Our Family of 5...

Finally got our pictures back...first official pictures of our family of five!!!   Love how they turned out... although it was hard to get little Miss Thea to smile when we were all in the picture with her as she wasn't sure what was going on. 

Our photographer also came to our house and did a mini photo shoot of just Thea, as we had done the same for both our boys when they were born too.  Love these pictures of our little princess...she looks so sweet and angelic sleeping, you'd never know she is such a fiesty little firecracker while awake! :)

Now I just need to find the time to get our favourites printed and into frames!  Can't wait to get a family picture in the house that includes our little girl! 

Morning at the park...

Today we went to a beautiful park and had our family pictures taken.  It was a 'fast & furious' photo session...just the way Glen likes it...and the only way possible with the 3 little munchkins!  After our photographer left we stayed and enjoyed the park for awhile...the kids loved it! 

Of course, I couldn't resist taking a few photos of my own...starting with Thea's first solo swing ride!!  As per usual with new experiences...she wasn't so sure at first, but quickly decided that she loved it!

And what's a morning at the park without some duck chasing...

It was a fun morning together, and thankfully with this 'non-summer weather' we've been having...it was a perfect day for picture taking.  I am anxious to get our family pictures back from our photographer as i'm sure they will be better than mine!

It has been a very busy month for us with all of Thea's appointments.  We are seeing our family doctor every 2 weeks to in order to monitor her as she adjusts...he is especially keeping an eye on her growth as eating has definitely been a concern for us.  Our little miss definitely has a big appetite, and is still not showing that she can tell when she has had enough to eat...we basically just feed her a 'hefty sized' one year old portion at mealtimes... which by the way is still more than either of our boys eat!!  Our doctor feels that Thea's body is playing 'catch up'...and since she has already gained almost 5lbs and grown 3cm since we met her not quite 2 months ago, I think he has a valid point! :) 

In addition to our family doctor visits, we have also seen the opthamologist, plastic surgeon, audiologist, as well as having her x-rays taken, blood tests, urine tests, etc. 

The opthamologist determined that her eyes are okay (whew)...but that it looks like she will most likely need glasses later on.  At least she doesn't require surgery as this was what was originally suspected.  As it turns out, because of her asian decent it just sometimes looks as if she has a 'wandering eye' because of her eye folds.

The plastic surgeon visit went well...and I am excited that Thea's cleft palate surgery will be done sometime in September, we are just waiting for the official date.  I am so happy that it will be done sooner than later...definitely not looking forward to those 3 or 4 days in the hospital and seeing our baby girl in discomfort...but I think the younger she is the better!

We saw the audiologist this week as well, and the testing revealed some slight hearing loss.  I have now learned that this is common in children with cleft palate, as fluid builds up behind the ear drum in the middle ear.  It looks as if Thea will need to have tubes put in her ears to help with the drainage.  We are now being referred to the ENT (ears, nose, throat) specialist...and they will make the final decision on this.  Thankfully if she does need the tubes, they will be able to do this surgery at the same time as her palate surgery in September.

We are still waiting to see the pediatrician...and will finally get to see him at the beginning of September.  As well, we will have an intake visit in October with the Child Developement Association through which Thea will receive services for speech/language therapy, occupational therapy, and physiotherapy as necessary.

Whew...as you can see, this is just a tad overwhelming!!  All these crazy appointments kind of make Thea feel like this...

Well...okay...actually, that is actually how Thea feels when mommy has taken just one too many pictures of her!! lol 

Anyways, that being said, we are feeling beyond blessed that we have all these specialist and services available to help our little Thea right here where we live...how lucky are we!!

With that...it's off to the hospital this Friday for some blood tests... 

Gayle xox

Thea's First Beach Day!

It was so much fun to take our little princess to the beach and introduce her to the wonderful world of water, buckets, shovels, and pebbles...she absolutely LOVED everything about it! 

We went to our favourite 'pebble beach'...it is a small little beach made of little pebbles instead of sand.  We really love going there as it is only 5 minutes from home and we are usually the only ones there...so lovely.  The boys have always loved it because they get to throw stones and practice skipping them... plus they don't have sand stuck in all sorts of places when we leave...lol 

We put Thea at the edge of the water and dug her a little spot for her bottom...she had so much fun sitting there playing.  I love the look of wonder she gets on her face when she is experiencing something new...she is serious for a bit while she takes it all in...and then come the smiles...so amazing and fun to witness! 

