Making precious memories to store in my heart

Thanksgiving and Christmas have now come and gone and so many precious memories were made. The pictures above are 1)Thanksgiving dinner in Braithwaite; 2) Kids' Christmas picture; 3) Grace roasting smores on our firepit; 4) Kids by their snowman; 5) Linzi and I at the airport before leaving for Africa. For Thanksgiving we traveled to Louisiana and spent Wednesday through Saturday in Braithwaite with Dave's family---for some of our extended family, it was their first time meeting Grace. For Christmas, we decided to spend it at our home in St. Louis so my mom and dad drove up the Tuesday before Christmas and were there for our first holiday in our new city and for Grace's first Christmas. We had the added blessing of having a white Christmas---very foreign for us Cajuns! Grace has absolutely loved this new concept of "Christmas" and especially loves to hear about the story of baby Jesus and Mary and Joseph. I think Emma, Gabe, and Hayden were more excited to see Grace's face on Christmas morning than they were to see their own presents. We had a pretty "small" Christmas as far as presents go--and our kids were so understanding and seem to grasp what this time of year is really all about. As all of my family is experiencing some financial hardships, we all decided that our gift would be being together for the holidays. My sister and her family (Wendy, Ken, Linzi, Scotti Beth, and Tanner) arrived late Christmas night and have spent the whole week here along with my mom and dad. We have had such a great time--we haven't really even "done" anything--we've just enjoyed being together. Today is New Year's Eve and early, early this morning we put Linzi (who is 22 at this writing and a recent graduate of Harding U.) on a plane bound for Africa. She will be spending the next 7 months teaching at a mission school in Kenya and then she will begin Graduate school for Speech Pathology at Tennessee Tech following her return in the fall. We are so proud of her decision to answer the call she received from the Lord and to be a light to the children in Africa.

We are having a quiet day so far---we have been just watching movies, napping, and relaxing. As I type this I am reflecting on how blessed I am---I have had the honor of being part of an incredible family who loves the Lord with all of their hearts and lives to serve Him and Him alone. Thank you, Father, for your blessings; I am constantly amazed by your unfailing love and faithfulness!

Homeschool, Swine Flu, and other deSambourg happenings

Yes, it has been WAY TOO LONG since my last post--I have GOT to get better at this. Once I started school, my life went into overdrive, it seems, and I haven't had time for much. Anyway, we started school at the beginning of September after a quick trip to New Orleans to visit family and friends. (2 pics at the top are at the aquarium and St. Louis cathedral). I am homeschooling Emma, Gabe, and Hayden---given the choice of public school or homeschool, Gabe chose homeschool. Mostly because we helped start a new co-op this year that involves families who use the same curriculum as we do and he wanted to be a part of that. (The other 2 pictures are homeschool related: one is apple picking with the co-op and the other is the sukkah we decorated for the Feast of the Tabernacles). Actually, the school year has been quite awesome and we are all enjoying it. We have begun a 4 year history study--this year is Creation to Greeks. There are 14 kids in our CTG class at our co-op and there are around 25 to 30 kids total. We meet on Wednesday afternoons for nature hikes and all day on Friday where we have 2 1/2 hours of classes, 1 hour of enrichment (P.E.; Public Speaking; Health), 1 hour of social time and 30 minutes of worship. Once a month a missionary speaks to our group and once a month we participate in an outreach opportunity. This co-op has truly been a gift from God and we have all grown spiritually from all the amazing opportunities as well as the amazing people we are getting to know.

Grace is now attending a special class 4 days a week for 3 hours in the morning. This class is designed specifically for severe speech impaired children and has only 9 kids in the class. It is taught by 2 speech therapists and all activities revolve around target speech sounds. We have seen great improvement in her speech with the work we continuously do with her, as well as just 1 month of this class.

Gabe and Hayden are both playing soccer since September and doing really well. Emma resumed her art class on Thursdays and has been involved in writing and creating a claymation movie--we are so excited to see it! Dave is as busy as ever--nothing unusual there. I teach 12 piano students now--along with homeschooling and all the other duties of a wife, mother, active church and community member, I keep VERY busy. However, this week has slowed me down since I came down with the H1N1 flu on Tuesday. Gabe followed on Wednesday and as of today (Friday), I am on the mend, but he is still pretty sick. We are praying that everyone else can stay well, but over the next 10 days we will see how many more, if any, fallen soldiers we have. I will try to do better at blogging more often!

