Corn Maze~Pumpkin Patch

Yum! Apples!

 

First day of school...

Cameron's Girl

Go Vols!

Uncle Mike, Aunt Shelly and cousin Mason (he's no longer Baby Mason according to AnnaClaire because he is not a baby anymore) were her for the weekend. Shelly and Mason left this morning. I forgot to take a single picture while they were here-ugh. Uncle Mike will be here until Thursday...if he can stand us for that long!

Brady's Home!

All went well. He had two 'baby root canals' according to the surgeon and those teeth are now crowned. The other problem teeth only got fillings. The surgeon even did some cosmetic work on Brady's front tooth free of charge.

I knew Jeff would have a hard time finding outfits for the girls this morning so I picked them out last night to make things easier for him. He was a bit worried about fixing Allie's hair. I told him just to take the front section of hair and pull it back in a rubberband. When I got home from Brady's procedure, this is what I found on the bathroom counter...a bag of clippies!



I am almost afraid to imagine what she's sporting in her hair right now.

Brady

The crew

I know I haven't updated in such a long time. I don't get on the computer nearly as much as I used to. Believe me, that is a good thing! Brandon is now 17 and Cameron 19 (gulp! I was 19 when he was born). Everyone's started school except Brady, who will start speech next week. Brandon and Ryan started first. Brandon's now a junior and Ryan's in the 8th grade. Eighth grade is highschool here so I once again have 2 in highschool. Allie was next, starting Kindergarten a few weeks ago. She goes from 8:15-3:15 which is a long day for her but she's handling it well. We lived in Knoxville when the big boys started K and the only had half days. AnnaClaire started preschool last week and she loves, loves, loves it. She's going to the same preschool that Allie attended for the past 3 years. Cameron had his first day of college yesterday-and I didn't have to drive him there. He was so laid back about getting his license that I jokingly told him several times that I was absolutely NOT participating in a college carpool. He's also gotten a JOB(!!!!)working at a local fast food restaurant and he seems to enjoy it. We are hoping his paychecks might motivate Brandon to get a job as well, but so far not so much. Please keep Brady in your thoughts. His poor teeth are in awful shape and he'll be getting several crowns tomorrow. Because of his age and disposition (LOL) he'll have it done at the surgery center and will be put to sleep. Certainly not as bad a palate surgery but it's always a bit scary to have your child put under. Other than that, not much happening here. We've been working to get the house put on the market but we are slow moving (hmmm, maybe that's where the kids get that). Hopefully we'll be ready by mid September. Last month I was hoping for mid August so don't hold your breath!

test

My girl

Allie has been a rascal lately. I am not sure what is up with her but she's been doing some destructive things. There's been a lot of talk between Jeff and I about selling the house and I think that is one thing that is possibly affecting her. She did announce on Sunday that she is ready to move, but she's so fickle I am sure she'll change her mind again. As we consider our options about house size, we have also talked about Cameron heading off to college soon (at least by the time our house would sell-he'll be living at home for the fall semester) and I know that affects her too. She and Cameron are very tight. She and AnnaClaire share a room now and each have their names hanging over their beds. Yesterday she pulled most of AnnaClaire's letters off the wall, breaking one in the process. I was beyond mad with her. Anyhow, this morning she is being a doll. I have had a migraine for a few days and haven't done much. She came into my room a while ago and declared that it was lunchtime. She said she was going to make me a peanut butter and jelly sandwich since I was sick. Of course, I got tears in my eyes that my baby girl was taking care of me. I hugged her and said, 'Oh Allie, I love you so much' to which she said 'I am going to miss you when you die'. What am I going to do with this kid?:)

In memory of Maria

On May 21, 2008 tragedy struck the Chapman family in which young Maria
Chapman died . But through this tragedy, Steven Curtis and Mary Beth
Chapman continue to think of the many orphans in China. In order to let
the world show how much they loved Maria, Angel Covers has been asked to
accept donations in honor of Maria for baby bouncers. These bouncers
will provide hours of interaction and fun to the babies cared for at the
Shaohannah’s Hope Healing Home (SHHH), a new project in China, of the
Chapman’s organization.

Because of a partnership between the Chapman’s and Dr. Joyce and Robin
Hill, this 60,000 sq ft facility will care for 128 medically fragile
infants and toddlers . One hundred baby bouncers are needed for SHHH in
order to help provide these babies with the best care possible.

Maria was a beautiful little girl with a huge smile and contagious
laugh. Please help us spread her joy for life to the children of SHHH.
Only $10 purchases one of these bouncers and will bring countless hours
of happiness to these needy children. Please feel free to pass this post
along to any groups you'd like. We want to provide as many bouncers as
possible. http://www.angelcovers.org/chapman.html

Lynn
Angel Covers - http://www.angelcovers.org
Caring for orphans and needy children worldwide

Do you know someone looking for their daughter? Are you?

