The Month of March/Maaliskuu

My apologies for the prolonged blow silence! All is well, and at first I felt bad I hadn't blogged for so long. But when I started scrolling through my photos of the month (really! It has been a month!), I realized it has been a packed few weeks. No wonder there hasn't been time for blogging!

Plus really, I have to admit our new normal, having six kids, and especially one two year old, has limited mama's screen time, a lot:) She is a lively one, for sure!!

I thought in this post I'll share some biggies of the month, and if I get a nap time this week (yes, Mei Mei has been dropping her afternoon nap), I'll post some random pictures from March.

 


I call Little Miss one of my littles, but the truth is, she turned double digits this month! We followed her wishes, which was to have a celebration at home with everyone (which means the big kids). We squeezed in a Chinese food, cake and presents during our teens' lunch break from their dual enrollment classes at college.

We also had Grandma's Birthday, and Mumma's (Finnish grandma) Birthday this month, and Mei Mei is singing Happy Birthday every day, and offering cake with candles.




The first half of the month we had sick kids, and as everyone started feeling better, round two started... No fun. We heard a lot of friends from church were sick too, so something was definitely going around. Mei Mei especially seems to be catching a lot of colds (which was the same with Little Miss when we first brought her home from China).

 


Mr T has been involved with debate for a few months, and had a debate tournament in Atlanta during spring break. Our plan was to get in the Mothership (yay!), and make it a family road trip. Until we found out the event was held at a megachurch with a parking garage for a parking lot!!! The Captain can do a lot with the Mothership, but parking in a parking garage is a no-no. So at the last minute we improvised: rented a car, and reserved a hotel room, and made it mini family trip.

Girls were still a bit sniffly, but much better, and thought sitting through debate rounds was boring. Swimming in the hotel pool was a hit, however!




Mr T and his partner did well, and had a great time. We are so proud of you, Mr T!




Our second mini trip this month as a mini family was to St Pete Beach where we got to walk down Memory Lane. We really love going back!



Mei Mei had an evaluation for local speech therapy, or so I thought. It was with Easter Seals, and while they do assess communication, they don't really do speech therapy, or at least they don't really help with pronunciation. We found out once Mei Mei turns three years old, we might qualify for services through our local school.

The evaluation was good to do, though. Mei Mei really is doing great in her development, and it was neat to see that. She will most likely need speech therapy, but she is communicating well. So after a couple hour evaluation we found out she didn't qualify for Easter Seals!

We actually think she is hearing better, too. She is constantly complaining things are "too loud!", which they often are, in a large family.



It didn't even occur to me to get a family photo from Easter, but we did get a few pics. Mei Mei's first Easter! She figured out chocolate eggs, and plastic eggs with treats, and what to do with them. Her favorites are chocolate eggs, for sure!

We joined our church family for a Easter service in the park, and were so thankful it rained before and after, but not during the service. I have decided Easter is one of favorite days of the year - we serve a mighty God - not even death can hold Him!

He is risen indeed!


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Syy blogihiljaisuuteen on ollut hulina ja hälinä. Arki kuuden lapsen kanssa on aikamoista vipinää, etenkin vilkkaan 2-vuotiaan taaperon kanssa. Pikkuneiti täytti 10 vuotta (ja molemmilla isoäideillä on ollut synttärit tässä kuussa myös!). Sairastimme osan kuukautta, ja saimme kaksi pikkureissua mahtumaan kalenteriin myös. Ensin ajoimme Atlantaan, Georgian osavaltioon, muutamaksi päiväksi Mr T:n väittelykisaan, ja sitten teimme pikareissun St Peteen, missä asuimme ennen. Pääsiäisen vietimme hiljaisesti kotosalla, yksi vieras tuli syömään kanssamme, ja aamulla juhlimme seurakuntaperheemme kanssa ylösnoussutta Vapahtajaamme. Hän on ylösnoussut ja kuolemalla kuoleman voittanut!

Year 2015 Recap

Do I start this post every year with "Wow, what a year it has been!"? Because, really, what a year it has been... :)

(Years 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014)

Did anyone catch a line in the January part of 2014 Recap post? I wasn't ready to blog about it, but it did reveal something very big already... Sometimes all you can do is hint about things to come... ;-)

And then I ended the 2014 Recap with these words: "What a year. Full of adventures, full of changes. Full of God's grace, full of many stories of His provision and protection. We look forward to 2015 to see what God has in store for our family!"

