Santa's "Little Helper" moves in!!!

Well as you can see Santa sent one of his helper elves, Bob,( no offense to you grandpa Bob; Jake took the reins naming our new roommate!!) to keep an eye on the Stark kids and report any naughty behavior directly to Santa!! So Bob the Elf uses his magic to move around the house everyday and take LOTS of notes for Santa! Bob will be coming to stay for the Christmas holiday from now on! Santa knows we need some intimidation tactics around here!!!

Stark's Christmas Tree

We picked up our tree Tues and had fun decorating it. This is Lila's first Christmas and so far like everything else she loves it!! Since she came home in July she has hit several holidays and 5 birthdays so she thinks life is a party!! The kids all picked out new ornaments this year Cade choose R2-D2, Jake a race car and Lila cute little Hello Kitty's... and they are so cute! We are looking forward to spending Christmas in Charleston with Gigi & Pop-pop with special guest appearance from Grandma & Grandpa Bob, Krystina and Grandaddy Stark and hopefuly Aunt Nana( please come)... even Mable and Lao can't wait to board the Quest!!! We are so happy to have Lila home this year and have our whole family together (finally)!!! Tomorrow is our first post-adoption visit with our social worker Leslie. I can't wait for her to meet Miss Lila!!!!China requires 2 visit at 6mos and 12mos.
Oh and yes the kids are shaving. Last Sunday before church it was VERY quite so I searched out my family to find all of them shaving. Tears came to my eyes as the years had flashed before me.... they were all very serious... and NO they were not using blades!! (In this day and time I feel that I must post all the facts before Dept of Children services are on my doorstep!!!!)
Still no tooth news!!! Jake's rouge tooth seems to be taking it's time fallingout ... anyone shocked! We will be sure to keep this audience posted on any new progress!

Thanksgiving Fun

We had a great Thanksgiving with Grandma & Grandpa Bob! The kids were happy to get to spend some time with their grandparents and so were Scott and I. Thanksgiving Day was beautiful and even was able to sit out on the deck and enjoy the sunshine and for that I was very thankful because we all know those days are numbered around here! Our dinner was a success and all was happy. Before I get any hate mail LILA IS NOT DRINKING WINE!!! so don't worry about her sobriety. Hope everyone had a great day and got to spend it with family and friends. Next up Christmas Tree!! Also I forgot to mention Lila was giving away complimentary manicures and Scott was persuaded to accept and WOW Lila did a very modern job!
UPDATE: Jake's tooth is still loose(if you can believe that it's
been over a month!!)we are patiently awaiting it's surrender!

Next up.....Turkey Time

Not much happening here in Charles Town just waiting for Grandma and Grandpa Bob to come and spend Thanksgiving with us and for that we are very thankful!! They will be here next Wed and the kids are excited to see them. It's a bit chilly here right now it went from 70 to 40 in 1 day(ugh) I guess I don't need to explain my feelings about being cold. We wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving and will post pics of our feast soon!!

Lila's Birthday/Baptsim Weekend!!!

