Pernicious Anemia

I promised my friend, Kirstie, to pass along our itinerary so everyone would know where we were and when we would actually meet Riley.
Nov. 11 Leave for China
Nov. 13 Arrive in Beijing around noon
Nov. 14 Great Wall during the day and acrobatic show at night
Nov. 15 Tour the Forbidden City and Hu Tongs
Nov. 16 Fly to Guangzhou
Nov. 17 WE MEET RILEY!
Nov. 18 Apply for Riley's passport
Nov. 19 Tour of the Chen Family Home
Nov. 20 Riley's medical exam
Nov. 21 Pick up passport
Nov. 22 and 23 Free days
Nov. 24 Apply for Riley's Visa
Nov. 25 Pick up Visa
Nov. Leave for HOME

Hopefully on our free days Riley will be up for a little sightseeing and shopping, but if not, we are staying in a nice hotel and we can just hunker down.

Packing for this trip has been quite a challenge. One minute we have mostly shorts picked out, and the next, we are switching to jeans. It looks like we are going to freeze in Beijing as it drops below freezing at night and the upper 80's we were looking forward to in Guangzhou have turned into mid 70's. Oh well, we're just rolling with the punches.

I was given a wonderful surprise! Our awesome adoption coordinator, Nicole, managed to get updated information on Riley's size. She's about 17 pounds and 26 inches tall - basically 9 to 12 month size. Tiny by American standards, but she registers at the 8th percentile for Asian babies.

I'm sure you've been reading this post and wondering, "What the HECK is Pernicious Anemia?" Well, the kids and I were watching Real Stories of the ER last night and the woman on the show was diagnosed with Pernicious Anemia. It's a funny sounding phrase and the doctor who was explaining the condition made it sound even funnier. Maddie starting copying him - dead on, might I add - and then everyone joined in. "Let's name our next baby Pernicious Anemia!" "What an awesome dog name! Pernicious Anemia!" The more you say it, the funnier it becomes.

We went out to dinner tonight and Pernicious Anemia followed us. Maddie kept repeating it over and over, in different voices and tones. We were all in stitches laughing at how funny she sounded. Sam commented that only our slightly twisted family could take a horrible medical condition and turn it into some of the most fun we've had in a long time. Poor baby Riley. Look what she's in for!

Tomorrow is going to be busy so I better hit the sack and get a little sleep. Only two more days!!!!!!!!

Big hugs
Marlo

My children near and far

“I may not always be with you
But when we're far apart
Remember you will be with me
Right inside my heart”
― Marc Wambolt, Poems from the Heart

It does not matter how old your children are, or where they live, you never stop worrying about them, or taking care of them. 

I worry about my baby, Riley, for obvious reasons – I mean, who would be excited about their child living in an orphanage?  I worry about Sam because she needs reassurance…sometimes daily…even though she truly has things figured out.  I worry about Carter because he is trying to figure out where he fits in the world and his heart is so tender.  I worry about Maddie because she is about to have her world turned upside down when her baby sister arrives. 

But most of all I worry about my Codi.  I think I mentioned he joined the Job Corps and moved to the other end of the state.  I’ve been Codi’s mom, nurse, chauffer, teacher, punching bag, confidante, psychiatrist, champion, and every other role in between for the last 18 years.  None of those 18 years could be described as easy between juggling doctor appointments, school, medicine, counseling, and just trying to be his mom.  All that being said I really love that boy!  He is talented, artistic and can have a wicked sense of humor.  The most challenging part of his leaving home was my giving up the role of medical supervisor.  Codi had never fought me on taking his medicine, he knows it helps, and except for being forgetful, he never purposely skips his meds.  This has probably been the most difficult part to work out – turning over his day-to-day care to him.  The good news is Codi is doing great!  He really likes where he is, what he is doing, and he has a plan!  Keep him in your prayers, but just know, he sounds happy and we are happy for him.

Halloween was really fun!  Maddie was a witch and Carter went scary this year and chose a character from The Purge.  Creepy!  I told him it was a good thing he had such a cute little sister, otherwise I don’t think our neighbors would open the door for him.

 

John and I are in packing mode – which consists of packing, unpacking, repacking, juggling, unpacking, repacking…we are having a tough time deciding what to bring, while staying under the 44 pounds rule and taking into consideration a 30 degree difference from North and South China.  Beijing is COLD and Guangzhou is shorts weather.

