2012- New Journeys

Hi! I haven't posted for such a long time! Been busy running the kids around to everything under the sun! I've revived our blog because once again, God has opened the door to China quite unexpectedly. I have always felt there was one child missing from our family, another boy to complement our wonderful son James, who has always desired a brother as well. We have begun the Amazing Race to our new (hopefully) son, a 13-year old who will age out in August of THIS year. Can't say much more or post his picture until PA, I think. About 5 total months to do what we did in 20 months the first time and 13 months the second time; hmmmm, seems to be a pattern developing here.
Our kids are very excited and can't wait....this will be so fast it will be no time at all. We'll have to think of some good fundraisers as God in his infinite sense of humor, allowed us to move mountains to submit LOI (will post on that tomorrow), but neglected to provide the funds quite yet!
Stay tuned.....
Debbie

ok, back again, at least it's only been two months this time. I truly cannot believe how busy we are some days. Getting 4 kids to their various places is just wild! At least Judi and Jaz go to some of the same places, but I am getting to the point where, on a rare day off, I want to stay home and go nowhere! Today was a day off, but here was the agenda: up at 6 to get the kids ready and drive them to school (normally they ride the bus), went back at 9:30 for Judi's Valentine party, then right to Jazmin's at 11. Got out of school at 1pm, drove 20 miles to Wsbg for Judi's doctor appt as she has sinusitis AGAIN! At least she went 4 months without it this time. Picked up medicine, hightailed it back to Leeton for parent teacher conferences for older 3 kids from 3:30 to 4:45. Picked up son, zoomed back to house, grabbed dance stuff, dropped Judi off with Jessica, and went back to town for James' baseball practice and Jazmin's dance class! Then I'm back up at 4:45 tomorrow for work at 6! At least the kids are out of school tomorrow so I don't have to whisk them into bed as soon as we get home. That's not a typical day, but kind of close!

The kids are all thriving, Jessica is doing so great this year in 9th. Always on the high honor roll, she got nominated for homecoming princess (tho didn't win, but close!), and is going to try out for the cheerleading squad in April. James is all baseball and basketball. He's 12 and a half and is over 5'6"; he grew 3 inches just from July! He's going to be tall and skinny like my dad and younger brother (6' and 6'3" respectively). He's also doing much better this semester, getting A's, B's, and a C instead of "ahem", lower. His teachers say he's really got his head on straight now and is seeming to mature more every day.

Jazmin is just precious and is loved by everyone she meets. She's doing great in 1st grade and her reading has really gone gangbusters so far; it's so cool to hear your kid read! She's a wonderful big sister tho she does get impatient with Judi sometimes; they still get along great almost all the time, but there are times I have to make them separate to get a "breather" from each other.

Judi just takes the world by storm; it is her playground. She walks around the school like she was born there. She still follows Jaz everywhere and copies her, we're working on learning that she can choose to do other things, it doesn't always have to be what Jaz does or gets or wants; still some competition there. She can write her name now very well, knows all her colors, almost all the alphabet by site, and is now asking me to spell everything. I think she'll be ready for kindergarden in the fall with no problem. She still seems little to me, just a compact ball of energy and smarts and attitude. She's only 41" tall but you always know when Judi's in the room! Enjoy the latest pics....til next time!

Finally back!!

I'm baaaaack! Well, for now anyway! Here's a brief synopsis of the last few months....Judi started preschool in August and loves it. BUT she hates getting up early! She is so not a morning person. She still has a tendency to say mean things when she's upset so we're working on using our nice words. She's got Christmas figured out already. She's good, Santa likes that, so she gets presents! We haven't put up the tree yet, but should be great to see what she thinks....so far she loves everything to do with Christmas. All the kiddos are doing well...Jessica is 15 and a half and now has her permit; yikes! James finished basketball and is now onto baseball practice; this kid is all about sports! Jazmin loves piano and dance and Judi likes her dance class. Though next year I think I will let Judi choose between dance or tumbling, she's just such an energy ball!
Having 4 kids is more of a challenge than I thought, I just have to take it day by day most times. Here are a few pics until my next post..

What do we do in the summers???? Baseball!!

Another day in the life of the Cavenders! Today was Judi's first day at her daycare; a home daycare. She did really well, no tears or anything. Daddy said she gave him a high 5 when he left and she didn't even ask for me until just before I showed up. Tonight we have a baseball game for James and Jazmin's first game. They're at the same time, but at least at the same ballfield. I can stil between the fields with my head swiveling back and forth! Jazmin is so excited; she is very into softball right now; I hope she stays liking it even if they don't do well!