Well as you can see Lila had a busy weekend.I am so happy to be able to spend her 3rd B-day with her and hope she loved being the B-Day girl. We all got to hear about it for the past 4 days. Gigi and Pop-pop came to take part in the 2 big events which meant alot to all of us. On Friday we went to the Japanese Restaurant and had a great time and all the kids ate like little champs( yes I know that is not hard to believe when Cade and Lila are involved)!! The restaurant had many B-Day celebrations going on while we were there but none as adorable as our little 3 year old! She even got an extra dessert with a candle which Jake & Cade attacked and lucky she allowed the "sharing" to pursue! Of course the camera was sitting at home wondering why she was left upon the counter during such an important event. Saturday we had a few people over for the cake and the present portion of her B-day and boy did she understand what a present was!! She was ripping through those packages like a real pro and it was so fun to watch but of course my camera battery died out of spite so I took some video. That brings us to the most important event of the weekend Lila's Baptism. I have really been excited about this for some time and was happy she could be baptised in the same church as her brothers and father. I had a dress made months ago just for this occasion and Scott and I gave her a beautiful cross and my parents a sterling bangle to remember the special day. So we got church all dressed and ready for the ceremony. Prior to leaving the house we gave the call for all to engage in a parting potty break where no one took advantage of.... this will come up later in the story. Jake has been sick all morning and had come into our room last night with a fever so he was just barley conscious getting to church and we didn't want to do ANYTHING to get him upset(my poor boy). The service started and Pastor John began his sermon..all was well. We are called to the front of the pulpit for the baptism. The pastor begins and I notice Cade is bending over, crouching on the floor and demonstrating the universal stance for " I need to use the bathroom". So he announces his intentions and runs out of the church to the bathroom minutes pass and here comes Cade pants unbuttoned and unzipped sweater tucked into his underwear/pants ready to stand up for his sister. Well my father is mouthing from the pew "His pants" and they are both trying to keep from laughing as so are we and the rest of the congregation!!! So Scott fixed the problem and Pastor John completed the ceremony! Lila was great throughout the whole ceremony and even poor sick Jake wanted to stand up for his sister. So all was well this weekend in the Stark house.

Halloween 08

The kids have been so excited for Halloween, even Lila who has no real idea what is going on with all the decoration and adults dressing up like witches and cats. Scott took Cade yesterday to the pumpkin patch with his class but forgot the camera. I know Cade loved having his dad their with him after all he is a daddy's boy! So Jake came running off the bus to see when we were going trick or treating and I had to break it to him that we couldn't go until 6:00. He was also excited to get his monthly reward for getting stickers for every day at school for Oct. and his dreams of the red Bakagun were made a reality! And yes Cade is just like Scott and can not take a picture without making some kind of crazy face!!

Lila's Baptism Attire

Before Lila came home I had this dress made for her by a lady named Jen(yet another adoptive parent who makes beautiful clothes). I just loved the fabrics, they reminded me of Fall so I thought this would be the perfect dress for her Baptism. So I've had this dress for over three months now and just tried it on her yesterday to see how it looks and loved it!!!! Her Baptism is November 9th, the day before her third B-Day, so you will have to wait until then to get a glimpse of her in it! I am happy that all my children will have been Baptised in the same church. Did I mention how much fun it is to dress a little girl? or maybe its just the obvious!!!!

Random pics with new camera

Well I am so happy to report I got a new camera for my b-day so I thought I would take a few pics just to figure it out!

Halloween Party!

Our new neighbors Josh and Sun Me threw a Halloween party for the kids and adults. Our kids have been looking forward to it for 2 weeks! We had a great time and made ourselves leave at 11:30 because Scott and the kids were ready for bed! It was nice to hang out with our little community! Of course Jake aka Bumblebee and Cade aka Optimus Prime are mighty Transformers and as you can tell Lila is the fairest princess of them all! I will get her a crown and jewels before Halloween!
And thankfully Jake made it home from the field trip in one piece and had a great time! Oh and made another 100% on his spelling test!!!!

Another trip to the Patch

Today Jake will be going to the Pumpkin Patch without me for the first time! My guy is growing up and maybe it's best that I couldn't go(school rule) with him, I have to admitt I am very protective of Jake. Scott is going with Cade's class on the 31st (upon Cade's request)so I hope to get some cute pics of Cade searching for his great pumpkin! Not much esle going on. The next big event is Lila's Baptism 11/9 and 3rd Birthday 11/10! I have to wonder if this will be the first time in her short life that she has had a b-day celebration though. I am sure she will be so excited by the whole thing!! She already picked out her "Hello Kitty" plates,napkins and party hats. I'm not having a bunch of people over just Gigi & Pop-pop will be here and maybe some friends we will see.