I loved what God had for us in 2015! Thank You, Jesus, for a wonderful, full year of many blessings!

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JANUARY



We started our year at our camp in Maine. First we celebrated the New Year with friends from our local church, who came over to our camp for the evening. Then Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt C, Uncle P and cousins H, M and M came over for a fun visit. We also had friends from New Hampshire visit us.

We watched the lake freeze over (again - it had frozen over in December once already), and while we did enjoy the snow somewhat, we mainly played a lot of games indoors. No winter sports, yet.

Then it was time to pack up and head south. We stopped at Grandma and Grandpa's house, then in Virginia at my sister's. We had a short visit there, then the Captain continued in the Mothership to Florida with Missy, Mr D and Mr A. I stayed at my sister's for a couple of weeks with Mr T and Little Miss, helping as we all waited for Baby #5 to arrive. And she did! On the Captain's birthday:)


FEBRUARY



Little Miss and I got to enjoy Baby L for about a week, then it was time for us to drive south, too. Mr T wanted to stay in Virginia for a couple of months, and so we left him behind at my sister's (sniff).

We first drove to Daytona, where the Captain and three kids were hanging out at our friends, taking flight lessons, and passing their various exams. From there we all continued to our next Florida stop, staying at a campground for a couple of weeks.

We quickly decided we LOVE traveling in the Mothership, but not so much staying stationary in it. Even without Mr T, it was so tight. And cold! February was cold in Florida!! So, at the end of February we parked the Mothership and were in a house again:)


MARCH



Too busy to blog much (this post has most pics). My nephew A from Finland arrived. Little Miss turned nine, and Grandma and Grandpa were with us to celebrate it! Missy got braces. Mama was taking a new photography class, and learning photoshop. Homeschooling, too, of course! The boys and the Captain were busy with their own special project, and learning all kinds of new skills.


APRIL



In April we got to see more friends and family. My blog and real life friend Ina came over for Easter Sunday with her family. We had such a fun day! Then after Easter my sister's family drove down from Virginia for a few days, and brought Mr T back to us! Yay:)

Also, while we couldn't announce it on the blog yet, we saw Mei Mei's sweet little face for the first time, and got the paperwork started to bring her home!


MAY



In May we were able to make our Big Announcement about Mei Mei!

Mama was also busy with photography, which usually meant fun trips to the beach, or library, or sailing, or baking at home.

We reluctantly said goodbyes to my nephew, who flew back to Finland.

We also took a trip to the FPEA Homeschool Convention at Gaylord Palms, and met up with some favorite people. And then, at the end of the month it was time to get back into the Mothership, and back on the road.


JUNE



Mr D got his for-real-driver's-license, and did most of the driving in our Yukon, following the Mothership.

The first part of June we were on the road. My sister and her family moved to California, and we had hoped to meet them on the road, but missed them by a day. We had something going on with the tires or wheels of the Mothership, and stayed at Sebastian Inlet Park for a couple of days. What a beautiful place! (We got eaten by no-see-ums, however.)

Since we didn't have a pitstop in Virginia anymore, we stopped in Pennsylvania at the M family's place. We had not seen our dear friends for two years. We also stopped for coffee at friends in Massachusetts and stayed a night at Grandma and Grandpa's, and worked the next day there. (Except Mr D and Mr T had taken a different route to Maine from Pennsylvania, and visited friends in Vermont. We have almost adult big kids, peeps!)

And finally made it to our camp. For about two weeks of deep cleaning, before renters arrive. Always such fun:) So glad to have our team helping!

When our work weeks were done, we packed up the Mothership again, and headed south. Maine was so beautiful it hurt to leave, but at least we got some beautiful photos before our departure. Two boys left to go to a camp in Virginia, and Mr A flew to Florida to go on a mission's trip to Guatemala with our church youth group. The Captain, the girls and I headed to Nantucket island.


JULY



Such big things were in store for July. Oh my.

Celebrating the fourth (for the first time as a US citizen!) on Nantucket Island with Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt C, Uncle P and cousins. Then packing and moving out of the dear old island house. A lot of goodbyes, very bittersweet. The boys had come back from their travels, and had had a great time at camp, and at the mission's trip.

And then... first driving back to Grandma and Grandpa's in southern Maine, then Mr A, Little Miss and I flew to Beijing! (See Summer Palace and Great Wall, also.) And then Wuhan, Hubei, where we met Mei Mei. We were able to visit Mei Mei's orphanage, and see where she was found. (Also pictures from Wuhan here and here.) From there we traveled to Guangzhou, where we spent the rest of the month.

