Cooking with Libby (the cutest Chef in the world!)

Libby loves to help mommy in the kitchen and recently we rediscovered a kids cooking book my sister sent me a while back. Libby decided she wanted to make some special dishes for our house church - so we did. She went shopping with me for all the ingredients and proved to be an awesome chef - not to mention - she is the cutest chef in the world!

Bam!

Above - one of my most favorite photos of all time! How could she be any cuter?!

Catching up... in pictures....

These pictures are not in the right order, but time is too valuable to fuss over it. First pic is my new haircut with my new baby girl.

The Lord has given Libby and our family a special gift in that we have about 10 families around us with adopted Chinese girls the same age as Libby. One of the moms - Shawna - decided to start a China Camp for hand full of us to do a trial run and see how it goes. She did a fabulous job! She invited the girls to her home to learn about China through song, dance, games, foods, etc. The morning of China camp Libby was beyond excited. She just around the house shouting "I'm going to China Camp!!!" Just the idea that she was going to a place that talked about the country she came from meant the world to her. I dressed her up in some of her Chinese clothes for the first morning (above). She was all smiles!

The last day of China Camp all the girls wore their fancy Chinese clothes and had a Tea Party. Libby, again, was ecstatic! She loves hot tea!

The girls also had a "show and tell" day and Libby took her parasol to show off.

These are the precious girls who attended the camp. Aren't they all so beautiful!?!

I even dressed Gracie up in one of Libby's very first Chinese outfits. So cute!

Libby showing off one of her China camp crafts - her paper lantern.

One of Libby's dearest friends, Maliah, was also there and during story time they would sit with their arms wrapped around one another.

Recently, Libby helped me tackle the fun job of teaching Gracie to eat baby food.... it didn't go so well.

Sweet Gracie Lu

I love this sly look. She displays it often!

Libby visited the Guadalupe River with her daddy several times this summer. She loves to sit in this little rapid and let the water push her downstream. She's been catching fish out there too. She helps her daddy get the worms out of the container and she holds the cat-fish and all. She is so much fun!

Neil McClendon, a good friend of ours, was the speaker at one of the camps we lead worship for. He met Gracie for the first time and was really great with tricky Libby.

Sisters!

Hopefully I will have time to share more tomorrow night.

Growing a Princess

The last 4 months of our lives have been.....a hectic, difficult transition met with many challenges. To briefly recap, we received Gracie's picture on April 13 and discovered that the daughter God chose for us was having a difficult start and was severely malnourished due to sicknesses. The wait for a court date was miraculously short and we passed court the first try. Then we thought we were traveling to Ethiopia early and had everything packed and ready to go literally up to the last minute only to discover we would have to wait 2 more weeks due to a minor paperwork issue. Two weeks later we boarded our first plane for the trip to Ethiopia and by the end of the day Libby had a 103 degree fever. The trip to Ethiopia and back became a roller coaster ride of emotions as we battled Libby's illness, her abnormal tantrums, her fear of becoming a big sister, her refusal to eat, jet lag, meeting and embracing Gracie for the first time (chicken pox and all!), feeling the magnitude of poverty in Ethiopia, meeting Gracie's birthmother, and making the looooooooooooooong trip home. We landed in the US and my (Cindy's) stomach issues began... call it traveler's diarrhea or a bug - I don't know - but the next 2 weeks were a rough road with jet lag and potty time. Then I had a 24 hour bug that included throwing up... 5 pounds lost later... I discovered a lump in my breast. Sonogram revealed a golf ball sized cyst that needed to be removed. The day of my surgery consultation, Gracie's pediatrician called with news that Gracie may have a metabolic disorder and we were ordered to go to the hospital immediately for further blood work. Later that week our new CD was released and I had my lumpectomy. That evening our in-laws came in town for a visit. The next morning Gracie had a third round of blood work in just under 2 weeks time. Finally, news came that my cyst was NOT cancer! Praise God. Then camps began. First one was at camp Zephyr. Juggling 2 little ones and leading worship and eating in a crowded-teen-swarming cafeteria took its toll. By the end of the week I had RAGING pink eye, a fever blister (which I have NEVER had before) and terrible body aches. AND Gracie's ears started oosing infection (for a second round of double ear infections). Gracie started antibiotics (and diarrhea with that) and I felt EXHAUSTED. Arrived home from that camp at 2AM that Friday morning. Had Saturday to do laundry and repack. Left that Sunday for camp #2 in OK. Arrived at that camp feeling HORRIBLE. Cried a lot. Still had no solid word on Gracie's health and blood work - at this point the docs were also considering that she might have TB. Finished camp, started some new discipline ideas with Libby that FINALLY brought about some results, and sought a doctor about my health. Blood work revealed the next week that I had MONO!! All summer I assumed my exhaustion was from jet lag, foreign travel, becoming a mom of 2, and sleepless nights of feeding the baby - but nope - that wasn't all - I've had MONO! But hallelujah..... we also received news that week that Gracie is CLEARED of ALL assumed illnesses - she has NO tb, NO liver disease, NO metabolic disorder!!!