Maddie is now reading books Carter gave her - think middle school reading versus elementary school. Carter is doing his best to keep his grades at A’s and B’s and practicing his golf game.  Sam will be home this afternoon for a long break and to take care of the little ones while we are in China.  Codi will be home for two weeks at Christmas.

This is my last week at work before I take my vacation and maternity leave.  Everyone at work has been so supportive!  I’ve relied heavily on my best friend, Angie, and all my goofy friends at work, to keep me sane and slightly distracted.  Two weeks ago we had the “Great Nevada Shake Out” to prepare for a possible earthquake at work.  This is us under Angie’s desk making the best of the situation. 

This is Angie diving under her desk because Jason blew his earthquake whistle again.  (Okay, okay, the truth is she was plugging in her new lamp and Jason and I staged the picture – but our version is WAY FUNNIER!) 

 

Here are pictures from Halloween – we were supposed to dress as a Hero or Heroine and our department chose the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.  Someone nicknamed us the Middle Aged Mutant Ninja Turtles.  Whatever!  We rocked those masks!

 

Things are going to start getting FUN!  Hang on tight, here we go!

Big Hugs!

Marlo

We are goin’ to CHINA Ya’ll!

I have been so neglectful of the blog – mostly because I’m running around like a chicken with her tail feathers on fire.  So, just to keep everyone in the loop, we leave the 11^th and return the 26^th just in time for Thanksgiving.  Boy, do we have a lot to be thankful for!

Big Hugs!
Marlo

Discombobulate

DEFINITION: To throw into a state of confusion.

This is my life right now…a state of confusion.  Waiting for this next phone call is killing me.  Just knowing when we are leaving will help me straighten out my thoughts and give me a concrete timeline to work with.  Right now all I do is speculate, guesstimate, and procrastinate.  Deadlines motivate me!

I haven’t been sleeping well the past few weeks – which only adds to my chaotic state of mind.  I like to make lists when I can’t sleep.  I usually make lists in my little toilet closet in the middle of the night in an attempt to clear my mind, and allow me to close my eyes and not worry. The sad part is I NEVER have paper available.  I try to keep a pad by my bed, but inevitably I write a note on it and then take the entire pad downstairs and forget to return it.  So, when the mood strikes to write lists, I do what any other resourceful mom does…I use toilet paper!  Don’t laugh!  I’ve been known to write an entire story line out in eyeliner and TP!  Last night was a 2-ply, 4 sheet night! 

I tried to completely empty my brain (ha ha John, YES!  There is stuff in my brain!) and enter a Zen-like state, but then my blog popped into my head and I remembered…I left out the BEST story of our trip!

Gregg Family White Coat Trip – Take 2

Before we even got to the Bates Motel, Carter had already had us in stitches.  As we were pulling into Glendale he announced, “I learned that the CHERRY–OKEYS were born here.” You have to say it just the way I spelled it.  Cherry. O. Keys.  John and I almost peed our pants when we finally realized what he was trying to say… Cherokees.  Gotta love the Nevada public school system.  So the rest of the weekend was filled with Cherry-Okey jokes – like, “Hey!  Look!  Our room was decorated by the cherry-o-keys!”  Bwah-ha-ha-ha. 

Did I mention how proud I am of Sam?  She looked so beautiful in her white coat.  Maddie told everyone we went to Sam’s coronation.  I think she may have watched Frozen a few times too many??  Here’s a pic of Maddie waiting for dinner at Texas Roadhouse. 

 

We bought pink stuff to support Breast Cancer Research and wished Grandma a Happy Birthday!

Squirrel!

Squirrel is what I say when Codi’s ADHD kicks in and he gets way off-off subject and I need to reel him in.  I just had to “squirrel” myself.  I keep getting off track, which is also adding to the disorientation taking over my brain.

Since I can’t seem to stay on track, I’m going to sign off!  Keep praying for good news this week.

BIG HUGS!

