Happy Holidays, Everyone!!

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Hi all,

We hope you're having a wonderful holiday season. It's been hectic, as usual, but we're enjoying ourselves! We spent Christmas Eve at home with Grandma and Grandpa Lee, visited our friends Maya and Graeme across the street, then tomorrow morning it's off to The Villages to see Papa/Rea!

Emily and David made their first gingerbread men cookies today. They really enjoyed themselves. And believe it or not, cleanup actually required a vacuum cleaner to suck up all the flour!

Yum! Decorating them was great fun, although we almost needed the vacuum again!

BTW, David saw his cardiologist yesterday, who pronounced him healthy. He's down to only 3 heart anomaliles (a murmur, a tiny hole, and reversed blood flow into the right chamber), so we're happy. It was amazing seeing an ultrasound of his tiny heart. I saw all 4 chambers with the little valves opening and closing rapidly. David wasn't too happy, but a couple of cookies later he fell asleep, much to the technician's relief. Unfortunately for Mommy, he hadn't swallowed the last cookie, so that was an interesting retrieval!

Thanksgiving in Pennsylvania

What a trip! What fun! What mayhem! Here the kids taste snow for the first time.



Here the kids say goodbye to Grami Frani, who caught the stomach virus that shot through the entire Schraner/Lewis family, except for Emily, David and Aunt Tracey! Poor Grami couldn't even sit up in bed to say goodbye!



Kevin and I got ours on the way home from the airport, at 2am...lovely.

Get Well Wishes for Ranju

And last but never least, we wish a speedy recovery to our beloved Miss Ranju, who had shoulder surgery just a few days ago. Mom and Pop's great friends and neighbors for over 20 years now, Kanti and Ranju are about to become first-time grandparents!! A big CONGRATULATIONS to son Minesh and daughter-in-law Laura on their soon-to-be little bundle of joy! Miss Ranju, you need to heal that shoulder fast and get those arms ready for your new grandbaby! :D

That's all for now...take care, everyone!

Love,

Caroline

Christmas Parade

Hi all,

What fun! Our hometown parade, only 4 blocks long, but so much fun! It was really cold for Florida (64 F), but the kids didn't care since everyone in the parade threw candy.

Note Miss Diane and Miss Anne, our kids' librarians, are on a float, wrapped up as gifts! Friends Liz, Maya and Graeme are also on the float. What fun it was to be waving to people we know! Although, in this small town, it shouldn't be a surprise. The parade spanned only 4 blocks, and then everyone turned around and paraded back! I LOVE this town!!

Don't forget to Elf yourself for Christmas!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Caroline

Happy Gotcha Day, Bruffie!

What a year it's been! What a wonderful little boy we have! My gosh, where did all the time go?

Last year at this time we were marvelling over our new son, who had barely any hair! There were small signs of the outgoing little guy he'd become...a few smiles, some dancing feet, a tight first bond with Daddy and then Emily. Then there were the sleep issues, food issues, refusing to let Mommy touch him, choking on so many different foods, terrifying doctor visits (for him), and then surgeries.

David at 18 months old. But all is forgotten when we look into that adorable face. David, you're a challenge and a blessing rolled into one precious package. You've endured more than a lot of kids your age, and you do it with a happy smile and dogged determination. You're our little survivor, and you've taught us that hard work can also be fun! How we wish we could tell your Chinese birth family that you made it, and that you're so, so happy.

David eats, Medieval style, at his Gotcha Day celebration. Ok, so you haven't taught us much about eating...but that's ok.

That's better! Here's David watching the balloon guy make him a cute little turtle balloon. We ate at a local restaurant that caters to kids on Wednesday nights.

Enjoying Grandma's company while Sissy refuses to smile. It's been an amazing year. Two surgeries, 7 specialists, 5-days a week of speech and occupational therapy. Who needs a quiet life?!!

Like the song says, We-Are-Fah-muh-lee!

A Lovely Christmas Gift

Hi all,

This week we received a beautiful, surprise gift from Emily and David's preschool teachers. It's a gift of love and hope, and one we'll never forget.




The last page of the card has an important message that might be too hard to read. Here's what it says...

Millions of children in developing countries are suffering today with cleft lip and palate.
While babies born with clefts in the U.S. receive surgery soon after birth, babies in developing countries are usually never treated because they are poor.
Children with unrepaired clefts lead desperate lives of shame and isolation. Most will never eat or speak properly. They're not allowed to attend school or hold a job. Without surgery, children in developing countries have no chance, no life, no hope.
Helping these children is the mission of The Smile Train.
We provide free cleft surgery for children who would otherwise never receive it. Through our unique approach of empowering local doctors in developing countries, we can provide cleft surgery that costs as little as $250 and takes as little as 45 minutes.
This medical miracle gives these children not just a new smile, but a second chance at life.