While I am still getting well and forcing myself to take it easy and hunker down at home most of the day, I am so relieved that my babies are doing well. During our trip to ET I shared on our other blog how difficult Libby's behavior was. Considering all we've been through and how hard the trip was, I know that most of her issues were understandable. But there were some meltdowns and tantrums that I just couldn't figure out how to handle. God brought a godly man back into our lives who spoke with Billy and I about how to handle Libby and we've had a seriously amazing breakthrough. The last 2 weeks have been SO AMAZING with her. She has settled into being a big sister. She loves on Gracie all day. She desires to obey. She is more affectionate than ever -even with all the extra discipline - in fact, the consistency and extra work have caused her heart to bond with us more deeply and sweetly than ever before. And Gracie is growing and getting fat! She is wonderful and pleasant and perfect (cause she's not 2 or 3 yet - haha!). It has been a complete joy - even in the midst of all our trials - to just be wife and mom. I'm loving it!

So - blogging has suffered due to the life of changing diapers and I am, after all, on a learning curve for trying to juggle a second little one. But I have a plan! I going to try to post a short post with about 5 pictures each night until I've completely caught you all up on our summer life in pictures... believe it or not... the "short" recap of our summer above is not an exhaustive list... much more happened than that even!

Here are my picture posts for tonight... 2 years ago we did the same camp at camp Zephyr and I took some sweet pictures of Libby. This year I tried to take a couple of the same shots so we can see how she's grown... Growing a princess may be hard work, but man, she is worth it. And who knew 2 years ago that we would be back with a second princess in such a short time!

Enjoy....

Libby at camp Zephyr July 2009

Libby at camp Zephyr June 2007

Camp Zephyr 2009

Camp Zephyr 2007

Camp Zephyr - newest addition - Summer 2009

Welcome to Camp Life Gracie!

2 Feet Added and She's So Much Fun!

Gracie Lu is home (in case you forgot to check out our adoption blog along the way)!  And though our whole family has encountered many trials in the last 2 months (fevers, stomach bugs, possible diseases, surgery, tantrums, no sleep... you know - small stuff - hee hee!) we are all so happy and doing very well! It looks like (I'll know a bit more tomorrow) Gracie's elevated liver levels are due to past infections and we will retest her in several weeks to make sure the levels are balancing out... that means - NO liver disease and NO metabolic disorders! Praise God! Also  - after my lumpectomy the cysts were sent to labs for biopsy and came back benign - NO cancer! So - while we did and still would praise our Lord if the news were bad - we are praising and rejoicing today for what I call - the thickest, most delicious icing on our cake - his healing, protection, deliverance, and provision from infirmity and his endurance, strength and peace in the midst of it all!

Today, I just want to share some precious photos of the 2 greatest gifts God has given me outside of eternal forgiveness and my sweet hubby - the 2 faces I greet, feed, entertain, hold and nurture everyday. They are both so precious to me. Every day I get a bigger glimpse into Jesus' love for us as I enjoy loving on Libby and Gracie. If I delight so much in them, how much more does God, our Creator, delight in them and all of us.

Tummy time with Gracie

post-roll-over smile

I love this picture of Gracie!

roll over begins...

arm goes over...

body next...

YAY!!! She did it!

look at how I'm holding my head up these days!!!

daddy and his girls (and shamu)

sister time... so sweet

Captain/Pirate Libby

Libby and I spent the day together at Sea World yesterday. The pictures are in reverse order from the day. We enjoyed Shamu - but from the very back because we were in a 4-D theatre watching a pirate movie and the whole Shamu stadium was full by the time we got there. Still amazing, though, to watch such a huge creature do awesome tricks. The one where Shamu comes up straight out of the water with a diver standing on his nose is the coolest!

Libby won this stuffed Shamu in a ball game on her second throw. She now carries him everywhere.

Her big catch!

Shark swimming overhead.

As soon as we got to the park the dolphins were being fed. So I bought a tray of fish food so Libby could feed the dolphins herself. Here, she looked at the food and said..."why isn't he moving?" I told her it is better for them to be dead before the dolphins eat them.

Libby - you are so pretty, cool and fun!

Right before we entered the gate at Sea World! Mommy and her big girl!