There is a beautiful 8 year old girl from Brady's orphanage who is now on the shared waiting child list and in need of a home. Please read about her on the Love Without Boundaries blog.

http://lwbchinablog.blogspot.com/


LWB fought for many years to get Fen's file submitted for adoption again but the CCAA didn't think anyone would want to adopt a child like Fen (????). I hope all that advocating for her was not in vain. It's a good thing for Jeff that we don't qualify currently or I would be filling out the paperwork right this minute.

Reckless Faith

I saw this on one of my groups. It's long, but very much worth watching.

Happy Birthday Brady!

Brady is 3 today:) We will celebrate tomorrow. Today we took the little ones to see Kung Fu Panda. It was Brady's first time going to the theater. One of the previews was for the new animated Star Wars movie. During the trailer, Brady let out a blood curtling scream. Normally that would have mortified me but for some reason I just found it funny. He was pretty good during the movie, but that's easy for me to say since Jeff is the one that sat by him. Everyone really liked the movie but I do think AnnaClaire got a bit scared during some of it. At one point she even asked to come home. Ha! That could have been the worst movie on earth and we would have stayed. Anyone been to a movie lately? Somebody should have warned me. Let's just say that ticket prices make gas seem cheap. It's a good thing the older kids didn't want to come. We would have had to take out a loan!

Lake Day!

Jeff took Cameron, Brandon, Ryan and Allie up to the lake to camp on Friday night and AnnaClaire, Brady and I joined them the next day. It was HOT and we got baked, but we had a great time (well, most of us). The girls begged to camp another night so I headed home with the boys while Jeff and the girls stayed beind. That lasted until about an hour after dark when Allie started crying for her brothers and her mommy. Then AnnaClaire decided that she wanted to come home too. So poor Jeff had to pack everything up in the dark and load up the boat, head back to the dock and bring them home. He's a softie! I think I would have told them 'too bad, so sad!'

Cameron LOVES the lake!









boating is hard work.

On second thought...

Maybe this thing isn't so accurate...



Beyonce baby! Apparently I am HOT!

I have too much time on my hands it seems:)





I guess Brady looks like a girl?




I am getting far too much entertainment out of this!





Jeff and Cameron must look alike after all. Who is Kim Rossi Stuart?

Ha! In your face, Jeff!

After being told since Cameron was born that he looked just like Jeff and nothing like me...wrong. And guess what? Brady looks equally like us as well;)

Loos Look-alike Meter

MyHeritage: Family trees - Genealogy - Celebrities - Collage - Morph

BIG NEWS! Woo Hoo!

Those of you who know Cameron and Brandon are going to fall out of your chairs and those who don't are going to think 'what took so long?'

Drumroll Please.....................

I am now the proud (and very nervous) mother of
TWO LICENSED DRIVERS! ACK! Not only that but Brandon drove somewhere by HIMSELF this afternoon and we both lived to tell about it! I don't know whether to celebrate or medicate!

A God Moment

Don't you love how God sometimes just surprises you with a bit of encouragement or affirmation? Last year we realized that for many reasons we needed to find a new church home. We attended a new church on Christmas weekend and felt a connection. A few months after we started attending, they made an announcement that the young man who was leading worship had been hired permenantly. He's an incredibly talented musician and has a beautiful voice. On Sunday, he was giving his testimony. Here is a man that God has chosen to use his voice to serve Him and bring Him glory. He told us that he was especialy touched by Psalm 139:13...For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. Why? Because he was born with a birth defect-as soon as he said it, I know exactly what was coming next. When he was born he had a cleft lip and a cleft palate. Then came the tears...mine, of course. I haven't ever shared on here, but Brady's doctor told us a few months ago that he will never be 'normal'. That's not the word he used, but it is what he meant. I don't know what God has planned for Brady, but I have a feeling He's got something pretty amazing in mind. I believe he can do anything he sets his mind to. He's stubborn that way:)

Grab the Tissues!

The Graduate!

Today was Cameron's graduation day. He is officially done with high school. He'll be living at home next year while attending college so I am dealing with it fine...even though my mom keeps telling me how OLD I am. Still younger than her..he he.

Brady Day!

Last Mother's Day I awoke to realize that we had overslept and were very close to missing our flight out of the Tri-cities on our way to China. We threw everything together and got to the airport only to learn our flight had been delayed. Big sigh of relief...or so we thought. Our flight kept getting delayed later and later until they cancelled the flight altogether. The woman at the ticket counter told Jeff that we could catch a flight out in two days. Jeff told her that she was lucky that his wife wasn't standing there when she said that! He told her that two days just didn't work for us. We were going to China to meet our new son and we needed to flight out that day. She found us a different flight and we were fortunate to get to LA in time to make our China Southern flight to Guangzhou. Even so, my stress level was through the roof. I know I should have just turned it all over to God, but I am stubborn sometimes. When we got to GZ, we were waiting and waiting and WAITING for our luggage. We had one suitcase but the other never came. We had to stand in this insanely long line to report it. While we were in that line, our guide left the airport thinking we had not arrived. So here we were at the GZ airport with no guide, no Chinese money and no way to communicate. Thank GOD another American passenger who also had lost luggage struck up a conversation with us. He happened to speak Chinese. He found us a cab and told the driver where we needed to go AND negotiated the fair price. Otherwise, I have no idea what would have happened. We had the whole day alone and were scheduled to get Brady the next day.

