I can't believe it.......

Jon and I just celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary!

My oldest is six! How can that be??

Chuckie Cheese's to celebrate!

Leah is Six! Julianne is a big fan of her big sister.

Like father: Like daughter!

First U.S. haircut (on my lap)

Feeding her baby

The South Family Singers

The first three weeks of July one can usually find Jon glued in front of the tube watching The Tour de France. In my mind, this is OK because this is really the only major sporting event that he becomes obsessed with and I certainly can't complain. Three weeks vs. months of football or basketball. Ironically, our first daughter was born on the last day of the Tour and it would only make sense that our first born would also learn how to ride her bike (without training wheels) on this day as well. She was so thrilled and learned so quickly that by the time I found the camera she was already taking off on her own. I didn't get that footage of daddy running along side her or the cheers of on-lookers. Oh, well. Enjoy the footage and pictures of our week.

Waiting Children

This video is so worth watching. I know Jon and I were very hesitant to adopt special needs at the beginning of our process but now I can't even believe that we even thought twice. What special need? I don't even see Julianne's "special need" anymore.

If you are contemplating adoption, this video is certainly worth the ten minutes. With prayer, God WILL guide you in the right direction.

Reunion

A merry-go-round!

Long day!

Loved the slide!

Saturday was our agency's (FTIA) reunion picnic held in Noblesville, Indiana - just a mere stone's throw from Indianapolis. It was so great to see all of the families we traveled with eventhough we still keep in touch via blogs. The pictures just don't show how much each child has changed in height, weight, motor skills etc. It is amazing what four months of TLC and nutrition will do! It really is hard to describe the bond we feel towards these other couples since they were there to share the joy of adding on to our families. They also know first hand the difficult road we all had to go on to get to where we are right now - the endless piles of paperwork, answer the questions of doubting people, and live without our child while we waited for that letter of acceptance. Of the thirteen families who traveled together, eight familes were reunited during this picnic.

Did I mention....

Did I mention that Julianne won the cutest baby contest from our church?

Our church had asked for baby pictures within the weekly bulletin for a contest that would take place at our parish festival, and of course, we had to enter Julianne. By the time the festival arrived, there were about twenty-five entries. Julianne won!!!! I promise that I only voted once too. She won a twenty dollar gift card to our local ice cream parlor. Woohoo!

Praise God!

Julianne is home and is healthy!

The echo cardiogram revealed that her heart is perfect. What a relief. Yesterday the cardiologists tossed words around such as cardiomyopothy or possible hole in the heart. This is certainly not the case. Praise the Lord. They just believe she has just been blessed with a fast beating heart or her heart beats a bit faster since she was malnurished as a baby. Who knows and who cares???? SHE IS HEALTHY!!!!!

Introducing......the new thumb.

Before drugs

After drugs!

Julianne is asleep so I slipped to the next hospital room to use the internet since our room's service wasn't working. So if I leave off mid-sentence it is because I hear crying.

Julianne did great once again with her surgery and I must say her hand looks great! Dr. Cornwall gets two thumbs up from Julianne! I can't wait to actually see her cute little hand and play Itsy Bitsy Spider with that new thumb. The best news of the day is that she WILL actually have a pincher grip - wow - isn't modern technology awesome.

Now to the more serious side of the day: The anesthesiologist did not like the fact that her heart rate was high again. He called in the head cardiologist who did hear a murmur and feels as though he is feeling her heart through her chest a bit too much. So tomorrow she will undergo an echocardiogram to look for any issues with her heart. He stated that since she has to be sedated for the procedure, she cannot have any food/drink after midnight AND he was not sure what time her procedure would be done tomorrow. I am taking bets it will be done later in the day rather than early. Ok, let's think about this.....she had barely any food today and the food and drink she did have is soaked into my clothes since she threw up twice. We'll see how the day goes.

The funny part of the day....for this surgery, I brought three pairs of shorts with me just in case I am showered in vomit/pee like the last time. Well, let's just say that all three pairs have been officially used. I am now wearing scrubs brought to me by the nurse.

Thanks for all the prayers!

Surgery Tomorrow

Please say a prayer tomorrow betwee 7:30 and 12:30 since that is when Julianne is having her surgery done tomorrow. Her cute little thumb will be removed and made way for her pointer to take its place.
I dislike the thought of her being put in a cast again since she is once again discovering and using her short hand. Her favorite use of it right now is to perform "Itsy Bitsy Spider"; as soon as she hears it, she'll whip off her brace and begin to make the signs for the song. I will miss that for the five weeks she has the cast on.

Lazy Days!

*Julianne went on her first vacation to the Great Smoky Mountains this past week. She traveled like a pro with very little tears or fussing. Her favorite part of the trip, we believe, was swimming and playing in the dirt.

Cades Cove in Smoky Mountains Park

Now that school has officially ended for Jon, summer can finally begin. He was taking some classes through Miami to renew his license for teaching and they are over at least until September. We are trying to savor each and every moment now.

Some of our summer happenings thus far:

*Jon and I both had birthdays last weekend. I reached a milestone of 40 and I don't feel a bit different. Imagine that.

*Julianne got her cast off, wearing a brace and her little arm is looking good. Unfortunately it will go right back into her cast this Tuesday since she is having surgery #2. This is a five hour surgery that gives her a new thumb. She'll have to wear this new cast for five weeks.

*Julianne has been walking for a month now and getting better and better. She has graduated from physical therapy since she is doing so well. She is starting to climb steps which is quite good since she hasn't mastered crawling.

*Julianne is now about 23 lbs and has grown at least an inch to two since we met her three months ago.

*She is saying "hi, hello, dog, dad, bird"and a few other possible words. She loves to sign - please, milk, more, poopy (sorry), up, eat, etc.

We look forward to a fun and relaxing summer.