Glamorous Grace

Yesterday, Grace "told" me in "Gracese" (her form of communication) that she wanted to grow her hair long and pierce her ears. She's been in America 5 months, and already she is turning into a Diva!

A "Child-like" view of Jesus

Something struck me in church this morning that I wanted to share. A new couple has been visiting our church for the past couple of weeks and the wife decided to become baptized today. We went through the same "baptizing routine" where we sang and prayed while she got ready with the help of a few ladies. When she came out into the baptistry, I put Grace on my lap and directed her attention to the scene. I whispered in her ear all that was happening--that this woman had decided to follow Jesus and all her sins will be washed away and that Jesus was going to come live in her heart now. I even put Grace's hand on her heart and my heart so she could feel the beating. Right before the woman was immersed in the water I said to Grace, "Here we go, Jesus is about to come live in her heart!" When the woman came up from the water Grace let out a squeal and said "Yay!" and was smiling so big and so excited. I want to be that genuinely excited about people being saved and not look at baptisms as just part of the "routine". I pray for the child-like view of Jesus and His people that Grace has.

On a side note, the pictures above are from our trip to Meramac Springs in St. James, MO. Blessings to all of you!

4th of July in Louisiana!

My "little" girl, Emma, turned 13 on July 2nd!!!! How can that be possible? We granted her wish and made sure she was able to celebrate it in La. She spent her actual birthday at my parents' house, as well as visiting friends and getting a snoball in Ponchatoula. The next day we went to Dave's mom's house and spent time with grandparents and cousins. Emma made and decorated her own cake at her request. On the 4th, we drove over to St. Francisville for the annual family reunion on Dave's side--HUGE crowd of people. It was a special time for our family as it was Grace's first time meeting her HUGE extended family and their first time meeting her. Of course, everyone loved her and she loved everyone! We drove back to St. Louis Sunday--just in time to get KidsFest rolling on Monday morning. KidsFest is our church's version of VBS, only it's BIGGER and BETTER! It goes from 10am to 3pm Monday thru Friday and though it entails the normal Bible stories and applications, it offers so much more. There were 2 water days where the kids had water slides, water guns, a firetruck hosing the children, shaving cream, etc... The other days had rock wall climbing, moonwalks, games, a visit from a helicopter, motorcycle, and police dog. Gabe and Hayden are campers and Emma is a counselor. I was the morning/afternoon songleader--and these aren't just any songs. They come complete with dancing and movement--I feel like I've been at an aerobics class each day. A funny thing happened this week with Gabe: one of the boys in his group said to him, "Aren't you embarrassed about your mom being up there?" Gabe replied, "That's not my mom." Talk about throw your mama under a bus!!!

Fun, Fun Summer!

Been a few weeks since I blogged--we have had 4 straight weeks of visitors through the month of June. It's kept us busy, but we certainly enjoyed having everyone. In the beginning of June we were blessed to have Dave's mom (Nana) and Paw Paw Hugh come--we visited the butterfly museum while they were here. A few days later, our neighbors from Ponchatoula (Tim, Stephanie, Halee, and Greg Morris)came to stay for 4 days. We went to the zoo, the arch, and toured the Anheiser Busch facility. They left on a Monday morning and that afternoon more beloved La. friends graced us with a visit: Christine, Emma, and Sean. We swam, relaxed, and visited the Onondanga Cave together. 2 days after they left, my parents, sister, and her family arrived (on Fathers Day)and stayed a couple of days. We shopped, swam, and thoroughly soaked up our time together. Everyone left this past Wednesday and no one is scheduled on the calendar as of yet. Of course, we are enjoying the quietness of just our family, but I really enjoy having company also. Grace did pretty well with all of the upheaval, but she was affected by it somewhat. She threw a lot more tantrums than normal--some were VERY public. For instance, she threw a doosey at the Arch-----everyone was staring and I had to take the 4 kids and leave the museum while my friends continued their tour (Dave was at work). Everyone stared at the "poor little Chinese girl" who was screaming her head off and assumed her mommy didn't know how to take care of her. A security guard even came and stood by me with a very concerned and worried look. But the topper was when a one-armed woman (no kidding, she only had one arm---which I'm not making fun of--it just has significance in the story) tried to take Grace by the hand and walk away with her. Normally Grace goes with ANYONE, but for a change, she wouldn't go with this woman (possibly due to her one arm--hence the significance of mentioning it). The woman said--"tell her to go with me"--I think she felt she could do a better job calming Grace down. What she didn't know is that Grace was just mad because I wouldn't give her a cookie until she held my hand in the museum so she wouldn't get lost. I said back, "Excuse me, I am attaching and bonding with this child whom I've just adopted, I've got it, thank you." She almost wouldn't take "no" for an answer until I got REALLY firm with her. I've learned how to not let public tantrums ruffle my feathers or dirty, concerned, looks from people derail me from my task.