The Verdict Is In!!!

I feel compelled to address what most people wonder about when adopting a child into your family. So here are the most obvious questions....."Do you love them the same as your real kids? Is that really your daughter? Does she think that your her real mom?" These are the most common questions that I am sure that all adoptive parents get often. Since I am now qualified to answer them with experience here it goes.... YES,YES, and yet another YES!!!! Lila is as much a part of me as Jake or Cade and that is that!! When I met her in China I was her Mother and she my Daughter and that is what we will always be, what we were destined to be.I feel no different towards her due to circumstance.Giving birth to a child is the easy part, but nurturing that child is the where you earn the title of "Mommy". Her birth mother had to give her child away for her(being Lila) benefit and if only there was a way to ease her sleepless nights I would wish she could see her and know she will always be cared for,loved and treasured. Her sacrifice ensured our daughter's future and she could not have given Lila a greater gift.
So I can put it to rest because I too had wondered what it would feel like to raise a child we did not conceive physically but in our hearts and minds. Lila is the perfect fit for our family and even Cade is becoming much more caring towards her and made sure tonight that she would be getting a banana split too! Every child is a gift and only reflects the purest meaning of family and love!

The Ole Pumpkin Patch.....

Lila's class was the first in the Stark house to make the annual Pumpkin Patch excursion! She was so excited to go get a pumpkin until we pulled into a parking lot full of people and for the first time in 3 months I saw her getting very nervous. She wanted me to pick her up and wouldn't even hug her teachers which was strange for her. I felt bad that she was a bit freaked out by the crowd and hoped she would ease into the tradition! So we did the corn maze, hay bail jumping, goat feeding and yes the hay ride and topped it all off with picking out her first pumpkin. She picked up the second one she saw and was really excited to get home and show Daddy her prize. All the kids in her class just love her and wanted to sit next to her and one mom told me that her son, Ben, talks about Lila and how he thinks she's the most beautiful girl in the class and says she speaks Spanish too!!!(Spanish Chinese whats the difference to a 3 yr old!). So in the end she fun unfortunately I won't be able to go with the boys on their field trips because they don't allow siblings to attend(not happy about the new rule). Cade went on all of Jake's trips and almost felt like one of the class!

A Sweet Gift

A sweet friend of the family( Ms Christy and her boys, Chance & Cole) brought Lila a welcome home gift. It is an adorable little personalized step ladder for Lila so she can get in and out of her "Big Girl" bed all by herself. The special thing about this step ladder is that it was painted by Christy's mom and she did just a beautiful job.It's hard to see from the pic, but it has a sassy mermaid and sun on top and little fish swimming on the steps. She LOVES IT!! The top step lifts up to a compartment for storage. Lila likes to cram her possession in there for safe keeping. What a great gift she will use for years to come!!! Thanks for being so thoughtful!!!!!

Off to School!

We had a good weekend and another week of school lays ahead. Jake and Cade got some new shirts for good behavior at school. One is a "Transformer" and the other Star Wars with the light up Yoda! I have a feeling Cade will have a hard time leaving his shirt alone at school I only thought of it as he staggered onto the bus with his head straight down looking at his shirt! He is doing really much better at school so and is proud of his reading skills! I can only hope the year gets better as we go! Lila has a trip with her pre-school to the pumpkin patch on Thursday I know she will have a blast for his will be her 1st Halloween after all!! By the way I know you all think that the only pair of shoes Lila owns are black Converse high tops but I promise she has others but only wants to wear them!! Occasionally I persuade her to branch out and choose different pair but I pick my battles. She also only wants to wear jeans! What can I say she fashion sense comes from me!!!

Lila's language explosion

I just picked up Miss Lila from preschool and her teachers said "Lila talked our ears off today". They are so amazed on how fast she has learned English and I must say it is pretty impressive. The sad part is that means that she doesn't speak Mandarin anymore and to me that is such a loss. What an asset and cultural connection that has just all but disappeared. Maybe one day we will be able to find a place to take her for Mandarin lessons and regain that part of her heritage. Here she is before school this morning getting Elmo ready for the drive over!

