Funny girl...

Although the past few weeks in our house have been tiring and all about illness, there were a few funny moments that we enjoyed and I wanted to share them!

On our first visit to the doctor, my sick little girl found enough energy to tell off her doctor. When the doctor walked into the room, Maelyn told him, "Go away! You a bad guy!"

Over the past few weeks, our little miss has focused on good verses bad guys in books and movies. In fact, a few nights ago when I said 'no' to her about something, she called me a bad guy too!

Maelyn received a lot of attention when she was sick -- especially when she was sick to her tummy. I hadn't realized how much attention we had given her until she came out with the following -- and please know that our little miss could easily have won an oscar for her performance:

"Mama, owwwww! My tummy hurts!" Drawn out pause and then... "I need cookies."

We killed ourselves laughing as we listened to the moaning and groaning that went along with that statement. What a smartie pants -- she certainly knew what trick to try in order to get her favourite snack. Unfortunately, these comments haven't stopped -- she uses the excuse of her tummy hurting to get out of cleaning up toys, going to bed....you name it, she has tried it!

Maelyn keeps us laughing every day -- she is the light of our lives!

Random Cuteness

Lianne's photo of Bryanna & Maelyn -- love it!!!

Playing with the kitchen set from my own childhood

that Grandpa and I refinished this summer...

"I am three years old, Tatie Martine..."

Addy & Maelyn -- too cute!

I love these two!

Maelyn & Jennie -- showing off their new potty trained skills!

What a week...

I can write this post now that we have all survived the past week. Our poor little miss hasn't been feeling well -- understatement of the century!

Last Sunday morning we went to a park to have our first family photos taken. The weather was beautiful and we were really excited to finally be getting some decent family shots. During the shoot, Maelyn kept telling us that she was tired. I should have known right then and there that she wasn't feeling well -- this kid is NEVER tired! :)

Once we got home I realized that Maelyn had a fever -- and we were preparing for Thanksgiving dinner. After some Tylenol, she seemed to feel a lot better and played with everyone all evening.

The next day, however, she had a higher fever and didn't look very good. I could tell that her tummy wasn't feeling very well and we ended up dealing with our first bout of the stomach flu.

The poor kid had the worst week -- stomach flu, ear infection, bladder infection, and chest cold. After our second visit to the doctor, Maelyn was put on antibiotics. The poor kid ate almost nothing all week and spent all day watching movies and cuddling with Mama.

On Saturday morning Maelyn started vomiting again and her fever spiked to 104. We took her to the hospital and they looked her over. By this point I was frustrated and scared that she had had a high fever for seven days. They told us to hold out and give the antibiotics one more day to kick in and start working. Finally, that night, her fever broke.

Maelyn has started to improve over the past few days -- she has even started to eat a little each day. Poor little thing felt so sick for way too long -- too hard on this Mama's heart!

I am grateful Maelyn's health has improved and even more grateful that she is going to daycare tomorrow! :)

Update...

Some of you may have noticed my absence from the blogging world over the past few weeks. The absence was not intentional and I have missed my bloggy friends and writing outlet! Let me catch you up on what has been going on around here lately...

First and foremost, the transition from stay-at-home-mom to working parent has been HARD!! Wow -- I can't believe how crazy it has been to try and get used to being both teacher and mom. I don't know how people do it!! I had my school routine set for the past eight years -- now my entire routine has changed and I am trying to find my new groove.

Just as I was settling into our new routine, I received a call that it was going to change yet again.

After many weeks of waiting, I was fortunate enough to receive approval from my insurance company for coverage of the Remicade treatment for my Crohn's disease. The ball started rolling and I received a call from the specialized pharmacy. They spent quite awhile going over the in's and out's of the treatment and answering any questions I had.

