Day 69 - A day with grandparents...

Thanks to the those of you that commented on yesterday's post and helped diagnose Julianne‘s bumps! I agree that Julianne probably has molluscum. So glad to have an explanation for those pesky little bumps!


Sophie Le had gymnastics class this morning and was soooooo excited to have so many people there just to watch her :o) My parents were in town, daddy came on his lunch break, Hillary Ashton came because she played hooky from school was sick (cough, cough) and of course, Mama, Juicy & Jonah were there as always. On the way to class, she said, "I have lots of people coming to watch me today because a lot of people love me. A lot." Haha! Sweet baby!


When this child smiles, his whole body smiles. It really is the sweetest thing! His eyes light up, his legs and arms wiggle and his mouth forms the most perfect, sweet smile.

After a yummy, Mexican lunch, we decided to head back to the house so the little kiddos could take a nap...however, we didn't make it in time :o) Here is a picture of the little girls before I even backed out of the restaurant parking lot!!!

My outdoor girl...

This child is ALWAYS (seriously, ALWAYS) looking for "treasures."

She was beyond thrilled to find these beauties :o)

She came and told me that she found the most beautiful flowers growing "at the edge of our country, close to our neighbor's country." Haha! "Country" because we live in the country :o) Actually, I think they were technically in "our neighbor's country."

However, I am sure if the neighbors knew how happy they made my girl, they wouldn't mind we "borrowed" two :o) They made her day which in turn, made my day :o)


She was also excited to find another willing photographer to capture her "awesome, action swinging." Haha!

This one cracks me up!

She would do a few jumps and then run over to her Ganny to check out how cool she looked :o) Haha!

We also had several races down the driveway...of course, she won everytime :o)

Since we didn't have any gold medals laying around, she decided her prize would be a popcicle. Truthfully, she wasn't a very gracious winner and she wouldn't share her popcicle :o) Next time, I plan to beat her...haha!

Next on the agenda...cheer class for Hillary Ashton. Here she is practicing her back walk over...

While at practice today, I found a treasure of my own...A PLAYGROUND at Hillary Ashton's gym!!!! I am sooooooooooo excited! I had no idea there is a great little playground for the little kids to play on while Hillary Ashton is in class!!! AWESOME! Of course, Hillary Ashton had to give it a try before we left :o)

Sooooooooo sweet!

Never to big for a baby slide, right?

Hillary Ashton was so happy her Ganny came to watch her cheer this afternoon!

Papa was very nice to offer to stay at home while the three little kiddos finished their naps...however, he may need some lessons on changing diapers (Julianne's diaper is on backwards) :o) Haha!

After supper and YUMMY milkshakes from Sonic (I think Sonic is becoming an obsession with these girls!), the girls played with their new Sushi set. My friend, Tricia, brought lots of fun stuff, her family no longer needs, to our Vietmom dinner last night to pass along to others. This Bento box/sushi set was one of those fun items. The girls had a ball playing with it after breakfast this morning and were LOVING it again tonight. In fact, they both wanted to skip supper so they could play with the Bento box set!! The desire to skip meals NEVER happens at our house :o)

Hillary Ashton "spoke Japanese" for about an hour tonight while taking orders, preparing the food and serving it :o) Her Japanese is really coming along...haha! Btw, that is blush on her cheeks :o)

Thanks Tricia, we LOVE it!

Day 68 - MDO, Sunshine & Vietmoms...

Wow, this year is passing so quickly! We are already at Day 68? Goodness.

This morning, the little kids & I went to MDO. We usually get there pretty early so I get a few quite minutes to play with my sweet babies :o)

Julianne feeding her baby

Sophie Le likes to play with the toy food at church...and home...actually she is a big fan of toy food anwhere...and real food for that matter :o)

Hanging out with "her little brother"


When we got home, I started gathering all of my stuff to take into the house. I turned around and realized the three girls were already out of the car and playing on the Rainbow! Haha! I don't know if I am going to be able to keep them in the house this spring...they LOVE playing outside!