Marlo

Sissy's White Coat

Samantha is a tough act to follow.  She is crazy smart, beautiful, caring, helpful, organized, and has the biggest heart I’ve ever come across!  Sissy is living in Arizona and attending graduate school at Midwestern University.  We took the four-hour drive (well, maybe 3.5 hours courtesy of Mario Andretti AKA Dad) to Glendale this weekend to watch her receive her white coat in a ceremony on campus.  The coat symbolizes the professional she has become by choosing to go into the medical field of Occupational Therapy.  We are super proud of her and she can’t wait to meet you Riley!

One of the things you will quickly learn about becoming a member of the Gregg Family is that our vacations always turn into some kind of twisted adventure.  No joke!  We NEVER have a quiet, peaceful, uneventful getaway.  It always has some bump in the road.  This trip was no different.  This weekend we had to add a new rule to the Gregg Family Rulebook: Dad is no longer allowed to make hotel arrangements of ANY kind!  God bless the man, he thought he was doing a good thing by saving money, but all he ended up doing was grossing us all out and keeping everyone from sleeping in our Bates Motel of a room.  It was yucky, dirty, smelled like cigarette smoke.  The shower curtain wouldn’t stay closed, the toilet was at an angle towards the tub, the Kleenex was actually sandpaper shoved in the box and folded to resemble a tissue.  The lamp shade had a “substance” on it resembling blood…or maybe ketchup?  We made it one night and promptly checked out at dawn to camp out in Sam’s living room for the next night.

Sissy had to “teach” something to one of her classes a few weeks ago and she chose to teach diapering – which she happens to be a pro at!  She bought a doll and diapers (which came home with us for you) and then realized she needed TWO dolls – one for Maddie and one for Riley!  Aren’t they cute?  Maddie named hers Mya. 

While we were in Glendale the moon was huge and bright and I couldn’t help but look at it and wonder if you were able to see the same moon from your crib?  Probably not…but it did help me to feel a little closer to you.  We are praying for travel dates this week.  The clock is ticking on our Visas expiring in December, so we need to make this happen QUICKLY.  Can’t wait to hold you in my arms, Riley, and show you the big, beautiful moon you’ve been missing!

Big Hugs,

Mommy

Baby Fever

Most of our friends and family…okay…ALL of our friends and family, think we are a few french fries short of a Happy Meal when we tell them we are expecting another baby.  I know it seems odd to most folks that we want to “start over” but to us, it just feels right. 

The house has been extra quiet this past week with both Sam and Codi gone now.  Carter and Maddie are not loud, rambunctious kids, so the noise level is pretty low.  I hate it.  Way too quiet for me!  So, over the weekend our friends Jason and Brittney let us watch their two beautiful children and we all had a BLAST!!!!  Cooper is two and has more energy than the Energizer Bunny on a Red Bull and crack trip!  Wow, can that kid move fast!  He also never cries when he falls down.  I ran over and asked, “Hey buddy, you alright?”  He just stood up, looked a little dazed and announced “Yeees. Yeees.”  Too cute!  His sister, Sutten, is also as cute as a button.  She cried a little when Mommy left, but by the end of the night she was giving my hugs and snuggling with me.  I knew I had baby fever, I just didn’t realize how bad it was until she buried her little face in my chest and clung to my shirt. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I really, really need my baby.  Like NOW.

Carter and Maddie had so much fun being big helpers with the little ones.  Carter is already a great big brother, but playing with Cooper and Sutten only reinforced what I already knew.  Maddie did pretty well with me holding a baby.  She actually went to John for some attention and didn’t try to shove Sutten off my lap-all good signs.

My weekend was filled with lots of little projects involving the room rearranging.  A force has swept over me, sort of like when I was almost ready to deliver and I needed everything to be clean and in order.  I hauled junk out, pulled new bedding in, rearranged furniture, re-rearranged the furniture, tackled the piles of paper in my office and pulled together two sewing projects.  Whew!  Of course, I still haven’t finished the darn crib.  I can hear my husband’s voice now, “Why did you have to paint the crib white?  It looked just fine brown.”  Whatever.  It’s going to be beautiful when I finish.  Someday.

Maddie loves her new reading tent – Pinterest Victory!  She likes the fluffy blanket inside and closes the front so “nobody can see her” because it has “magical powers.”  Wow.  Who knew mom could create invisibility shields with some organza and thread.  I rock!

