Memorial Day and Celebrations.....


We had a great Memorial Day weekend. On Saturday we went and spent the day with my sister Wanda and her husband Rich. That evening they treated us out to a great Steak Dinner. Madison ate her weight in spagetti noodles. I swear she is going to turn into one. We are looking forward to going to Noodle and Co. with our friends when we go do Colorado in a couple of weeks. Monday we had lots of friends and family over. Madison played and ran around all day. I think she was happy when it was finally time for bed.




We also had a week of celebration for our one year anniversay with Madison. On May 8 we went to Chuck E Cheeses...









On Saturday we celebrated with family and friends at the Oriental Wok. This restaurant is amazing. The owner in from Hunan and he and his wife love to celebrate the special moments in our childrens lives. He says that "Gotcha Day" is their birthday as it was the day our Chinese children were born into their families.




On Sunday, Mothers Day, Madison was dedicated at church.

Family Day May 8, 2007

One Year with Madison

“Are you crazy?” “Why would you want to start over?”

These are two questions that were asked of us when we announced that we were going to adopt a baby from China. Our answer was always, “No, we are not crazy. We want another child.” So, if we were to be asked today if we were crazy the answer would definitely not be a simple, “No.” Here are some answers to the, “Are you crazy?” question.

“Are you crazy?”

• Crazy would be missing out on a years worth of hugs.
• Crazy would be continually ignoring the void in our lives that Madison now fills.
• Crazy would be not watching the same episode of Blues Clues for the 1000th time.
• Crazy would be missing out on all those bedtime kisses.
• Crazy would be missing out on explaining daily why she can’t crawl thru the dog door.
• Crazy would be missing out on the 50th Alfredo sauce hair gel styling event at dinner.
• Crazy would be not saying at every meal, “Madison, don’t feed the dogs your food.”
• Crazy would be missing out on the squeals of delight when I pick her up after work.
• Crazy would be missing out of the World Wrestling Federation matches that it takes to get Madison dressed.
• Crazy would be not being there to experience each new thing she learns.
• Crazy would be missing out on being poked in the eye for the 100th time each day as Madison shows she knows where your eyes are.
• Crazy would be not being able to say, “Good dog” for the 10th time in an hour as Madison tries to beat them over the head with whichever book she may have.
• Crazy would be missing out on the hours and hours of floor time spent looking at books and Madison naming each picture she knows.
• Crazy would be missing out on one amazing year.
  
  So, are we crazy? Yes we are! We are crazy in love with this beautiful child who has brought so much joy into our lives. The past year has been one that was gone by at warp speed and crawled at a snails pace. The year has been filled with highs and lows. We are grateful and happy that we were able to spend this last year with Madison as a family. She has indeed been a blessing and we are so fortunate that she is our child.
  

One Word Means So Much

It has been nearly a year since Madison said, "MaMa." Yes, she knows that I am Mommy. She just will not say it. Today in speech therapy we worked on the sign for MaMa. Madison showed no interest in signing. Tonight when Rory came home he continually signed Mama and repeated MaMa over and over again in conjunction with the sign for MaMa. After about fifteen minutes she very clearly said, "MaMa." I thought I would cry. She said MaMa a few more times before going to bed. My heart was so happy. Rory said he had not seen my face glow like that in a long time.

Therapy is going so well. Madison is getting stronger daily. Her vocabulary is growing. She tries to repeat the words we are saying. Sometimes we can understand what she is saying, but the fact that she is attempting to repeat is showing great improvements.