Father's Day

 These 5 kiddos have been abundantly blessed by their heavenly Father for the gift of their earthly father. 

Happy Father's Day to the most amazing Daddy! We love you!

"Happy Birthday, Lindy!"

Our beautiful, big girl turned 6 today! 

This is her first birthday home, and we are so happy to celebrate her precious life together as a family! She decided that she wanted a princess party theme with Rapunzel (her favorite princess) and her favorite colors, yellow and pink. She opened up a Rapunzel costume this morning so that she could wear it at her party. Of course Joy and the cousins were more than happy to join in the dress up fun!

Lindy wanted to eat pizza, watermelon, and yellow princess cupcakes, and she wanted to drink 

pink Cherry 7 Up!

Lindy is not necessarily a fan of being the center of attention. She handled herself very well, though, and we were so proud of our gracious girl. She humbly received her gifts and was very polite. She carried this Rapunzel doll around for the rest of the evening, and she is now safely tucked into bed with her. She was very happy to receive her very own scooter, and she is looking forward to trying it out tomorrow!

We love you, sweet princess Lindy! And we celebrate the wonderful gift of your life!

Arthrogryposis

Arthrogryposis. This is a big, fancy, medical word which means that a person has multiple joint contractures (stiff joints) or dislocated joints in the body at birth also affecting muscle tone and strength. It is often caused by impaired fetal movements in utero, and it is not progressive. Since the day we met Joy, we have wondered if this would be a correct diagnosis for her. We suspected that this diagnosis would shed some light as to why her hip and knee joints are the way they are. Our orthopedic surgeon hasn't been convinced that Joy has arthrogryposis because it often presents itself not only in the leg joints, but also the feet, arms, and hands. In its most severe forms, it affects every joint in the body. Since only Joy's hips and knees are involved and she is fully mobile, our doctor calls Joy an "all star" in this camp. These are pictures of how her legs looked before her surgery a year ago.

And these are recent pictures of her legs. You gotta love the pose! Her right knee was never straight and even hyperextended. Due to surgery it is much straighter, it bends in the right direction, and it is continuing to get more flexible. Her left knee did bend, but not much. With physical therapy and without surgery, it is much more flexible. Both hips were dislocated, and they are now both resting securely in their sockets.

We saw a geneticist this past week who has now confirmed that Joy does has a form of arthrogryposis (there are over 200 types). This news is not surprising to us and is even somewhat anticlimatic. It doesn't change anything that we have already done for Joy medically, nor does it change the physical therapies that we will continue to do. It just helps us to gain a deeper understanding for her condition and the specially made, unique little person she is. God knew exactly what He was doing when He made her! Joy is continuing to make good progress physically, and her cognitive development and growth astound us. So, we continue to move forward encouraging Joy to accomplish her maximum God given potential. We also know that God uses our weaknesses to show His great strength!

"The joy of the Lord is our strength!" Nehemiah 8:10

"Pose Please!"

Mia LOVES to take pictures! And her favorite models on which to practice her photography are, of course, her little sisters. And they are usually more than happy to pose for her! So, here's the latest photo shoot of our little China dolls!

Joy's Braces

We are trying a new system to improve the flexion in Joy's knees. It has now been over a year since her hip surgeries, almost a year since her knee surgery, and 10 months since she came out of her spica cast. We have been doing physical therapy since then to work on her strength, balance, and flexibility. She has come a long way, though the progress is slow. The goal was to get her knees to bend to at least 90 degrees. Currently, her left knee bends to 80 degrees, and her right knee (the one she had surgery on) bends to 70 degrees. So, we are now trying special braces called Dynasplints.

These braces provide tension which can be increased to allow for a slow, passive stretch. It is not painful to wear them, and we are all eager to see how they will work. Joy is excited about her "bracelets" and seems to understand the benefit. When she was being fitted, she was allowed to decorate with stickers! Joy is always such a little trooper, and we are so thankful for her joyful spirit!

We have started her wearing them for short intervals during the day, and we will be working up to having Joy wear them all night for 10-12 hours while she sleeps. Depending on the progress, she may wear them for up to 6 months. Something about this is strangely familiar . . . sitting still, immobile, with lots of arts and crafts. At least now she has a little companion, not to mention that the braces can be removed. You can't do that with a spica!

So, here's to Dynasplints! It is a blessing to have medical options that can help, but whatever the results we know that God is in control. We pray for healing for Joy's little legs, but we also know and trust that God often does His best work through our trials. We pray for strength not only in her legs but more importantly in her heart . . . when we are weak, He is strong!

"His pleasure is not in the strength of the horse, nor His delight in the legs of a man; the Lord delights in those who fear Him, who put their hope in His unfailing love." Psalm 147:10-11

S'mores!

There's nothing like a s'mores fest on Memorial Day weekend! So yummy!!!

"In China . . . "

Lately these are words that Joy has been using often. She will randomly just begin a sentence with "In China I liked salt, but not pepper." "In China I liked ice cream." "In China I played with my friends." "In China I ate rice for breakfast." "In China I had short hair." "In China I had princess bandaids." Some of her statements are probably true, some are probably not. But the fact that she is freely talking about China opens up the dialogue for her to express her thoughts and feelings concerning the place of her birth. I am able to use the opportunities to ask her questions and gather more insight into her memories. She also recently told me . . . "In China they shoot my eye." Now just to get it straight, she is probably remembering when she had eye surgery. She also told me . . . "In China they laugh at me." At first I thought well, she is a funny little thing and keeps us entertained all the time. As I probed her further, she said they laughed when she fell. Stab to my heart. As she opens up about her past pain, it breaks my heart. I wish I could just zap all of her pain away, yet I know that God turns pain into beauty. I am truly thankful that He chose me to be her mommy, to comfort her, love her, and encourage her. She has gone from not wanting to talk about China at all (perhaps it was too painful) to wanting to share her memories. Although she was only 3 years old, her memories (whether accurate or not) are hers.

It is actually amazing to me to be able to have the kind of conversations with Joy that I have. She has a depth to her that is incredible for her age. We were recently talking about when we first met in China. She told me that she was kind of scared of me at first because she didn't know me yet. For her to be able to express her feelings like that was so real, so vulnerable.

I know that the difficult questions are coming, and I honestly have no idea how I will share with her the things that are bound to bring her pain. Yet, God is the One who has written her story. His perfect plan for her life is unfolding. I know that He is sovereign, good, kind, and loving all the time. I pray that Joy will understand this truth and know it deep in her heart. I love this precious girl so much! And I know that her heavenly Father loves her even more!