100 Good Wishes Quilt ~Last Call!

Some of the pieces that we have already received, do you see yours here?

The time has come. I am sending out one last announcement requesting quilt squares for Myah's 100 Good Wishes Quilt. I started asking for squares right after receiving her referral (almost 2 years ago, yikes!). I really wanted to wait until I saw her face before I started this special project for her. I didn't realize that our TA would arrive so quickly and before we knew it we were told to plan on leaving in a week! As you can imagine, I put this on the back burner for a while, I have been so busy since bringing her home! I have several very special squares and notes already but I would like to have a few more (or alot more, whichever is the case!) in order to complete it. I have had a few people send me squares recently and I think this would be the perfect time to finish what I started! I also got the bug to finish it after Grandma passed away in November, she was a wonderful quilter and we each have quilts that she made for us, except for Myah. After going through her belongings, we found the original note that she wrote to Myah. She wanted Phyllis to re-write on good stationary because she didn't think her handwriting was pretty enough. I think you know which note I will use now! I know the next few weeks will be difficult for Myah so I thought this might be a good way to cheer her up, she loves getting things in the mail! So if you would like to participate please follow the instructions below. I just cut and pasted the information that I had on my baby jelly beans site 2 years ago so forgive me if some things are out of date! A few of you have asked about her initials, she has a few (wink), but we use MWS. Myah Wen Li Fei S(mylastname) is her full name, Wen Ting was her first name in China and I loved that I could use a W because both Mark and Dayton have "W"'s for their middle initial as well. Actually, she has the same initials as Mark and I love that! It is funny because out of all of the letters in the alphabet, she loves to find "W"'s!

I can't wait to see what you pick! The next order of business is finding someone to quilt it for me! Any suggestions? This would be a great time for me to learn how to sew! Ok, you can stop laughing any time now! Hope to hear from you! I know I won't get to this project right away, if you could get them to me by the end of March I would appreciate it.

These are the instructions for the 100 Good Wishes Quilt that we sent out before Myah arrived. We would love to have you participate. Please email Leslie at daysmom@charter.net to request our address.
Dear family and friends:
While we are waiting for the arrival of Myah we are working on a project that we would appreciate your assistance with. We are creating a “100 Good Wishes Quilt”.

To welcome and celebrate new life, there is a tradition in the Northern part of China to make a Bai Jia Bei, or “100 Good Wishes Quilt”. The custom is to invite 100 people to contribute a single square patch of cloth. The 100 patches are sewn together into a quilt that contains the good wishes from all the family and friends who contributed a piece of fabric. The quilt is passed down from generation to generation. We would love to have our family and friends send us a square, but please don’t feel like you have to:

Here is what you do:

Choose any 100% cotton fabric that you like. It can be from a piece of clothing or the fabric store.
2. Cut one 9” square that will be used to make a quilt.

On a sheet of paper or note card, write out a “good wish note” along with your name. Attach a SMALL piece of the same fabric to the note. The notes will be placed in a scrapbook which we will give to Myah when she is older. She will be able to read your good wishes and then find your square on her quilt.

Ideas for Selecting Fabric Squares:

-Select a fabric that is meaningful to you.

-100% cotton fabric is best, as it washes and wears better.

-If there are several members of your family, please feel free to send more than one good wish note and piece of fabric. In China , these quilts were originally made from the garments of family and friends surrounding the child with their good wishes.

Idea for Good Wishes Note: What would you wish for Myah to have in her life? Is there a prayer or anything else you would like to share with her? You may also want to include the reason you chose the fabric.

It would be great to get the fabric soon before Myah comes home. The adoption of Myah has been prayed for and nurtured by so many of you, and it will be incredibly meaningful to have you be a part of this.

Does the Tooth Fairy make exceptions?