On the afternoon of the 16th, we headed to the Civil Affairs office to finally meet Brady. There was one other family also meeting their son for the first time. The boys hadn't arrived so we waited. Finally the nannies came in and scurried into the next room. I snapped a few shots but couldn't tell which was Brady. When they were ready to unite the families, they brought out the other boy first while Brady peeked into the room. His eyes were so big and his eyelashes just as long as they seemed in pictures. They brought him out and the next part is blurry to me. I remember talking to him, not wanting to push myself onto him but they wanted me to scoop him up quickly so I did. He didn't protest and didn't have much emotion at all. All the info that we got about Brady before the adoption talked about how QUIET he was. We sat him on the couch and pulled out the snacks and toys that we had brought. He quietly looked at what we had brought and I thought to myself that we were adopting the most sullen and timid child I had ever seen (please take a moment to chuckle over that one). I honestly thought this child might never smile. A few minutes later, he was belly laughing at Jeff. He took his hand and led him out of the CA office. I thought it couldn't be more perfect (again, go ahead and laugh). Then the bottom fell out. I won't lie. The next two weeks were the worst of my life. Brady screamed, hit, pushed, beat his head on the floor...I really can't even go back there yet. It just wasn't pretty. Thanks to many, many prayers we made it home (and with only one person asking us what the heck was wrong with him on the flight). We considered that a true miracle. The first weeks home were rough; last summer is a fog. I honestly could barely function. I asked myself many times what had we done. People always asked how we did it with five and it was always so easy. Then we had six and I DIDN'T know how to do it. I was overwhelmed. And during it all Brady was pushing me away. The minute Jeff got home from work, Brady would go crazy if I came near him. It was all so hard for everyone. All 8 of us. But through it all, I remembered one thing...God planned Brady for our family. He was ours and we were his. And then one day things just started getting easier and we fell into a groove and Brady's tantrums became less and less and he started feeling more comfortable with us. He started coming to me for comfort and wanting me to love on him. He became a happy, loving little boy. He has even just recently started asking for mama to do things for him, which is so awesome. This morning when he got up, he wanted me to carry him and didn't want me to put him down. It's so nice just to have him in my arms and not be fighting to get away. I know we still have a long way to go with Brady. Poor little fella has so many things to overcome. But today, on the one year anniversary of meeting Brady Daniel LeQiang Loos, I can say without hesitation that I am so glad he is my son.

Flowers for Mama

It is closed!

Brady had another appointment with his surgeon today. We usually get the latest appointment time so that I don't have to take the girls, but they didn't have an opeing available this time so I had to drag them along. It was a nightmare. Brady and AnnaClaire fighting over a chair and both refusing my lap THEN minutes later fighting over my lap. Allie then started elbowing AnnaClaire. I guess if your brother and sister are causing your mom to become a sweaty, frustrated mess why would you want to miss out on that fun? There were two other patients in the waiting room. One (a man) said to the other (a woman) 'makes me wish I had three'. As she looked at him like she was trying to decide whether he was on drugs or just kidding (I really think he was serious), I was making a note to self to never ever even consider bringing the girls again. Ever. Did I say never? Cause I mean never. When they called us back, I said 'thank you Lord!' and I am pretty sure I heard an amen from the woman. It didn't get better once we were in the back. Brady threw a fit because they didn't have time to ride him up and down on the table and then because I wouldn't let him play with the magnifying glass when the nurse wasn't there to help. Then AnnaClaire whopped Allie in the nose with her HEAD. When the doctor finally came in, both Allie and AnnaClaire were crying and Brady still had big tears rolling down his face. But the minute the doctor came in Brady calmed down and did everything he was told. I told him he was like the 'Brady Whisperer'. It's really amazing. He looked in Brady's mouth and said the palate was closed! How awesome is that?! Brady doesn't have to go back to see him until July. I am so happy for my little man.

I am so blessed

As we pulled out of the garage to go take Allie to preschool on Tuesday, I said to the little ones 'What a beautiful day the Lord has made!' Allie excitedly said, 'Yes, that tree is growing!' (referring to what I consider a glorified stick our landscaper put in our front garden...but I digress) So I asked who made the tree and Allie said 'Jesus' and so I asked who made Brady and she answered 'Jesus'. I said yes, that God created Brady and he has a special plan for him-that He has a plan for us all. Then I asked who made 'Allie' to which I get another 'Jesus!' so I said 'I wonder what God's plan is for Allie?'. Then in the most joyous voice, Allie answers 'to have a family!' Seriously, how do you drive when you can't see through the tears?