David has been an incredible gift to us. His special needs are a constant challenge. Yet, he's oblivious to these needs. Instead, he's happy just to be with us, charming everyone around him and making friends everywhere. He humbles us simply by his perseverence. We love him more deeply every day.

How do you say thanks for a gift such as this? Miss Laurie and Miss Deb, this was a wonderful, touching gift that will become part of David's history. You are treasured teachers and kind human beings who have created such joy in our children's lives.

Much love,

Caroline, Kevin, David and Emily

Happy Birthday, Little Guy!

Hi all, Guess who turned 3 today??!! And celebrated his first birthday ever in America? David has had a ball since yesterday when his preschool classmates sang Happy Birthday to him, and they shared little cups of vanilla ice cream. I brought the treat so I was able to sit with David's tiny classmates at a picnic bench as they swung their little legs, struggled to maneuver their ice cream with adult-size plastic spoons, and talked about dinosaurs and food.

Today was pretty busy with school, speech therapy, and errands, but we ended it with a party at Grandma and Papa Lee's, where David opened his first train set! Daddy made the table (only his second woodworking project, ever!). Have a look.

Grandma's camera doesn't have a microphone, so just imagine us singing Happy Birthday to a thrilled Bruffy. And it might look bizarre, but we have to pinch David's nose so air comes out his mouth and not his nose. That's pretty important when you're about to serve cake!



What fun! Thanks to everyone for their kind gifts. We think this little guy felt pretty special today. He was more animated. :)

Take care, Caroline

Happy Halloween!

Hi all,

This Halloween is David's first! We've done parties galore, our first visit to the Pumpkin Patch, decorated the house, and read great Halloween books from the library, thanks to Miss Diane. (Try "Big Pumpkin" by Erica Silverman). The kids are loving Halloween jokes--Emily memorized an entire book of them!

Q: How did the little witch tell time?
A: On her witch watch!

Q: What did the little witch use to fix her hair?
A: Scare spray!

Q: What do you call a little skeleton who won't get up?
A: Lazy bones!

Everything in David's life is about firefighters, so meeting real firefighters at a town party was the highlight for him.

A Trip to Disney

Walt Disney World's Not-So-Scary-Halloween party with friends Wanda and Gary was an absolute blast.

Halloween Night

What fun! We started out with a party with Miss Diane at the library, then raced home to get the kids in their costumes. Friends Maya and Graeme visited with their mommy and daddy, and lo and behold, we had two daddy pirates ready to plunder houses for candy! Arrrhhh!!!

About 100 kids visited our Pirate House. Daddy-the-Pirate lured the trick-or-treaters in and made them walk the plank for candy and glow sticks! Emily handed out the candy until a scary trick-or-treater appeared, then she made them remove their masks she and Bruffy wouldn't be scared. :)

Hope everyone had a Happy Halloween!

Love,

Caroline

October Update

Hi all,
Sorry for the pretty late update, but we've been sooo unbelievably busy. Imagine that...only two little ones and we're overwhelmed by events!

Update on Emily

Look who learned to sew! Emily showed a lot of interest when I began mending her Sleeping Beauty dress so I handed her the needle and taught her how to mend a tear in tulle. She did a great job! Thanks to Grami Frani for really encouraging Emily's interest in sewing when she created princess covers for Emily's dressing table.

Emily enjoys school, although she's worn out by the time I pick her up. She's doing a great job, though, and is learning to recongnize sight words. She loves to draw and has become quite the artist, designing ballgowns, using tracing paper, and mailing her art to her friends.

Update on David

A.K.A. "Bruffy", David is doing well overall. He LOVES school, and signs and says "school", then "backpack", "teacher", "Miss Laurie" (his teacher), and "I'm smart!". Of course he's only intelligible to Kevin, Emily and me, but we were just amazed when he performed this train of thought for us!

Speaking of trains, he's absolutely IN LOVE WITH TRAINS!! Everything evolves around Thomas the Train, and Daddy's almost finished building a custom train table for the kids.

