to marry someone with the same trait then there would be a strong possibility that her children would have Thalassemia.  Are you serious?  How cool is it that our beautiful special needs child has NO special needs at all? 

Over the past several weeks of being around Madison I really felt like she didn't have this condition and we are so thankful that all the blood work has come back negative.  Its just a another reminder of God's faithfulness throughout this process and that He truly is in control.  All that's left is a few more booster shots in about a month so thanks for praying! God is good, all the time!

Blessings-

Melissa

Dr. Visit

Yesterday Madison had to go in for more blood work and she had to get 4 booster shots:( poor baby! but she was a trooper and did very well on the blood work but the tears started flowing when she got the 4 shots.

I mentioned that we had some photos taken & her a few of those. they were all taken in our back yard.

I got a new lap top yesterday so I am learning how to use it, so far its been pretty easy getting these pics up on the blog..yay.  Tomorrow i am going to post about Madison's special need, I just need to sit down and collect my thoughts and decide what all i want to share.

UPDATE ON MY GRANNY:

Some have asked about my grandmother, she was released from the hospital a few days ago, she does have a staph infection in her lungs but the medicines are working and she is feeling much better. thank you all for your prayers.

Blessings-
Melissa

Catching up !

I've been having some technical difficulties with my computer so that is why I haven't blogged in a few days. I can't figure out how to post pictures from my iPad so I am using David's laptop right now and Im not used to a lap top so it's making things a little more difficult:)


we had a very busy weekend, saturday the girls and I went to a pumpkin festival while David preached a funeral. we had a fun time, this is my favorite time of you.

We got home from Bradenton and then went to a friends b'day party. I left Madison home with David for the party since she had already had a busy morning. And then we had family photos made later that night. Madison did really well ( she did 4 outfit changes)
I had some pictures of that but I can't find where I saved them on David's lap top.. Ugh! I want so much to be a techie person but I'm just not:( hopefully I will be able to go buy me a new lap top soon so that I can start blogging again with pictures .

I took Madison to the 11:15 service on Sunday because its mission week at our church & we had a guest speaker , so David & I could actually worship together. She did great, she sat on the front row with us the whole service and wrote in her little notebook.

We have to take Madison to the Dr today to get some more blood work & a few booster shots that she either didn't get in China or they didn't take when she got them in China. After we get these blood tests back I will write more about Madison's special need.

On a completely different note, I feel like lately there has been so many families struggling or having tragic things happening. Just this past weekend two families lost one of their parents at the girls school. We have had several talks with Morgan this weekend about reaching out to others & not getting so Absorbed in our own little world ( which is something The Lord is definitely teaching me as
well) We have been so blessed and there are hurting people all around us. Please pray for the Vanderschur & Bartholomew families as they will be having funeral services tomorrow .


Blessings-
Melissa

LEGO LAND

I am going to go ahead & apologize for the ridiculous amount of photos that are the blog tonight. We have had a fun day & the pictures are mostly for my parents, so the rest of you will just have to suffer through them:)

We took the girls to Lego land today and Madison did GREAT! When we first pulled into the parking lot she started to whine and almost started crying and she was saying "mommy hold me" but once we got into the gates she felt more comfortable & did really well all day. Now the jury's still out on how she will sleep tonight after such a busy day.

Now onto the pictures:

Madison really seemed to enjoy the rides!

Daddy even joined in on the fun!

 

Look at these smiles... I would say this day was a success:)

 

 

 

 

And For those of you wondering if Morgan had any fun, well she brought a friend with her

and they had a blast. Here is the proof:

 

 

 

Looking forward to a busy weekend!

 

Melissa



OVER THE TOP

It's no secret how much the Whitten girls LOVE zebra. Well I ordered Madison an outfit off Zulily and it came in today.. That being said, even I must admit its a little much! But man, when I saw those little leg warmers that went with the outfit my heart skipped a beat, she had to have them:)

But I had to take a few pictures of her in it:)

 

 

While we were outside, she picked a lime off the tree so I thought I would give her a bite...and of course I had my camera ready!

 

 

 

I walked into our playroom this afternoon & this is what I saw:

 

I think they are definitely sisters!!! and I love it!



Today McKinley had a reading camp out at school, the kids dressed up as a character in their favorite book and they spent the morning going from room to room to do crafts, read with flashlights by the "camp fire" & eat smore  McKinley was the girl off Brave :

 

 

 I am very sad to admit, My attempt at curling her hair failed miserably!!I got extra early this morning had the curling iron ready to go.... five minutes after I curled her hair all the girls had fallen out.UGH! So what would any good mother do? I curled it again right before we walked out the door and darn it, by the time we got to school ( 5 minutes away)the curls where gone again! Anyway, she was still adorable:)

 

 

 

 

 

may poses of Madison

Ever since I started taking photos of Madison she has these 3-4 specific poses that she always does, usually I delete them but yesterday before church I took a few pictures of her in the back yard .
And as usual she did her "poses" and then wanted to see herself after. So I thought I would share it with you all:

She was in a little dance recital in China & her foster mom gave us a picture of her all dressed up in her costume, I wonder if these poses are some of her moves in her recital?

