Fun in Bremerton Parks

There's nothing like a slow economy to make you appreciate your own home more. We've stayed close to home this year and enjoyed every bit much more than last. I can't even remember doing anything last summer. Having LL here makes Life move again! Content, yet Hoping for more....

On foot to Seattle!

Once again I am not in any of the pics. We recently took LuLu to China town, in Seattle and ate at a Dim Sum restaurant, and then headed to Seattle Aquarium to look at LuLu's favorite, "fishies"! Then dinner at Ivar's. It was a nice family day.

Tribute to Michael

Should I be worried???

Love Without Boundaries

I'm starting a new position helping LWB with their Foster Care Program in LouDi, Hunan. (which I'm told is their oldest program. I am so excited to be a part of this. I will begin shortly & am totally excited! I had asked to help them last year and they first called right as LuLu was going for surgery, so the timing was not right. Then out of the blue, it all came together, and I am so honored to help them. I have said before that LuLu greatly benefited from Foster Care by Love Without Boundaries. I firmly believe in the work they do. LWB is solely run on volunteers, each and every position, so that every dollar raised goes directly to the children. If you think you may want to sponsor a child for Foster Care or Education or Medical Needs (like surgery, or wound care, etc), please check out the LWB Site. It is practically nothing to give monthly, yet it is the world to these children. Some could die, others could be living with severe handicaps if they do not get these most basic needs met as soon as possible!

Easter Fun!

We had a great time, coloring eggs with Lulu and she and her cousin hunted for eggs indoors at Nana's house!
I bought "brown" eggs and Pat didn't think they'd take the colors, so I decided to boil some white and do half-n-half! The white are on the left in the egg carton and the brown are on the right. I will definitely do the brown eggs again!!! Lulu had a lot of fun! It was hard to pick a picture because she had such genuine joy on her face in each of them! Oh sweet child, she brings us such joy herself! How blessed can two people be?



Pat & I both enjoy this simple things that we've never actually done together because we've been without a child to enjoy it, but I sure missed these little things in life!
He is really a great Dada, as Lulu calls him!

Spring's just around the corner...& Growing up too fast

So, when we miss more than a year of our child's life, every phase now seems so fleeting. Such a short, precious time we had her as a baby and now, she growing out of her clothes and even the sling. So a few weeks ago I made a point to capture some moments, since they will likely not happen again. The first, Pat took of us while I held Lu Lu in the sling. When she first came home, I couldn't do anything unless I held her, and until the Ergo came, the sling was it. Lulu was so happy when she saw me drag it out of the closet (just for pictures).

Then when I was getting all her next size clothing out and ready to go. (she's almost too big for some things) I found this adorable Gymboree outfit she hadn't worn that's 6-12 mos. So, I made her wear it! It just happened to be a beautiful afternoon for all of 20 min. and I took advantage and had a little photo shoot! (No toddlers in Tiaras over here though)

...thanks Kim for the fabulous sling you made Lu Lu, wish we had her sooner, so we could've used it longer. http://www.biddleybunsslings.com/

Valentine Fun!

Holidays are so much more fun and meaningful with a child. I planned some crafts and let Lulu, or helped her, do much of it. Mainly because she is so curious these days and follows so closely on my heels I often trip on her. And also because I want to cultivate that eagerness and creativity. We spent a day gathering plants, another sticking the plant material onto self-adhesive vellum, and threading and cutting out valentines. Those were for the grandparents.

Then we spent a day making handprints for Pat's valentine. Which took quite a few tries and was supposed to make a heart, but Lulu never did get a very good print, as she wouldn't keep her palm open and just wanted to keep squishing the paint inside. Then, finally finished up by putting Pat's valentine together.

All-in-all, she got to paint, cut, glue, gather, write and play with sticky paper. I think she enjoyed all the new activity.

Daddy Makes an Impression

Pat was able to come by for a quick visit the other day. Lulu got to see his BIG, loud truck and she seemed to enjoy her time with her daddy. She loves her daddy so much. Almost every other word out of her mouth is Daddy. She make believes that she is daddy or her monkey is daddy, or her baby doll is daddy. She just has so much fun with him, and she misses him all day when he's gone. She'll probably be so happy when he gets to stay home with her every other day, if our new work plan works out!

Take a look:

She's got Style!

Terribly Late on posting... Lulu's doing very well, and God has been good to bless me with more time at home with her after her surgery. I am due to go back to work mid-March now. I am still in need of help with someone to watch her, I have some help but not all that I need. She went to her first Dance Party at her friend Morris' house last month and had a great time. She got kinda shy, but sucked up all the attention from Morris' grandparents. They hadn't met her yet, and just loved her. Of course! She's a charmer, without even trying sometimes.

Reflecting on how Lulu came to us

Thre is another precious little girl who captured our hearts 16 months ago. That same time, our Lulu was being born. This child was born with Spina Bifida, and was how God swayed us to consider Spina Bifida as a health need we would consider when adopting. Her story is an amazing one, and we were blessed to be a part of her life from afar, while we waited to see what would come of the adoption process. We were unsure at the time, why God had moved us toward this little one, and thought we would certainly want to adopt her. I post this today, because it is with great JOY, and thanks to God that I have found out that she will be officially adopted this Spring. While God's plan was not for her to be our child, her life was a crucial stepping stone to Our Daughter Lulu, and I will never forget and keep her in prayer. I am thankful to Him for His plan. Some of you also know her story and have prayed for her life too, and so I thought it important to show you God's answer to prayer. It seems complete now to me, this whole adoption. I would always wonder had I not known, what became of this child. But God has blessed me, that I might know, and I thank Him dearly.

My family....on Christmas Day

Isn't she so beautiful in this red velvet???