Because I know a little girl who would love to wake up and find a dollar under her pillow as a reward her for being such a good little patient today! Myah did really well today. She started to cry for me when they went to take her back but I reassured her that she would be just fine. I was prepared to hold her in my lap if I had to but the dental assitant was able to make friends with her and convince her that a new ring would be hers afterwards. Away she went! After a half hour one of the assistants called us back and informed us that the two fillings that they were going to do today didn't go as they had planned and they had to put a crown on one of the teeth. We knew she was going to have to get another crown put on next week in addition to another filling but we were a bit dissapointed and saddened that she needed to have two. It is really strange to see a 2 year old laugh with a silver crown in her mouth. We really love our dentist and are so thankful that we found such a great office, he even kissed Myah on the head and apologized for putting her through so much today. She came to us with a big wad of cotton in her mouth and she looked like she had been crying. Just broke our hearts! She has been pretty cranky all day long since the procedure. I can't blame her, he had to dig into her gums in order to put the crown on. So we will see how next week goes, I hope she will cooperate now that she knows what to expect. She had laughing gas in order to get the shots and he reassured us that she felt no pain. She has thanked me so much today for taking her to the dentist. She hugs me and says "momma, I love you so much for the dentist".

It was sweet today when she was reaching for me to comfort her. Those of you who have adopted a toddler will understand. Tonight it was a first for me as well as I was tucking her into bed I sat there rubbing her head and giving her kisses like I always do, and I started to sing to her, this time she started smiling at me and asked me to do it again and again, and again. It was so sweet because this is the first time that she has let me sing to her, normally she doesn't like it, I am sure it is my voice (wink)! I am sure today was a bit traumatic for her, I am so thankful though that we are getting these issues taken care of. We are keeping an eye on another tooth on the top of her mouth now that looks suspicious. I have a feeling we are going to be "good customers" at the Dentist office. As we left today I told Mark that she has had more dental work done today than I have my whole life, I have one cavity! I thought I would share a few pictures of how our little princess looked today. She layed around for quite a while afterwards. I think her mouth was pretty numb for a while and it really bothered her. She asked me to take it (the numbness) away. The dentist told her that her tooth was getting a new hat, she thinks the tooth is gone. Well, daddy is off to work for the first time in 3 weeks, so we are praying that she has a good nights sleep! We'll see! Thanks for your concern and love for Myah, we sure appreciate it! P.S. We are expecting yet another snow storm tonight! If I see another flake I might just become one! (Be nice now! I know I am pretty flaky to begin with!). Seriously people, we have had one of the snowiest and coldest winters that I can remember, I can't remove the Christmas deer in my front yard because they are frozen in the ground!

It is a good thing they give out trinkets!

It amazes me what Myah will do for a free pencil, sparkly toothpaste, a little ring, some stickers and a new toothbrush. I hope this will be enough incentive to encourage her to be a good girl at the dentist and doctor's offices. On Monday we start the first round of her dental work, the following Monday we do the rest ( and Dayton has all of his allergy and asthma testing in the afternoon). And yesterday we learned that the tonsils and adenoids (sp?) are coming out! I have to call on Tuesday to schedule the surgery, probably will be done in a few weeks. The ENT took one look at her enormous tonsils and said "yeah, they are huge!" He said they base them on a scale of 1 to 4 and hers were a 4 plus! I knew it! Don't ever stop listening to that mother's instinct on things, I once heard Oprah say that your instincts are usually the voice of God, I do believe it! I just didn't feel like our pediatrician was giving our concerns any validation at all. I won't get into all that our Doctor has done this past year to make us question her practice, I am just so thankful for our new Doctor, she took one look at both Dayton and Myah and reassured me that there is alot she can do for them. I can't express on here what a relief it is to Mark and I.
The ENT assured us that Myah would feel much better. To be honest, I am not sure if she "feels" bad, she is a tough cookie, she hardly cries when she is really hurt! However she is very irritable and snores very loudly at night, I doubt she gets a good nights rest. We had her sleeping in our room the other night because her new big girl bed wasn't ready just yet, and Mark had to put a fan right by his head in order to drown out our little princess! She can snore!!! I am praying that having her tonsils and adenoids removed it will take the edge off of her as well. I have seen so many glimpses lately of a very sweet caring little girl, after talking to the doctor's and other parents, I have to believe that alot of her "spicy" characteristics stem from not feeling well. We'll see!! We will have to stay a night in the hospital with her, only because she is under 3 years old.
So if you would just please say an extra little prayer for Myah over the next few weeks, I know that these aren't life threatening illnesses or anything like that but nonetheless, they are scary to her and she isn't allowed to take any aspirin like meds before having the surgery, so I am praying that her teeth won't hurt after the procedures because I can't give her anything for the pain. Good thing I didn't hang up my nurses hat just yet! Mark is going to try to go back to work on Monday night, his eyes are still healing but they are looking better every day! And on the bright side, there is the most adorable little coffee/snack bar inside of our new Doctor's building, it is a brand new facility and is just beautiful! They have great magazines for sale, and you know how I love my magazines! I am sad aren't I?

