A Year Ago

A year ago today at 5:30 p.m. while I was making turkey tacos, we got "The Call" and saw these pictures of our son minutes later. I still remember the shock when Pam said, "I have a little boy who needs a mommy!" Our medical checklist had just been submitted and accepted 8 days prior on June 16th. It typically doesn't happen that fast, but we were open to either a boy or girl this being our first child. CCAI received a new list of Waiting Children on June 18th, my birthday...and Mu Shi Tian, now Ty Jameson MuShi, was the best present ever in that list of children waiting for forever families. We celebrated tonight with turkey tacos to remember this amazing day and amazing gift from God!

We Are Alive

Sorry everyone for not updating in a while...I hear you. We have been back from Texas for a week and a half now, but life has been busy. My time on the computer has been dominated by data entry help for a coworker (hopefully I will still have a job come July 1...crazy Illinois politics. Gov. wants to cut social services, including early childhood (ME!) which is DEADLY!) I have lovely pictures to post from our trip to Texas (I will give you a sneak peak of one moment) and lots of cute Tyisms. The little guy is getting cuter and funnier each day. And of course, our new floor. It still isn't done. It is in, but touch ups need to be done and it is driving me crazy. I am ready to have my house in order and decorate. Oh course one project leads to another. I have always despised our indoor light fixtures and our new floor is calling them to be replaced SOON.

Auf Wiedersehen Vinyl Flooring

"The crud!"

The time is now approaching as I can say goodbye to the dreaded white vinyl flooring that has given me nightmares these soon to be 4 years. We have so many people come through our house each week between therapists, friends and house church family... the floors need to go bye-bye. We have marks that will not go away and I have tried every safe cleaning product possible along with finally using bleach. But no, the brown crud enjoys the comfort of our home and refuses to leave. Thanks to our friend Guy, he will be house sitting and installing new laminate floors in our kitchen, laundry, 1/2 bath and dining room while we are on vacation visiting family at Mo Ranch in Texas!

Mr. Bluebird

Ty used to be an extreme drooler, a common occurrence for some cleft kids, until Mr. Bluebird came along. He is a Jiggler, a "fun facial and oral massager" our speech therapist gave us to try. It has taken Ty a few weeks to warm up to Mr. Bluebird and his vibrating, tickling motion, but alas, he has become a favorite friend. From our understanding, Mr. Bluebird has stimulated Ty's facial nerve endings and he is more aware of his drooling. It hasn't stopped, but is less of an ordeal. In fact, I find Ty wiping his drool or a little reminder from me works. Our speech therapist also suggested we buy sweat bands for Ty to wear on his wrists to wipe the drool. This too is a process we are getting him used to. I refuse to have my 2 year old continue to wear bibs, but just last night, Ty grabbed one from his drawer and insisted he wear it to bed. I think the little guy got so used to wearing bibs, they became part of his identity. He realized he hasn't worn one in a month or so.

Mr. Bluebird doing a circle dance on the floor.

Ty biting Mr. Bluebirds plume.

Yes he needs a diaper change, but that is a different post.

Mr. Bluebird gets to drink from his Nuby.

The Birthday Cakes

Since we were not around for Ty's 1st birthday, we decided to celebrate it at his 2nd birthday party. We had a monkey theme since he is obsessed with monkeys and climbs like one, but I did not have your traditional cakes. For his first birthday cake, I made monkey bread with lots of butter, brown sugar, cinnamon and biscuits. It was delicious! For his 2nd birthday, I made banana bread cupcakes and decorated them with vanilla wafers, raisins, white chocolate chips and red icing. We had a decorating production line that consisted of my MIL and Troy. I think they turned out really cute and they were a hit. I do not have many pictures of his party since I was running around with my head cut off, but a gentleman was taking pictures and is going to share them with me, so I will have more to post at a later date.

The 2nd birthday monkey cupcakes.

The monkey bread complete with a "1" candle and monkey.