Sweet 16

The night before their birthday, Noé enjoyed her last YW activity with the Beehives and Mia Maids...

(Celeste, Emma, Kaysha, Noé, Alessandra, and Sophie)

...Meanwhile, the Laurels gave her room a heart attack.

What sweet girls!

(Phoebe, Samantha, and Cori)

Noé was so excited when she came home!

Emma's room also received a heart attack!

On their actual birthday, I was still in the hospital with Macy.  My plan was to go home that afternoon to see them, but unfortunately Len wasn't able to come up to the hospital until the early evening and I was so exhausted from hardly sleeping the night before that I was scared I'd fall asleep while driving home.  I decided to stay at the hospital and it was so sad!  It was the first time I had ever been away from any of my kiddos on their birthday.

Luckily, my friend Niki made a delicious dinner for my family that night and Leonard picked up a yummy chocolate cake for them.

My dear friend Mary (also Emma's Momma) and I planned a party.

Fast forward another week and I headed over to the church with these two for...

...A sweet 16 party with their dear friend Emma!

Kaleb and Noé have been friends with Emma since before all of their first birthdays!

(Emma is just 12 days older than them.)

Mary got adorable decorations...

...in pink, turquoise, and purple.

While I frosted 60 cupcakes with those same colors!

We also had lots of chips, dips, veggies, fruit, punch, and big chocolate bars as party favors.

There were 28 youth there in total (30 if you count the adorable Isaac and Molly).  These were some of the early birds that helped us decorate.

Logan, Duncan, Noé, Kaleb, Emma, Grace, and Xavier.

As soon as Duncan turns 16, I think this group needs to go on double-dates!

So the kids ate lots of food, danced to fun music, and played lots of party games.

This game is called Wink Murder.

Noé, Navy, and Geneva.

Logan, Luke, and Jack.

Xavier, Kaleb, and Solomon.

Rebekah, Maya, and Will.

Quinn, Jean, and Aaron.

Jonathan, Ethan, and Emma.

Grace, Cori, and Brooklyn.

Tasha, Miriam, and Emmeline.

Samantha, Kassy, and back to Noé.

Duncan was the accuser in this round.

Their other friend Jonathan arrived right before the end of the night, so unfortunately I didn't get a picture of him.

The day after their party we had more cupcakes as a family. 

My heart outside of my body.

Look how cute Macy is!

Happy Birthday to you!

Happy Birthday to you!

Happy Birthday dear Kaleb and Noé!

Happy Birthday to you!

Have a wondeful 16th year guys!

Home Sweet Home and Freedom

Macy (and I) were in the hospital from March 1st- 8th.  While we are grateful to have such a wonderful Children's Hospital in our city, it is no vacation being there!  It is much better to be back at our dear Home Sweet Home.

And Macy's so glad to be free of all of her wires and able to wiggle, stretch, and grow all she wants to at home!

In the Matrix and Twilight Zone

Macy has an IV, oxygen sensor, heart rate monitors, NG tube, and oxygen prongs.  It's like she's plugged into the Matrix.

She is such a brave and strong girl, but this is no fun for her.  How adorable and heartbreaking is her little pout though?  Luckily, her sad faces usually don't last long.

With jammies back on and her soft blankie she's able to rest again.

Mommy's not quite as comfortable.  After 6 nights sleeping on a fold-out chair and starting our 7th day back in the hospital this Momma feels like she's in the Twilight Zone and is ready to grab her baby and make a run for it!  Hopefully, we'll get to make our escape soon!

Trip to the ER

On Thursday, Macy seemed more lethargic than usual and she wasn't eating as much as I wanted her to.  She had been jaundiced and a nice golden color.  As her extra bilirubin left, she became quite pale.  Now she was looking more purple instead of pale.  I always panic, while Leonard is more calm.  He was out for the day, and when he returned I asked him what he thought.  He immediately thought we needed to take her to the ER.  He dropped the both of us off at the front door then went to park.  As soon as the triage nurse saw her she took her straight back to a bed.  A whole team came in and suctioned out her lungs and she became a nice pink color again.  We spent the night in the ER, then moved up to the pediatric ward on Friday.  These pictures were taken Saturday morning.  At first she greeted the day with enthusiasm...

But as many girls do...

She changed her mind!

The playroom consultants brought in this cute mobile.  When she woke up she was quite interested in it!

Princess Cotton Candy

When you're given this adorable tutu and princess hat, you have to head straight to the photographer!

I really could just eat this girl up, I love her so!

She is a precious little angel.

I kiss her all the time!