Other than that, David is seeing both a speech therapist and an occupational therapist twice a week. David has an underdeveloped sensory system from his 2 years in the orphanage, which means he tends to throw himself overboard into anything involving the 5 senses. Mealtime is a horror since after 10 months with us he still throws food, pours drinks on himself, gorges, and wears all of his food with no discomfort whatsoever. The sometimes bizarre OT exercises should really help him (and us) redirect his behavior.

These photos show our first Sensory exercises. We sprayed shaving cream on the kids' picnic table, added finger paint and a few toys, and let them at it. They played steadily for over an hour each time, which is normal for kids raised in an orphanage. (The therapist says the average child should last no more than 10 minutes and want to be clean.) David's therapist believes Emily will benefit from these exercises as well. Thank gosh shaving cream is only soap, 'cause it cleans up very easily!

Abigail Turns 4!

Happy 4th Birthday to our friend Abigail Hua! We had a great time at Abigail's birthday party at a pretty park by the river.

Take care, everyone,
Caroline

School, glorious school!

A page from David's hand painted "I Am Special" book.

Hi all,

The kids are having a great time at school. Although David's been battling school-caught colds that keep him out of school for a week each time, he's still enjoying himself. Above is a photo card he made at school.

About David's Class

With only 6 kids, it's a tiny class in a tiny room. But it's so colorful! Miss Laurie, their teacher, decorated it beautifully. Books dangle from the ceiling on brightly colored ribbons, the kids' dinosaur crafts adorn the walls, and each child has a wire cubby hole for their backpacks and change of clothes.

Miss Laurie says David is trying hard to talk in class, although barely any of it can be understood beyond an emphatic "yeah!". I attended a parents coffee meeting yesterday, having David with me since he has his 2nd cold in a month. Miss Laurie saw us, and since David's nose had cleared up, she asked us to sit at a picnic table outside with the kids since they were celebrating a classmate's birthday with tiny ice cream cups. David ran right over and joined his classmates.

One cup later, covered in sticky ice cream, the kids began talking about their mommies and daddies, pets, and toys. Poor David could only sit there and answer "yeah!" to any questions. It broke my heart, but David could have cared less. After the ice cream, he jumped up with his classmates and began running down a shady path to a rock garden just like any other kid. You'd never know he's battling speech, sensory and growth delays.

The kids are studying dinosaurs right now, and learning about "a most amazing me". It's so cute!!

A Most Amazing Me (Class song sung to the tune The Farmer in the Dell)
A most amazing me (point to yourself)
A most amazing me (point to yourself)
Look! Look! What do you see? (point to your eyes)
A most amazing me (point to yourself)

About Emily's Class

Here's an excerpt from Emily's class newsletter. I was able to volunteer the day the kids made apple turnovers while studying the letter A. What fun! The kids were adorable, and had great time making the turnovers. I know a few of their moms, so it was really neat sitting amongst them, on a tiny chair, and seeing how they interact with each other.

Emily introduced me with a "Dis is my mommy! Say hi to her!" And she chatted away with the kids as they rolled dough and filled the turnovers with apples I helped Miss Hogan slice up.

Mrs. Hogan calls Emily "my mini Hogan" since Emily is her self-appointed teaching assistant, helping the kids and pretty much listening in on every conversation. Imagine that...our once silent daughter!

Look Who Else is Celebrating!

Elizabeth "Itty Bit" Schraner started her first day of preschool, too! Hurray!! Here she is with baby sister Amelia "the divil" Schraner (who at 1 yr old can climb ANYTHING), and mommy Tracey (with the gorgeous hair).

A big HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Itty and her sister Kellie, the violinist, as well! Aren't they lovely??!! :)

Take care everyone,

Caroline

August Update

Hi all,

Tonight we said farewell to the Beijing Olympics. The kids have had a great time watching the highlights of Chinese culture and the Chinese athletes while rooting for our home team. What fun! I'm glad the Olympics painted China in such a positive light. It definitely gave Emily pride in her heritage. David just danced whenever music was on.

We weathered Tropical Storm Fay pretty well. Our computer was fried during a rapid rash of power outages (power supply blew) and some water came in through the porch window, but other than that we spent 4 DAYS INDOORS WITH NO SCHOOL AND 2 SMALL CHILDREN!!! Honestly, one day of school and then we lost the whole week! So, we did body art crayons, baked, and camped on the back porch (tent, lantern, and popcorn). And we worked on David's potty training, the good boy!

More to come...pictures of Aunt Tracey's visit and Mom and Pop Lee's 50th Wedding Anniversary party. Just waiting on photos or having to wade through them and pick out highlights...

Take care, everyone,

Caroline