On June 20th, our church threw us a money tree shower in honor of Grace's arrival which was really nice and thoughtful. We go back to La. for the 4th and Grace gets to meet all of her cousins and aunts on Dave's side. All of the kids are thrilled--especially Emma since she gets to spend her 13th birthday in her beloved La. All in all, the summer has been great fun--hope all of yours has been too!

A weekend of Firsts!!!

One of the most exciting things for us is to watch our little Grace experience the big world and all that it has to offer. This weekend we had the pleasure of taking Grace to a "big movie" for the first time---we went to see "Up"--which is a great movie, by the way. She doesn't even watch TV nor does she EVER stay still,so we weren't sure how it would go, but we figured we had to do it sometime. So, equipped with 2 bags of skittles, we made our way to the 11:45 showing (before noon movies are cheaper!). We had really talked it up--she was so excited and she didn't even know what she was excited about. Well, I must say, she did incredibly well! She even watched a good part of it and laughed at a few spots! Of course, she went from Dave's lap, to my lap, to her seat, etc... but the skittles didn't run out until 10 minutes before the end and we were still able to make it. Another first this weekend was the pool!!! Again we talked it up and she was REAL excited to go----we had gone swimsuit shopping a couple of weeks before. She was so cute picking out her pink, shiny swimsuit and trying it on in the mirror. Grace, who has no fear whatsoever, went right into the pool with Emma and was jumping in and going under water within a few minutes. She will be taking swimming lessons with Hayden in a week and I figure she will have it down in no time. She's the kind of kid that things seem to come easily for her--she's pure joy!!! Emma and Gabe kept fighting over who would hold her in the pool---hope it stays that way for a while :). One last first---Emma, Gabe, and Hayden taught Grace how to play hide-and-go-seek. It was the cutest sight to witness---Grace would count and go find everyone. When it was her turn to hide she would hide and then yell "ight eya!" (translation, "right here"). What a gift to be able to experience these little joys with such a precious little girl!!!

LAST DAY OF HOME SCHOOL!!!!!

Can I get an "Amen"!!!??? Yes, today is our last day of homeschool, and I must say; I am probably more excited than the kids! It's been an interesting school year to say the least-----in fact, it's been an interesting year period! June 5th marks a year living in St. Louis---what an unbelievably eventful year for us. 2 MAJOR events in our lives in the same year--relocating and adoption! Oh yeah, let's not forget homeschooling 3 kids for the first time. All in all--it's been a good year and I'm glad we have all survived it. St. Louis has brought us many blessings. We like our church and have built some special friendships here. Though the school system is one of the top systems in the country, homeschooling is a very popular choice here and so much is offered that we can't possibly do them all. We love our neighborhood--we live on a cul-de-sac and there are lots and lots of children. As it gets warmer parents and kids sit out together on one of our driveways until dark and just relax and visit while the kids play. We all look out for each other and help out when someone's in need. The only one of us who hasn't adjusted as well is Emma. She has had the hardest time with the move. She has refused to make new friends because she feels it "replaces" her old friends. At the same time, I think it has been especially hard to make friends because of the stage of life she is in. She is on the cusp of teenager (turning 13 in July), but not like other girls her age at all. We are glad that she is not "boy crazy" or overly concerned about wearing the "right" clothes and that she wants to stay a kid as long as she can. However, that sets her apart from every other girl her age and she has felt quite lonely at times which breaks my heart. She wants to do everything with Gabe who has never found difficulty finding friends---in fact, he is the most popular kid no matter where he is, but he is getting tired of Emma "riding his coat tails" as he puts it. We are contemplating sending Gabe to public school for several reasons: he is very interested in going for one and it might be a good thing for Emma and he to be separated for a while. Gabe also does better in school than Emma which causes more heartache for her. Anyway, we are praying and praying to make the right decision. Meanwhile--I'm looking forward to the summer and all that it will bring to our family!