I also pulled some Pinterest Power with this Halloween wreath made from Dollar Store finds – Styrofoam wreath, black boa wrapped and stapled in place, ribbon for hanger and bow, and one rubber spider I covered in purple glitter (leftover from a summer project).  Ta-da!

Now if I could just finish the ding darn crib!

BIG HUGS!

Marlo

Life as we know it

Life as we have known it around our house is changing.  Sam is living in Arizona now and as of Tuesday, Codi is living in Reno.  He made the choice to join the Job Corps over the summer and the phone call finally came for him to report.  John, Maddie and I said good-bye to him at the airport and I watched a huge chunk of my heart walk through security and out of my day-to-day life.  The poor kid white-knuckled it on a plane from Vegas to Reno and was super happy to be back on solid ground.  He sounds good and happy.  All a parent could ask for.  I hope he continues to thrive there.  Our house is much quieter.

I know that soon enough the house will be full of a baby’s laughter and babbling, and I will truly have my hands full again, but right now, I feel a little lost.  Codi and his medicine and doctor appointments and special handling were all consuming. 

I really, really, really want my baby girl!

 

We are (im)patiently waiting for our Article 5 to be picked up this week and delivered to the CCCWA.  Once they’ve checked all the paperwork they will issue our Letter Seeking Confirmation and give us some choices for travel dates. 

Time feels like it is ticking extra slow this week.  It’s not like I don’t have a million things to do to get ready either.  The crib still isn’t complete, we need to pack and get organized, the house is a MESS from people moving out and rooms being “repurposed” – like my new guest room/craft room which was Codi’s room.  I have four sewing projects to complete. And of course there is my crazy full-time job.

Hopefully I will get some of my to-do-list checked off this weekend, because next weekend we are driving down to Phoenix to see Sam receive her white coat.  I’m so proud of that kid!

With any luck, I will have great news to share soon.  Hang in there… its coming!

BIG HUGS!

Marlo

Giggles video

I had to share this...an up-to-date video of Riley and her mega watt smile - complete with giggles!

Enjoy!

Perseverance

Someone mentioned the other day how they didn’t know how I could continue with our plans to adopt after all the heartache we’ve experienced.  I told them I just put one foot in front of the other, day after day.  I started looking up quotes about perseverance, and think this one nails it:

“Perseverance is the hard work you do after you get tired of doing the hard work you already did” - Newt Gingrich.   I’m not a big Newt fan, but he did get this right!  I asked myself how many times I could fill out the same piece of paper, over and over again, each time with a different little girl’s name.  Turns out…I can fill those forms out pretty fast and efficient, and as many times as it takes to get what I want.  And I want a baby.  And I’ve filled out A LOT of paperwork since 2006 when we started this journey.  And it’s about time that I share with you…I’m getting what I want and what I’ve been praying for…a baby!!!!!

John and I had discussed waiting until we were on a plane to China before sharing our little love bug with everyone, but my heart is all aflutter and we are probably only a few weeks away from receiving our travel dates.  So, without further ado…

Let me introduce you to…Riley Faith Gregg. 

 

Riley turned one in August.  She has cleft lip and cleft palate, but otherwise seems to be a healthy, alert, sweet, giggly little girl.  I’ve already made contact with the Las Vegas area Craniofacial Team (plastic surgeon, dentist, orthodontist, ENT, speech therapist) and they are excited to meet Miss Riley and get started on her care.  We purposely requested she not receive surgery in China, so she could have her family with her for the surgeries and care afterward.  I knew Riley would fit in perfectly with us when I noticed she could take her tongue, turn it sideways, and stick it up her nose.  That is TALENT people! 

I can stand with a little help from my Auntie.

Can you see my little tooth?

 

I have been working on a lot of projects in the house to prepare to bring our little bundle home.  Sam’s room was converted into a playroom for the girls.  Maddie and Riley will be sharing a bedroom, because I’m pretty sure Riley will be camping out in our room for a while. 
This brings me to more BIG news.  Codi is moving out.  He has been accepted in the Nevada Job Corps and leaves for Reno on September 30^th.  He is super excited about this huge transition in his life and we only want what is best for him.  Hopefully he will find what he is looking for up North.  This also means another room for mom to commandeer!  Codi’s room will become the guest room/craft room.  John thinks he needs a “man cave” but he already has huge TVs in the living room and bedroom – what more could he need? HA!