Pat, being the best Uncle, and always fun!
My brother's family, and Lulu's cousin!
I love this one, because the girls are so intrigued....

Well, I thought maybe we would die on this Christmas day. No Joke! The weather was awful, and my mother's road to her home was worse than I'd ever seen. Then to top it off she lives in the country, where the private road it poorly maintained and ill prepared for snow. Seriously, this made for a scary, and most dangerous adventure to get to her house. Which, I will NEVER, Never do again in the snow. The road is usually dirt, with ravine's on either side, but this day it was thick snow and ice, with ravines on either side and many very unprepared, and quite unintelligent people clogging up the hills with stopped, or abandoned vehicles. John Martin was kind enough to allow us to borrow their Suburban 4WD, and so thought "no problem". We were wrong, you can never estimate just how dangerous another person can be when they don't know how to drive in the snow, but do so anyways. I'm not talking about Pat here. He is a marvelous driver, but it's all the others on the side of (and in the middle of) that road that night! I was scared for my life, and my daughter's. There was a true point when we were sliding backwards in the ditch and I looked around in the Suburban to assess how quickly I could unstrap Lulu and which point of exit would be the safest, and realized it was also the farthest point of exit, and we may have to ride this thing out if we fall in the ravine down the hill.

It was all the cause of a man in a minivan who decide to stop in the middle of a hill on his way up taking up both lanes and get his dog and daughter out to play while he Removed! his chains, YES! I wrote that right, "removed his chains". This was also immediately after a blind hill. Well, what was Pat to do, but pull up along side him and ask to help him. That's when it all started: OK I'll spare you, and stop here, but obviously we're still alive! And we had a nice time with the family.

Sweetness in the Midst

This is Lulu yesterday,

Pat was such a sweet husband today, and brought me flowers to cheer me up. It's been quite challenging with the lack of sleep this last week and constant care of Lulu. I am so happy to do it, but it does take a toll on me emotionally lately. Of course, my husband's thoughtfulness meant the world to me. Lulu is still improving and is gradually needing less pain medication, which helps with frequency and waking in the night and giving her medications and holding her for sometime to get her calmed to sleep again. She developed some oral aversion and so this has been the newest trial in her recovery. Since coming home, she does not wants to take medications, which are all oral, or drink or eat. What once took 15-20 min. at meal time, now takes nearly 45 min. and with only about half getting eaten or drank. So we could use prayer over this. This is a great concern for me, and it is also trying. We also need direction in our lives for our future work decisions. We need to make some decisions because we're struggling, and really need God's guidance and peace over where He guides us, so prayer for our lives in this too, would be wonderful.

This is Lulu night before surgery where we caught her in the midst of a Kung Fu move, we'd say Hai-ya, and she'd do a swift movement of the hands! She was having fun!

Getting Home

We were able to get discharged today, and are home with Lulu. She is resting as much as we can get her to. She was very restless at the Hospital with all the interruptions, and since her pain management is done orally and I was already taking care of her, we felt comfortable bringing her home. She was released less than 72 hrs post surgery, and we Praise God! for that. The normal expected stay for this surgery is 5-7 days, with a possibility of release to rehab. This was God looking out for her. Thank you for your prayer of petition to Our Father on her behalf, He has begun a good work in every step of Lulu's life, no doubt! We are excited to be beyond this crucial step and see His plan for her life unfold in her. I am so blessed to be her mother.

Love, Kristy

Steady Hands and Beautiful Friends

Hey all,

LuLu came out of surgery in great shape yesterday afternoon and spent the night in ICU where she got very little sleep. Mom stayed with her while dad was able to stay in a room @ The Ronald McDonald house(a cross between a hotel room and a Juvie cell,but better than sleeping in my car and better than I deserve, and better than a kick in the teeth)that was made available at the last minute. The doctors were quite pleased with themselves and the job they had done, and LuLu is improving at break-neck speeds, we should be here for another 5 or so days, and for now everything is great. Praise God for our beautiful girl, good surgeons, and great friends.

Love,

Patso, Kristy, and LuLu Mei

Update

Just letting you all know LuLu went in for surgery around 8:30a this morning...approx. 6hrs from now we will know how it went, your prayers are coveted.

Glad Someone Else Did This

Pat said I just had to put this up on the Blog. Pat's brother Nathan, and his family just returned from nearly a month in China. They saw how all the kids loved these things, and just HAD to bring one (two actually) back for Lulu. These are the coolest, kids from infant to 6+ yrs old can ride them, they are a self-propelling design, and Lulu knew just what to do on it!

We did not even consider hauling anything home from China, (except our precious Lulu) but these guys not only had their 3 little ones with them and all that needed to be packed for 3 1/2 wks for five people, but they decided to bring back two of these, one for their youngest and one for Lulu, along with paintings and all sorts of other gifts. She loves it, so I'm so glad someone else was more daring than I was. Oh, and that it didn't have to be me....

Trusting in Him

I Know, it's been a while. I don't even know if anyone's still checking in on us. The weeks flew by while we played together as a family in the snow, and celebrated the holidays. We were also kept busy going back and forth for doctor visits. We now find ourselves very near Lulu's surgery. In that, I am reminded to lean on Him and trust not in my own understanding. It is a difficult thing for a mother to realize she has no control when it comes to her child. God has made her so wonderfully perfect and all I can do is trust and ask for His Grace and Mercy to be upon us as she has this critical surgery. Lulu will be hospitalized for approx. 5-7 days starting Friday! Please lift us in prayer, we need God's guidance and provision at this very trying time in our lives. Thanks.

Here are some random Photos of the last 4 weeks. I realized I didn't get much for pictures, because we carried around the video camera trying to get some home movies for later viewing. Oh well! Sometimes I can get caught up in the picture taking and miss the moment anyway. As Alistair Begg always say: "May God richly bless you..."