Dedication Day

We had Maylynn dedicated on November 15th. This was a special day - almost 1 year ago we had first seen her picture and knew that she would be our daughter. Now we were dedicating her to our Lord - promising to raise her with God's word with the hopes that one day she would choose to follow Him on her own...

We all went up on stage - she did fine for a few minutes and she allowed Pastor Steve to hold her for a very short time! As you can see, she started crying and the only way i could get her to stop was to bribe her with some gum:) So, i really didn't get to hear the special prayer that was said or anything else for that matter:( But, It was kinda cool because the sermon that day was about Romans Ch.8 and part of the lesson was about adoption! Isn't God's timing so awesome:)

Getting to know Maylynn...

This post may be a little random and not orderly but we decided to brainstorm and share some things that we have learned about Maylynn and what she likes, acts etc... hope that you enjoy getting to know our little MayMay:)

• You can tell what she's thinking by just looking at her face - her eyes & mouth are very expressive:)
• She is a little "parrot" - repeating everything but not correctly
• when she gets an owie - she always insists on a kiss
• if you say anything to her she says "why"
• she pretty much eats anything we give her but she is sometimes a little more selective than 4 months ago. She doesn't finish every morsel on her plate anymore -which is good b/c she is almost wearing a size 4 like her sister (we've gone from 24 months to size 4 clothes in 4 months!)
• she still does the chinese thing when eating soup or anything in a bowl - when she gets down to the end, she'll try to drink it up and push it in her mouth with her spoon:)
• she is very affectionate - loves to give and receive hugs & kisses and telling her m&d "i Love you"
• she likes her babies! and to mother them too by wrapping them up in blankets or stroller them around:)
• she now has her ears pierced like her sister, mom & grandmas
• she loves playing in the bath tub, brushing her teeth & doesn't mind wearing lotion now:) & she is pretty good about me doing her hair...
• she has gnarly bed head in the morning!
• she's so smart & loves to count to 10.
• she likes to sit and color, bead and read
• she will hopefully get tubes in her ears soon. She's had fluid in her ears ever since we've had her home - they tell us that she hears us like we are talking under water -no wonder why her speach is so muffled... fluid in ears & repaired palate...
• she likes to ride bikes & scooters
• when none of her siblings are around to play with she enjoys playing with our dog "oreo"
• all her brother needs to say is that she gets to go play with the "ladybugs" (the name of her class at church) and she'll burst into tears - although, once she's there it only takes 5 min. for her to settle down...
• "be happy" is a phrase that she hears form us alot - she tends to have a sour looking face at times and just needs a gentle reminder to smile and be happy:) she immediately gives us her precious smile that lights up her face!
• When traveling in the car on looooonnnng trips - she like to sleep with her pillow over her face.
• she likes books & puzzles
• her speach is nasally
• she likes candy (who doesn't???)
• she loves it when her grandparents visit!
• when her hands/fingers get cold, she tells us that they are "owie"
• she know almost ALL her bodyparts!
• her belly laugh is so funny & usually gets everyone smiling and laughing:)
• she loves it when her brothers chase her
• her favorite songs are: Jesus Loves me, Jesus loves the little children, ABC's, and Toby Mac's new song "City on our Knees" :)
• She falls down or bonks her head SEVERAL times a day! Brayden enjoys keeping count:)

That's all i can think of right now... i'll add to it later:)

Ladybugs

Yeah! Maylynn is now an official "ladybug" at church. Ladybug is what the 2-3yr old group is called:)

Tuesday morning i took the girls to the club and left them at the "short stop" daycare while i did my kick boxing class (love the class!) This was a "first" for Maylynn to be left with anyone that is not related - she walked right in to play with her big sis and then cried after i said a quick goodbye. But I'm told that she only cried for 5 min - i felt good about the whole situation b/c she had Hayleigh with her:)

So, Wed. night - we/i decided that we should try the church nursery. Hayleigh is not in her class - so i was a bit hesitant but felt that it needed to be done. So, we both went in, i stayed a few minutes to explain to the teachers her language (or lack there of), that she's potty trained and what she calls it (most of the time it is neow, neow (Chinese for potty) but sometimes she says "motty" (English for potty))and that she likes men (a hint for the guy to help out with her;)). I told her good bye and tried to leave - she caught me in an amazing grabbing, fist clinching hold - i hugged her and told her that I'd be back - and the teachers helped to pry her off. I felt HORRIBLE -but i know it is a process and our church life will be so much more pleasant for everyone once she is in her class. After the worship, i snuck back to hear if she was okay and she was. She was so excited to see me at the end - it looked like she had a really good time - i do have to admit she gave me so many kisses that night all over my face when i was putting her to bed - i was amazed but LOVING it! I just let her kiss away...

Please pray that the process is successful on Sunday:)

Pumpkin Patch

We had a great time at the pumpkin patch on Saturday - we went to Job's nursery... a simple nursery with TONS of pumpkins! Not all of the pumpkin patch thrills of farm animals, hay bale mazes - just pumkins and tons of fun being out doors!