Now that the kitty cat is out of the bag, I guess I will need to update this blog more.  All I can say is, Thank God for Small Favors!  Have a great day!

Marlo

That's Riley on the right with one of her friends.

AGAIN???

This is not a joke.  It's really happened again.  This adoption has been stopped.

Last Wednesday I was celebrating with everyone, talking about plane tickets and packing.  I reached out on social media to share in my joy and received a message from another adoptive mom.  She said she had pictures of my daughter she would share!  How exciting!  I thought she had visited the orphanage and caught McKenna in the background.  But, a 30-minute phone call later, and my world was destroyed.

The reason this woman had pictures...and videos...of my daughter, is because MY daughter had been HER daughter just a few months before!  This poor woman, her husband and their other adopted daughter had traveled to China to bring home their baby.  A cute 2 year-old with cleft lip and palate.  A healthy little girl who needed a family.  Sound familiar?

Well, after spending three days with this beautiful little girl, they knew something was wrong.  They Skyped with doctors at home, tried to get more information and came to the heart wrenching conclusion that the baby...her baby...my baby...was severely autistic.  She can't walk, talk or communicate.  She only cries like an infant, even though she is almost three.

I will forever be in debt to this woman and her family for finding the courage to reach out to me.  I'm sure it was like ripping the band-aid off by contacting me and reliving the whole thing over again.  She loved this little girl too - we only want what is best for - a family prepared to take on tough, all encompassing, special needs.

I'm not sure what to say or do.  My house is full of diapers, bottles, baby clothing and travel items.  Where do I put the highchair, playpen, diaper bag and all the things personalized with her name?  I lost it today just looking at her baby toothbrush and toothpaste.

The kids are sad and confused.  Everyone is wearing their heart on their sleeve right now.  Please give us time to process all of this.  I'm not completely sure what will come next.  We appreciate all the prayers and love, even if I can't get on the phone or verbalize it to you.

Marlo, John, Samantha, Codi, Carter and Madison

It's official! We are having a baby!

Tickets are booked.  We have visas, passports, permission from China and blessings from the US government.  We are heading to China to bring home McKenna.

We should have our arms wrapped tightly around our little angel on March 24th and be back home by April 2nd.

There's so much to do before we leave.  Packing, cleaning, cooking, ugh....how exciting!  2 weeks!  Holy cow this is getting real.

Quick post!

We received amazing news last week!  Our Article 5 has been picked up and delivered to CCCWA and we should hear very soon when our Gotcha Day is.  I threw around a few dates with our adoption agency, but we have to see what consulate’s calendar looks like.  ALMOST THERE KENNA BABY!

Look how cute the girls’ room is coming along!  Sam’s letter M’s turned out fabulous.  If you look closely you can see their names down the sides.  I still need to get sheets on McKenna’s bed (teal), but Maddie (pink) is sleeping in her room now. YEAH!

This is another “little” project for me to tackle – recovering these cubes so they match the décor.

 

One last tidbit – our annual Mother/Daughter Forever Family Day picture:

 

 

 

Sending BIG hugs!

Love, Marlo

Happy Forever Family Day Maddie!

Yesterday was an important day in the Gregg house. Five years ago I held the tiniest, most beautiful little creature in my arms and I fell head over heels in love with my baby - Maddie Moo Moo. Each of my children's births created another limb on our family tree, so we celebrated our little twig and we continue to wait, impatiently, to add McKenna to our tree too.

 To celebrate Maddie's special day I asked her what she wanted for dinner and she said TACOS! My poor ethnically challenged child.

She had a wonderful day because she went golfing with her Daddy, and at school she finally got to give her classmates their Valentines. It seems there was a substitute teacher last week who asked the children if they “would like to share” the Valentines they brought with their friends. Maddie decided she would rather keep hers. Yep. She came home with all 22 Tinkerbelle cards! I emailed her awesome Kindergarten teacher, explained the mix up, and asked if we could share ours a little late. Life Lessons...that's what her teacher said. I'm pretty sure it's just my five-year-old taking everything literally.

The girls' room is coming along great. Sam and I got the accent wall painted with three coats of pink, tackled painting one small dresser white and put two coats of primer and one coat of teal on the beautiful corner headboard that Scott and Brian dropped off on Sunday. Sam and I inhaled in A LOT of paint fumes this weekend. I mean A LOT!