A huge thank you to all who filled a suitcase with me for the New Day Beijing foster home for children! We were privileged to hand deliver our gifts, but couldn't post any photos of the children from there online.

Meanwhile, back in the States, the Captain, and our three other children had traveled back to Florida to look for a new rental home for us. Our three teens took college entrance tests, and passed, and Mr A had passed his before returning to New England earlier in the month.


AUGUST



We were getting to know Mei Mei in Guangzhou, and she was getting to know Mr A, Little Miss and Sennie. Her funny, spunky personality started to show as she got more comfortable with us, and we couldn't wait for the rest of the family to meet her.

Before leaving the Guangdong Province, we saw the Chen Clan Academy and explored a park nearby, and even rented a paddle boat. We started to have some tummy trouble at the end of our stay, but by God's grace we were fine to travel back. The Captain, Mr D, Mr T and Missy met us at the airport, and a photographer friend Julie, too, who gave us a priceless gift of fantastic homecoming photos.

Since our camp was still rented, and we knew how rough the jet lag/transition time is, we stayed at a cottage in New Hampshire for a week, which ended up being just what was needed. Mei Mei had to learn how to sleep in a portacrib, which meant no sleep (for anyone) for several nights. Yet, being all together was still so beautiful and imperfectly perfect as we were all figuring out our new family.

We had hoped to spend a good part of August at our camp, but realized soon that wasn't going to happen. We were there for about three days. The Captain had to go to Nantucket a day after arriving at the camp, and the rest of us packed up our gear and left the camp in a hurry, and met him at his parents house in Southern Maine. We packed up a trailer, and started driving to Florida, where a new rental home was waiting for us.

The day after our Florida arrival our quadruplets started a dual enrollment program at a local college. Little Miss and I were busy making our house a home, and also still waiting on her school curriculum.


SEPTEMBER



In September we were learning new routines. We had a lot to do to make our new house a home.
We were a stationary (!) family of eight now, and our teenagers were attending a real school - a college, no less! Little Miss started homeschool too, once her school curriculum arrived. The dual enrollment program has been great for our teens, but it was not a smooth transition for all. We had some really, really rough months weeks days (and nights).

We finally took Mei Mei to the beach for the first time ever (her orphanage was not near the ocean), and she loved it! She wasn't so sure about the sand on her bare toes, but eventually she got used to it.


OCTOBER



October was still very warm in Florida. We visited the beach and parks often, as well as walked to the library often. We went on a little homeschool field trip to a pumpkin patch, and attended a harvest party, too.

Some days we'd meet up with our Maine friends, who came to live in our area for a little while (we loved it!!!). Little Miss was busy with various science projects, and school, too. We learned we had to have a very flexible school schedule, as mama needed to give Mr T rides to and from college at various times.

Missy attended her second Rubik's Cubing Competition, in Orlando. She loved every second of it!

The Captain took a quick trip to New England, and brought back the Mothership!

We finally had our first cleft clinic with Mei Mei, and started getting ready for her cleft palate surgery. Missy had oral surgery to help bring down a stubborn tooth, and Little Miss got braces!

At the end of the month Mr T and Mr D were in Kentucky with a homeschool group, and the rest of us walked at our friends' neighborhood for a little while on October 31st. Mei Mei loved calling out "trick or treat" and getting candy:)


NOVEMBER



November was all about Mei Mei and her cleft palate surgery. We had various appointments before and after, and the Big Day was a week before Thanksgiving. We stayed in the Mothership (first time for Mei Mei!) before (and during) the surgery, and were very happy to go home. Thank you all so much for praying for Mei Mei and her recovery. We are amazed at well she did. Glory to God!

Before and after Mei Mei's surgery we pretty much kept her home. We didn't want her to catch any colds, and afterward it was important she wouldn't get hurt. The first Sunday we brought her to church (as she really missed her friends!) she took a tumble down stairs, and we were so glad her mouth had healed well enough by then there was no damage.


DECEMBER



In the beginning of the month Mr T had a chance to go to a debate tournament with friends, and he loved it! He has been interested in it for a while, and looks like he is going to get serious about debating.

In the middle of the month we had serious crunch time as the college term was coming to an end. No one got a whole lot of sleep, but the teens had work paid off: everyone got fantastic grades. We are very proud of our quadruplets!