Thankful Thursday

Lighthouse at South Haven on Lake Michigan! Brrrrr!!!!

I have missed the past few Thursdays, I have so much to be thankful for! I thank all of you for your prayers and support for Mark's eye surgery, he is doing very well, his eyes are getting better every day, he has already seen a major improvement in his double vision and in time it should be gone completely! We have layed pretty low around here for the past few weeks, cabin fever is setting in for sure! Come on Spring!!!!!
I am thankful for....

-Mark, for being such a good patient, I am so glad that you are feeling and looking better! We have all enjoyed getting to spend this extra special time with you. I don't think Myah is going to like it when you go back to work!

-Dayton, for numerous reasons, you have been my right hand man lately and I love you for it. For riding along with me on Monday so I didn't have to go alone, you are so thoughtful!

-Myah, for being such a good girl while Mommy has had her hands full! You have made us laugh so much lately, I love the sweet little girl you are becoming. For saying " I love you soooo much!

-For my mom, for coming down and helping us with the kids. Mark loves his new jammies and has lived in them!

-For my sister Melanie and the goodies that she sent down for us, for the delicious meals and pie!!!

-For our family members who have sent donations to Dayton for his Cooperstown fundraising! We appreciate your support!

-For Jerry, thank you so much for just showing up to shovel our driveway, I sure appreciated it!

-For the phone calls, messages, prayers and cards that Mark and I received, it feels good to be loved!

-For the wonderful Chinese New Year gifts that Myah received from good friends.

-For finally finding a terrific pediatrician! I love our new Doctor! It was hard leaving our other Doctor but it was time for a change!

-For pepto bismol, I have been having some stomach issues lately!

-For the sunshine pouring through the window panes, even though it is freezing outside, it feels good to "see" the sun again! Is Spring ever going to get here? It has been a really rough winter!

-For the snow plow driver who plowed my mail box (and 2 others) over, I am not angry really! Now we can get 3 matching mailboxes in my yard instead of 3 mis-matched!

-For my new Vera Bradley bag, I chose the curvy tote in the the Raspberry Fizz fabric! I love it!!! Thanks honey!

-For my little space heater, I literally sit right in front of it on cold days!

-For the ability to just let things go for the past few weeks, it is an uphill battle to keep up when all 4 of us are home!

-For the beautiful bedroom set that I finally found for Myah, I have been looking for about 3 years! And it was in my budget, even better!

-For the pictures from Kristina of Morgan after her cleft lip surgery! She looks amazing!

-For Aunt Bev, she went and volunteered at the orpahanage where Mark's grandpa lived until he was adopted. It is now a home for boys, her church did repairs and gave donations to the home.

-For my super organized bedroom closet, one thing that I have accomplished lately!

-For the Sears repairman who is coming tomorrow to fix my ice maker! I miss it terribly!

-For sleep, I am in need of it and am thankful for it when I get it!

-For our upcoming appointment on Friday with the ENT, hopefully we will get some news about Myah's tonsils!

-For the beautiful Spring issues of my favorite magazines arriving in my mailbox!

-For the fun night we spent in South Haven with my sister and her family!

-For my quick visit with Sheri and Sarah (and family) I love friends that let you just drop by because you are in the area!
-For the earlier sunrises and the later sunsets! I love waiting for the bus in the sunlight instead of darkness!

Sorry this sounds so choppy, I am trying to stay awake! It is late but I want to get this done!! Can anyone relate? Ha !!!