Goodness, I LOVE this child!

Okay, so Julianne has these little bumps on her face. I have tried to diagnose them on the internet with no luck. Any ideas?

See, we do have balls at our house :o)

My sweet baby loves to swing!

This sweet baby does too...especially if it involves jumping off of a table :o)

She LOVES me to take "action shots" of her :o) Haha!

After I take the picture, she runs over to see it on the screen :o) Man, things sure have changed since I was a little kid!


Sophie Le :o)

My girls have come to expect "happy hour" after school!

Oh man, I LOVE baby feet...even in shoes!

And sweet little ruffled bloomers!

Sophie Le...

Julianne...

Sophie Le gathering sticks to build Meow a bed :o)

Swinging with my baby...Hillary Ashton, photographer :o)

Jonah usually spits up several times a day, therefore bibs are a must. I found a huge, soft green towel on sale at Wal-Mart yesterday for only $2.50 and I decided to make Jonah a ton of bibs out of it :o) I just LOVE how the towel is so absorbent!
Spring is coming!!!

Sweet sisters!


The girls get soooooo excited when daddy gets home from work (me too!). They almost always say, "Welcome home daddy, thank you for going to work." So sweet!

Hillary Ashton was so excited to show Daddy the bugs she caught today!

Daddy has lots of girls to greet when he gets home...lucky daddy!


Tonight I went to eat with my Vietmoms group. We have all adopted internationally and meet once a month to catch-up and have dinner. If you think the moms are cute, you should see the babies :o) Haha! Fun times!

Day 67 - Park, MDO, Park, Foster Care & Birth family Search...

Today was so beautiful that we decided to go to the park...TWICE! Before MDO and after we picked up Hillary Ashton from school.

The little girls at the playground at our church this morning...

Julianne followed Sophie Le around doing everything big sister did :o)

It is hard to believe Sophie Le is a BIG sister!

They are such sweet friends :o)


After dropping off the kids at MDO, I spent three hours ALL BY MYSELF. Ahhhh :o)

Fun at Pinnacle mountain park this afternoon...



See-sawing with my girl :o)



I don't care how old she gets...I will probably always be a little nervous when she climbs up there!

She thinks it is sooooooooo funny when mommy get nervous!


Last Friday was the one year anniversary of our home being OPEN for foster care. We got our first placement the day after our home was open...that was Little Man :o)
This picture was taken moments after Little Man got to our house...the girls were ecstatic!

So along with our one year anniversary, we have to redo lots of paperwork, physical exams, tb skin & aids tests, cpr training, home visit, Etcetera , etcetera , etcetera . I am SO sick of paperwork and fulfilling time consuming requirements. I know, whine, whine, whine. We have been doing this type of paperwork for over FIVE years! Will it ever end?

One question that kinda caught me off guard while filling out paperwork today was actually a VERY simple question.

"Do you want to continue providing foster care?"

Wow, I never really thought about it. Honestly, if we didn't have Jonah right now, I might say no. I feel like I am busy all of the time these days. I am finding it hard to find the time to clean the house. I REALLY like having a clean house. Also, running errands with four little ones is not ideal :o) I realize these are such small things in the long run, especially when you are talking about providing a loving home to a baby that had a REALLY rough start. Also, I am constantly wondering if MY kids feel like they get enough attention. Our family isn't huge, but we do have four kids under six. Is it fair they have to share time with mommy and daddy with another child? However, we all LOVE Jonah. We would all miss him A LOT if he were to leave our house. Jonah is really a GREAT baby. I guess I will complete the paperwork, but not necessarily because we 100% want to continue foster care. Instead because we 100% want to continue fostering Jonah.

Today marks one week since the investigator we hired was scheduled to travel to Ninh Thuan in an attempt to locate Sophie Le's birth family. I don't know if it is good or bad that we haven't heard anything. I am praying that the agency is writing up our report rather than still searching. Hopefully we will hear something SOON! ANTICIPATION!