The first three doses of the infusion are given close together and are called the 'loading doses.' I will go to a clinic and be hooked up to a machine for four hours -- much like a dialysis treatment. Because the whole intention of the infusions are to block my immune system, I am going to be quite vulnerable to any illness -- which means school is too germy a place for me to be. Sooooo -- I was told, without much warning, that I would need to take a six week leave of absence from school. Jeesh!! The year had just started and the idea of leaving my class stressed me out completely. However, I really, really, need this treatment to work -- so I am taking the time off to ensure that I am rested and do my best to stay clear of any germs that might interrupt my treatment.

My leave of absence officially started today. I have to admit that I am grateful for the break. Feeling sick almost every day, going to doctor appointments two to three days a week, being hospitalized for four days at a time and being there for Maelyn has me completely stretched to the limit. I am looking forward to doing my best to feel better and kick this Crohn's into remission.

Stay tuned for many updates over the next six weeks as I catch up on the many, many posts that are already written in my head and simply need to be transferred to virtual paper. :)

Full Moon Festival

"The Chinese Moon Festival is on the 15th of the 8th lunar month. It's also known as the Mid-autumn Festival. Chinese culture is deeply imbedded in traditional festivals. Just like Christmas and Thanksgiving in the West, the Moon Festival is one of the most important traditional events for the Chinese.

The Moon Festival is full of legendary stories. Legend says that Chang Er flew to the moon, where she has lived ever since. You might see her dancing on the moon during the Moon Festival. The Moon Festival is also an occasion for family reunions. When the full moon rises, families get together to watch the full moon, eat moon cakes, and sing moon poems. Even if family members cannot be together, they can still enjoy the night by watching the moon at the same time, so it seems that they are together at that hour."

The moon cake is the food for the Moon Festival. Moon cakes are eaten at night with the full moon in the sky. Here is a picture of a typical moon cake:

We were thrilled to be able to spend the Moon Festival with our friends and to begin what we hope is a yearly tradition.

At the beginning of the festivities, the kids took advantage of the warm weather

and enjoyed playing outside...

Auntie Lianne entertaining Maelyn...

Getting ready to enjoy some Chinese food for dinner...

My first moon cake cookies -- they were a success!

Maelyn was a lucky little girl and received birthday gifts from friends who hadn't

been able to make it to her birthday party...

After dinner I set up the table with the crafts -- and the kids made beautiful lanterns! Once they were finished and we had our glow sticks and bracelets in place, we headed outside for our walk around the neighbourhood.

Trying to get a picture with all seven kids looking at the camera...

The Moon Festival is for spending time with those that you love. We were lucky enough to be able to spend time with our wonderful friends, who are more like family, and feel blessed that they are a part of our lives.

Happy Moon Festival to all of our family and friends!

Apple Picking

We spent a gloriously sunny day at Applewood Farm -- our favourite place to pick apples, select pumpkins and indulge in some of our favourite treats.

 Maelyn loved the sheep...

Our little miss absolutely loves heights and therefore spent a lot of time playing on the

bails of hay that were there to climb...

Yummy!!

Papaq helped Maelyn reach the apples that were waaay up high..

Lunch....

Dessert...

Choosing her very own pumpkin...

We had a ton of family fun spending the day together -- beautiful memories!

Paperwork to China!

After a long week, I arrived home on Friday evening to a message on our machine from our adoption agency. Our China dossier translation is finished and she was calling to let us know that our paperwork is on its way to China!!! Wow! This is the last leg of the paperwork journey on our end -- no more paperwork for awhile. :)

What is unbelievable is that we should have an official log in date from China within the next few weeks -- and then we are open for a referral!! We could receive our referral as early as October, but my guess is by the end of December. Because Maelyn and our little monkey have to be at least 18 months apart in age (Ontario's rules), we are waiting for a referral for a child of about 19 - 20 months. Many of the children who are being matched with families right now are a little older than that, which means that we will most likely be waiting a few extra months to be matched.

It is all moving so quickly -- which is such great news!! We have begun our journey to our little monkey -- what a blessing!