Happy Valentine's Day

Today I decided that I was getting Mark out of the house after being cooped up inside for a week no matter what it took! I took him into town today, and did really romantic things like got the car washed, went to the bank, he sat in the car while I went into the store, ya know really mushy gushy stuff like that! At the end of the day we picked Dayton up after school, and went to Outback for dinner, we sat in a booth way in the back of the restaurant and it was really dimly lit so Mark didn't feel uncomfortable with people staring at his eyes. It was wonderful! It has been a long time since we have been out together so it was really special. Then when we came home I broke out the new chocolate fountain that I got for Christmas and we had a blast dipping our fruit and poundcake into the warm chocolate! It was delicious!!!!! I was so excited when Mark informed me that tomorrow I can go and pick out a new Vera Bradley bag! I usually get one while we are on vacation in Florida but it doesn't look like we will be going this year due to all of the medical issues with our family, so I will go to my favorite local VB dealer tomorrow and try and decided which one I want the most! I love them all! Here are a few pictures from our sweet night at home with our favorite valentines!

Valentine's Day Party at School

Today Myah had her Ready Set Play class and she was so excited to celebrate Valentine's Day with her friends. We had a snow day last week so we weren't really sure what to do about a party, I bought some cookies and made valentines for Myah to give out just in case. It was so sweet watching her make her little bag to put her valentines in, she was very proud of it to say the least! She has carried her candy around all day long! (these are taken with my little camera, I am not impressed at all with the quality but it is more convenient for days like this)

Here she is proudly showing off her Valentine's bag

This is Myah's friend Lauren, her daddy and Myah's daddy work together!

She just loves her friend Joni, and I just love Joni's mommy Jenny!

She always looks so forward to snack time!

Myah's First Concert...well, sort of~

Annabelle and Chloe with Ralph!
Miss Myah with the speakerphone
She knows all of the moves from watching the dvd
"Daddy, don't you like Ralph's World?"

A few months ago my sister Melanie called me with the exciting news that she had tickets to take all of the girls to the Ralph's World concert at the local theater in our hometown. I was so excited, our girls just LOVE his music and dvd's, actually Myah watches his dvd while I am driving all of the time, he is her favorite! When we learned that Mark's surgery would be that week, I put Mel on standby just in case I could make it, honestly, I forgot all about it! I would have had to take Myah up north (2 hour drive) and leave Mark home, I just did not feel comfortable at all doing that so we opted to stay home. Melanie took the girls and was able to get this picture with Ralph and got Myah an autographed book. She called during the concert and we put it on speakerphone so that Myah could hear it, she was listening very intently, she thought he was at Aunt Mel's house and kept saying " I want to go to Aunt Mel's!!!" It was so funny! She even started dancing to the music. Mel said that Annabelle and Chloe just loved it and Annabelle even got to go up on stage at the end. I wish we could have made it but hopefully he will return again someday!

Chinese New Year

Myah and her gifts from her special Hubei angel.

Dayton and Myah with their red envelopes and money for the New Year.
Whitney and Myah sharing the love! They love each other so much!
L-R: Ruby, Ellie, Myah and Sarah

This year we just layed pretty low on Chinese New Year, due to Mark's surgery the day before. I had decorated the dining room for Myah and we ended up inviting our good friends over just for a short visit to share in the festivities of the day with us. Myah and Whitney wore their silk dresses from China and I gave the kids all red envelopes with money in them. We tried a few sweets that I had bought at the local Chinese market, and had to throw away the rice cake that I had purchased due to mold! I guess I was supposed to keep it refrigerated, some things get lost in translation! We gave Myah new clothes for the New Year and we gave both of the kids red envelopes with money in them, this is the traditional gift for Chinese children. Myah got a dollar bill and is still walking around carrying her "fifty dollars". So funny! We have a very special lady in our lives whom we have never met, she works with my neighbor and knew of our adoption through her. She happens to be from Hubei (same Province as Myah) and makes sure to send a gift home with Linda to give to us on every Chinese holiday. Some gifts were from her family, handed down through generations. We feel very blessed to have such a special person in Myah's life. We plan on meeting one of these days! She is a Dr and is very busy! This year she sent Myah the most beautiful fans, a traditional Chinese candy sampler and a special gift from the Beijing Olympics. So thoughtful and meaningful. (Last year she gave Myah the beautiful Frienship Knots in the picture above). Myah also received a very special package from our friends the Smith's in Wisconsin, they sent her the cutest ladybug dress and shirts and capris, along with some coloring sheets with the New Year theme for Myah to color. Thank you Sherry! It is so nice to be able to continue these traditions for Myah and to celebrate her heritage.