I can't wait to finish this project up. McKenna's bed arrived and so did the bedding. Sam made totally cute letter “M”s with each girl's name on them. But now we’ve decided there is enough pink and teal in the room and we need to work on bringing in more soothing gray tones. Since we only have a few hours together at night after work, we will probably have to wait until the weekend to complete the transformation.  Stay tuned for cool pictures!

Miss Madison really wants us to bring her little sister home...like, right NOW! Last week she told me she didn't want me to go to China and have to fight people to get McKenna???? Does she think we have to fight Ninjas???? Hmmm, not sure. This week she told me she wanted to come with us to China. It was so hard to tell her no, but she has school, and John and I need to bond with McKenna. I still remember our trip to Vietnam. It was magical and we had such a wonderful time getting to know our little pipsqueak one-on-one without having to share our time and attention with everyone. Hopefully Maddie doesn't hate us for leaving her. I know Sam will take exceptional care of her and the boys, but a mommy worries. I've started to come up with little gifts to give her for each day we are gone with a countdown to us returning.

The other news of odd and bizarre is Sam broke her toe (the little piggy that did not get roast beef).  I wish I could blame the paint fumes for her accident, but she actually did it last week while putting on her pants. Mmmm-hmmm…you read that right. Putting on her pants! Bless her little heart.

And poor Carter had to have two baby molars pulled by the dentist because they weren’t allowing his adult teeth to come in.  He’s still nursing a sore jaw on both sides.  We did get a wonderful gift from the dentist’s office though – 62 tubes of toothpaste and 100 toothbrushes to donate to McKenna’s orphanage!  We LOVE Dr. Holm and his staff!

So...no adoption news, but I will keep you all posted.

Big hugs!
Marlo

WATCH OUT! It's a landslide!

My life has become a landslide.  I touch one thing, and several other things start to fall, and then all the falling things start to accumulate, and then BAAMMM we have a landslide of things rolling, rolling, and rolling.

Here is Carter’s new room.  This is where the landslide began.  It looks pretty good, all things considered, but it isn’t done yet.  The headboard needs to be tackled and there are some “decorative” touches which require Mom’s attention.

  

 

 

 

 

               Unfortunately, this is the girls’ room:

This is where all the extra “stuff” started rolling when Carter’s room was being tackled.  And then we decided to have a garage sale, and more “stuff” came out of the cupboards and closets and hiding places and also landed in here.  We managed to paint the closet – which required us to take all of the “stuff” out of said closet and put it into the landslide debris that now fills the room.

Poor Maddie is sleeping on a mattress in my bedroom, along with all the “baby paraphernalia” I’ve been accumulating for McKenna. (READ:  Also a MESS!)  Included in the paraphernalia piles are bottles I just found out have BPA in them!  YEAH!  Now I need more BPA-free bottles! (READ: Dripping with sarcasm.)

The hallway, or as it is now being referred to as “the storage way,” is a slalom course through bedding that no longer fits the beds we own, dirty clothes, things for Goodwill, boxes of diapers, an unbuilt baby playpen and several Polly Pocket people who seemed to have taken up residence there.

This landslide is now rolling down the stairs into a heaping pile on the landing, where you might find wooden letters to spell out the girls’ names, a ridiculously huge box of baby wipes, an eclectic assortment of books and a handful of wooden paint stir sticks.  Odd, right?  Well, I can explain the baby wipes - COSTCO - see them on the bottom right?

Somewhere in the house is one new bedspread for the girls – the other is still in transit…I think…along with the other twin size bed frame. 

While the landslide keeps flowing through the house, we were blessed with an amazing gift last week!  Our friend Brian B. and a co-worker, Scott M., are going to build the corner unit for the girls’ room.  They are so sweet!  I just couldn’t justify paying $550-$650 for the actual Pottery Barn Kids version.  I think the DIY version will be MUCH better.  I’ll take a picture once it is painted and installed…if we ever get the landslide under control and make room for it.

Just to add insult to injury, I was taken out of play by the nefarious, notorious, debilitating - common cold!  Seriously?  I have too much to do, and not enough time to do it in! 