Thanking God for my 4 blessings

I know it's been a while since I last posted---it's hard to get a lot of "extra" things done these days. Everyone is still sleeping this morning (miracles do happen), so I decided to take a moment to update. A few weeks have gone by since my last post---a lot of ups and downs have occurred since then. We had a few tough weeks with Grace---she finally began grieving her loss which caused her behavior to be pretty difficult. By her "loss" I mean the loss of the life she had before--her country; her language; her friends; her "home"; her food; her smells and sounds; etc... It's a completely normal thing for an adopted child of this age to experience--especially one that has completely changed cultures and countries. We were also concerned that she might be exhibiting characteristics of attachment disorder and have been given the name of a therapist that specializes in this. However, at this point, we may have turned a corner. We are now in the second week of a much more pleasant and normal atmosphere. Grace's tantrums have lessened and are more like a pre-school child's would be and she seems to be falling in to a routine with us which has made school and piano go a lot better. It's also been better for the other 3--they were having a hard time dealing with the tantrums and the upheaval for a while there. All of these things are normal and to be expected, but it still makes life difficult at times for everyone. I have had to keep my eyes on the Lord more than ever these days to remain focused on the task before me and I have realized that, DUH, I should be doing that EVERYDAY anyway!! As Mother's Day has just come and gone I am reminded how incredibly blessed I am to be a mother to these four wonderful children. Each child is unique and wonderfully made by the Lord and I am so grateful to have been given the gift of raising them and watching them grow. Happy Mother's Day to all of you and bless you for the awesome job you are all doing!

Playing "Dress Up"

Hayden is being a good big brother in these pictures playing dress-up with his little sister. These are treasured moments, so I had to capture it in pictures. They are still "working" on their relationship, but I am praying that one day they will be the best of friends. I have to say Hayden is very tolerant about the whole thing--it's Grace who can get pretty mean with him.
The last 2 days have been difficult---Grace is really testing us by being extremely strong-willed and throwing major tantrums when she doesn't get her way. We are now categorizing her tantrums like hurricanes are categorized---last night's tantrum was a Category 4--she screamed and cried for 30 solid minutes. Today was a Cat. 5--she screamed and cried for what she wanted for 1 hour and 10 minutes. My friend, Amy, has found all of these website forums where others have adopted children this age from China and we found that this behaviour is perfectly normal. She is wanting to control her environment since everything she has ever known is different now, and this is the only way she knows how to do it. It's easier to say then to live it, but we are making it. It does make homeschool hard though! After the Cat. 5 storm, she has been as compliant as can be which is rewarding!

Week 2--Was I really just in China 2 weeks ago?

I have a second to update--literally! Things are fine--we are adjusting. "Adjusting" will probably be the word that best describes us for a long time. This week is, of course, going better than last week; so I guess we are going in the right direction. This past weekend our family drove to Indianapolis for LTC--Leadership Training for Christ. Emma was in chorus, drama, and puppets; Gabe was in puppets; and I was a coach for chorus and drama. I was VERY apprehensive as to how things would go with Grace i.e...how she would do in a carseat for 4 1/2 hours; how she would behave during performances; how she would do with all those people. I have to say she did GREAT! She was only fussy on Sat. afternoon when she was so tired and once she finally took a nap, she woke up much happier. We got home Sat. night and unfortunately, she took a bad fall down the stairs. It was very scary--we called the DR. and she helped us determine that it was just a bump on the head. We are now blocking the stairs, much to Grace's dismay. I started homeschooling (a modified schedule right now) and teaching piano again this week. So far so good for both--we keep Grace occupied with play-doh and puzzles during school and the older kids play with her during piano. I feel like we are making amazing progress. She has also slept through the night for the past 2 nights which is a great thing for me! I have been going on little sleep for weeks! Hayden and Grace and making progress together also--slow--but progress. They are both jealous of one another--Grace cries anytime I show him attention, but doesn't seem to mind me paying attention to the other two. This week I have tried to champion Hayden a little more because I can see how he feels less important and probably less loved in his little mind. It's a balancing act---I certainly feel like a ringmaster at a circus---balancing school, piano, household duties, being a good wife, emotions of children, attachment and bonding of our new child, maintaining bonding with the other kids--I could go on! But God is good as always as is the support and love of my friends and family!