Mr A and Missy attended a Star Wars costume party at youth group, and both won best costume awards! What fun! We had a little half birthday celebration for Mei Mei, too. She loved it.

And then it was time to head to Maine. We wanted to spend Christmas at our camp, and drove up (a few very painful days). No snow at first, but we are ending the year with fresh snow, and a very thin layer of ice covering a part of the lake.

We celebrated birthdays, adoption day, and Christmas. So much fun experiencing all these firsts with Mei Mei. Grandma and Grandpa arrived right before Christmas, and more family is coming tomorrow, too.

Our year ended with a dip in the lake - on the 30th when the lake started freezing over.

 
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Thank you for joining our family on this grand adventure! And Welcome 2016! Have a Happy New Year!


"The things that are impossible with people are possible with God." Luke 18:27

Post-Op Update/Päivitystä leikkauksen jälkeen

Two and a half weeks have passed since Mei Mei's cleft palate surgery. How is she doing?




She is doing remarkably well. We have been amazed at her resiliency, her courage and her acceptance of everything she has had to endure in the last weeks.




We had asked for your prayers for a few concerns, and I am happy to report God answered our prayers and even the ones we didn't think to ask for beforehand.

- We got Mei Mei's lab work done (it did take visits to three different labs, and on surgery day our cleft team didn't have the results, but by God's grace I remembered which lab it had been (!) and they were able to get the results online right before going into surgery).

- Mei Mei and our whole family stayed healthy, even though Mr T had been so sick, and usually these bugs go through everybody in the household.

- While Mei Mei figured out quick how to get out of her arm restraints, she tolerated them for the most part, and didn't suck her fingers! In the morning and after nap time when I would take her arm restraints off, she would always smile at the "no no-nos!". A funny story: one of the first nights at home Mei Mei went to say goodnight to daddy. She stood in front of him, pulled her arm out of the no-no, waved goodnight, and put her arm right back in:)
She is still not sucking her fingers, so this may have broken the habit!

- As far as the supernatural understanding for Mei Mei.. She definitely understood once she felt a bit better and was out of the medicine fog, especially when we got home. I think there were still a couple of days that were especially difficult for her. We are so thankful for God's grace that covers the difficult days...

- And all those details... There were many. Like our friends at the campground. God surely is in the details! (He even knows the number of our hairs on our heads.. Why am I surprised when He takes care of even little details??)




I took these (five) photos yesterday. She is totally back to her outgoing, energetic and fun-loving personality!




We are so in love with our little girlie! While in many ways it was so crazy to go back to China and bring home a sixth child, God surely has blessed our obedience to His call. I get all teary-eyed just thinking about missing out on this blessing. God is so good!




Ignore our funny expressions:)

Last week we had Mei Mei's post-op appointment. Huge thanks to Casa Flamingo - we stayed with our Flamingo friends the night before, and loved visiting with them:)

The good news were her mouth has healed really well! The surgeons thought she looked great! Soft foods for another week, which now means just another day or so, then we can go back to regular foods. We were able to stop using the no-nos that day, which was such a relief!




Mei Mei also saw our ENT doctor, and her ears looked good. In three months we'll need a checkup to see if the tubes are still in, and in May she will get another hearing test.

After these appointments it was time to do something fun! Yes, chocolate! Yes, chocolate ice cream! And while it looks like Mei Mei is devouring the entire pint, she did have help... This girl loves her chocolate:)




The short summary of this long blog post would be Mei Mei is doing very well, and has healed amazingly quickly. We did have some rough nights for a week or so, which makes this mama feel her age, but fortunately we have a lot of helpers in this crew.



We are back to normal routines, back to school, church and errands. Just in time for Christmas vacation:)

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Reilu kaksi viikkoa on kulunut Mei Mein leikkauksesta, ja pikkuinen on toipunut ihan uskomattoman nopeasti. Kun kurkistaa suuhun, se näyttää ihan tavalliselta suulta, enää ei näy tikkejä kitalaessa, ei ole turvotusta eikä punotusta. Ainoa ero on ikenen puuttuva hammas, ja pieni kolo siinä kohdalla.