Another "Great Day"

As all of you can tell by now Cade started his Kindergarten year off a bit rough but things are looking a bit better last week he didn't have any problems and Mrs. B sent a note home the "Cade had a GREAT day!!" so Iam encouraged that we will make it through this year one way or anther. He was very proud of his art work as well and got another %100 on his work at school. I can only hope things can get better from here. Jake has informed me that he would like to be dentist when he get older! Well I was so excited to hear the great aspirations of my 7 yr old who has always said" I don't want to grow up I just want to be a big boy". I am glad we have that college fund started!!! Jake is still doing well in school and can not wait until Halloween!! Lila is still Miss happy go lucky and is learning a lot of new words every day!!Her favorite pet is Ruben but Lao runs a close second. She is always hugging them and telling "good boy"! Here is a pic of the kids eating their 1st Banana Split ala mom. They loved them so much!!!!

Cade's making a come back

Cade's first few weeks in Kindergarten have been a bit rocky but I think he is finally coming around! Cade has always been very laid back and I think that his instant sister has put a kink into his tiny world,but like everyone else he has to adjust. Before Lila came home Scott warned me that "Jake was going to have a hard time sharing me with her" and I told him I thought it would be Cade that had more of an issue and unfortunately I was right. I really wanted everyone to meet and fall in love and live in harmony( yes just like in fairy tales or "The Brady Bunch") but I knew that was not going to happen. Overall, I think everything has fallen into place amazingly and I know Cade's sweet heart will overcome him very soon. Cade had done much better at school this week and has even taken extra efforts to make his coloring projects beautiful. He came home today very excited to show me his self-portrait and his 100% on his work. Cade is such a great kid and hope one day he can understand what a differnce he made in Lila's life. Let's face it, being a big brother is a big job!!!

Perfect Smile

Jake had a fab dental visit today. They were impressed at the great job Jake is doing keeping his teeth clean and healthy!!! Jake and I were also very happy to see confirmation that he does have adult teeth making their way down. Jake has not lost a tooth yet and will be 7 in Dec. He has been worried that he would never get a loose tooth! The x-rays reveal that his permanent teeth are HUGE (he got my horse teeth) and they hope his mouth will be able to handle all of those big teeth. Let's hope he won't need to get any pulled down the line. The tech said he did just a super job and loved having his teeth cleaned. I tell ya, Jake has really grown up and I am so proud to see the changes in him!!! No pics at the dentist sorry.

The weekend update

Sorry so late on the weekend post. Scott's big 38 b-day was Sat so we got up and took the kids to the Air Show and looked at the planes for 5 mins until we stumbled onto Moon Bounce Wonderland. There were about 12 different Moon Bounces/Slides/Mazes etc so our time amazed the the planes tricks were over. So I guess you realize we spent the rest of our time trying to chase and keep up with 3 kids! Happy B-day Scott!!!
Lila was very hestitant at first and I'm pretty sure they didn't have moon bounces at her orphange. I put her in the bounce and she didn't move for a while but then the fun started and she was jumping with the rest of them as I watched nervously from the sidelines. She was always the smallest in there and kids were flying everywhere. The kids liked getting inside the Airplane Carrier so that was really the only pics fromt he air show. On Sat night Scott and I went on a date (I guess that was what it is called), it has been far too long that we have done anything alone so we went to the horse track and bet a little on the horses. I had never been to "the Track" and was surprised how much fun it was. After the betting was done we watched the beloved Bulldogs take yet another win. So all in all it was a nice weekend.
Jake has a dentist appt on Thursday I want to make sure he has other teeth in his head because he has NOT lost his first tooth as of yet and he will be 7 in three months! I will let you know how that play out and until then take care!