We also had a great time this past Tuesday as we reunited with our adoption buddies. I just love these ladies and those little girls so much! We were in the same adoption group through our agency. Laura had sent out an email to all 12 families almost immediately after our dossiers were sent to China. Sheri and I answered and the three of us met for the first time and began our very speical friendship. Robin joined in the fun a few months later and the 4 of us became "adoption buddies" and rode the adoption roller coaster together. I will never forget the day of referrals, we were all able to go to the office together and share in that special day, it was one of the most precious days of my life. We were so bummed when we learned that our group was split in half, we were glad that each of us had a buddy in the same Province to provide support to each other. We will be lifelong friends I have no doubt! We have shared some amazing experiences together and the girls will always have each other! I miss them so much and love it when we can hook up! Laura lives near me and Robin and Sheri live near each other, so we each have a buddy close by as well. The girls are growing up so much, this was the first time that each of their personalities really shined, it was so much fun! I "borrowed" Sheri's pictures because my new little camera didn't capture the moment very well.

Mark is doing better, still bloodshot and sore. He is a bit dizzy and nauseas due to his eyes adjusting. He is hanging in there, he never complains but I can tell he isn't feeling really great. I am keeping up with the day to day but that is just about it! The snow can stop falling any time now, I am really sick of snowblowing and shoveling! Just adds to my responsibilities! We actually cooked today, we have been heating up meals that were prepared and it has been so nice, I was pretty prepared this time! The kids are being so good and Myah loves taking care of daddy and his "hurt eyes". I love nothing more than taking care of my family, I enjoy making them comfortable. Thanks for the prayers and well wishes, he is starting to get bored and the calls are nice! I am off to turn up the thermostat, it is supposed to get very bitter cold tonight!

Happy Chinese New Year and Mark's surgery

First of all I want to wish everyone a very Happy Chinese New Year! Myah is very excited about eating her special Chinese dishes and candy today! Secondly, I want to thank everyone for your sweet emails and comments sending your good well wishes and prayers for Mark, we truly appreciate all of the support. He is home and resting, very swollen and bloody eyes but his humor is still in tact (of course) and he is relieved to have the surgery over with. The surgery went very well, it was a long day, it is a two part procedure and they can't give him proper pain medication until after the second process is completed. So for about 5 hours after surgery he can't have any pain management. He was in terrible pain this time, he didn't come out of recovery until 2 hours later, I was beginning to get concerned, but they reassured me that they were just trying to make him comfortable. I actually cried when I saw him, his head was bandaged and he couldn't see, added to that the fact that he was in so much pain, made my heart just sink. I cannot say enough about the wonderful Dr's and nurses, they were so compassionate and took very good care of him. His vision will still be a bit blurred and possibly still double for a while but that should get better once his brain gets used to the new eye position. He actually had the surgery on both eyes, we knew that they would do a small procedure to the left eye but did not realize that both eyes needed the muscle repair. It was a long day and we just wanted to get home, unfortunately I had to drive home in a horrible snow storm, it took me 2 hours to get home from Ann Arbor, it ususally takes me 25 minutes. I was a nervous wreck by the time I got home, it was so nice to have my mom here! Dayton actually had a snow day yesterday and also today so it worked out perfectly having him home to help out Grandma. The roads were so terrible last night I just prayed the whole way home, poor Mark was so out of it and uncomfortable, and I just could not get anywhere fast. Our neighbors could not even get into their driveway, they were stuck! Bless Dayton's heart, he snow blowed our driveway so that I could pull in, we have never taught him how to use it before! I was cracking up! My mom went home today, they received 18 inches of snow yesterday so I am praying for her safe travels. The kids just loved spending the past few days with her, we hated to see her leave! Well, I am off to play nurse for my sweet patient, hope you all have a great time celebrating the New Year!