Kävimme tarkastuksessa viime viikolla, ja kirurgitkin olivat tyytyväisiä kuinka hyvältä kitalaki näyttää. Saimme heti jättää käsivarsien no-no't pois, mutta pehmeällä ruokavaliolla pitää vielä jatkaa pari päivää. Seuraava tarkastus vasta toukokuussa, paitsi korvat pitää tarkistaa kerran ennen sitä. Uusi kuulotesti tehdään sitten toukokuussa myös, ja silloin katsotaan puheterapian tarve myös (tosin halkioäidit netissä suosittelevat, että puheterapia aloitettaisiin heti, eli saa nähdä - meillä on tässä joulun matkustamiset edessä vielä myös.)

Kyllä meidän pienellä Mei Meillä on sisua! Ihaillen olen katsonut vierestä kuinka tyttö on selvinnyt tästäkin kokemuksesta. Pieneen elämään on mahtunut jo paljon vaikeita kokemuksia... Me uskomme, että Taivaan Isä on pitänyt tyttöä kämmenellään nämä kaksi ja puoli vuotta.

Kiitollisia olemme meidän Pikku-Myy ilopilleristämme. Emme oikeasti voi kuvitella elämää ilman häntä. Niin paljon iloa Mei Mei tuo joka päivään. Ihan kaheliahan se oli meidän mennä Kiinaan uudestaan, ja tuoda kuudes (!) lapsi perheeseen, mutta onneksi kuuntelimme Taivaan Isän kutsua. Mikä siunaus ja onni meidän perheelle!

Nyt Mei Mei on toipunut niin hyvin, että olemme päässeet normaaleihin rutiineihin kiinni taas. Mei Mei nukkuu taas yöt hyvin (eka viikko, vähän toinenkin oli rankka). On kotikoulua Pikkuneidin kanssa, palasimme kirkkoon Mei Mein iloksi (ystäviä!), ja kaikki muut tavalliset arjen touhut sujuvat taas. Hyvä päästä arkijuttuihin kiinni juuri ennen joululomaa:)

Mei Mei's First Camping Trip/Mei Mein eka asuntoautoreissu!

We reached a very important milestone in Mei Mei's life last month! Not only did she get a new mouth on the inside (how we explained her cleft palate surgery to Mei Mei), Mei Mei got to go on her very first camping trip in the Mothership!




Because of the circumstances, those two milestones were combined...




Yes, we actually stayed in the Mothership at a campground during Mei Mei's surgery!




We ended up traveling as a mini family, and all five of us stayed in the Mothership one night. Then Mei Mei and mama stayed in the hospital the next night, while the Captain spent the night in the Mothership with Little Miss and Mr A.




I love how our Heavenly Father takes care of all the little (and big!) details in our lives. Our dear friends, the P family, was camping at the same campground that week. We had a wonderful time visiting with them, and Mr A and Little Miss hang out with them a most of Thursday when Mei Mei had her surgery.
(We LOVED the campground decorations at the P site - the green fairy lights were magical! Thanks for all the meals, too, N!)



We so enjoyed our little camping trip, and can't wait to go back, hopefully soon! We have a few favorite campgrounds in Florida, and this is number one in our book.

We do have to iron out some kinks - the sleeping arrangements need to be figured out. The Mothership is so narrow Mei Mei's portacrib won't fit in the hallway, and sleeping next to Little Miss didn't really work out. But we'll think of something:)



As we were leaving the campground the day after Mei Mei's surgery, a little raccoon came out to say hello. Or possibly join our crew?

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Mei Mei pääsi ensimmäiselle asuntoautoreissulleen marraskuussa - yövyimme Mothership'issä ennen leikkausta, ja sen yhden sairaalayön, kun Mei Mei ja mama olimme sairaalassa, Kapteeni yöpyi asuntoautossa Mr A:n ja Pikkuneidin kanssa. Meidän ystävämme olivat samalla leirintäalueella koko viikon (näitä ihania Taivaan Isän ajoituksia!), ja leikkauspäivänä Mr A ja Pikkuneiti hengailivat heidän kanssaan melkein koko päivän.

Niin ihanaa oli pitkästä aikaa olla leirintäalueella ja asuntoautossa, että pian pitää päästä uudestaan. Pitää vaan keksiä paremmat nukkumisjärjestelyt, Mei Mei eikä Pikkuneiti kumpikaan nukkuneet kovin hyvin vierekkäin. Muuten meillä oli oikein kivaa leirintäalueella.

Lähtiessä pieni pesukarhu tuli meitä hyvästelemään, tai kenties olisi tullut mukaan Mothership'iin?