 

It was a perfect family outing for us...beautiful weather, very relaxing, and lots of fun.  It felt so great to get out and spend such wonderful quality time together...these are definitely the important things in life!!  :)

Gotta love that tongue!

Almost walking...

Thea's new favourite thing to do is practice her walking with the push toys in our house. 

Mataeus showed her how to do it, and ever since she absolutely loves it and does it ALL the time.  It is usually accompanied with lots of sqeels of delight... and of course, her tongue is usually out too as she concentrates on the task at hand! 

She especially loves to give her big brothers rides and push them around...too fun for them AND for her! 

Won't be long now before our little miss Thea is running all over the place...yikes!...I'm in big trouble!! :) 

Thea's First Canada Day!

We've sent in all of the paperwork for Thea's Canadian citizenship... can't wait until it's 'official'!!

One month with our little princess!

It was exactly one month ago today that we arrived at Shepherd's Field Children's Village in China and met our precious baby girl for the first time.  Glen and I were looking back at the pictures and videos from that first day with her, and we are truly amazed at all of the changes we see in Thea in such a short amount of time.  She looked so tiny in those first pictures...she has grown so much already!...well, mostly in her belly and face that is! :) lol

I am regretting that I haven't been posting more often to document all of her 'accomplishments' and the changes in her...but life is definitely super busy, yet wonderful...and we have simply been enjoying spending time with our beautiful kiddies.  I find myself often marveling at how perfectly Thea fits into our life...it truly feels like she has been with us so much longer than a month, and we have to remind ourselves that everything is still pretty new to her.  Sometimes I look at her when she is playing or when I'm cuddling her before bed and it suddenly hits me...WOW...our baby girl is really here...with us...she's ours...finally!... how lucky we are to have such a beautiful daughter!!!  God is so good!

A few days ago she melted my heart when she started saying 'mama'...it's really just a continuous 'mamamama', and i'm not sure if she's just babbling or actually understands that she is saying 'my name'...but I absolutely love it regardless.

Thea had her first doctor's appointment last week.  Our doctor feels that her gross/fine motor skills are within age range, but that her speech is definitely delayed... not surprising given that she had rarely heard english before meeting us.  Our doctor has made referrals for Thea to see the plastic surgeon (for her cleft palate surgery), opthomologist (he is concerned about her eyes), pediatrician (eating issues etc), and child development center (speech therapy among other things).  Whew...seems like a lot and it's a bit overwhelming...but I really can't wait to get things going... especially so that her cleft palate surgery can be done as soon as possible.

She has been spoiled rotten with lots of beautiful and thoughtful gifts from family and friends...she loves the tissue and even understands now that there are going to be 'things' inside the bag for her! 

Love how she peeked in to see what was inside! :)

Other new things about our sweet baby girl...

- she can wave goodbye and blow kisses (she loves to wave at her daddy and does it so cute with her hand up high and just the fingers bending up and down)
- she sticks out her tongue when she is concentrating and trying to do something new (standing up, figuring out a new toy, etc)

- she got 2 new teeth this past week... molars at that... what a little trooper!
- she is still loving her sleep (Amen!)
- she tries to mimic almost everything... especially whatever the boys are doing

All 3 munchkins doing the new 'family trick' :)

- can do sign language for 'please', 'more', and 'all done'... still gets a bit confused and would really just rather 'yell' for more food! :)
- loves food...anything will do, and she often gets a very large 'uncomfortable looking' belly after meals...we are looking forward to talking to the pediatrician about this 

Yikes!

- has two big brothers that adore her and have not lost their interest in playing with her...they still anxiously await when I tell them it's okay to go and wake her up so they can play

Mind the after dinner spaghetti faces... :)

- she is pulling herself up to standing all the time with the couches, tables, fridge, chairs, me...pretty much everything... and loves to practice standing on her own for a couple seconds at a time (with me holding her hand and then letting go)
- she does not like the feel of grass touching her... she lifts her feet, legs and hands trying to get off of it
- is VERY chatty and loud... except when we leave the house and then she definitley gets more quiet and carefully takes it all in

and finally...

- she has a daddy with a sense of humour :)

It truly is amazing how God creates each child so unique... Glen and I love that each of our children bring us joy in their own special and unique way... how blessed we are!