James is pitching and playing first base this year; I think he looks good. The first game he walked a couple but struck a couple out, too. As the season goes on, I'm sure his skills will improve. I do love watching him out there on the mound.

Tomorrow is Jazmin's piano recital; she has what I think is a really hard piece, but she's been practicing a lot. Then next week, she's got dance recital. May is always such a busy month for us.

Judi is gaining so much English! In fact, so much, I've started putting in at least one movie a day in Chinese, to try to keep it going. It doesn't seem to hamper her English skills, which I worried about at the beginning. She's just hysterical with her antics and funny the way she "handles" the older kids! She and Jazmin are getting along so well now and play together wonderfully most of the time. They still have their moments when they irritate each other, but that's just sisters for you! Judi is in teeball and liking it very much, except she peters out on the practices early. Her first game is next week; should be veeeerrrrry interesting!

The picture is of Jaz in part of her dance costume and her hair all curly (shhhh, the curls are an add-on!), but they look great!

I love my daughter..........

For those of you reading this who aren't familiar with adoption, it's not always a case of "love at first sight". With Jazmin it was; she was a baby, and who doesn't just fall in love with babies instantly, especially ones with huge eyes that stared into your soul?
With Judi, it was different. I had hoped that it would be the same, but instead of a sweet, quiet baby, we were handed a 3-year old teenager! She had a fully formed personality with some rather undesirable habits and was fully articulate in Chinese, and just by the tone of her voice you could tell what she was thinking, which wasn't always a good thing!
So I had to fall in love with my daughter over time. I've been Judi's Mama for 60 days today, and I'm thrilled to say I'm no longer going thru the "motions" of mothering. There's a saying in the adoption world, "Fake it til you make it!". That's what I did; I did for Judi all the things I am supposed to do as her mother: fed her, played with her, comforted her, hugged her, kissed her, you name it. At first, I felt like I was babysitting; when was someone going to come get this rambunctious, misbehaving child??
Than last week, something happened. We were at Grandpa's house as usual. I was fixing dinner and called everyone to come eat. Judi came running at full tilt, hit the kitchen floor in her socks, and WHAM! Right on her little hinny she went, and slid right into the stove; ouch! Well, you can imagine, she came up wailing and grabbing for me, her Mama! I picked that little girl up and held on tight; she was sqeezing me so hard I could hardly breathe! But I felt that amazing rush of emotion, that overwhelming feeling that you're the only one in the world who can soothe the hurt and take away the pain. So for all the world to know, I love my funny, silly, rambunctious, stubborn, always-on-the-go Miss Judi!

More happenings in April............

April is a busy month for us..with baseball for James, softball for Jazmin. Jaz is also in dance and piano, though I think next year she may have to make a choice as she now wants to do cheerleading as well! James' basketball team finished up in 2nd place in their tournament, not too shabby, they played some great b-ball. He wants to stick with it, so in the fall he'll start on the junior high team. If he works just a little harder, he might be a starter.

Finally got Judi's Social Security card ordered, now have to get her birth certificate, I am such a procrastinator! Dad and I are also having a huge garage sale on May 2nd! I wonder how I ever fit work into this schedule, but I better remember, cause I go back to work fulltime June 1, but am working some evening hours now because they basically guilted me into it.

I'm happy to say Jazmin, I think, has morphed into her role as big sister. When she comes home, Judi follows her everywhere. She (Judi) still seems a little jealous of her big sis, yet wants to do everything, get everything, and be everything Jaz does. And she kind of goes into baby mode when Jaz is first home from school, wanting to be held and carried. But then when Jaz says, "come on, Judi, let's play", she's off like a shot!

Her English is just flowing along, new words every day; her newest is "no", which she likes to use frequently! And "nobody"! Where did that come from??

Something she does i find soooo funny, is when we go to the store and she picks up toy after toy and I say, let's put that away, we're not getting that today - she will say in a forlorn tone, "ooooooh, noooooo". But she puts it away! So far, no tantrums! She pouts when she doesn't get her way; thank goodness! I've been through some whopper tantrums with my older kids; glad to not have that to deal with, at least for the time being!

Some new pics to enjoy..............

Easter and Judi's birthday on April 14th

Suffice to say, Judi likes Easter because not only did we have an egg hunt at my Dad's place where she discovered not only the fun of finding eggs, but that they had CANDY in them! Then we had a small birthday party for her at the park. We invited a few friends who'd gotten to know Judi in the month she'd been home. She had a blast and when she saw the playground, she said "Wow!!". The pics tell the rest of the story.