Home Sweet Home

Some of you have let me know that you were anxiously awaiting an update---sorry it took so long; I don't get much computer time these days :). Well, I'll start from where I left off. We left the hotel in Guangzhou around 5:45 am to go to the airport. Our first plane left at 8:00 am for Beijing (3 hour flight). Grace has never been restrained before so the seatbelt was a huge issue and she threw a couple of fits, but we made it through. We then had a 5 1/2 hour layover until we got on the plane from Beijing to Chicago (12 hour flight). That's a tough flight whether you have a 4 yr. old or not, but it went pretty well, considering. Grace slept a total of 8 of the 12 hours. We then had a 4 1/2 hour layover in Chicago before boarding the plane for St. Louis!! We arrived at 9:45 pm CST---28 hours after we left the hotel in Guangzhou. Mom, Dad, our kids, and my friend, Amy and family greeted us at the airport with balloons and signs--it was soooooooo incredible to see them!!! We got home close at 11pm and, of course, no one was ready to go to bed--especially Grace. I think she slept about 3 1/2 hours that night--as did we--we were exhausted!!! Jet lag is a killer! The kids and Grace meshed together miraculously--it was perfectly clear that Grace had been their sister all along. She also fell in love with Mia and Pops right away as they did with her. Grace took to her new home as if she had lived here forever--she is the most adaptable child. We've been home now 6 days--it hasn't all been perfect, of course. There have been and will continue to be challenges. I liken this experience to bringing home a newborn and all the challenges and changes that go with that. I'm up at night again; the former baby (Hayden) is a little jealous of the new baby; and life as we knew it before is VERY different. It's all very much like it was each time I gave birth to a new baby--except this baby is much bigger and can throw BIGGER fits! From what I hear from my "adoptee buddies", everything we are going through is perfectly normal, and soon we will find our normal routine and we will wonder how we ever lived life without Grace! I'll post some new pics soon!

Last day in China

Well, we have spent our last day here in Guangzhou. We spent the morning packing and figuring out how we were going to bring home all that we have accumulated during our visit. Then we walked around and visited a few last shops until it was time for our appt. to the U. S. Consolute. We got to the Consolute at about 3:30 with about 50 other families. We were talked to as a group about all the paperwork that we will bring to immigration when we land in the U. S. and were given directions on all that needed to be done. Then we all stood up and raised our right hand and took an oath--it was quite emotional for me. Grace is REALLY ours and once we land in Chicago she is automatically a U. S. citizen with freedoms and rights she would have never had if she were to stay in China. Along with having the opportunity to live in the greatest country in the world, she will also now have a real family to love her forever and ever. And even better than all of that, she will now be able to know her Saviour and the blessings that He has in store for her!!!! Thank you, thank you, thank you, dear Lord, for allowing me to be a part of this unbelievable experience---I am grateful beyond words. And thank you to all of you who have "accompanied" us on this incredible journey-for all of your prayers, your words of encouragement, your love and support. We love you all!

Countdown--second to last day in China!!

Today we walked through the weird and bazaar market again with our group and ate at McDonald's---here they don't sell apple pies, they sell tara pies which is some kind of potato like thing. I ate it and it was very good-but the only other thing I would eat was the fries because it's all I felt safe with. After lunch, Dave, Grace, and I ventured off by ourselves and did some shopping in the city. It was the first time we were off the island without our guide and we did very well. I have learned to communicate using gestures and charades--you should have seen me trying to make the salesperson understand pull-ups! Speaking of pull-ups-we decided to put Grace in them when we are out and about. I am taking her to the bathroom about every hour no matter where we are (and believe me, we have had to use some pretty unbelievable squat toilets). Today in the mall, there was a line and she cannot hold it so she pee pee'd on me right there in line. She may have regressed a little, which is very normal and what we were prepared for. Tonight we ate Thai for the 3rd time--the food is great here, but eating out everyday got old long ago! As we put Grace to bed tonight I am reflecting on our time here and what an extraordinary journey this has been--and God has been right here with us every step of the way. We are blessed beyond measure and give all glory to our Father.