Maylynn had fun tromping around the patch and only ended up tripping once! this is amazing b/c she tends to fall several of times a day where ever she is! Brayden usually keeps track of the times that she falls:)

She is definatley attached! I think we are now going to try to leave her in the church nursery - please pray for us that it is a smooth transition!

I got this picture of Maylynn at the hotel for one of Taylor's tourney in Canada - i love that she loves to read and the sun was shining so bright on her...

2 Month update...

Not sure if i'll remember to update this monthly etc. but it just so happens that 2 months ago from today is when we got Maylynn...

I am just amazed at how well she is doing! She has definately captured everyone's heart that has met her. Her smile lights up her face and her cheeks are so unbelievably kissable it's hard to stop kissing her once i've started:) Her hugs are so strong and she is so much fun to cuddle with:) She is very good at repeating EVERYTHING you say - (many times it is not clear but the tones etc. are there) It's so funny - i am trying to teach her many different phrases that are common when first meeting someone - she has "hi" down and "byebye" but i am working on her answering "How old are you?" - well, she just repeats me "how old are you" it's quite funny b/c then i'm trying to explain to her no no no - I say this... and you say this... it is only when i am able to do the same thing with Hayleigh that she kind of understands what she is supposed to do. Hayleigh has been such a good teacher (and bad at times - teaching her bad things - like today she taught her how to stick her tongue out at you if you don't like something - not sure where Hayleigh learned that but i am hoping to nip that in the bud asap!) And when we are trying to holler down to someone to do something etc... sure enough Maylynn is hollering the same thing and no one is able to hear or understand b/c her little voice is interupting etc... it's quite the scene:)

The girls are now separated for sleeping... we started to separate for naps a few weeks ago and that worked wonderfully! they were waking each other up and i could never get to the bottom of it as to who was waking up who! Now Hayleigh is sleeping in Brayden's top bunk at night time as well - they would talk constitanly and keep each other up until we went to bed at 10pm! This new arrangement is working out much better for everyone so far. We do have some space in our basement to finish a room if we need to but not sure where we will but the storage stuff that takes up that space - maybe we can hold off until next spring...

Just as easily as her smile lights up her face, she also has quite the pouter lip! It is rather pathetic and she really "works" it when we are around grandparents and friends! We have been just ingnoring it b/c it seems she is mostly doing it for attention - and she does get it from everyone - i should try to get a pic sometime - it is quite the lip!

She doesn't clean her plate anymore - many times now she will just eat what she likes and then says that she is done and expects to get up and leave the table - sometimes she gets upset but we haver her stay until we are finished or she has eaten a bit more for it to be considered her "meal" :)

She's had her hearing checked and that seems okay but 1 ear had fluid so we are waiting to get that one rechecked -i think?? Her eyes appt. went as good as it could considering her language abilities and her Thyroid tests came back okay. We just have to get her TB test this week at the health dept. and another round of shots on Friday...

Copied and pasted from The Vickerman Family Happenings (Posted on Sept.10)

The girls continue to act like sisters - I think Hayleigh still wishes that she was the only princess here sometimes. We are trying to "catch" Hayleigh being good and reward her for doing nice things, playing nicely etc... "Be nice" is the phrase in our house lately:) I really think that Hayleighs special time at preschool and gymnastics will be the very best thing for her - Maylynn was sure happy to see Hayleigh at the end of H. first day of preschool - it was so sweet and i could see that H. was a bit surprised to get all of the hugs from M.:) Maylynn is still learning the ropes but she is sure catching on. Her receptive language seems to be very good! I asked her in english where many of her body parts are and she did a GREAT job pointing to them! She was very pleased too:) She is such a sweet heart - we just love her so much! Tuesday she had a Dr. appt with a plastic surgeon to look at her cleft palate. He said that it looks repaired but a little short - so that is why she sounds so nasaly and will need speech therapy. He said that when she is much older, she'd probably have another surgery but nothing for a while. Since we were in Richland, we headed next door to the hospital to have MORE BLOOD drawn! I did not want to do it and almost didn't!! But, we did... and she cried her little heart out again for the 3rd time! this time she cried for Brayden - so sweet:) When we got home, as soon as she saw Lance - her lip drooped down and she held out her little owie - she did this routine for everyone in the family - it was quite the show:) Everyone was gracious to her and felt sorry for her:) lol:) Get this though! We got a phone call tonight that we have to have MORE BLOOD DRAWN AGAIN!!!! Apparantly a thyroid test that we just had done - one was pos. and one was neg. so - she has to get another! ugh!!!

New updates at our family blog...

The Vickerman Family Happenings

Mom's gotcha week!

This past week has been fabulous! Lance has enjoyed being able to walk and do things without his "cling-on" and I've been enjoying my new daughter:) She has kissed me, hugged me, snuggled with me, ran to me with open arms, let me take care of her when she's hurt - it has been such a joy! She has also been bonding alot with the kids - which is fun & sweet to see:)

We are not ready to let our "bonding & attachment" guard down yet though - Lance and I will be the only one holding her for the next few months... it is so important for her to understand that we are her only mommy and daddy forever!!