She was helping me fix lunch in the photos above, she loves to help mommy!


CHURCH-- Her second week at church went SO much better..YAY GOD! She was happy, didn't seem to be scared & she actually seemed to have fun in her class!I could'nt have asked for it to go any better. However, She didn't sleep well at all last night. she was very restless all night & woke up screaming a few times. We are trying to figure out what happens on the days that she has trouble sleeping at night.  I have a friend whose daughter from China has bad nights everytime they have had a busy day or when she is around a lot of people, So that could be a possibilty. We are jsut praying that the more she trusts us , the better this will get. She is in the room with us so when she has a restless night... So do we:)

I hardly ever put pics of Morgan up ( mostly because she refuses to have herpicture made) but for my family, I thought I would put one up

 

I cannot believe I have a middle schooler!!!!! Where has the time gone?

 

Happy Monday!

IT FEELS LIKE FALL

Oh how I LOVE this time of year, This is the time of year that I actually enjoy being outside in Florida. And that is exactly what we've been doing this weekend.


If you remember, 4 weeks ago Madison was scared of the swimmimg pool and 2 weeks ago she didn"t want her face or hair to get wet.. She still doesn't really like water to get in her ears:) But I took a little video of her yesterday...

Can you believe how far she has come? I Love seeing her blossom right before my very eyes!

McKinley is startimg to learn how to ride her bike without training wheels:

And we have done a lot of playing in the pool this weekend.

Well tomorrow is Sunday & I am going to try to take Madison to church again. I took her up to church on Thursday and let her play on the playground and we went in her classroom and looked around a little bit while no one was there, I am going to start doing this once a week in hopes that it will help her feel more comfortable.

Hope everyone is enjying their Saturday!


Melissa

It's Friday !

Today we had our 1month post adoption meeting with our social worker. I think it went very well. She thought Madison was adjusting really well. Although Madison would not talk to her or even hardly look at her. I wished I  knew what she was thinking. I never seem to know how she is going to react to a situation. Some times she is very friendly & speaks to people & other times she is very fearful.

As soon as the social worker left, she pepped right back up & was talking & smiling.

I got a call yesterday from my dad, saying that my 91 yr old grandmother was being put back in the hospital with phenomena. Apparently, she had been in ICU last week for 4 days & No one told me:)
My dad thought my sister had called me & my sister thought my dad had called me..ANYWAY, she is not doing well and I am really struggling with what I should do. I feel like it will set Madison back if I leave & fly to Alabama for a few days... However, I also feel that If I take her with me on the airplane she will think that I am taking her back to China and have another meltdown.. I have great anxiety about getting on another plane with her, The last plane trip was so horrific I just cannot explain it with words.So for now I am waiting it out. I talked with my granny this morning & she sounded OK. I know that she really wants to meet Madison, so If you will please pray for my granny I would be so grateful. Also, that I would have a peace about what I should do.


In closing, I have attached a link from Jen Hatmakers blog ( I love her) it's titled " after the airport"
Everything she says is spot on what we are experiencing with Madison. She does have so much fear still & that fear comes out In different ways,in different situations. SO instead of trying to explain it to you myself, I thought I would put her link up. She is a writer & OBVIOUSLY, I am NOT! But I must say, I love to use exclamation marks, and I am forever writing run-on sentences...there I said it!!
So I apologize to all the teacher's out there that may be reading this:)Ok , I am not really sure where I was going with all that, So I will shut up now so you can click on her link. It is worth your time to read it.

Blessing-
Melissa


http://jenhatmaker.com/blog/2011/09/06/after-the-airport

Videos...

No post today, Just wanted to post 2 little videos I took this week of My firecracker!

Church

Many of you have asked how Madison did at church last night so I thought I would do a post. In all, Madison didn't do as well as I had hoped but it wasn't awful either. As soon as we pulled in the parking lot she started grabbing for me to hold her and I dont think she has ever held me so tight:)  As we walked upstairs & took McKinley to her class anytime anyone spoke to her she would just kind of whimper & shake her head No!

I took her in the service with me during the worship time (and she held onto me tightly the whole time) and then when David got up to preach I took her to her class. Morgan is helping the Rose family with the class because we thought it would help Madison feel a bit more comfortable. Both Morgan and her teacher, Donna, said she was a little hesitate but did OK.  Madison didn't really play at all but just watched the other kids.  Once they went to the playground Madison somehow hurt her arm on the slide so when I came back to get her she was sad & starting to cry a bit. I may try and keep her with me the whole service next week and see how she does.

Everyone was so good at not getting to close & just saying hello from a distance.  Madison's teacher, Donna, also sent me a sweet email today to check on Madison and see what she can do to help with Madison's transition to church.  Thank you Donna!  Have I mentioned what an amazing church family we have??? Well we DO!

As for today, Madison has been very good today.  She has been happy pretty much all day and this morning she helped our pool guy (aka David:) clean the pool:

And she always has her little legs crossed... It's the cutest thing! I love it!

David makes fun of me because he says I take too many pictures, but I want to document everything!