And we're blessed with yet another strong-willed child

Yes, what we had suspected all along has come true--Grace has a strong will. We have seen glimpses of it from the beginning--little things would happen and Dave and I would give each other "knowing" looks--what we knew is that eventually this would emerge. Dave and I are no strangers to strong-willed children, that's for sure. So I guess she will fit right in! She's thrown a few fits here and there, but the "Big One" was tonight in the playroom--Grace, or Atilla the Hun as we call her affectionately, feels that all balls in the room are hers and will fight whoever challenges this. After she refused to share, we put her shoes back on and whisked her out of the room quickly to which she screamed all the way up 12 floors and a while in the room. But she got over it and was smiling as if nothing happened. We say to Grace, "Bring it on, Baby!" Today we visited the Chen Family temple and a really pretty park. This afternoon all of the adopted children wore their traditional Chinese clothes and took pictures on the famous red couch here at the White Swan. We posted a picture of Grace in her beautiful pink Chinese dress. The sun actually shone today and there was no rain which as so very welcomed. Many groups go home tomorrow--wish it were us, but only 3 days to go!

Buddhist Temple

Today we visited a Buddhist temple and learned alot about the religion--there are many buddhist gods that are worshipped for different things. For example, one worships the happy buddah for have a happy life and the buddah of mercy to ask for the gift of a child. It was interesting and the temple was beautiful with banyan trees in the courtyard. After our tour, our whole group went out to eat at a Cantonese restuarant and sampled many different foods--all extremely delicious. I could eat like this forever. Grace threw 2 tantrums today--she is acting more and more like a 4 yr. old and getting more comfortable with us. We gently insist that she do what we have asked her to do (such as put on her jacket or sit in the high chair) and she eventually does it. She definitely has a strong will, but it has always, so far, ended in compliance. We praise her when she is compliant and reassure her over and over of how much we love her when we discipline her. 4 more days to go!!!

Shopping.....again

No pictures to post today--we were tired of lugging our camera around. Today we had 6 other families join us --they all flew in from their provinces yesterday. No matter what province you adopt from, you have to do the last leg of your trip in Guangzhou. The reason why we have been here the whole time is because this is also Grace's province. We all went to the Jade Market and the Pearl Market---more jewelry than I have ever seen in my life. Mom, you would call this Heaven. I'm not that into jewelry, but getting out is always fun. This afternoon, Dave had to do some official paperwork, so Grace and I went walking around and got some ice cream and dropped off our laundry. We then went to the hotel playroom where Grace decided to pee pee in the middle of the floor--she has never had 1 accident since we have had her and she seemed quite mortified that it happened (as did the family that was playing right beside her at the time). She does drink constantly, as if she was never given anything to drink in the orphanage. We are trying to curtail how much she drinks, but drinking out of her sippy cup seems to have become a comfort thing for her. About 4 families that I know of have gotten food poisening--I'm a little scared, so keep praying. 5 more days to go after today----can't wait to get home to our kiddos!!!!

A Most Interesting and Bazaar Chinese Market

Today we went to the market where one can see the weirdest things: chinese remedies in the form of dried whale stomachs and toad sticks; dried mushrooms, seahorses, sea urchins, lizards, etc... We even had the unfortunate pleasure of seeing a poor rat meet his demise--they blowtorched him--I looked away, but was aware of it happening from the smell. There were many live animals as well: puppies, kittens, ducks, chicks, chipmunks, rabbits, fish, turtles, scorpions--all in cages, buckets, bowls, tubs--whatever. I was completely in awe, but Dave didn't like it so much. Later this afternoon we met up with 2 other families who adopted girls from the same orphanage as Grace--one from Boston and one from Spain. The girls were all friends and enjoyed playing together. We exchanged info. so we can keep in touch. It is still raining here--it seems the sun never shines. However, Grace is a shining blessing and takes the place of the sun anyway!