I will return!

****see below for Myah's dental update:
I am typing this from a borrowed laptop, wouldn't you know it that when you really need your computer, it needs a nap! We are taking mine in today to hopefully get fixed. We are rushing around like mad these last and next few days in order to get prepared for Mark's eye surgery on Wednesday, and it is like going one step forward and two steps back. We need to do our taxes on line before he can't see very well for 3 weeks, so that is on the agenda today. In addition to turning our van in (lease), and Myah's dreaded dentist appointment today. Please pray that she cooperates! I am so excited that tomorrow I get to see my adoption buddies! Myah and I can't wait! Then my mom comes down for a few days!! Yeah, I love having her visit! Bless her heart for helping me out with the kiddos. I went to a local Chinese store yesterday and purchased some items to decorate the house for Chinese New Year, and bought a few traditional "foods" to try. I went to the same place last year and they are just so sweet, I will have to post pictures of my dining room later, I decorated it for the holiday and Myah is just loving it!
Please say a prayer for my Mark, I know he isn't looking forward to having this done again, but I have seen a huge decline in his eyes over the past few weeks so I know it is time. It will help and it will be worth it in the end.
I also have to please ask that you say an extra special prayer for a family friend Jason who was just diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor last week, ( we just learned it is stage 4 cancer). He is 29 years old, has two little children, his daughter is in my niece Annabelle's ballet class. Jason's big sister Dawn was my sister Melanie's best friend growing up and Jason is a very good friend of my brother in law Eric. In a small town, everyone knows each other! When Jason's mom Darlene was pregnant with him, my sister was in Kindergarten with Dawn. My mom went to conferences and the teacher congratulated my mom on the "good news", evidently my sister Melanie wanted our mom to be pregnant as well and spread the rumor that my mom was pregnant too!! We still laugh about that! It does not sound very good for Jason right now, they did a biopsy last Thursday and the tumor is the worst that the Dr. has ever seen, very entangled around his brain. It is just heartwrenching to see this family experience such pain. Jason was just telling my sister about the headaches/migraines he was having, never expecting this kind of outcome. Please pray for a miracle at this point. He was very excited about being the new head coach of the baseball team this spring, he was always on Eric's teams growing up, they were even on the state runner up baseball team together, he is very athletic and talented! Thanks so much for your prayers!!!!
*we just arrived home from the pediatric dentist, Myah did very well! Behavior wise that is, her teeth aren't so great. She has dental hypoplacia, her teeth were not formed correctly in utero probably due to improper prenatal care, ( see my tears), and she has to go back in a few weeks to have a crown put on her decayed tooth and 3 fillings put on her other teeth. I am so thankful that we found this awesome dentist, he was wonderful and so were all of his staff, they fell in love with Myah and I know that she is in good hands. We will do the fillings on the one side one week and then the crown and other filling the next week. The dentist himself was adopted and was so informative and compassionate. I told Mark on the way home that I am so glad that we are able to get her the care she needs. The dentist also agreed that her tonsils were huge and was glad to hear that we were going to an ENT , we told him his name and he told us he really likes him. So that is next on our agenda. Myah was very proud of her little bag of loot today, she came carrying it out like she had just won the lottery! Other than that they said that we have been taking very good care of her teeth and to keep up the good work! The hygenist thanked us for sharing Myah with her today, she said Myah was just "yummy!" I thought that was soooo sweet!

31 Months Old Today

She loved meeting Mrs. W.

While Dayton is at school we will play with all of his stuff!
Looking up to Uncle Scott
I love her expression while looking in the huge mirrors at Mrs. W's house

A little static cling in the morning, those darn hats!
Dayton and his best bud Brandon played keep away from Myah! She loved it!
Until Brandon made her mad and she put him in jail (notice the hands behind his back!)
Cousins playing dress up!