You know it's all about the bow when it comes to the best accessories.

This little smile kills me.

Macy, thank you so much for coming to our family!!

Crystal in town!

Leonard's colleague and our dear friend Crystal came to town for a conference and we got to visit with her.  Len and David Hamilton took her out to lunch and to Rideau Hall one day...

...And she joined us for dinner and a wonderful visit.

Our kids love Crystal and she loves them too.

We had to take a picture of our kids all flashing the peace sign with Crystal.  It's her favorite as shown below.

On her beautiful wedding day in 2008.

The happy couple!

When she came to visit us and the Hamiltons in 2011.

I was pregnant with Hiram then.

She gave Macy sweet cuddles.

And she became Ali's best friend.  Ali was ready to climb in her suitcase and head back to Taiwan with her.  Since she couldn't do that, she climbed on her lap and fell asleep.

Thanks so much for visiting Crystal!  We hope to see you again soon!!

Macy @ 1 month

I took monthly pictures of each of my babies for their first year of life with our big Puppy stuffy.  Puppy is in a box somewhere, and Macy got this cute big Teddy stuffy, so Macy's monthly pictures will be with him instead.

Macy spent the majority of her first month in the NICU.

 It's been so fun since she's been home!

Macy is a good sleeper.  I remember with my other babies praying at night that they would sleep for one more hour before their next feedings.  With Macy I pray at night for her to wake up so she can eat more!

Macy's eyes used to dart everywhere, but now I can tell she's looking at my face when I hold her.  I'm still not sure I've made eye contact with her, but it's great to see her eyes learn how to focus.

This girl hardly gets upset and has a rather peaceful personality.  She does enjoy me singing to her though and I love it!

She is a wonderful cuddly baby and I love to snuggle her!

Lots of times when I'm snuggling her and she falls asleep, she'll start making the sweetest little purring sound.

She nurses really well and poops a lot!

She can be quite the wiggle worm!  She loves to kick her legs and arms all over the place and do big stretches.

She has the softest skin and hair that I love to caress.

What I love most is to shower her with kisses!

And to take lots of pictures of her, even when she says, "Enough!" ha ha!

Thank you Macy for coming to our family!  We love you so much!

We love Doggies!

Xin Nian Kuaile!  Gongxi Fa Cai!

We celebrated the Chinese New Year with Chinese food of course!  Sorry to all of my non-Chinese Asian friends that call it the Lunar New Year, but it will always be Chinese New Year in my heart.

I didn't take pictures of all of us, but I did snap some cute ones of Noé.  Since she can no longer fit into her beautiful Chinese clothes, she put on some of her lovely Indian ones and did her hair and make-up all fancy.

We went around the table sharing a goal we'd like to accomplish this year as well as reading our fortunes from our yummy cookies.  Here's what we all said/read:

Leonard-

To become a spy.

We would often be sorry if our wishes came true.

Jennifer-

To turn our house back into our home.

Family is more valuable than money.

Kaleb-

To fly a glider.

You have keen intuition and emotional sensitivity.

Noé-

To audition for the school dance team.

Romance is just around the corner. (Oh No!)

Gavin-

To become a ninja.

Do not burden yourself with trivial matters.

Teague-

To take Taekwondo.

Be generous, and the favor will be returned.

Hiram-

Also, to take Taekwondo.

You will have an exciting business adventure.

Ali-

To take dance class.

Keep a balance between your goals and your gentle nature.

Macy-

To have a successful heart surgery!

Know the right moment and make your move.

We have celebrated all 12 zodiac animals here on the blog.  Here's a look back at each of them:

2007-Pig

2008-Rat and Bonus post #1 and Bonus post #2

2009-Ox (Teague is an ox) and Bonus post

2010-Tiger

2011-Rabbit (Len, Jen, and Hiram are rabbits)

2012-Dragon

2013-Snake and Bonus post

2014-Horse (Kaleb, Noé, and Ali are horses)

2015-Sheep

2016-Monkey

2017-Rooster (Even though Macy was born in 2018, she's actually a rooster)

Happy 2018 and Year of the Dog everyone! (Gavin is a dog)

Anna Rosa

Once upon a time there lived a bear named Anna Rosa.

She came to live with our family in Taiwan and was a best friend to sweet Noé Lynn.

Many years later she became a best friend to dear Ali Jo.

Ali loves this teddy bear and her precious doll baby.

Now she is becoming a best friend to darling Macy Marie.

All day long I hear Ali say, "Macy's so cute!  I love our baby!"

These girls are just too cute for me!