Hope you are all having a better week than me!

Love,  Marlo

Your Forever Family

Today I thought I would take a minute to introduce you to your Forever Family.  Of course you will meet Mommy and Daddy while we are in China, but you will also have a lot of people (and critters) waiting at home for you too.  Here is the entire motley crew:

Madison

Well, I thought I would start with your big (little) sister, since you will probably be spending most of your time with her.  She is a huge reason why we wanted to have another little girl.  I LOVED growing up with my sister, and I know Maddie loves Sam, but Sam is an adult now and we thought you two girls would be great for each other.  I know Maddie is super excited to finally meet you, McKenna.  She asks several times a week if today is the day we are going to pick you up and bring you home.

Maddie is adopted too, just like you, except she was born in Vietnam.  She was a little peanut of a baby when we brought her home and she is such a blessing to our family – just like I know you will be too!

Maddie is in Kindergarten and also attends pre-school for the other half of her day.  She loves reading, her iPad, cartoons, Tinkerbell, swimming and golf.  She wants to teach you everything she knows and is going to be a great big sister for you.  She even requested you two share a room – which we are in the process of putting together right now.

Your sister is super funny and makes us laugh every day with the crazy things she says.  Yesterday she woke up and her throat was scratchy, so I jokingly asked her how many packs of cigarettes she had smoked.  She didn’t skip a beat and told me, “13.”  Yep – she’s a smart aleck just like me.

Carter

Your brother, Carter, is the sweetest, most sensitive, cute, loving boy ever.  He will be totally embarrassed I wrote this about him, but he really is awesome.  You will always be safe with Carter around because he takes his job as your big brother seriously.  He will also drive you and Madison totally and completely INSANE!  He is a boy through and through and loves annoying his sisters – and I’m sure he will delight in having another little girl to irritate when you are home.

Carter loves sports, riding bikes, swimming, UNLV and hanging out with his friends.  He is neat and organized and a great helper around the house.  You are so lucky to have him as one of your big brothers!

Codi

Codi, Codi, Codi.  You will quickly learn that Codi is a unique person.  He is super creative and extremely smart, but he likes to keep to himself and spends a lot of time in his room.  He can spend hours playing video games, working on the computer and drawing.  Some of Codi’s artwork hangs in our house and Sam’s place too.  He always has an interesting perspective on things and is knowledgeable about all sorts of topics.

Codi used to love building with Legos, and I have several pictures to prove it.  Now he channels his creative side into painting, drawing and computer graphics.

Samantha

Sam, or Sissy, as we call your oldest sister is the glue that holds us all together.  She has set the bar high for you kids.  She graduated high school with an honors diploma and an associate’s degree.  She then went on to Texas Tech University and graduated Summa Cum Laude two and half years later.  She starts her graduate program in August in Glendale, Arizona, and when she is done, she will be an Occupational Therapist.  You will have a few months to get to know your big sister before she leaves for school again, but don’t worry; she will always make time for you and will move mountains to be here for your milestones. 

Sam has a huge heart and is always volunteering to help others.  She roots for the underdog, loves children and animals, is a voracious reader and a BEAST in the gym.  I hope you and Maddie take a page from Sam’s book and become young, independent, fierce girls just like your big sister.

 

 

 

 

Shelby

The Fuzzy Crew

We have three dogs now.  I introduced you to Daddy’s newest addition, Sophie, earlier.  You also have two Yorkies to keep you company and play with.  The oldest, Shelby Elizabeth, is a good dog now, but when she was a puppy Mommy called her “Satan’s Spawn.”  She was an escape artist, loved to piddle all over the house and chewed everything she could get her cute little paws on.  Now she spends her days lounging on the couch and snuggling with anyone who let her sit in their lap. 

Our other little love bug is Jazzy, or Jasmine Mei.  She is four and a half pounds of fluffy fury.  She is super protective of the family and hates people coming to the door.  The poor pizza delivery guy always has a look of sheer terror on his face when I open the door. This crazy little girl is actually the most lovey-dovey animal you will ever meet.  She sleeps curled up against me or your brother, Carter, and loves to be held.  I think you two will become fast friends.

So this is family that is waiting…impatiently…to meet you.  We already love you so much and can’t wait to show you.

Love,

Mommy