Ok, I feel bad, I have not posted a monthly update in quite a while, we are in the 30's now! I feel like Myah is really growing up lately. She now weighs 29 lbs. and is 36" tall. She just amazes me with her vocabulary, we can pretty much understand everything that she is saying and can hold a conversation with her. She has the gift of gab, I just don't know where that comes from (wink)! She is starting to sing, I just love listening to her, she can sing all of twinkle twinkle little star and almost all of her ABC's. I must credit Daddy with teaching her the ABC's. She also loves listening to Dayton's "hi-pod" music, she cracks us up when she hears a song on the radio that she knows one of us likes she will yell out "Mommy's song, or Daddy's song or Dayton's song" and she is right! We are so glad that Miss Tiffany was able to add us to the class list this week, the class had filled up very quickly and I had to wait a few weeks to see if there was room for Myah. She was so excited to be back, we pulled up to the school and she squealed "My-nah's school!!!!". She calls herself My-nah by the way. We call her My-nah China as a nickname. Her strong willed personality still rears its ugly head but she is on a whole doing much better with "going with the flow". I realized the other night when we saw little Morgan that Myah was never that bubbly, giggly little baby like Morgan (and many others are). From the moment she was placed in our arms, she has kept us on our toes, trying to figure out what makes her happy. Sometimes it is very exhausting if I can be honest. I love this little girl with all of my heart and soul but sometimes she can push buttons I didn't know that I had! She is always one step ahead of me, I could never tell you ahead of time what her next move is going to be. For example, the big girl bed issue. She would not stay in it at all, she would not stay in her crib either so I got rid of it, there was not enough space in her bedroom for both of them, besides, I had to pull her crib away from EVERYTHING so that she would not mess with it. She would throw everything out of her crib anyhow. And take all of her clothes off. She has been sleeping in her pack and play for a month now, just so I can confine her a bit. I caught her playing in her closet and heard her fall after trying to climb up her closet shelves. So this week I decided that she was going to stay in her big girl bed, she came up with the notion that there are monsters on the floor so she won't get down. They must be nice monsters because she laughs about it. But it worked so I went along with it. And she has done beautifully with it. Until today. I caught her on the floor during nap and she had stripped the bed of its sheets and pulled the comforter out of the duvet cover, it was all unbuttoned. I don't know how she does it, again, back to the whole Houdini thing! So we get the good with the bad on most days.
I have to say though despite all of her crazy little antics, she is becoming a little sweetheart as well. I have to be some influence on her right?!! I love that she is feeling compassion for others, I see it when one of us gets hurt, she will run up and pat our back and say "Ok?" And she is starting to share much better than before. Except with her big brother of course, do they ever outgrow that? The love between her and Dayton is just heartwarming, he will beg to go and give her kisses while she sleeps, and she loves to give him goodnight hugs and kisses everynight. She can sure boss him around when she wants to! The girly girl in her is really starting to emerge as well, she loves tutu's purses, babies, and dress up. She is also starting to dance when the music is on, she has the funniest little moves, remember Elaine from Seinfeld, well, they share the same dance moves. She loves to climb, the other night she was on top of Dayton's loft bed, hiding I might add. I have to be on my game at all times with her! I love her for it though! She is her own person and she knows what she wants! She really loves to watch Toy Story, I still have the original Buzz Lightyear and Woody that were Dayton's and she plays with them all of the time. The other day I caught her at the top of the stairs with Buzz in her hands yelling "to infinity and beyond", I rescued Buzz before he met his demise! She also loves to watch Curious George, Sesame Street (her favorite character is "monster cookie"), and Charlie and Lola. We love watching her imagination at work, she is so funny, we love that she is really getting a sense of humor, it definatly helps in this family!

Well, that kind of sums up little Myah in a nutshell for now, we are constantly amazed at her changes and the degree of security she feels with us now, she knows that we are her family and that this is her safe haven. Nothing melts our hearts more than when she hugs us and tell us that she loves us or misses us, we have worked and waited so hard and long for her to accept us unconditionally and it has truly been worth every moment that we waited.