So, please continue to pray for our family when we cross your mind and I'll do my best to keep you posted as to how things are going.  Have a great night and thanks!

Melissa

1 MONTH HOME

I cannot believe Madison has been home for 1 month today! It seems like it has flown by yet it also feels like its been forever. We are all still learning how to be a family of 5. We ALL have had some adjusting & adapting to do, but by far, Madison has had the most change. I couldn't imagine being taken to a foreign country and told I had to speak their language, eat their food, and love a family I had only just met. Scary for sure!

Madison is adjusting pretty well, and picks up new words everyday. She is still struggling with sharing and thinks every toy in our house should be hers & doesn't want McKinley to play with them:) So as you can imagine I spend a lot of my day working on this:) but it will come eventually. She does very well riding in her car seat now..with that said,there are still days that I have to pull over 3 & 4 times to put her seat belt back on! I know being consistent is the key & she will learn she has to keep it on.

Like I said before, she is sassy & sweet, she has a smile that lights up the room. She loves to sing..almost always in the car I will hear her singing nursery rhymes, some in English others in Cantonese. Right now as I am writing this she is singing a song in Cantonese. Most of the time she likes to get her picture made But when she doesn't want it made, SHE DOESN'T WANT IT MADE!

So far today she has been a little stinker, so if you think about it at 5 today say a little prayer for our first time back at church:) I am so ready to be back but if Madison doesn't do well I will keep her home a few more weeks.

Thank you all so much for the prayers you have sent up on my family's behalf . They have been felt & heard. It has not been an easy journey over the last month but I wouldn't change a thing (well that's not entirely true , I would definitely have left out the night terrors if it was up to me:) we have grown closer to God and also as a family throughout this journey. I pray that Morgan & McKinley will be forever changed by this experience. For them to be more compassionate to others, have a love for the hurting, and see people the way God sees them. Most importantly, to understand that when God asks you to do something that it doesn't always mean that it's going to be an easy road BUT it does mean that He will be there to help them through it. Obedience always brings blessings in the end.

As I was laying down with her last night & looking at her small little face, I couldn't believe she was mine, that the face I have been praying for the last year was laying right next to me. Wow, God is so good! Se was definitely worth the wait!

Melissa

If you need a little laugh..

Yesterday We had a little "clean up" day at our house, David is off on Friday's so He worked around the house till about noon. We had a teachers conference with McKinley's teacher  after school so she could tell us if she needed any help on any areas etc. Madison and I had been playing in the floor for an hour before we left. So we are rushing out the door ( school pick up time always seems to creep up on me) anyway, we all get in the truck to head over to the school & while on our way there David looks at me and says " You know you have a pink tiara on your head, right?)  What????
Now that's a good husband people..He could have just let me walk into a school conference looking like this :

disclaimer:: I did not have on any foundation so PLEASE over look all the dark sun spots on my face!

I had completely forgotten that Madison had put the Tiara on my head an hour before. I am so used to having my sunglasses on top of my head that I guess I didn't feel anything up there:)


SO there you go, a Saturday laugh at my expense!

Melissa

Multitasking..

I think we have a multi tasker here:

Yes, that is right, She has a sandwich in one hand & drawing with chalk with the other!

She also helped daddy do some pressure washing around the house-

Madison has such a little personality! she is sassy & sweet and we have all fallen in love with her.

 

I took another video of her singing her ABC"s in the car today:

 



 

 

 

 

Happy Friday !

 

TRADITION

It is kind of a tradition with our girls to wrestle with their dad...Morgan & David used to do this when she was the only child ( That seems like so long ago!) And then when McKinley came along she joined in when she was about 3. They LOVE this( David, not so much as he is getting older:) So if you see him limping tomorrow you will know why!

They used to have their "wrestling match" once a week, but over the last 6-8 months they have been few & far between....Until tonight, Oh yes, our little China doll got her first taste of wrestling with daddy.

She joined right in but after about 2 minutes she thought Morgan was hurting David & she didn't like that one bit. He had to tell her several times that they were just playing & having fun.

Madison had her first taste of corn on the Cobb tonight & I will let you judge for yourself if she liked it:

I think we are now in the "Honeymoon" stage and I've been told by many that this will last 6-8 weeks and then the "freak out" will come! Well I am hoping that since she already had a 2week "freak out" that we are passed all of that but I am bracing for impact just in case:) She is saying new English words & phrases daily and she sings songs all the time. I am going to try & post more Video's of her because my family was thrilled to get to see the video I posted yesterday.

We are starting to get out more & more each day & that makes me VERY happy. Madison had her first visit to Chick fil a on Monday.....Now lets be clear, this was NOT her first chick fil a meal, she had her very first Chick fil A meal about 20 minutes after getting off the plane from China...( Thank you Jeff & Linda!) However this was the first time she had ever been to the restaurant and she loved the play area:) When I got her out of the car & she saw the play area she let out a huge squeal!! Yesterday when we were in the car going to pick up the girls she bowed her head & closed her eyes & said "thank you baby Jesus"! SO SWEET! I said oh Madison can you do that again so Mommy can video it. Ha!

Thats about all for the Whitten house tonight!


Have a happy Friday,
Melissa